Not happy with my hd 650 setup. Advice wanted

Hello everyone

First time poster, but year long lurker.

I have after a lot of research and listening to AKG K701, Grado SR225I and DT770 decided upon the HD 650.

I have the following equipment at the moment:

Setup 1: Essence ST -> M-stage Class A OPA627 -> HD 650.

Setup 2: Creative Zen X-fi -> Grado sr60i

I am at the moment not really happy about what i am getting out of the HD 650. The resolution is amazing and i feel that the m-stage class a with the OPA627 should be synergizing pretty well with the HD 650, yet i still prefer the sound i am getting out of setup 2. It has been doing my head in and i have tried a few different things:

Running HD 650 out of the Zen x-fi

Running HD 650 directly out of my laptop

Running HD 650 out of the ST HP output

The Zen X-fi is the source i prefer out of those 3 options. Yes, i prefer running the HD 650 directly out of the Zen X-fi to the ST. I cant really tell why this is, but there is just some magic going on. I have a strong suspicion that is has something to do with the frequency reponse. The highs are close to a somewhat neutral level, on the edge of being slighty recessed. The lows are present, but in low quantity and muddy compared to the rest and the mid range just sounds very smooth and pleasing. It seems that there is a very good match betweens these two, but if you stop listening to music and rather analyze it, I quickly start to hear that the soundstage is compressed, some details are lacking and it can be a bit slow sounding at times, but overall, when relaxing and listening to music it sounds beautiful. But the lack of technical qualities makes me want to get something better for HD 650, running a moderately expensive out of a mp3 player doesn't really make any sense.

My observations have been that the HD 650 lacked bass out of my laptop, which is using an IDT audio chip. I noticed similiar patterns when i tested the laptop with my grado sr60i, it was simply unable to deliver any sort of frequency below 150hz, even when i tried the EQ the hell of out that frequency range. However the highs and soundstage was actually pretty good when compared against the rest of the "sources" but sounded a bit distant and dull.

About the ST i dont really have much to say. The technical qualities (speed/attack, tightness of bass etc) all seems to have been improved over the zen x-fi. And eventhough the ST measures pretty good I just dont like the sound i am getting. The sound image is very blurry, this is especially noticeable when i start up a FPS game, it is very hard to tell where the sounds are coming from. Along with the terrible imaging i feel that the sound of the ST is somewhat edgy, there is something wrong with the midrange, I can't really tell what it is, but im not liking what I am hearing. The same observations is also true when using the m-stage, everything just sounds a bit better.

Previous to my ST i was using a X-fi XtremeGamer soundcard along with the modded PC 350. I sold the X-fi card before i got the grados and hd 650s. When i moved from the x-fi to the ST i immediately noticed deeper bass and the lack of imaging but at that time i was drown into the higher levels of details provided by the ST. But looking back, the x-fi soundcard had pretty damn good imaging and the impacts of sounds was very well placed and made you immense into the music together with the warm signature of the soundcard, but it has the exact same implications as the zen x-fi, lack of technicality.

Running my Setup 1 i am currently missing that warm. From what i have read, i believe i could be getting that warmth by going the tube way, but at the end of the day i don't really want to be messing with tubes and dealing with them getting to be heated up, replaced and what not. Additionally I am not only using my setup for music, but it is used to gaming, watch movies and it is litteraly on for hours each day and I dont really feel that a tube amp would be suitable for that kind of usage.

My thoughts about the m-stage was to get an amp that was very close to neutral and i would then try to get a DAC very close to neutral and then just listen to the headphones instead.

What it comes down to is that i am missing imaging, slightly airier highs, a bit more clarity/detail and a slighty warmer sound. The slightly warmer sound might be neutral since i feel that the ST is cold sounding.

I have been thinking about getting a DacMagic but from what i have read, the ST should be pretty good sounding in the price bracket and i am not really sure whether or not i would find what im missing in the DacMagic.

Regarding the Grados out of the Zen X-fi im hearing the same lovely warmth as i do on the HD 650, but i believe i prefer the grados on the x-fi since it can be driven properly unlike the HD 650 which is why it sounds better in the end. When i was auditioning the headphones mentioned at the top i listened to the SR225i out of a 800€ CD player amped by a X-can V8.P and i absolutely loved the midrange, highs, soundstage etc BUT i could not stand how the drums sounded on Enter Sandman, it was all pretty shrill and the comfort of the grados made me decide that i won't be building my setup around grados.

I am not really sure what to do, it could possibly be that i dont really like HD 650, but I am not sure if the Essence ST as a DAC is doing the HD 650 any justice. And i having listened to AKG 701 and the SR225i along with the DT770 I am pretty confident that i wouldn't like any of those either.

I am hoving anyone is able to provide any insight or helpful advices, althought i realize it is limited how much someone can tell me what to get. I have tried to provide as much information as possible.

Cheers

I am not to keen on taking too many risks with tubes. From what i have read i have had the impression that tube amps require much more care and are fragile. I wish to avoid any situation where I would had to ship back, for example, a little dot amp to china or a wooaudio amp to USA. And actually the only reason I jumped out and got the m-stage was under the believe that it was pretty much as good as a lehmann(which it probably is) for a fragment of the pice. And I am not too keen on doing the samething again without having heard any of the tube amps.

The idea behind the m-stage was to play it relatively safe and get a "neutral" rig. I am in doubt whether or not i should try to either put my money towards a dacmagic and see what it does with the sound or try to sell the m-stage and go all out with my money for some other amp.

I must say that i am not particularly interested in a littledot or wooaudio because of the aforementioned reasons. Locally, in Denmark, I am able to buy either a firestone cute beyond, which is relatively cheap and maybe not so good, or get a x-can v8.p. The x-can appears to be a hybrid amp so it contains some tube warmness and it is all protected inside the aluminium shell. Should i try to sell the m-stage and get the x-can or is there any other amp I should look out for? I wish to get a product which is inside the EU, primarily because of taxes which makes the other alternatives quite expensive(was able to do a little stunt to avoid it on the m-stage because the seller, who is high regardly here, helped me out, cheers if you read this). To me it seems that i should try a dacmagic or sell the m-stage and get an x-can.

Trying out some new opamps seem to be a pretty inexpensive way to see if things gets better. I am certainly gonna try that. I believe my m-stage is around the 50 hour mark and the phones around 100 hours, I will continue to leave them playing this opcoming week. I will try that white noise generator, thanks for the link!

I have been trying to google for a place to buy 49710HA without succes, are you aware of any site that also will ship to Europe/Denmark?

A 120 ohm cable? Never seen or heard anything about those. What exactly is its purpose? I thought the output impendence is supposed to below the headphone impedence. And the m-stage output impendance should be 5 ohm, so where does this 120 ohm cable come into the picture and what should i expect of it?

I have read that 120 ohm used to be the standard for headphones. It could actually make sense. I might fiddle with a 120 ohm cable if i can find one. But first i am going to read up on other opamps before changing my dac and/or amp.

I will post here again after having received new opamps and comment on how they sound. Thanks for all the help so far.

@Happy Camper

I am afraid that such an amp would be out of my price range. I really wouldn't want to go over ~500$. How do you think the x-can v8.p compare to other dedicated tube amps in that price range? Would it sound like a tube or be stuck inbetween?