N00b: Wanting To Buy SennHeiser HD650's. Need Direction. - Page 4

The comment was made by donunus, a moderator at headphile. Here. My mistake, it's HD600 not HD650 as I said.

Yeah, keep laughing. HD650 will need your uber expensive amp to sound perfect, like the sales guy said. It's definitely not marketing speak...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoodleBoy91 

Oh really, must have missed you :P. You know it took me over an hour to drive there because of traffic lol. Next time I will go there earlier.

Yeah I will be sure to give a listen to more headphones next time I go and also I will bring more of my CD's :P. I wanted to stay longer but I felt bad because the guy was sitting with me the whole time.

Hmm the HDP Nuforce seems in my budget a bit more. I would like to try it out a bit more.
I liked the Violectric, however i don't think it comes with a DAC but I think he said i can pay 200 dollars extra to get one installed or something?

 

What is the difference between the Violectric V200 and V100 in terms of sound quality? is there much difference?

 

Also Is the NUForce HDP a good amp? Would it drive the HD 650's, Because going by what the guy at the store told me it, it seems like only a 1000,000 dollar amplifier can drive them properly. :P

He kept saying that the NUForce is great for the price. I like the looks of it lol but how does it compare to other amps such as the violetric?

 The Violectric DAC 24/96 USB DAC section is $188AUD

 It's pretty easy to fit with a basic Torx-10 screw driver, comes with

 instructions ~ simply remove the two little red pins inside on the

 amplifier PCB and fit the rainbow colored ribbon cable - that's it

 Should look like this

 The V100 and V200 are very similar, power wise you can check

 the figures at violectric.de ~ there is little in it, but the V200 has

 a slightly cleaner sound to it due to the 8 transistor design instead

 of 4 on the V100 ~ the V100 remains a very under rated amplifier

 for the price considering nothing is as sophisticated, well built,

 powerful or as transparent for the money. In Australia we pay so

 little for it too ~ $748AUD. It's more powerful than the Lehmann

 Black Cube.

Lehman Black Cube

Output power: 200mW into 300 Ohms, 400mW into 60 Ohms 

Violectric V100

Output power: 640mW into 600ohms, 2100mW into 100ohms

As you can see roughly 3 to 5 times more powerful than the Lehmann

Black Cube for less than half the money.

Still Made in Germany though! and the Black Cube does not feature balanced XLR inputs either

but the V100 does.

I like the Nuforce HDP I feel that it drives most headphones quite nicely, however while it performs

quite admirably with the HD650 ~ it does not give you the 100% performance that you would get

with the V100 ~ The V100 is more than adequate and presentable for an HD800 or 

LCD-2 ( 2200mW at 50 ohms )

Price is always the issue ~ Nuforce Icon HDP $669AUD ~ versus $188 + $748 for the Violectric V100 and the USB 24/96 Dac module. 

If you can stretch it to the V100 you won't look back ~ that will be the last solid state amplifier you buy.

But go with what suits your budget, both are suitable options. 

Oh man I forgot you Ozzies pay extra for this stuff...

You may want to just go the Mini-i + M-stage route like I did in that case then.... since they ship from Asia, it makes no difference which continent it goes to haha...

The Mini-i + M-Stage combo is also fully balanced too, so if you guys ever want to order some balanced cables from HeadRoom and play around with that, it's always an option too. The M-Stage has managed to drive an HE-500 for me, which on paper has about the same requirements as an HD650.

I usually hate recommending headphone amps since it's a lot of money for simple electronics, but for HD650s, they really shine with a good amp and source. 

As for the comment on best sub $500 cans, it's really hard to say that without also considering that if you can tolerate and prefer the sound signature, the SR-225 (I've confirmed) and 325 (from what I've been told) , are serious rivals for the WunderCans. I don't want to derail the thread though, if you want HD650 get 650's. I have lots of experience with HD580's and lots of friends over the years here at head-fi with 650's and they both play well with the same amps so I feel comfortable recommending that setup to you. Both headphones will scale with amps well into the 1k+ range no problem!

*PS*

Also that Violectric is a real powerhouse! By 600mw, do you mean per channel or is it just 300mw per channel? I think the HD650s can handle 500mw per channel.

Same here, I can stand back and objectively assess the HD650 ~ it's a great can, I recommend it.

Now personally speaking, would I trade my Grado 325i for it? Uhh no way 

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoodleBoy91 

Thanks for the awesome post. I Really liked the Violectric V200, however i did not get to listen to the V100 to compare. I also should have tested the Violectric with the HD650's :P.

I guess I could save extra money and get something I will more likely keep longer then the HDP Nuforce.

 

 

So what you are saying is that the Violectric is very adequate for the HD650's and even other higher empedance headphones?

Also How much cleaner is the sound? is it worth the extra 400 or so dollars?

 As for the difference in quality between the V100 and V200 ~ that's for you to decide, there is one way to find out - I found the V181 and V100

 to sound very similar, only the power/voltage specs are different. Next time you're down there, you can audition the V181 and V200 back to

 back as they're available for a listen, if you like the V181 then you'd be a contender for the V100.

 The HD650 is a pretty laid back headphone, I like the added clarity, bass impact and power through the Violectric range of amps but some people

 prefer the Burson 160D ~ all up to personal preference at the end of the day ~ but you won't find anything more powerful than Violectric

 at any price outside of Ray Samuels or the Schiit Lyr hybrid tube amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoodleBoy91 

Cool Looks like I just have to decide and save up some money lol.

 

Why are headphone amplifiers so expensive?. :S.

 

It was funny i went to JB-HIFI and asked the salesman if they sold headphone amps.... He gave me a funny look and told me to check down there....

 

JB HiFi is no Head-Fi oasis paradise :-)

It's for mainstream 'that will do for my ipod' headphones

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoodleBoy91 

Okay so I went to The Store Addicted To Sound and they were very helpful. I asked if i could have a listen to a few headphones. The main ones I listened to was the DT 880's. I spent more time then I would have liked with them because I only got to hear the HD 650's for a little bit.
Okay I will describe my experience as best that I can. I am new to all this so please be nice :P. I don't really know how to use audiophile terminology.

From my ears, I agree that the DT880's are extremely detailed and i could hear a lot of details in the music such as the plucking on the guitar. It was a very clean sound to me which I quite enjoyed, however I am not sure whether or not I would get a little tired of it (probably not). However I felt that the bass was a little lacking, although i could hear the bass clearly, it did not provide the same atmospheric effect the HD650's did. Also I have to say that they are the most comfortable headphones out of the two. I also tried ultrasones, which were also not as comfortable.

I tried The DT880's with the following amplifiers: Burson HA-160D, NUFORCE Icon 2,  Violetric HPA V200 and the LehmannAudio Black Cube.

 

Then I tried the HD650's. I was told by the store person that they are extremely difficult to drive and that to properly drive them I would need to get a very high end amp worth 1000 dollars and up. Not even the Burson HA-160D (1100 Dollars) could drive them properly as the sound was slightly muddy, well that's what he said. I then tried them with the LehmannAudio Black Cube amp worth 1700 dollars. The sound was much better. However i am not prepared to spend that much. It was unfortunate that I was not able to try the headphones with NUFORCE Icon 2 because that is more in my price range.

I really did enjoy the laid-back sound of the Sennheiser HD650's, it felt as though I could have listened to them for hSUBMITours without getting tired of them. The sound stage was also amazing. I put on my DAFT PUNK ALIVE album in which is a live recording. It was so amazing, I could hear the crowd around me and felt like I was somewhere near the front of the stage. Then the music really kicked in and it surrounded me, just like when I go to real Trance or Dance festivals, it was pretty amazing. The Dt880's had a good sound stage, but i think that, to me anyway, the HD650's was a little more 3D.

 

I enjoyed both headphones, I am now more confused LOL.
I think i will go there next time to try out the headphones again but maybe this time I will go there with some money. :P.

 

This thread is testament to the fact nothing beats hearing these headphones first hand. Shame on the arm chair "experts" that tried to steer the OP away from the HD650 based on false assumptions and hearsay.

OP, do not fall into the trap of equating $ with quality. You don't necessarily need to pour X amount of funds to get the most out of the HD650, but you do need to make considered decisions. This headphone really sings when you find the right balance in your chain to match your preferences. Try before you buy, or ask for advice if that's not possible. Just don't take anyone's word here as gospel.