Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Anything better than HD 650 in the price range?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Anything better than HD 650 in the price range?

post #1 of 4
12/28/11 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 

I currently have an HD 595 that I like a lot, but I'm looking to upgrade a bit.

 

I listen exclusively with my laptop so I'm going to buy an FiiO E10 DAC/AMP. Will I be able to hook this up to an E9 for more amp power? If so, this should be enough to drive the HD 650 right?

 

HD 650's currently cost around $350 on Amazon; I'm not too familiar with headphones from other brands, but are there better headphones from other companies for that price?

 

Thanks.

Reply
post #2 of 4
12/28/11 at 9:22pm

Hello, you are correct that the E10 + E9 would give you much more driving power. Not necessary for the HD595, but practically a requirement for the HD650. You can find better and more expensive amps of course, but I don't know anything as competitive price wise as the E9 (barring certain vintage amps) and I believe it is adequate to power the HD650 well. 

 

As of the current time, I would say that there truly is nothing that is "better" than the HD650 in its price range. It just is a matter of preference. I personally like its warmth quite a bit better than the colder neutrality of the other two giants, the Beyer DT880 and AKG K70x, but to each his own. You may wish to wait for impressions on the upcoming Hifiman HE-400 as I am expecting it to have a very good cost to performance ratio. Shure is also going to sell their open flagship soon so this is a very exciting time for those looking for "mid-fi" headphones. Who knows, maybe one of these will emerge as the undisputed performance to cost champion. 

Reply
post #3 of 4
12/28/11 at 9:41pm
Thread Starter 

Oh is the HD 650 only considered a "mid-fi" and not "hi-fi" headphone?

Reply
post #4 of 4
12/28/11 at 9:59pm

To be completely honest, to the mainstream, they would be considered uber hi-fi headphones. The problem now is that practically no one on head-fi considers any phone to be true "hi-fi" unless it sets you back at around at least $1k and is a flagship. A few years back, they were considered the highest of hi-fi, and to my ears, they still are. 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphones (full-size)
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Anything better than HD 650 in the price range?