Sennheiser launches HD 650 and Apogee Groove headphone amp bundle

THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION AUDIO FILES

Audio specialist Sennheiser and digital audio recording specialist Apogee are launching a new bundle that brings together Sennheiser’s HD 650 open, dynamic hi-fi stereo headphones with the Apogee Groove – a high-performance USB DAC and headphone amp. This combination lets Mac and PC users enjoy the full dynamic range and ultra-low distortion levels of one of the classics of Sennheiser’s audiophile headphone world powered by the legendary sound quality of Apogee.



Crafted with handpicked components for incredibly narrow tolerances, special acoustic materials and exceptional engineering, they deliver reference-class fidelity and a balanced sound with crisp bass, excellent mid frequency response and a gentle, pleasantly natural treble: the iconic, oval-shaped Sennheiser HD 650 are a true headphone classic by the leader in audio.

With the HD 650, Sennheiser created the first dynamic headphones to achieve such authentic and natural sound reproduction, both accurate and transparent. Manuel Ricke, Product Manager Audiophile at Sennheiser, explains how the headphones have been perfectly paired to the Apogee Groove headphone amp to bring their captivating sound to PCs and Macs: “With more music stored on PC and Macs, the output of the computer can prove to be a bottleneck that limits the ability to deliver sufficient power to audiophile-grade headphone models. The HD 650 are excellent open, dynamic headphones. However, their high, 300-ohm impedance means they require more power than can usually be provided by a computer. Drawing on Apogee’s 30-year pedigree as an innovator and industry leader in digital audio recording, the Groove amp increases the output signal to do full justice to the capabilities of the HD 650.”

A HEADPHONE CLASSIC MEETS WORLD-CLASS DIGITAL AUDIO EXPERTISE

The world’s most successful artists, producers and audio engineers rely on Apogee gear to capture GRAMMY-winning recordings. The Apogee Groove headphone amp makes this recording studio technology available in a premium compact DAC and headphone amp, providing a simple yet powerful, take-anywhere solution. Groove is designed to deliver every sonic detail from streaming music services like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Google Play Music and provides exceptional playback quality for high-res files like WAV, AIFF and FLAC. Groove’s output provides ample power at any impedance for a punchy bass and stunningly clear mid and high frequencies. Its Constant Current Drive™ technology delivers a smooth frequency response with any headphones – with Apogee recommending Sennheiser headphones to the discerning listener. Groove also features Apogee’s Quad Sum DAC design which utilizes four digital-to-analog converters per channel to achieve the highest dynamic range and lowest distortion (THD+N) of any device in its class.

“The combination of Sennheiser’s HD 650, the undisputed benchmark in headphones, with Apogee Groove’s driving power and sonic excellence, is a match made in heaven”, commented Betty Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Apogee Electronics.

The exceptional performance delivered by the new bundle is effortlessly easy to obtain – simply connect the Apogee Groove to a computer’s USB port and the HD 650 to its audio output and you will enjoy a new standard in sound.

The bundle will be distributed exclusively via Sennheiser’s online shop from the end of June.

Source: http://en-de.sennheiser.com/news-the-perfect-partnership-for-high-resolution-audio-files

Knowing Apogee, Should be the best of its kind, sonically.

Here's the link to the product page with information on price and availability - http://en-us.sennheiser.com/audiophile-headphones-high-end-hd-650 

Anyone out there tried this pairing?
Your thoughts?

Expand your horizons a bit:

1. [link to search of Head-Fi HD650 thread for "apogee groove"]
2. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4i351c/sennheiser_launches_hd_650_and_apogee_groove/
3. http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/apogee-groove-current-source-amp-measurements#10cG4q6VYz7s9oJr.97

 

mikoss said:

"Hey man have you heard my Apogee Groove/650 bundle? It's so killer dude!" Said nobody ever.

Click to expand...

 

Interesting.

Tyll thinks the Apogee sounds good.

But the quote from mikoss implies otherwise.

Jude mentioned the pairing is his latest Head-fi video, saying that it's a very good pairing.

Anyone else out there tried it out?

...and if Sennheiser themselves are advertising this bundle on their website, then it must have their stamp of approval as a good pairing.

Or it could be because Sennheiser entered into a strategic commercial contract with Apogee under which perhaps (1) one or both of them receive royalties or revenue sharing for bundled sales and/or advertising clicks and (2) the parties agreed to publicize the collaboration. There are five-star Amazon user reviews touted on the product page and even a link to a Head-Fi user's review. How could anyone argue with a detailed review like this one or this one, also linked to on the product page?
 
Admittedly, there are more in-depth reviews in Stereophile, by Ken Rockwell, and on C|NET worthy of consideration, but I'm extremely skeptical of collaborative marketing being shoved in my face like this.

That's not a great deal less than I paid for a Chord Mojo and some HD650s, and I know which combo interests me more..
 
Also, weirdly, out of the box, it didn't work with iOS devices at one point- has that been fixed? Seems like a fairly huge flaw. It did work with Android, albeit unofficially- but if you spend that much on a DAC, you'd rather it supported sensible common devices.

zonto said:

  Or it could be because Sennheiser entered into a strategic commercial contract with Apogee under which perhaps (1) one or both of them receive royalties or revenue sharing for bundled sales and/or advertising clicks and (2) the parties agreed to publicize the collaboration. There are five-star Amazon user reviews touted on the product page and even a link to a Head-Fi user's review. How could anyone argue with a detailed review like this one or this one, also linked to on the product page?
 
Admittedly, there are more in-depth reviews in Stereophile, by Ken Rockwell, and on C|NET worthy of consideration, but I'm extremely skeptical of collaborative marketing being shoved in my face like this.

Click to expand...

 
Well of course Sennheiser has "entered into a strategic commercial contract with Apogee..."!  That's a given, and goes without saying.
 
My point is that, of all the usb/portable dac/amp manufacturers out there, Sennheiser has chosen to associate their classic HD650 with this one in particular.
Sennheiser obviously has one of the best reputations in the audiophile/headphone world, and I can't see them compromising that reputation by endorsing a pairing of the HD650 with a sub-par product.
 
Take a look at the video below (which provides a tour of one of their factories), and it's apparent that Sennheiser does indeed care about quality control and their legacy as a headphone innovator/manufacturer.
 
Video:
https://youtu.be/5es8zggYM7A 
 
Commercial reasons aside, I think one can assume that Sennheiser has chosen to promote the Apogee Groove as an ideal pairing with the HD650 because they truly do believe it is an ideal pairing (as far as usb/portable dac/amps go).
 
Having said all of the above, I appreciate your skepticism here.  I'm asked the same questions as you when I first saw the promotion.  
 
Anyways, my ultimate goal here is to get more feedback from other head-fi'ers out there... is this indeed a good pairing?  Does the Apogee do the HD650 justice?
 

**Note:  I'm actually not interested in whether or not this is a good "bundle" in terms of price, etc.  I really only care about whether or not it's a good "pairing", sound-wise.

Probably better to check here then: http://www.head-fi.org/t/751947/apogee-groove-dac-headphone-amp/270. 
 
On a site we are not allowed to reference here, a user said about his RMAF experiences, in relevant part: "Apogee Groove: with the HD650 it sounded really good, in a unique way too. (Yes, there was a boost in the mid-bass due to the current source amp driving the impedance peak, but that can be eq'd away.) I dug the smooth/edge-free sound and muscular midrange. Remarkably, the envelope of sounds had a sustain on the notes that didn't weaken after the attack, the entire note stayed strong. On many headphone rigs an orchestra can sound loud, but on the Groove/HD650 it sounded powerful."
 
Unsure of the impedance bump comment given Tyll's measurements with the HD800 linked to above.
 
Even without hearing the unit, I can guarantee that you can do better based on my experience with the HD650's scalability and using equipment with similar chips (Oppo, etc.) unless the Groove's extreme portability is essential for you and/or your budget for DAC and amp is capped at $300. The bundle has been on sale for $500 a few times.