[swmtnbiker]

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Just got my in, yesterday. Will check back on my thoughts, haven't time to try out.

 
Cool. Your impressions would be most appreciated once you get some headtime with it.

 

[dxanex]

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Cool. Your impressions would be most appreciated once you get some headtime with it.

+1 also interested in build quality...

 

[Mestys]

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+1 also interested in build quality...

+2, very interested in this

 

[Aerocraft67]

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Some like to pair it with warm sounding sources, some like to pair it with colder ones.

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The 650s have a distinct signature. Watering down that signature isn't as enjoyable IME.

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I don't know if I could stand the HD-650 with a very warm amp...i'd prefer the HD-650 on very transparent/neutral sounding equipment.

 
Well, there you have it. Not a lot of responses, but the ones we have pretty much span both ends of the match vs. complement spectrum. I guess I come down on this somewhere in the neutral to complementary range. I'm a little leery of doubling down on a warm set of headphones with a cozy tube amp or warm DAC, but can certainly see the merit if playing to the headphone's strengths rather than working against them. 

 

[ukemaxxer]

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Anyone use these with a garage1217 amp?

I use a Garage1217 Horizon kit built for my HD650's. Compliment each other well, plus if you have low impedance headphones as well,  it's easy to change settings.
 

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Anyone use these with a garage1217 amp?

I use a Garage1217 Horizon kit built for my HD650's. Compliment each other well, plus if you have low impedance headphones as well,  it's easy to change settings.

That looks beautiful!

 

[Aerocraft67]

I'm also struck by the range in budget for otherwise well-matched upstream electronics for the HD-650. Just within the Schiit line, you can start at $200 for Modi/Magni, and move all the way to $1,600 for Gungnir/Mjolnir (plus a $300 XLR cable), and find little but praise for HD-650 pairings with either rig. And Sennheiser itself expects to sell new amplifiers for $1,600 and $2,000, quite reasonably expected to pair well with the 650, even though the 800 may be the better match. 
 
So that rather complicates advice on how to allocate a value-optimized (definitely not cheap) head-fi budget (putting aside the obvious question, "does the high end rig sound 8x better than the low end?"). Although, if you bundle the XLR cable into the headphone cost, the HD-650 ranges from about one third to two thirds of the HP/amp/DAC budget within the Schiit line, which seems like a plausible recommendation. Of course the over-the-counter XLR cable nearly doubles the cost of the HD-650, and adding the XLR cable to the electronics category drops the headphone allocation to 20% for the high-end option, which starts to beg more headphone spend. 
 
Conventional wisdom is to allocate a greater proportion of the budget to the headphones, so $2,000 of upstream electronics would seem to stretch that advice for the ~$400 HD-650, not to mention going with even more expensive DAC/amp options. Of course this assumes only one set of headphones, so adding additional headphones to the mix or dual-purposing the DAC for loudspeaker use would bring the budget allocation into line. Not to mention that upgrades are lumpy; owning the HD-650 and stepping up to a $1,600 DAC/amp sets the table to make a subsequent step to the HD-800, which invites another DAC/amp upgrade... 

 

[gopanthersgo1]

I'm also struck by the range in budget for otherwise well-matched upstream electronics for the HD-650. Just within the Schiit line, you can start at $200 for Modi/Magni, and move all the way to $1,600 for Gungnir/Mjolnir (plus a $300 XLR cable), and find little but praise for HD-650 pairings with either rig. And Sennheiser itself expects to sell new amplifiers for $1,600 and $2,000, quite reasonably expected to pair well with the 650, even though the 800 may be the better match. 

So that rather complicates advice on how to allocate a value-optimized (definitely not cheap) head-fi budget (putting aside the obvious question, "does the high end rig sound 8x better than the low end?"). Although, if you bundle the XLR cable into the headphone cost, the HD-650 ranges from about one third to two thirds of the HP/amp/DAC budget within the Schiit line, which seems like a plausible recommendation. Of course the over-the-counter XLR cable nearly doubles the cost of the HD-650, and adding the XLR cable to the electronics category drops the headphone allocation to 20% for the high-end option, which starts to beg more headphone spend. 

Conventional wisdom is to allocate a greater proportion of the budget to the headphones, so $2,000 of upstream electronics would seem to stretch that advice for the ~$400 HD-650, not to mention going with even more expensive DAC/amp options. Of course this assumes only one set of headphones, so adding additional headphones to the mix or dual-purposing the DAC for loudspeaker use would bring the budget allocation into line. Not to mention that upgrades are lumpy; owning the HD-650 and stepping up to a $1,600 DAC/amp sets the table to make a subsequent step to the HD-800, which invites another DAC/amp upgrade... 

Welcome to Head-Fi, Sorry About Your Wallet.®

 

[Mestys]

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Welcome to Head-Fi, Sorry About Your Wallet.®

QFT

 

[yokken]

Well guys, after leaving my HD650s untouched for weeks, today just feels like the day to listen to them. It's just that kind of day. I forgot how detailed these are, for how lush they are. I also forgot how enjoyable they are for electronic music. The DT880 is better, but the warm sound of these is still beautiful. This song is chill-inducing right now.
 

 

[xplisit]

Hey guys new to this forum and just after some advice for an dac/amp for my HD650's that will be arriving later this week, I'm thinking of going with either O2+ODAC combo or Aune T1 + Russian Military 6H23N-EB tube, This will be my first set of decent headphones so I'm just trying to purchase all the right gear to get the best out of my headphones. Any help would be appreciated. if this is the wrong section to post then I'm sorry could someone direct me to correct section. Thanks.

 

[Jason36]

Hey guys new to this forum and just after some advice for an dac/amp for my HD650's that will be arriving later this week, I'm thinking of going with either O2+ODAC combo or Aune T1 + Russian Military 6H23N-EB tube, This will be my first set of decent headphones so I'm just trying to purchase all the right gear to get the best out of my headphones. Any help would be appreciated. if this is the wrong section to post then I'm sorry could someone direct me to correct section. Thanks.

Welcome to the Forums,

From what I have heard the 02 + ODAC is a good choice for the HD650's........have you looked at the Schiit Modi / Magni combo ($99 each)? I am just waiting for mine to be delivered for use with my HD650. Again these have had some good reviews used with the HD650.

 

[Mestys]

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Well guys, after leaving my HD650s untouched for weeks, today just feels like the day to listen to them. It's just that kind of day. I forgot how detailed these are, for how lush they are. I also forgot how enjoyable they are for electronic music. The DT880 is better, but the warm sound of these is still beautiful. This song is chill-inducing right now.
 

Tune!! I've been thinking about purchasing some Dt880's to pair with my HD650s. Do you think they compliment each other quite well?
 
I've heard that the mids are a bit withdrawn but they have a lot more sparkle than the HD650s?

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Why not not at a nice closed hp with sparkle as a complement those 650's?  Warm with sparkle dt770 for a closed hp. For a nice flat response in a closed hp the maddogs by Mr. Speakers are very good. 

 

[xplisit]

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Welcome to the Forums,

From what I have heard the 02 + ODAC is a good choice for the HD650's........have you looked at the Schiit Modi / Magni combo ($99 each)? I am just waiting for mine to be delivered for use with my HD650. Again these have had some good reviews used with the HD650.

Hey thanks for the reply, the schiit modi / magni combo cost $330 here wish I could get them for $99 each, The O2/ODAC also cost about $340, while the Aune T1 with russian military 6H23N-EB tube is $250 kind of leaning towards the Aune T1.