New Ayreon The Source.

For anyone interested, Sonarworks plugin is at -20% discount until the end of the month. Really a good improvement for any HD650 owner! Coupon code: SWHP-20

Can you compare the modi 2u to the sanskrit 6? Thanks

EDIT: solved

Beyer DT 150 are said to sound similar to HD-650, and they are closed back. Ugly AF though, but good sounding and not expensive.

Hd650 is open back, with very little isolation. And for them to shine you would need to spend something starting from the $200 range. Another one to considerato if you are OK with open back is the Fidelio x2, wich is way easier to drive (micca origen or fiio e10k is fine) Another interesting one...

If the main preference is EDM I'd go for a closed HP,like DT770,Fostex th-x00,ZMF,Mad dogs for more bass impact and sub bass extension. An interesting tool for bass could be the subpac s2

  Yeah, I hate how much even their stories (Fish-Marillion and Gabriel-Genesis resemble). Damn pop. I must admit that I also like Fish's solo Albums, and even some pop era Marillion stuff (Marbles and Brave mostly). Can't say the same for pop era Genesis yet. I tried several times to like them...

  Quote:   I think I started a discussion on the mid-fi vs hi-fi term over a misunderstanding of OP with Wapencio. I thought OP wasn't liking the Fidelio X2 suggestions just because it was labelled as "mid fi", hence with no appeal to him. Sorry for derailing the thread a little, OP.  ...

I read that a couple times and I still haven't figured out what you are asking. Unit is a bit unclear :D   BTW, you don't want to use the speaker out signal and use it as a line signal source. Don't you have the Tape out RCA from your multi channel receiver\amp?   EDIT: off topic, don't know...

  Something that I haven't seen posted yet could be one of my favourites: Marillion (Fish era). Some hate on Fish for trying too hard to emulate Peter Gabriel, but I honestly can only appreciate him for doing that. Technically it's Neo-Prog, more easy\melodic?, and with more guitars over synths...

I don't have specific amp suggestions apart from going with a tube amp.   But I think you should also consider a NOS R2R DAC: read this interesting review, I guess that might work for you: http://www.head-fi.org/t/709720/starting-point-systems-portable-nos-dac/15#post_11399021

Well, with $400 budget you are in the "mid-fi" territory. What is mid-fi? Well, if you ask me it's just a term. I consider it a pretty nice spot to be in, considering that HD6x0, Fidelio X2, Hifiman 400s\i and many others good phones belong here. What is accepted as hifi usually goes for $1000...

+1 on the fidelio x2, if you can get it for $200-250. Micca origen seems a solid choice with it too

I personally just tried to discern 24bit\192khz FLAC and Opus 128 VBR (16bit\48khz) and miserably failed (on Foobar+ABX, using Norah Jones "What am I to you"). I managed to pass the Golden Ear from Philips, but I remember the Silver level 128kbps mp3 as one of the most difficult test.   I...