I had the hd650's paired with a darkvoice/le figaro amp at the time I owned them. I also felt that amping never made a huge difference for these particular headphones. In fact, I almost found the recable made a bigger difference to me.   Having also heard the hd25-1 ii, I definitely thought...

Thanks MalVeaux, that helps a lot!

Bumpity bump

Exploring what's out there for closed portables  Anyone have experience comparing these two yet?

Re: lemontree5544 initial impressions   This is a great review!  I actually really liked the way you described the sound characteristics.   The only thing I felt a little different about was the bass.  Although the impact of the bass has been reduced a little, this revealed how far the...

  Looking forward to your impressions   Quote:  

Yeah, I was super stoked to see the UPS guy at the door yesterday with my V80's... until he said "That'll be $89." Definitely think it was a good call removing them for Canadian orders.   But hey, all in all I'm very happy with these headphones and that's what matters!  So far the best...

If you buy the kit and assemble it yourself the costs are similar I think.  Pre-assembled they run about $550 new.  But the interesting part is the thunderpants are known to compete with headphones that cost a lot more.  So I'm wondering how this open-back mod fits into the mix.    Quote...

Given the dramatic sonic improvements, it would be interesting to know how a recabled open-backed d2000 stacks up against the Thunderpants    I know they may have their own strengths but I wonder if they could maybe be in the same technical ballpark.  I haven't heard the thunderpants(yet) so...

My recommendation (if you can stretch the budget a little) would be the Little Dot i+.  Amazing little tube amp for the price and very customizable.  I've also got a pair of D2k's and it pairs really nicely with this amp.   Brand new they go for $110 but used ones generally aren't too hard...

Nice computer rig! I'm impressed you kept that in the $600 mark. I've got the same case. Bit of a pain to work with but it sure looks great.  Oh and thumbs up for the palmtop tiger   Quote:  

Today I nabbed some pads from a pair of cheap headphones and placed them in front of the driver.  IMO this is the best they've ever sounded  The pads (combined with the center paper mod) have completely eliminated any excess treble and sibilance while still giving all the benefits of the open...

Watching this thread closely  If there's a way to bring down the highs just a tad I'd be one happy camper. They sound great as they are but they could benefit from some minor tweaks I think.  For now, eq it is!   Quote:  

Lol we have it in Canada and it's actually where I found the aluminium mesh  Unfortunately that was the best thing I could find but its worth another look for the black mesh.  Branches can be a little different with inventory.   Quote:  

The earpads are raised like yours. To me they sounded a lot less natural locked in   The material is actually just aluminium mesh used for drywall repair. Should be able to find it in a typical hardware store.  Although the stuff I got had pre-applied adhesive. Kind of a pain to get off. But...