[owenhan]

Just out of curiosity for a future upgrade, how should I go about creating a balanced setup for my 650's? I'd have to get a new cable, dac and amp right? Balanced is a significant improvement right? How much would I be looking to spend to create a decent balanced rig that's also a significant improvement over what I have now? Second hand equipment or DIY are also options.

 

[tim3320070]

Just reterminate the 650 cable- don't bother with a new one. Cheapest option might be a Matrix Mini ($300ish), then the LD balanced DAC and MKVII Amp ($800ish), then next up in price might be the Audio-gd Roc with his new Dac (that is coming) to pair with the Roc ($1800ish). There are others you might want to research. Balanced 650 sounds better but don't expect miracles.

 

[Bowedtoothdoc]

I do not own the HD650, but have heard that they benefit substantially from being balanced. I can say that it made a huge difference on my AKG K701. You need a DAC with balanced output and an amp with balanced input. For the recable on the HP it depends on the headphone out on the amp. Some use two 3 pin XLR plugs and some use one 4 pin XLR like the amp I have. I prefer the single plug as it's a bit neater looking and less bulky.

 

[apatN]

I too am interested in balanced but really... don't you want to hear some more headphones? Balanced is not necessarily better than driving headphones SE; it really depends on the headphones and their inner design.

You have a nice setup now and what I recommend is to try some more headphones.

 

[owenhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim3320070 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just reterminate the 650 cable- don't bother with a new one. Cheapest option might be a Matrix Mini ($300ish), then the LD balanced DAC and MKVII Amp ($800ish), then next up in price might be the Audio-gd Roc with his new Dac (that is coming) to pair with the Roc ($1800ish). There are others you might want to research. Balanced 650 sounds better but don't expect miracles.

Thanks for the suggestions. Reterminating isn't a bad idea but I wouldn't mind a shiny new cable.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowedtoothdoc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not own the HD650, but have heard that they benefit substantially from being balanced. I can say that it made a huge difference on my AKG K701. You need a DAC with balanced output and an amp with balanced input. For the recable on the HP it depends on the headphone out on the amp. Some use two 3 pin XLR plugs and some use one 4 pin XLR like the amp I have. I prefer the single plug as it's a bit neater looking and less bulky.

Most balanced amps I've seen seem to have 2 plugs. I'm assuming 2x 3 pins and 1x 4 pin sound exactly the same?

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I too am interested in balanced but really... don't you want to hear some more headphones? Balanced is not necessarily better than driving headphones SE; it really depends on the headphones and their inner design. You have a nice setup now and what I recommend is to try some more headphones.

I have listened extensively to:

Grado sr60i/80i/225i/325is/rs1i
AKG 701
Denon D2000/D5000
Beyer DT880(250ohm)
AT W1000/AD1000

Are there any others I should have a listen to before settling on balancing 650s? Though I don't even know where I could listen to other headphones in Australia since I did most of my listening overseas. I haven't heard HD800's or T1's but they're a little out of my price range.

 

[apatN]

That is already a very nice list! I am looking at HE-5 and MS-PRO (to mod it like my MS1000).

 

[nikongod]

Why so set on balanced? There are plenty of nice amplifiers that drive the load from one end.

I would look at the weakest links. Depending on your luck & budget a budget balanced amp may be 2 steps towards top down design, 1 step from good sound.

 

[pyramid6]

I agree with nikongod. I would look at better SE. For $800 you can get a WA6, a MadEar HD+ or a CSP-2. You can probably get a D7000. There are probably good SS amps in that price range too.

When I balanced by AKG 701 and HD650, I didn't think it was worth it. I would go with a better SE amp.

 

[owenhan]

Would a WA6 be an upgrade from a Solo? Spent like $700 on this amp, feel a bit silly replacing it with a $800 one so soon.

 

[owenhan]

Bump