[gimmeheadroom]

The Hiby R6 Pro is on the way. I'll report back how it does by itself. Then if I need to, go from there. I really need to perhaps get a balanced cable perhaps for a true test I guess.

Does the ifi have balanced out? I didn't think so. By the way ifi is a member here and has a lot of threads and fans. If you have any questions on the amp, send him a message or post in an ifi thread.

Hiby has a great guy who used to be involved with the company but I think no longer is, he also remains an active source of help and common sense on Hiby. Check out the R6 Pro thread.

Most of all, lemme know how you like the R6 Pro! It's on my list since I used to fly 12 times a year but I haven't been on a plane for a long time due to the crisis.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

Does the ifi have balanced out? I didn't think so. By the way ifi is a member here and has a lot of threads and fans. If you have any questions on the amp, send him a message or post in an ifi thread.

Hiby has a great guy who used to be involved with the company but I think no longer is, he also remains an active source of help and common sense on Hiby. Check out the R6 Pro thread.

Most of all, lemme know how you like the R6 Pro! It's on my list since I used to fly 12 times a year but I haven't been on a plane for a long time due to the crisis.

Sure will! I'm excited about trying it out.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

Sure will! I'm excited about trying it out.

I received my Hiby R6 Pro. Currently using Tidal to listen to music with the 1/8 jack with the 650s. Will transfer some files today to try that out. I guess I need to try to find a balanced cable to see how that works. Any suggestions?

Also, setting suggestions? I'm using the high gain setting. Is this correct? I'm also using warm tonality.

 

[VNandor]

The warm/bright slider is described as an EQ effect on Hiby's site. It's kind of funny they would include something like that while also supporting MQA. I would leave all the sliders and DSPs alone or bypass them altogether if there is a setting for that. If you wanted to equalize your headphones, there are more sophisticated solutions than what these sliders can provide.

I would use the high gain setting but only if the volume doesn't have to be set ridiculously low that way. Some gear doesn't work well with unusually low volumes, digital volume control can reduce bit depth way too much in extreme cases, analog volume control can have channel imbalances, the amp is probably not operating on its most linear part of their range. Of course it's not always bad but I just wouldn't set my volume to something silly like 3/100 or just barely moving the volume knob for my personal peace of mind.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

The warm/bright slider is described as an EQ effect on Hiby's site. It's kind of funny they would include something like that while also supporting MQA. I would leave all the sliders and DSPs alone or bypass them altogether if there is a setting for that. If you wanted to equalize your headphones, there are more sophisticated solutions than what these sliders can provide.

I would use the high gain setting but only if the volume doesn't have to be set ridiculously low that way. Some gear doesn't work well with unusually low volumes, digital volume control can reduce bit depth way too much in extreme cases, analog volume control can have channel imbalances, the amp is probably not operating on its most linear part of their range. Of course it's not always bad but I just wouldn't set my volume to something silly like 3/100 or just barely moving the volume knob for my personal peace of mind.

The volume for the 650s is set around 70% out of 100 with high gain on. Setting it low does not seem to be a problem. All the sliders are set to 0 change on the sound. I have not adjusted them one way or the other. What balanced cable would you recommend?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

If that is using an unbalanced connection, a balanced cable will get you a few more notches of headroom but not much.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

If that is using an unbalanced connection, a balanced cable will get you a few more notches of headroom but not much.

The player has a balanced input jack. Are you saying a balanced cable would not really make that much of a difference to the actual sound quality and details using the Sennheiser HD 650s? To just use the 1/8 input?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The player has a balanced input jack. Are you saying a balanced cable would not really make that much of a difference to the actual sound quality and details using the Sennheiser HD 650s? To just use the 1/8 input?

I don't get it. I thought you were talking about output.

Balanced does not affect sound quality by itself. But since you're trying to run an HD 650 off a portable device, the extra power will help them sound less bad.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

I don't get it. I thought you were talking about output.

Balanced does not affect sound quality by itself. But since you're trying to run an HD 650 off a portable device, the extra power will help them sound less bad.

Yes, sorry I meant the output. I think they sound pretty good with 1/8, but I'm curious about the balanced output. I'm also curious about IEMs

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Yes, sorry I meant the output. I think they sound pretty good with 1/8, but I'm curious about the balanced output. I'm also curious about IEMs

IEMs don't need the extra power of balanced. The 650s do.

 

[lantian]

Also, what about using the Fiio M11 Pro with the Sennheiser HD 650s? Is this possible or do I need IEMs to use the player by itself?

B&H Photo Video is recommending that and are saying for me to use the 1/4 to 1/8 adapter to go into the Fiio using the 650s. That the sound quality difference using 1/8 is minimum. That the 650s are not natively balanced and would need the HDVA 500 amp to be balanced. Thoughts?

Most daps have very weak amps and are primarily made with iem's and low z phones in mind.
Only viable options are astel and kern line(very expensive) cayin top players would also be able to power them or ibasso starting with dx160. Pretty sure not a single fiio or hiby will be able to drive them with enough undistorted power. The only other dap maker who could have an option for you would be shanling.
A dap needs quite a large voltage swing for those high impedence loads and most do not have that. Your cheapest option is ibasso dx160 Or dx150. Otherwise get the hipdac from ifi.