[nwilliams]

Just picked up a pair of HD650. I'll be using these to monitor a portable songwriting rig that consists of an Apple Macbook Pro along with these converters:Lavry Engineering - Unsurpassed Excellence
These are some of the top ranked converters for audio professionals along with Benchmark, Prism etc...

Now the question is....What am I going to drive the 650s with?
The Lavry DA has a built in headphone amp which according to Dan Lavry is of great quality but I don't think it'll cut it. The rear of the unit has two balanced XLR outputs meant to hook up monitors.

What would you guys recommend? No tubes and a relatively small footprint.

What about some of the balance cabling options terminating in Left/Right XLR connectors on the HD650s?

 

[olblueyez]

Price Range?

 

[nwilliams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif Price Range?

I've already spent a fortune on this portable rig so I've got to keep this around $500. I would do without an amp if I could and simply rely on the Lavry headphone output but I figure I may as well make sure I'm maximizing the potential of the 650s within my budget.

 

[olblueyez]

Needs to be balanced?

 

[paaj]

i guess he wants to now if/how using a balanced cable with the lavry is gonna work compared to normal dedicated amp.
but then, did you use your hd650 with the Lavry already? it may be great?

else the Graham Slee Solo is very good with the hd650 and probably a bit over budget, but you could look at the new Novo wich is said to come really close.

 

[nwilliams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif Needs to be balanced?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paaj /img/forum/go_quote.gif i guess he wants to now if/how using a balanced cable with the lavry is gonna work compared to normal dedicated amp. but then, did you use your hd650 with the Lavry already? it may be great? else the Graham Slee Solo is very good with the hd650 and probably a bit over budget, but you could look at the new Novo wich is said to come really close.

I'm used to working with balanced devices in the studio environment. It seems like going the balanced route with headphones can be very pricey. The Lavry converters have XLR balanced outputs which is what brought me to thinking balanced. Having said that, a balanced headphone amp will bring me above budget. I haven't tried the headphone output on the Lavry DA10 since I haven't received my 650s yet...should have them later in the week. With the high impedance of the 650s, I thought I wouldn't get adequate power to drive the headphones properly but I guess I should try before coming to that conclusion! The Graham Slee stuff looks great but I think the Novo is still slightly above budget..I'll take another look.

 

[blessingx]

The balanced XLRs out the back (with Lavrys adjustable level output) sounds great with the HD650s. It's so much better with the Senns then single-ended out the front, and to be honest, unless you go used I doubt you'll get much improvement looking in the $500 range for an amp to attach to it. I say stick with the Lavry and save your money or sell the Lavry and redistribute your money (get a Apogee Duet for $500 and use the rest for a nice amp). I used the DA10/HD650 combo for over a year.

 

[nwilliams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx /img/forum/go_quote.gif The balanced XLRs out the back (with Lavrys adjustable level output) sounds great with the HD650s. It's so much better with the Senns then single-ended out the front, and to be honest, unless you go used I doubt you'll get much improvement looking in the $500 range for an amp to attach to it. I say stick with the Lavry and save your money or sell the Lavry and redistribute your money (get a Apogee Duet for $500 and use the rest for a nice amp). I used the DA10/HD650 combo for over a year.

Where did you find the difference was between the front headphone jack and the XLR outputs in the back? Did you find you had more output/gain using the rear XLR? I would think the amplification on the front headphone jack would be better suited to drive a pair of headphones than the rear XLR?

This sounds like a great option and I think you make a great point of working with what I have rather than trying to work within a relatively limited budget.

This now brings me to another question. I have experience with soldering cables since I build cables for my studio on a regular basis. I have spools of both Canare and Mogami along with Neutrik connectrs. The question is, where would I find the molded connectors that go in the headphones to build my own. I'll also need to find the wiring diagram for the XLR connectors. It seems like a lot of pre made cables terminate in male XLRs where as the Lavry's outputs will require female XLR. What is a good source or where can I post questions on DIY balanced cable wiring?

Thanks for your help

 

[razor]

I would also like to know how to do build balanced cables for the 650.

Thanks

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

You can always buy a pair of $10 Neutrik XLR gender changer from parts-express.com (a barrel connector with female on both ends). I know people run headphones out of the balanced XLR from DACs all the time, some work better with headphones than others. If people have tried the Lavry to drive HD650 and say it is good, then it is worth a try.

In my case, I used my Apogee mini-DAC XLR out to drive HD600 and HD650 with an APS V3 cable using female Neutrik XLR plaugs. While I got more speed and separation and detail and space, I lost some warmth and bass impact vs single ended. Going to a balanced amp fixed all that and gave me the best of both worlds.

HOWEVER, using the pre-amp out of Blutarsky's Melos SHA Gold, these same balanced HD600 are audibly stunning, and it matches the sound quality of my Balanced amp - but I'm told it can't drive anything less than 300 ohms without suffering severe loss in bass. You should be safe with your 300 ohm HD650 out of the back of your DAC, and maybe it will sound as good as the Melos XLR out instead of slightly lacking like the Apogee XLR out.

If you try the XLR out and it isn't acceptable to you, all you need to do is re-terminate your home-built cable with a 1/4" TRS and buy an affordable single ended amp. You can also get female XLR-RCA adapters to use the XLR out to run a single ended amp (I don't recall where I got mine). I do have a beta NOVO (mentioned previously) here right now, and it is fantastic with all kinds of headphones, including HD600. I will be posting more about it by tomorrow night. See: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...screet-365429/

 

[nwilliams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by razor /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would also like to know how to do build balanced cables for the 650. Thanks

You can do a search and find some info but there are no posts giving any real details. I'll keep you posted if I find anything more.

You can purchase 650 connectors from:APureSound - Where The Music Is Always Pure - APS Audio LLC.
They charge $32 for a set.

You would then need to solder your choice of 2 pair cable such as Mogami etc. Terminate in XLR and place heat shrink where necessary. Once I've ordered and received the Sennheiser connectors, I'll try to post a little step by step tutorial on building the cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can always buy a pair of $10 Neutrik XLR gender changer from parts-express.com (a barrel connector with female on both ends). I know people run headphones out of the balanced XLR from DACs all the time, some work better with headphones than others. If people have tried the Lavry to drive HD650 and say it is good, then it is worth a try. In my case, I used my Apogee mini-DAC XLR out to drive HD600 and HD650 with an APS V3 cable using female Neutrik XLR plaugs. While I got more speed and separation and detail and space, I lost some warmth and bass impact vs single ended. Going to a balanced amp fixed all that and gave me the best of both worlds. HOWEVER, using the pre-amp out of Blutarsky's Melos SHA Gold, these same balanced HD600 are audibly stunning, and it matches the sound quality of my Balanced amp - but I'm told it can't drive anything less than 300 ohms without suffering severe loss in bass. You should be safe with your 300 ohm HD650 out of the back of your DAC, and maybe it will sound as good as the Melos XLR out instead of slightly lacking like the Apogee XLR out. If you try the XLR out and it isn't acceptable to you, all you need to do is re-terminate your home-built cable with a 1/4" TRS and buy an affordable single ended amp. You can also get female XLR-RCA adapters to use the XLR out to run a single ended amp (I don't recall where I got mine). I do have a beta NOVO (mentioned previously) here right now, and it is fantastic with all kinds of headphones, including HD600. I will be posting more about it by tomorrow night. See: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...screet-365429/

Sounds like the route I'll take. I'll start by building the cable and experiment with the DA10 XLR outs straight to HD650 and see how it sounds. Worst case scenario, as you pointed out, I can always re-terminate with 1/4" and go with a single ended amp.