[lescanard]

I've been reading and getting some great advice from Head-fi-ers about my desire to upgrade. I'm going to be doing that soon. One of my potential choices will be the HD650s. My question is simply about my source and amp.

I use and will using my Macbook as my source with mostly lossless or hi-bit aac files which was a topic in and of itself in another thread. I currently have a Total Bithead USB Dac/Amp. That will be the next upgrade. For now - I'll use that until I can get either a RSA Predator or Pico. My question is will the Total Bithead be able to drive these babies sufficiently until I upgrade - and when I do will either the Pred or Pico be acceptable. I know that there will be suggestions for better equipment but this is where I'll end up so I am simply wondering your opinions on the 650s with the above components. Thanks all!

 

[driftingbunnies]

The 650's need a full size amp to really sing. If you can't get a full size amp and dac i guess the predator or pico is the next best thing. I would save up money for something that isn't portable.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

I would recommend a full size amp of at least Little Dot MkIII quality to drive the HD650 headphone. In your setup I think the HD595 would better serve the purpose for now.

 

[lescanard]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess what I was really trying to figure out is that knowing that my setup will most likely be more "portable" (because that's simply how I will be listening to my music) will it be worth it to upgrade to the 650s. I really like the sound of the 595s on my setup and have just been wanting "more" which is my (and many others here) curse. Based on my setup - if the 650s won't bring me to that extreme next level (even though they will of course be better than the 595s but maybe not better enough) then I may be better off not doing it.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I have only had brief listens to the HD-595, but I think the HD-650 is a much better headphone overall.

The problem is that the HD-650 needs a fair bit of power to be driven well. If you don't, well, that's where all those "Sennheiser Veil" myths came from. Driven properly, the HD-650 is transparent and can almost sound like an electrostat. You are not, however, going to get that kind of sound from a 9V battery. If you're interested in a good amp at a fair price, look along the lines of the Gilmore Lite, M^3, CK2III, EC/SS, and probably a few others I can't think of right now.

As for portability, well, the HD-650 isn't really a good choice. They are open and let external sound in. They would not be good on a bus, train or airplane. Anyone next to you will hear what you're listening to. You can't really enjoy them in public. If you're on the move, get good portable cans instead or quality IEMs. Save the full-sized open headphones for home.

 

[lescanard]

Thanks - although I'm really not talking portable in the traditional sense. I've digitized my entire library (lossless files) so I run it out of my macbook. I mean portable within my house - may listen in the living room, pick up and go out in the backyard. I need an dac/amp with the usb capability to run from my macbook. So - basically looking to capture some of the 650 joy with the setup as described. I've got other portable phones for when I leave the house.

 

[John Willett]

I have 3 options when using headphones from the laptop.

My No.1 - when the best is the minimum option (editing CD masters from Sequoia) - I use the new Cakewalk UA-1G USB interface and feed the output via optical Toslink to my Grace m902b. The M-Audio Transit is good for this as well (I only changed because I could not get the Transit to work under Vista).

My No,2 - I also have the Echo Indigo DJx Express card (they also do a PCMCIA version) - a very nice slot-in headphone amplifier of high quality when I'm on the move.

My No.3 - I also have a Graham Slee Voyager for boosting the output of the internal soundcard (or for adding an extra boost to the DJx)

 

[Jap]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif The problem is that the HD-650 needs a fair bit of power to be driven well. If you don't, well, that's where all those "Sennheiser Veil" myths came from. Driven properly, the HD-650 is transparent and can almost sound like an electrostat. You are not, however, going to get that kind of sound from a 9V battery. If you're interested in a good amp at a fair price, look along the lines of the Gilmore Lite, M^3, CK2III, EC/SS, and probably a few others I can't think of right now.

[size=small]
Thank you very much for this! I wanted a small, powerful home amp solution, and I completely forgot about the Gilmore Light. And to think I once seriously considered this for my first amp. This should do the job powering the HD650 and the DT48E, and what a sweet, elegant solution it is!

[/size]

 

[Germancub]

I know I'm a brand new poster, however I have been a headphone enthusiast since the days of Headwize (1999 actually is when i got my first pair of "real" headphones). I say get the HD650's and worry about the other crap later. At the very least they will sound "good". That way, when you finally DO upgrade, you already have some of the best dynamic headphones in the world to do so. Just my opinion.

 

[upstateguy]

Ditto on getting the 650s.

Another good 650 amp option is the Woo3, but a good DAC will give you a better return than a good amp. I've worked my way through a DAC-AH, Zhaolu, Constantine and Stello with my 650s and what I've discovered is that if you're going to use USB, you're going to need a better transport than the ones that come built into the DACs. When I set up the Constantine with an M^3, using USB from a laptop, I found that the built in USB of the Constantine was not nearly as good as the coax or optical was out of my dedicated music computer , so I had to get a separate transport to handle the conversion to coax or optical. To my great surprise, the built in USB on the Stello was also not as good as the coax or optical connections and benefited from the transport just as much as the Constantine did.

And I'll share something else with you. The 650s sound good right out of the headphone jack of my Fuze. They don't sound as good as my computer HD > optical > Stello > GS-1 but still damn good and are easier to drive than my 880s and despite opinions to the contrary, don't need a portable amp or any EQ (from a Fuze anyway). (if you get them, try it yourself)

I apologize for the quick and dirty pic..

Notice the volume level, about 3/4, is comfortable, with more to go....

USG

 

[driftingbunnies]

The 650 will definitely be a big step up from the 595 imo. The only thing is whether you're the type person who wants to get as much as you can out of them with the money you're willing to spend. For me, I'll always be thinking about how it would sound with an amp. I don't mind listening to it right out of my emu 0202 but I definitely switch to my ld2+ whenever i really want to do some serious listening. So maybe you can get a full size amp for when you're inside the house and just a portable one when you're out in the yard.

 

[lucky]

Regardless of what you read on Head-fi, virtually every phone sold can be enjoyed unamped. Listen for yourself and decide.

 

[lonereaction]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif Regardless of what you read on Head-fi, virtually every phone sold can be enjoyed unamped. Listen for yourself and decide.

I'm listening it on an iqube.. it sounds great o.o
But I don't have golden ears

 

[linuxworks]

my pimeta drives my hd650 JUST FINE.

don't take too serious this myth of the hd's being 'hard to drive'. they are not. they benefit from an amp but you don't NEED one and almost any OK amp will do fine.

 

[lescanard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Germancub /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know I'm a brand new poster, however I have been a headphone enthusiast since the days of Headwize (1999 actually is when i got my first pair of "real" headphones). I say get the HD650's and worry about the other crap later. At the very least they will sound "good". That way, when you finally DO upgrade, you already have some of the best dynamic headphones in the world to do so. Just my opinion.

This is how I really started thinking about this. I do expect in the future my ideas and equipment will change. I seem to love the soundstage of the Senns as I always tend to gravitate towards them. Thanks for the input.