[AVU]

No, I think Atothex is right.  It's not that those phones aren't great, it's that they scale up more powerfully than many others.  Of course they sound fantastic, they're fantastic phones.  But I think for the total price you pay, you'd get better sound quality with a more balanced system. 
 
Quote:

that seems to be the popular sentiment here but i have to disagree. i have never owned a headphone amp and i've been using HD600's for ten years and they sound amazing plugged into anything. in fact i just bought HD800s and when they arrive next week i'm going to see how they sound first before i spend another $300-$600 on an amp or dac.
 
everyone swears you need an amp but a lot of people also swear that cables matter and i've never seen a single double blind test that showed a sound difference in cabling. maybe i'm wrong about the whole amp thing and i'll probably end up getting an amp for the 800's just to satisfy my curiosity and then i'll know for sure whether or not the amp matters. but even if the amp improves the HD600, i think it's strange to think the 600's are a waste of money without an amp. compared to most headphones, they are a terrific upgrade.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

What the... ? Dude you live in wonderland... This is a totally different story from cables. Make your self a favour and go buy an amp/dac.. or retire the hobby and be happy with your unamped and dacless HD800.
Quote:

that seems to be the popular sentiment here but i have to disagree. i have never owned a headphone amp and i've been using HD600's for ten years and they sound amazing plugged into anything. in fact i just bought HD800s and when they arrive next week i'm going to see how they sound first before i spend another $300-$600 on an amp or dac.
 
everyone swears you need an amp but a lot of people also swear that cables matter and i've never seen a single double blind test that showed a sound difference in cabling. maybe i'm wrong about the whole amp thing and i'll probably end up getting an amp for the 800's just to satisfy my curiosity and then i'll know for sure whether or not the amp matters. but even if the amp improves the HD600, i think it's strange to think the 600's are a waste of money without an amp. compared to most headphones, they are a terrific upgrade.

 

[ANDYACE]

Would a Fubar III AMP/Dac be loud enough for HD650 as I am planning on upgrading my hd555 to hd650's.

 

[brendon]

I have not heard the Fubar III personally but from the couple of reviews I have read they drive the HD650s pretty good.
 
That said its probably not the best bang for your buck at $349.
 
For $349, having a separate AMP and DAC makes a lot of sense IMO.

 

[ANDYACE]

FInally got my HD650 and yeah the Fubar sounds gr8 through it.  I really liked the sound on the first day but have discovered the famous sennheiser veil, and I have noticed the foam is really thick compared to my HD555. I discovered the veil cos my parents have a cheap triple jack headphone amp and when I use the HD555 there is a lot of hiss.  When I connected my HD650 there was no hiss so actually sounds better in someways, but if there is a lack of hearing hiss it means there is no high-end.  The only thing is it good be the impedance mis-match that causes the hiss to disappear but interesting none of the less.  The sound is more full and musical than the HD555 but yeah there seems to be missing high end, which maybe is for psycho-acoustics, but yeah maybe wait for them to burn in.