HD650 - amp or no amp

[Jagstang]

Hello all, although I've only just joined this forum I have been visiting regularly over the past few weeks doing loads of reading to trying and help with my headphone purchase decision.

Working on a mac all day as a motion graphics manager, I wanted a nice pair of headphones that will allow me to 'cut myself off' from the rest of the hussle and bussle of our open plan studio.

A colleague of mine owns a pair of HD-580's which I've always thought sound lovely, very spacious yet very musical and deep.

So.., I thought.. I'll get a pair of HD-580's as I know I like them, but the HD580's are discontinued which ment that I had to choose something else or look for a second hand pair. Wanting to buy new I decided to do some research into other options, the HD600 / HD650 looked similar in design but were quite expensive, although still within reach with some ebay prices.

After a lot of reading I started to see a picture developing where people recomended that to make the most of the 600's / 650's you'd need an amp, but as mine were driven solely my lowly mac I wouldn't be using an amp.

Liking the Senn sound and especially the comfort for wearing them all day, I wanted to stick with them. I found quite a few threads that recommended the HD595 for people without amps, so I took the plunge and oreded a pair.

When the 595's turned up a couple of days later I was dissapointed with them the moment I heard the first track, although they sounded very clear and powerful, they didn't have that musical depth that the 580's had. I also found that they only really sounded great at higher volumes and that I couldn't listen to them for very long at those kind of volumes.

Not sure where to go next I decided to pop into a local hifi shop to try out the HD650's as they were the only senn headphones they stocked. I took my mates 580's in for comparison too. The moment I heard the 650's I was blown away - they had that lovely 580 sound but with what seemed even more power and increased high end clarity..... I was sold!

As much as I wanted to buy the 650's from the shop they could not go below £250, so I ordered via ebay for £180 and had them the next day. I'm still loving my 650's, even though a computer alone they still way outperformed 595's (to my taste) so the 595's found themselves returned.

I guess the moral of my story is that although I'm sure a headphone amp will indeed make a big difference, it's still worth going for high end cans if you only have a low end source... IMO anyway

Thanks to all here at headfi.com, the forum was a huge help in my purchasing decision.

Anyway... back to work - and some lovely sounding tunes

Paul

 

[chrisfromalbany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagstang Hello all, although I've only just joined this forum I have been visiting regularly over the past few weeks doing loads of reading to try and help with my headphone purchase decision. Working on a mac all day as a motion graphics manager, I wanted a nice pair of headphones that will allow me to 'cut myself off' from the rest of the hussle and bussle of our open plan studio. A collegue of mine owns a pair of HD-580's which I've always though sound lovely, very spacious yet very musical and deep. So.., I thought.. I'll get a pair of HD-580's as I know I like them, but the HD580's are discontinued which ment that I had to choose something else or look for a second hand pair. Wanting to buy new I decided to do some research other options, the HD600 / HD650 looked similar in design but were quite expensive, although still within reach with some ebay prices. After a lot of reading I started to see a picture developing where people recomended that to make the most of the 600's / 650's you'd need an amp, but as mine were driven solely my lowly mac I wouldn't be using an amp. Liking the Senn sound and especially the comfort for wearing them all day, I wanted to stick with them. I found quite a few threads that recommended the HD595 for people without amps, so I took the plunge and oreded a pair. When the 595's turned up a couple of days later I was dissapointed with them the moment I heard the first track, although they sounded very clear and powerful, they didn't have that musical depth that the 580's had. I also found that they only really sounded great at higher volumes and that I couldn't listen to them for very long at those kind of volumes. Not sure where to go next I decided to pop into a local hifi shop to try out the HD650's as they were the only senn headphones they stocked. I took my mates 580's in for comparison too. The moment I heard the 650's I was blown away - they had that lovely 580 sound but with what seemed even more power and increased high end clarity..... I was sold! As much as I wanted to buy the 650's from the shop they could not go below £250, so I ordered via ebay for £180 and had them the next day. I'm still loving my 650's, even though a computer alone they still way outperformed 595's (to my taste) so the 595's found themselves returned. I guess the moral of my story is that although I'm sure a headphone amp will indeed make a big difference, it's still worth going for high end cans if you only have a low end source... IMO anyway Anyway... back to work - and some lovely sounding tunes Paul

glad to hear that you are enjoying the headphones.. Maybe you could get a used pimeta in forum here when you have the money.


-Chris

 

[augustwest]

Even a inexpensive headphone amp will be a vast improvement over what you are doing now.

A amp for the 650's very recommended.

- augustwest

 

[wakeride74]

Amp and source upgrades will really bring out the best qualities of the 650's and really show you their true potential but as you can attest to you don't need such things to notice a difference when up grading cans. The Headroom Micro is damn good bang for buck and mates very well with the 650's. Just something to think about

 

[jjcha]

Hey Paul,

Thanks for sharing your experiences - I agree wholeheartedly. I posted a poll on this (that it's better to get a HD650 and worry about an amp later) so that other newbies won't be too deterred from getting a HD650 if they weren't planning on getting an amp. Opinions seem to be split pretty much down the middle.

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123762

But of course, we're the right ones.

Best,

-Jason

 

[bangraman]

The only problem with that is that sources are so variable, and some of them are relatively pathetic and will not even drive the more demanding phones to even 'effective' let alone 'optimum' performance (even that nevertheless being far humbler than the HD650 cheerleaders would have us believe). On the other hand, I've been unable to quantify a 'worth-it' difference between a $1300 SACD player's headphone jack and said player + $4,000 in headphone amp in a switch test.


I think that you should consider the basics... will your source drive a phone of such and such an electrical characteristic properly? And go from there. In that case Head-Fi is quite a valuable resource for the newb because there's a good chance that someone else is using / has used a similar set-up to you.

 

[Jagstang]

That's an interesting thread Jason, it's a shame I didn't find that one before.

If I hadn't heard the 580's before getting the 595's I'd probably have stuck with them and believed that the 600's / 650's wouldn't be suitable for my needs without an amp.

Just out of interest, Can an amp drive them harder without making them any louder?

(say 100 times... I'm not spending any more money, I'm not sp.......)

Paul.

 

[Joey_V]

Quote:

Originally Posted by augustwest Even a inexpensive headphone amp will be a vast improvement over what you are doing now. A amp for the 650's very recommended. - augustwest

On one thread, everyone agrees that amps dont make THAT big a difference with headphone sound while in some threads amps DO make THAT big of a difference.

OP, I would take the word "vast" with a grain of salt.

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey_V On one thread, everyone agrees that amps dont make THAT big a difference with headphone sound while in some threads amps DO make THAT big of a difference. OP, I would take the word "vast" with a grain of salt.

I personally think the amt of improvement/difference varies greatly on the setup itself. What phones, source, etc. Your ears of course.

And you're right on the vast thing . . . usually it's not that pronounced. But in some cases it is. To me, as long as the difference is "enough", it's all that really matters. There's "good" sound, and then there's "great!" sound.