[amcneilly]

I recently purchased a pair of Sennheiser 650 HD headphones and have been happy but feel that they are missing something. After researching on the Internet i found out that i require a headphone amplifier for these headphones to really get the full potential. i purchased Fiio E9 + E7 and noticed that the volume greatly improved but the detail of the sound was still somewhat lacking. I have a feeling that the DAC in my iMac is of similar to better quality than the Fiio E7. I have been researching headphone amps and i am deciding between the benchmark DAC1 and CEntrance DACmini. What is the better choice ? and more importantly will i notice a difference in sound quality or am i wasting my money? Thanks for any replies
 

 

[telecaster]

La Figaro 339 I use that with HD650 and I love it. Crack Bottlehead, seems like a bargain too!

 

[HaVoC-28]

Lehmann linear black cube or cheaper clones like Matrix M-stage or Lovely Cube . The original Lehmann is of course better , but the two others are known to be bargain for price , pair very well with HD650. And many others . 
 
And i think you should focus more on the AMP than in DAC . Instead puting 1000$ and more in a DAC , something beetween 500-700 should be enough and the difference for the AMP . 

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

I recently purchased a pair of Sennheiser 650 HD headphones and have been happy but feel that they are missing something. After researching on the Internet i found out that i require a headphone amplifier for these headphones to really get the full potential. i purchased Fiio E9 + E7 and noticed that the volume greatly improved but the detail of the sound was still somewhat lacking. I have a feeling that the DAC in my iMac is of similar to better quality than the Fiio E7. I have been researching headphone amps and i am deciding between the benchmark DAC1 and CEntrance DACmini. What is the better choice ? and more importantly will i notice a difference in sound quality or am i wasting my money? Thanks for any replies
 

 
I've had HD650's long enough to know that if you don't like them out of a Fiio E9, you won't like them out of any amp. E9 was my first amp, then I moved onto Project Headbox SEII, and then Little Dot MkV. I've also heard them from Musical Fidelity M1 amp, which is a pretty expensive amp, and should pair perfectly with HD650's, but headphones still remained similar in character, improvements were minor, not even nearly as big as some people make it sound. I'm not saying there's no difference, but make sure you audition every piece of gear before you buy it. I learn that the bad way. You don't wanna come home with new gear, and 10 minutes into listening wish that you hadn't made the purchase because it was not worth it.
 
 

 

[zoolander]

Graham Slee Solo, best for 650 IMO

 

[point7]

I've a HD650 + benchmark dac1 + rudistor rpx 35 and it sounds great. The sound is very deep and warm what i like. I like deep bass tones but also details and space.

The biggest improvement was upgrading to the Rudistor amp. (I used a regular stereo amp Denon PMA 700AE for many years)

The internal amp of the dac1 sounds to bright. I had also a Heed can amp and it sounded very similar to the amp of the dac1. (also to bright)

So I also think the amp can make a big difference.

 

[clarknova]

I think the HD650 is more sensitive to amps than other headphones (not tons but a fair amount). Because the HD650 has really a different character too the vast majority of headphones out there. I'm not an expert and I don't claim to be and I've listened to lots of different and expensive headphones in the past 5 years since I started really getting into headphones. In that time frame , I've nailed down my favorite sounding headphones and its the HD650's but the journey to find a good amp for them has been a journey indeed.
 
The Fiio E9 is an excellent starting point and really for many people is more than enough to properly power the HD650's to glory. But if you want to start to mold or change its character and sound signature than you start thinking about spending serious money. 
 
After much exhaustive research and auditioning , I found what I feel for the money really blends well with the HD650's and that would be the Schiit Valhalla. I know that not everyone is a tube fan but this isn't really your typical tube. It doesn't actually make the HD650's "warmer" it actually makes them "brighter" and lifts the well known dark veil (which may or may not bother some of you) and it does this for $350. 
 
I'm sure I could find better for close to a thousand but I've listened to solutions costing just about double and I don't find them to be any kind of real upgrade. As for me , an upgrade is when you notice a significant difference without any required critical "listening". By critical "listening" I mean having to nearly close your eyes and pick out individual differences , if it isn't easily apparent than it isn't a real upgrade in my opinion.

 

[telecaster]

Quote:

 
After much exhaustive research and auditioning , I found what I feel for the money really blends well with the HD650's and that would be the Schiit Valhalla. I know that not everyone is a tube fan but this isn't really your typical tube. It doesn't actually make the HD650's "warmer" it actually makes them "brighter" and lifts the well known dark veil (which may or may not bother some of you) and it does this for $350. 

Did you bought your HD650 before 2007? Because if they are the newer version there is no veil anymore.

 

[saggett]

I used the E9 with the HD650 and thought they weren't likely to improve further in terms of definition with different amps. Moving to a Audio-GD 10SE balanced setup improved the bass impact and integrated it better with the music, but left the clarity of the music as a whole unchanged (still a slight "veil"). But the portable RSA Hornet, paradoxically, has been a dream come true for me. it's much cheaper but the music is much, much clearer. I can hear instrument timbre, room echoes, catches of breath that I couldn't before, and quieter instruments in the background can now be picked out. I lose out slightly on bass authority and wideness of soundstage, but the trade off is more than worth it for me.

 

[planx]

HiFiMan EF2As is a great match for Senns, especially with Raytheons. Unfortunately, I don't have Senns with me, BUT I have indeed tried the HD800 and HD650s on the EF2A