Just bought Sennheiser HD650s and need more powah. WTB amp
Jun 29, 2009 at 9:44 PM Post #31 of 43
I've been quite happy with the Little Dot MkIV and the 650. Of course, an upgrade on the source and then better cables...it never ends!
 
Jun 30, 2009 at 9:11 PM Post #32 of 43
@Shahrose and Uncle Erik: in the stx topic there is an discussion about the power the stx can deliver and if it is enough of not. Clearly, the power in the power sence of the power term is much more than enough. You will never use even 100mW to feed the HD650 since you would be deaf. The max imput power the HD650 can hanble is 500mW (check the brochure from sennheiser's website). The "problem" with de amp of the STX is definitively elsewhere, maybe the Vrms output, maybe the TI chip is uses but definitively not the power.

For now I'm using the zero new edition
biggrin.gif
But in the future I will buy an dedicate amp (something like the Little Dot MkII) and maybe letter on an dedicate DAC and sell the zero
smily_headphones1.gif


lao
 
Jun 30, 2009 at 11:13 PM Post #33 of 43
Power, think about horse power in a car, you can have 200 HP out of a weak little engine with little torque but enough rpm, or 200HP out of a big engine with lots of torque at a low RPM.
Both have 200HP, but i know i wouldn't want to drive the high RPM engine.
That said, an amp that can deliver x mW compared to another with x mW is not going to be representative, if one can deliver a higher current or higher voltage than the other, some phones will love the higher voltage, others the higher current, to look at mW alone seems like a very rough measuring stick.

Just a thought.
 
Jul 1, 2009 at 3:16 AM Post #34 of 43
Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif
No. No, it won't. It puts out 140mW which is not enough.

See FallenAngel's reply below.

300mW is about right, but I like a little more. A Gilmore Lite/Dynalo will give you 1,000mW, or one full Watt. Those sound terrific with the HD-650.


Since Watt is generally referred to as Voltage x Amplitude, that can mean A LOT of things. The HD-650 need 10V peak voltage swing to fully respond. The Dynalo (limited only by input stage) can only handle 6.3V and with some recordings (those that are not compressed to all hell and actually have dynamic range) at reasonably loud levels, that is simply not enough and the amp will clip. Not that I have heard this myself (and I've owned 3 Dynalo amps, I just really like them and am building another couple now). It's the

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif
^ HD650 is rated for 500mW continuous.


Maximum, you don't actually want to put that much voltage through them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by morfic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Power, think about horse power in a car, you can have 200 HP out of a weak little engine with little torque but enough rpm, or 200HP out of a big engine with lots of torque at a low RPM.
Both have 200HP, but i know i wouldn't want to drive the high RPM engine.
That said, an amp that can deliver x mW compared to another with x mW is not going to be representative, if one can deliver a higher current or higher voltage than the other, some phones will love the higher voltage, others the higher current, to look at mW alone seems like a very rough measuring stick.

Just a thought.


Something like that.
wink.gif
 
Jul 1, 2009 at 4:37 PM Post #38 of 43
Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The HD-650 need 10V peak voltage swing to fully respond.


I'm not disputing this, but wondering where you got the figure from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The Dynalo (limited only by input stage) can only handle 6.3V and with some recordings (those that are not compressed to all hell and actually have dynamic range) at reasonably loud levels, that is simply not enough and the amp will clip.


Out of curiousity, where does that leave the M^3 in terms of driving the HD650s? Ti told me that for the HD650s, 1mW (into 300 ohms) gets you somewhere in the upper-90dB SPL range. Every doubling of the power gets you 3dB more. It's not hard to see that 60mW (the power output of the M^3 into 300ohms) can yield some pretty high SPLs.
 
Jul 2, 2009 at 10:06 AM Post #39 of 43
Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew-Spaltro /img/forum/go_quote.gif
A Sugden Headmaster is a solid recommendation. I used my HD600 with them. With rock music which is not supposed to be one of the amps high points but to my ears everything sounded great with me.


I also use this amp and really enjoy listening to music with it and the HD650s. I listen to all kinds of music, but mainly rock and this combo is a foot tapper for me. You will need to find a used one because its retail price is about $1,500.00.
 
Jul 5, 2009 at 9:19 PM Post #40 of 43
Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Unless I'm mistaken, Ampere is the measure of Amplitude.


ampere is a measure of "rate": number of electrons per second. Amplitude is related to the voltage and voltage is the difference in electrical potential which induct the electrons to flow with a given number per second. Peak-to-peak only makes sense when on AC mode, while in the DC it is just a constant (ideally).

From the electric point of view, there is no such a thing of "a headphone likes more voltage and others current". All need current to induct the transducer, which need a given number of current to convert to electromagnetic field and move it. That's why the sensitivity is important, for a same electromagnet field a transducer can be more easily controlled than another. The voltage is the one which induct the current in the headphone, because the headphones are passive, they have a fixed impedance. That's why come headphones need a higher voltage swing that others.

lao
 
Jul 5, 2009 at 9:26 PM Post #41 of 43
I over simplified the fact that lower impedance phones will end up more current dependent than high impedance phones. With current dependency i mean requiring an amp capable of delivering the current or else things sound very lacking very quick
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jul 6, 2009 at 2:31 AM Post #42 of 43
I'm the same boat as the thread creator and I'm seriously looking at the Little Dot MK II. My only questions are what additional equipment will I have to get to use a computer soundcard (Creative Audigy 2 ZS) as the source output and what would be the best place to buy one online?
 
Jul 6, 2009 at 3:41 AM Post #43 of 43
You can pick up a stereo 3.5mm to RCA cable at Radioshack. Best $6.99 (iirc) you can invest there. What you saved by not buying $134.88 cables you can invest on a better DAC at some point, using the audigy for digital out at that point.
Make sure the card is set to line out, plug in the 3.5mm plug into the line out, plug the RCAs into the MkII's line in and enjoy.

Edit: Or contact Little Dot prior to purchase, ask them to include a 3.5mm to RCA cable instead of the RCA to RCA they usually include. Maybe they still have them, i know some people ended up with 3.5mm to RCA cables in past.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top