[Kittenface]

Sorry if there is a special forum for advice.

I've finally decided to allot some of my budget to upgrade form the earbuds I bought at Walgreens. From my very basic searching, I've ended up with the Sony MDR-SA5000's and the Sennheiser 650's, which are both about $350. I am always willing to be persuaded to completely change my mind, as I really don't know what I'm doing. I was thinking about then dropping $450 on the NuForce Icon AMP/USB DAC. Of course if there are cheaper ways to get the same sound I'd like to know. 
 
I listen to a lot of ambient/psychill and whatnot. M83, Carbon Based Lifeforms and the like, so something that would fit with that type of music is important.
 
If anyone could give me recommendations I'd greatly appreciate it

 

[Jibbie]

Are you looking to buy both of those headphones?  They're pretty different in terms of sound signature, so if you're going to be purchasing only one of them, it should be easy as they should sound quite different.  The Nuforce HDP is a great amp/dac, but you should choose a headphone first and then match an amp to that headphone.  The HDP would pair great with the 650, but it might make the Sony too bright/analytical.  

 

[NamelessPFG]

$700? That's Stax territory, at least if you're going vintage or used. If not...new is just doable (SRS-2170 system; SR-202 + SRM-252S amp) for full-size headphones if you're not going to get a sound card or external DAC, which would not be doing such expensive headphones justice.
 
It would help immensely if you had a speaker power amp (like an old receiver) handy, because then you could just get a cheap SRD-7 transformer box and use that instead of having to pay up the big bucks for a dedicated Stax amp.

 

[Gwarmi]

NuForce Icon is not going to give you 100% performance from the HD 650's.
 
I know a few guys with LCD-2's running them and they've found out that
even with it's 50ohm impedance it's not enough to do them justice.
 
I'd consider a Violectric V90 - it's affordable and will give you great
flexibility down the track with it's individual channel gain settings.

 

[Jibbie]

Many many users report that the headphone signature pairs amazingly well with the nuforce, and they do a fine job driving them.  The LCD-2 are another story of course, as regardless of their impedance, they are orthodynamics and therefore have a huge demand for power.
 
EDIT:  I, however, assumed he was speaking of the HDP.  He does indeed say Icon, of which I've never heard.

 

[Br777]

if $700 is your total budget, and if you own an ipod or a device that allows a line out,  i have a suggestion that would put you deep in "mind blown" territory
 
buy some thunderpants.. they were just featured on Jude's head-fi tv.. you could get a pair for around $550 or less if you shop the used forums.. though i would suggest a new pair.. many call them the best closed cans around
 
then find a cavalli CTH use amp.. probably around $200-250. 
 
then run your player via an lod and you will have excellent sound.   You can get a dac later.  It will obviously help, but this combo will sound really  excellent in the mean time
 
so for some of the best headphones on the market, and an amp known for being AMAZING esepcially when paired with TP's, you'll come out in budget, or very close to it.

 

[Gwarmi]

All depends on the future aspirations of the OP.
 
The Nuforce Icon is a great budgetary move for the HD 650 but let's get ahead of
ourselves for a moment and say that a HD 800 enters the picture down the track
then an amp change will be required. Something like the Violectric makes things
'future proof' to a certain extent with possible future headphones from HiFi Man
or even something like the K701.

 

[eucariote]

Used Grado RS-1 + udac can be had for that price.  Those headphones don't need many amperes, and the udac has a warm sound (mellowed highs) that is compatible with those headphones.  That will allow you to invest most everything in a good headphone, which is the biggest return on your investment by far.  The udac takes you 90% of the way to a top flight dac and tube amp for <10% of the price.  When you have another $700 to spend, you can upgrade the amp.  I was just listening to M83 with RS-1 and they sounded great.

 

[jesse_w]

I don't know why you want to spend 700$ when you're just moving up from earbuds... I think you might be disappointed. 
 
If I were you, I would buy a pair of PX100s or SR-60is. They will blow you away and you might not need anything else. And they don't cost 700$.

 

[Jibbie]

I think the 700 dollar mark (total on headphones and amp/source combined) is one of the best price/performance spots in all of hi-fi.  You get to choose from the powerhouses of the Sennheiser, Denon, AKG, and Beyer lines, and you get to pair them with a solid amp and dac.  I think its once you start going past this point that its hard to justify the huge price.
 
Quote:

I don't know why you want to spend 700$ when you're just moving up from earbuds... I think you might be disappointed. 
 
If I were you, I would buy a pair of PX100s or SR-60is. They will blow you away and you might not need anything else. And they don't cost 700$.

 

 

[dyl1dyl]

Another option you may want to consider are the entry level Hifiman orthos, the HE-4s together with their ef5 hybrid amp. This combo is right on your budget and will offer detail that probably beats any of the above recommendations apart from the stax. Stax detail is just phenomenal.

 

[kevistador]

The Icon HDP is a great Amp/DAC combo, especially when I heard it with my friends HD650s. You won't be disappointed at that price, and buying new you'll have a warranty in case anything goes wrong.

 

[ilikepooters]

Lawton Audio LA2000 "Lite"
 
http://www.lawtonaudio.com/page5.html
 
May aswell jump straight in to something decent, the Denon's are real easy to drive too.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I'll begin by saying, you likely won't be blown away by anything. I think you'll enjoy any setup recommended here considerably more than a pair of earbuds. However, being floored is something that I would say doesn't even happen with a flag ship high end. It depends what you're listening for and how you're listening to it. If you're into high fidelity and you're an analytical or critical listener, I imagine nothing will blow you away. If you're into listening to pleasure music, very casual, I bet a $30 pair of headphones that are very musical and warm will pretty much put a huge grin on your face.
 
Based on your musical choice, I imagine you're the second type of listener. The pleasure casual listener who is less concerned with high fidelity and more concerned with just listening to something and it sounding musical and good to you. Ie, you're not concerned with accurate reproduction. The HD650 is an excellent headphone for this, it's very warm and musical, dark and bassy. Excellent for chill/ambient stuff. Very comfortable. If you wanted something in the closed variety, I would put you towards the Denon D5000. And if you wanted to save some money and get a very similar sound, I'd push you towards the (open-air) Fischer Audio FA-011. And if you wanted a closed headphone and wanted to save even more money, the Panasonic RP-HTF600-S with Beyer DT400 Velour Pads.
 
That said, I would not go too in dept on your DAC/AMP choices and instead, focus on the headphones more based on what you listen to and based on how you listen--likely a casual pleasure listener, I would say the DAC is less important here for you and not likely something you want to wax technical about. I might be wrong, that's up to you though. I would not suggest getting a $400+ amp/dac for your needs. I would instead suggest you simply get something that will cover virtually anything for about $200 instead and then put the rest of your budget into some really comfortable, luxurious headphones. I would put you onto the Maverick Tubemagic D1 or the Matrix CUBE DAC/AMP or the FiiO E7/E9 combination, all in the $200ish area. Then use $500ish of your budget for some serious headphones.
 
Suggestions on headphones that will be powered fine by those units:
 
Open-air (no particular order):
 
Fischer Audio FA-011 (warm, bassy)
Fischer Audio FA-002 (neutral)
Sennheiser HD650 (warm, bassy, dark)
Sennheiser HD600 (neutral, bright)
Sennheiser HD598 (bright, forward mids, less bass)
Ultrasone PRO 2900 (metallic, very bassy)
Ultrasone HFI 2400 (metallic, bassy, rolled off highs, smooth)
BeyerDynamic DT990 (bassy, sparkly)
BeyerDynamic DT880 (neutral)
AKG K702 (neutral, huge sound stage, light on the bass)
Hifiman HE-300 (neutral-ish, forward, bright)
 
Closed-back (no particular order):

Fischer Audio FA-003 (neutral)
Fischer Audio FA-002w (Open turned closed/semi-open via wood back cups; neutral, woody)
Denon D2000 (neutral, flat down to the lowest sub bass, a touch of brightness)
Denon D5000 (warmer, bit more bassy, otherwise like the D2000 but wood back)
AudioTechnica W1000X (sound stage, detail, not overly bassy, wood back)
BeyerDyanmic DT770 (bassy, trebly)
BeyerDynamic T70 (neutralish, detailed, not bass heavy)
Ultrasone PRO 750 (bassy, good mids, bright)
Shure SRH940 (detailed, mid monster, bass light)
 
Very best,
 

 

[koolkat]

Maybe you should look into setting up a home theatre/speaker system but I'm not sure if 700 hundred bucks is enough.
With headphones I hear the music, with speakers, I feel it 

 
On topic:
 
I agree with Jesse.
 
Since you're just moving up from ear buds, maybe you should look into getting a decent 150-250 dollar headphones instead
of jumping the gun and getting planars/electrostatics. A good starter headphone is the Grado SR60. The M50s are fine if you
can get them cheap (and original, there are a lot of fakes around) but I heard the FA-011 is way better than the M50...