[dude120]

I recently got a set of sennheiser hd 650's. They are absolutely amazing. At the moment, I am driving them from the asus xonar essence stx. I know that even that, is not letting me see the true potential in these amazing headphones. However, I need a dac and an amp to take with me to college. Portable or not, I'd like to get something decent for ~250 bucks.

So far what I've seen the ibasso d4 mamba, & the combination Fiio e7+e9 would be good, decent products, but I would very much appreciate advice on other products that may be better or more suited to my needs.
Thanks! 

 

[holden4th]

I recently got a set of sennheiser hd 650's. They are absolutely amazing. At the moment, I am driving them from the asus xonar essence stx. I know that even that, is not letting me see the true potential in these amazing headphones. However, I need a dac and an amp to take with me to college. Portable or not, I'd like to get something decent for ~250 bucks.So far what I've seen the ibasso d4 mamba, & the combination Fiio e7+e9 would be good, decent products, but I would very much appreciate advice on other products that may be better or more suited to my needs.
Thanks! 

The Fiio E7/E9 works very well with my HD 580s and as you are going to be using them from your 'puter or whatever they will easily drive your Senns and maybe onto another level.

 

[OneSec]

Portable amp helps, but it will not "realize the full potential" of HD650.
 
I audit it on D10 and some portables but they dont satisfy me. IMHO Xonar Essence drives full size cans better than portable amps in most cases.

 

[dude120]

Is there anything else I can get for the money that will get me good performance, portable or not?
How would the fiio e10 do, in such an instance, and could it be used in conjunction with the fiio e9?

 

[firev1]

You may want to try upgrading the OPAMPs there are people who report pretty good improvements in SQ. You would want to check out this thread, it explains alot
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/421890/the-xonar-essence-stx-q-a-tweaking-impressions-thread

 

[dude120]

I plan to do that, however, I'm at college, and my essence stx is at home, which is a tad problematic. Thats why I was more interested in getting a dac/amp which is, if possible, portable. But I wouldn't be turned away from something not very portable either. 
Thanks for the link though. I'll definitely look into changing the opAMPS on my stx, it already sounds real good, so it would be fairly impressive to hear it sound better. 

 

[Head Injury]

The Essence STX is plenty enough to "see the true potential" of the HD650. It performs quite well with high impedance headphones. It's as powerful as many desktop amps, and has more than enough voltage for the HD650.
 
For portable amps, you want to aim for something that can handle 2 to 3 Vrms to be safe, which is anything between 1 and 6x gain depending on your source. You may want to look into the Objective2 DIY amp, though I don't know when the next group board buy is or if someone will offer pre-built units during the group buy. The current version supports AC power and batteries, though it's big for portable use (more "transportable" than anything).

 

[dude120]

Any other suggestions other than the Objective2 DIY? (that looks actually like something very useful, however, I don't know how to get one at the moment). 
I wish I could bring my desktop with me, and not have to contend with this, but it weighs upwards of 65 pounds :\
 
The e7 and e9 by fiio appear to be a viable alternative.
How is the e10?

 

[OneSec]

Well getting a second headphones would be my other suggestion. A close and more efficient phone will fit in nicely, with or without the portable amps.

 

[dude120]

Well, I have my m50's which are easy to drive. I was hoping for something that could drive the 650 for ~250 bucks or less. My choices do appear to be very few and far between.
So, I guess, does anyone know if I could use the fiio e10 and e9 in conjunction with one another? Or would I be better off with the e7+e9?
It seems the ibasso d4 mamba won't cut it to drive a headphone with a 300 ohm impedance. 
Thanks everyone for the responses so far. 

 

[brydon10]

Audinst hud-mx1 - $179.00? I hear it has lots of power to drive hungry cans, maybe someone can elaborate on it paired with 650s. Based on reviews I've read, that's probably what I'd get. Also good for future upgrades, like a stand alone amp paired with the audinst as a DAC. The e7+e9 combo just looks bad imo, but I'm sure it sounds good.
 
Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audinst-HUD-mx1-Hi-Fi-USB-Audio-DAC-/180725176028?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D3268130268508496405#ht_6753wt_1396

 

[dude120]

Thanks, I think I'll order that. That seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

 

[holden4th]

You can go for the E9 and add your own DAC after that. There is nothing wrong with the E7/E9 combo but maybe the E10 will add a bit more - who knows? I use the E9 with both the E7 and an HRT Music Streamer II and know that the E9 as an amp for your cans can not be beaten for the price.

 

[ThePhoenix924S]

I've got the Audinst/ HD650 combination and it works extremely well as a semi-portable set-up.  The Audinst is only about a 4" x 4" x 1 1/4" block on my desk and it powers my HD650s fairly well.  I just ordered a WA6-SE and plan to use the Audinst as a DAC, which people in the dedicated Audinst thread have assured me is fine, so, when you feel ready to upgrade, you'll be able to take advantage of a "proper" desktop amp.
 
I will say this though, the Audinst is USB only, so if you're only working from a PC then you're set.  However, if you ever want to connect anything else, it HAS to be USB compatible.  So no playing music from a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 through the Audinst if you get bored with PC gaming.

 

[dude120]

Alright, I'm going to order the Audinst HUD-mx1. It sounds like it will be better quality and a better deal than the e7+e9, especially in terms of a DAC.
I remember reading something about the Audinst HUD-mx1 having a switch for higher impedance headphones. Will that be necessary for use with the 650, and would that be any help powering said headphones at their current rating of 300 OHMs?
Thanks everyone!