[MaciekN]

  Survey done.

 
 

  Survey done.

Thanks!

 

[James-uk]

I remember a post from O2 thread at diyaudio where the deisgner of The Wire said he could easily tell his amp apart from O2 with HE-6. The reponse was that O2 was not designed to drive such inefficient and power hungry headphones - that these were simply the 1 or 2% that need a more capable amp.

By the way you may have noticed my General Headphone Amplifier Survey thread but just to be sure I am posting it here as well. I am doing a case study on what poeple expect a good amplifier to have and what are the qualities of amps that poeple here hold most important and I would really appreciate some feedback from those who have the O2.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/773TTR3

Done.

 

[adydula]

Yes,
 
But all music is not the same, there is a lot of stuff out there that sounds like crap when used with decent transparent electronics...
 
I find Adele's recording very offensive in that department especially sibiliant to me...terrible high end...
 
Imagine having separate cans, amps to make your recording sound good to you....
 
I like the O2 and ODAC for a good rational base that presents all music equally....good stuff sounds good, bad stuff sounds bad...I look
for good and great recordings...even the same material remastered and be better or worse thatn the originals etc...
 
If you find a set of cans that work well with good material that is a marriage made in heaven.....
 
It looks like some of you seem to have this with your HE6's and B22's...that's great but that setup costs apprecialbly more
than a O2 amp setup.
 
But like you say its a hobby and your bucks!
 
Alex

 

[Xenophon]

Alex,
 
I agree 100% with your philosophy, for me also, to the max extent possible any colouring should come from the headphone (or EQ'ing) with the rest of the chain as transparent/neutral as possible.  That's what I tell my wife when she asks me why on earth 
 own 3 headphones 

  Those are words quickly uttered but fact is, many people prefer a coloured rendition, at least in the short run.  With classical music I'm fortunate in the sense that most present day recordings are high-quality.  Been reading up on diyaudio about agdr's new design...fascinating stuff (though I personally think he went a bit overboard with the bass boost thing) but assembly seems anything but simple.  And there's the matter of the AC output wall wart for EU users.... but good luck putting it together.

 

[Solrighal]

I've bought more albums from Amazon since getting the 650's a month ago than I have in the previous year. That should say something.

 

[Whitecitadel]

I've bought more albums from Amazon since getting the 650's a month ago than I have in the previous year. That should say something.

 
You have a free Amazon prime trial? 

 
Actually just wanted to post to share my good news:
Quote Deutsche Post AG:

 Die Sendung wurde am 25.04.2014 im internationalen Logistikzentrum Frankfurt zur Weiterbeförderung nach Großbritannien übergeben.

Which even with my rudimentary understanding of German means my o2 kit and odac are in Frankfurt on their way to the UK 

 
Great service from Stefan at Head'n'HiFi, especially when I wanted to add something to my order at the last minute!

 

[Solrighal]

I bought from Stefan & Walter too. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Currawong]

 

I was talking to Tyll a while back and one measurement that isn't easily done without horrendously expensive equipment is Transient IMD. 

Interesting! Thanks for sharing this Currawong! I looked it up and found the following summary explanation:

"There is also transient intermodulation distortion (TIM) to which modern integrated circuits are susceptible. Such circuits depend upon feedback for their linearity, but time delays in the feedback can cause intermodulation distortion on fast transients in the signal."

So I wonder, if this arises based on time domain issues in feedback amps (all op amps require feedback to operate in a linear mode, for example) - does that mean this type of distortion isn't present at all in nonfeedback SET amps?

If so, here's hoping that the TIM measurement process and equipment become cheaper and more widespread over time.

 
I think this may be it and why regular measurements may not pick up on some of the distortion we hear during music playback.  For me a SET amp is a trade-off -- a better response in exchange for a bit of harmonic distortion (and in my case, a lot of mucking about with tube rolling). That may be one of the reasons why non-feedback amps, such as SET amps, have a better reputation with listeners, as do Nelson Pass' amps. 
 
A parallel example for me is what happens with planar headphones and phase distortion. Even if a pair of headphones has a flat phase response (ie: using regular measurements doesn't appear to have phase distortion) in the area between the diaphragm and the ear their can still be a small amount of audible phase cancellation during music playback, which is why Audeze created the Fazer system. Consequently, the audible effect is that instrument position seems more precise with the LCD-X and XC than with their previous models.

 

[adydula]

Xenophon,
 
I went thru many sets of headphones, bought and sold....finally settled on a few (4) right now!! That suit me just fine.
 
Been thru the tube amps and rolling.....gosh what a ton on bucks went down that hole....LOL
 
The ODA bass boost in my build will be left out.
 
The bass boost that is in it is only a 3db boost on the low end.
 
I might add it later just to see etc. But I kind of doubt it.
 
There are a lot of "improvements" that can be used or not depending on what you want in the end.
 
I have started soldering today and am posting pix on DIYAUDIO's site..
 
All the best
Alex

 

[Solrighal]

I've found another benefit of using the O2. Whenever I make EQ changes in JRiver I can be absolutely sure that what my ears are hearing is the result of that change, and not some unforeseen interaction between a coloured amp & - by definition - a coloured source.

So for instance I seem to have stumbled upon my headphone Holy Grail, the Sennheiser HD 650. The signature is almost perfect to my ears. Almost. And the only way I know this for sure is because I'm using perfectly transparent amplification.

Feelin' the love?

 

[anthk]

I've found another benefit of using the O2. Whenever I make EQ changes in JRiver I can be absolutely sure that what my ears are hearing is the result of that change, and not some unforeseen interaction between a coloured amp & - by definition - a coloured source.

So for instance I seem to have stumbled upon my headphone Holy Grail, the Sennheiser HD 650. The signature is almost perfect to my ears. Almost. And the only way I know this for sure is because I'm using perfectly transparent amplification.

Feelin' the love?

I'm  a bit torn between buying a HD600 or HD650. I think I might go after hd600 since I usually listen to metal or similar genres...

 

[adydula]

Zorrofox....agree 100000%.
 
The hd650's are a very nice set of headphones...I have a set of Beyer 1350's and T90's that are my favorites...
 
I haven not had the pleasure of listening to hd650's but will someday!!
 
Alex

 

[James-uk]

I'm  a bit torn between buying a HD600 or HD650. I think I might go after hd600 since I usually listen to metal or similar genres...

I have both and hd800. For me personally the 600s win out over 650. The 600s have a bigger soundstage and better imaging. They are also more accurate in tone to my ears too. The 650s just have a little to much bass which takes away from the rest of the spectrum and closes in the soundstage to my ears/brain. I currently give 50/50 head time to hd600/800 and the 650s are getting none . I will be selling them soon because they are pretty much in new condition so would be a waste to leave them collecting dust . I love the sound of the 650s btw but I just love the 600s that little bit more. I actually think the hd600s balance is more natural and realistic than the 800s and if I could get some sort of hd800/600 hybrid I would be in heaven and would probably never need another pair of headphones.

 

[Xenophon]

The above just shows that in the end it's all about personal taste.  I started out with a pair of BD DT-880's in 600 Ohm.  Overall very good cans for the price but I just didn't like their treble presentation.  Assumed it was the model but after some listening to other models up to the T1, I concluded it was to a large extent the BD 'house sound' that wasn't for me.  For they time being I found my nirvana between the HE-500, HD-800 and the headphone that for me is the person king of the universe, the HE-6.  But obviously I haven't heard all cans under the sun.  Am curious (but fearful) to try the SR-009 and I suspect that for my music the AKG Q-701 might be worth giving a spin.  Only trouble is that my dear wife insists that one pair of cans coming in = another pair going out.

 

[Solrighal]

Zorrofox....agree 100000%.

The hd650's are a very nice set of headphones...I have a set of Beyer 1350's and T90's that are my favorites...

I haven not had the pleasure of listening to hd650's but will someday!!

Alex

I can't get enough of them. I've just passed the 200 hour mark with the Senn's, 90% of that with my ODAC/O2 and they sound wonderful! I hear people say the 650's pair very well with certain valve amps but I'll be damned before I feel as though anything's missing right now.