[iancraig10]

Even better .... Join us!!

http://diyah.boards.net

Small, but perfectly formed.

Ian. (Rabbit)

 

[connieflyer]

I have a pair of Senn700's, a pair of Senn650's and just traded a 650 for thr hp 50 and it has no problem being driven by the Ember.  Sound a little warmer than either of the Senn's but to be expected, nice sound for closed phones.

 

[DecentLevi]

So you got the Viso HP50? I recall this can was designed for a neutral, lifelike sound with good stage. How would you describe the sound overall? You meant it's bassier than the 650? Thanks

 

[connieflyer]

Not so much bass heavy, just a touch more warmth, nice even sound top to bottom, soundstage is not as wide as 650,700 but they are very good at isolation from external noise, sound. Now the wife can sneak up behind me, but it's worth it.  Clarity is good as well, listening to two steps from hell and they are sounding very good.

 

[husafreak]

I am having more fun listening to the HP50's than my HD600's. I got them because I wanted closed back cans to compliment my HD600's. They sound very nice. That is all I will say for now. I just unwrapped my Ember but it will be a few days until I can listen to it. With that amp I expect to be able to make a valid comparison. The HD600's just don't work well with the Creek OBH21 I have. I find the HP50's do a good job at isolation in home but I took them on a plane and they let too much low rumble through to be enjoyable at reasonable volumes. I went back to my Klipsch IEM's after a few songs, much better isolation. I think I have the X-10's.

 

[disastermouse]

I am having more fun listening to the HP50's than my HD600's. I got them because I wanted closed back cans to compliment my HD600's. They sound very nice. That is all I will say for now. I just unwrapped my Ember but it will be a few days until I can listen to it. With that amp I expect to be able to make a valid comparison. The HD600's just don't work well with the Creek OBH21 I have. I find the HP50's do a good job at isolation in home but I took them on a plane and they let too much low rumble through to be enjoyable at reasonable volumes. I went back to my Klipsch IEM's after a few songs, much better isolation. I think I have the X-10's.

X10 are awesome. I had some but lost them at the gym. Still, such clear IEMs and so comfortable!

 

[husafreak]

Yeah right! I like them so much I got my kids each a pair for Christmas 2014. Only problem with them is any movement at all and the cables transmit the equivalent of a thunderstorm into my ears... I wonder if all IEM's do that?
Oh I did join the Diyah forum. Looking forward to chatting it up a bit and hopefully getting answers to the questions I posted. Thanks for the invite.

 

[husafreak]

Having a good listen with my new Ember II. I have them on Low Input Gain (W/AM) and caps bypassed (BP-C) and switching back and forth between Low R with my NAD HP50's and High R with my HD600's. I am finding the HP50's preferable for most rock and heavier music and the HD600's better suited to classical or jazz or lighter sounding recordings. And it is pretty hard to choose a favorite with the in between stuff, just a different presentation. The HD600's can sound really spacious and beautiful, more delicate and more detailed. But the NAD's have a denser more direct and powerful sound for heavy music with a lot of impact and drive. Better bass and drums for the 4 piece rock stuff for sure. I listened to te new Cutch CD, 10cc Original Soundrack LP, Symphony X Underworld LP, and Melody Gardot The Absence. I didn't change tubes. I think Jeremy gave me a 6N6P which i am using but I cant read anything on that tube but the RCA logo. I have another Chinese tube that came with the amp but it has no name, just 6H6n and 1 "pentagon" 77. I am guessing that is the stock tube if no other is specified.
Using the fixed out from my preamp the volume knob with CD's i am at 8-10 o'clock and with vinyl i am at 11-2 depending on the head phones. Changing to high gain Input (WO/AM) didn't help much with changing the required volume settings, not a big difference, if that is what it is for.
High R and Low R are very useful. Luckily easy and quick to change as well. High R really fleshes out the HD600's, without it the sound is too thin and bright for my taste. Meanwhile Low R brightens the HP50's and makes them sound more detailed.
I have no idea what bypassing the caps does to the sound. I tried it at the beginning and since I am not hearing any static when changing the volume I left it set that way. What the heck, cleaner signal path.
I don't hear any noise from the tube. I can tap it and I don't hear anything.
It is much better than my Creek OBH-21SE which I thought for many years was a good headphone amp (while avoiding listening to it!). The HP50's sound just OK through the Creek but slightly Lo-Fi. The HP600's just sound bad through the Creek. In a comical way now that I compare to the ember. Not musical at all. Just brittle sounding and the music isn't cohesive. The different instruments don't jell. But with the Ember boy do they ever! Very involving and addictive.

 

[iancraig10]

I'm glad that you like the Ember. You have a good grasp of its variations as well. I've always been curious about the hp50.

Bypassing the caps on mine introduces noise on the vol por. Mine is a proto though, and I think Frans might have done something electronically with the later ones to cut this noise.

Some say that they can hear a difference.

 

[Solrighal]

I'm glad that you like the Ember. You have a good grasp of its variations as well. I've always been curious about the hp50.

Bypassing the caps on mine introduces noise on the vol por. Mine is a proto though, and I think Frans might have done something electronically with the later ones to cut this noise.

Some say that they can hear a difference.

 
There's no noise on the MkII with the caps by-passed. I hear the sound as being slightly more dynamic & open with the caps by-passed but it's tube dependent and not a night & day change.

 

[iancraig10]

On the Mk I, I just get pot noise coming through when I move the vol pot, but other than that, it's fine. As long as once the volume is set and it's left, it's ok.

I think mine is a proto though.

 

[HOWIE13]

On the Mk I, I just get pot noise coming through when I move the vol pot, but other than that, it's fine. As long as once the volume is set and it's left, it's ok.

I think mine is a proto though.

On my Ember 2 pot noise seems more or less dependent on the amplification of the tube. Anything above around 50 mu usually causes some degree of noise. For 6DJ8, 12AU7, 6N6P and other low to medium gain tubes I hear no noise. For 12AT7's it's varies with the tube and with 12AX7 tubes there is always noise.
I agree, bypassing the IC's seems to give a marginally clearer more dynamic sound, but I need to concentrate to hear the difference, on casual listening I wouldn't notice a difference.
Anyway a bit of noise when setting the volume doesn't bother me in the least so I leave the IC's bypassed.

 

[skyline315]

On the Mk I, I just get pot noise coming through when I move the vol pot, but other than that, it's fine. As long as once the volume is set and it's left, it's ok.

I think mine is a proto though.

It's been mostly eliminated on v2, though not entirely.  If you have sensitive headphone and you really listen when the music is paused you can hear the scratching.
 
But, practically speaking, it's a non-issue now.

 

[iancraig10]

On my Ember 2 pot noise seems more or less dependent on the amplification of the tube. Anything above around 50 mu causes some degree of noise. For 6DJ8, 12AU7, 6N6P and other low to medium gain tubes I hear no noise. For 12AT7's it's varies with the tube and with 12AX7 tubes there is always noise.
I agree, bypassing the IC's seems to give a marginally clearer more dynamic sound, but I need to concentrate to hear the difference, on casual listening I wouldn't notice a difference.
Anyway a bit of noise when setting the volume doesn't bother me in the least so I leave the IC's bypassed.

I agree that it's a non-issue really. It doesn't bother me either because it's such a nice sounding amp.

I had a tube start to ring like a bell a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't noticed until I was dusting with headphones on and I only had to touch the chassis and off it went. Changed the tube to a plain old Jan Philips. Still sounds good and now, not microphonic in the slightest.

The wonders of tube amps eh?

 

[HOWIE13]

I agree that it's a non-issue really. It doesn't bother me either because it's such a nice sounding amp.

I had a tube start to ring like a bell a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't noticed until I was dusting with headphones on and I only had to touch the chassis and off it went. Changed the tube to a plain old Jan Philips. Still sounds good and now, not microphonic in the slightest.

The wonders of tube amps eh?

Funny that because some of the best sounding tubes I use are also the most microphonic. I guess we should stop touching and fiddling with our amps while we listen.