[trentino]

I've bought a HD600 and will compare them to the HD650 with my HDP. I look forward to hearing the HD600 after reading a lot of praise here on Head-Fi. And HPA - great reading about the Hifiman phones, really useful stuff. It's impossible to hear them here locally so comparisions like that are great.

 

[heikkinen111]

Great, thanks!

 

[trentino]

First impressions with the HDP and HD600 (bought used and burned in) compared to HD650 (bought NIB by me but well used) - HD600 doesn't sound as dark as the HD650, not at all. I also feel the sound stage being wider on HD600. With the HD600 I have to raise the volume on the HDP quite a bit compared when listening with the HD650. This surprised me. I have read that HD600 are supposed o be more neutral and I agree.
 
I know myself and my initial impressions are often quite exaggerated, although I feel these differences are quite drastic. I think I'll sell my HD650 now.
 
Does anyone know if the HD800 sound more like 600 or 650? Or are they just as I have read - a totally different beast? I wonder how the HD800 would sound with the HDP.

 

[heikkinen111]

Do you feel that the hd650 is actually bad with it compared to hd600? Or is it more like the hd650 is good and hd600 is even better?
 
I have compared the hd800 and hd650 side by side, but it was in a shop and I'm pretty unexperienced with this whole headphone thing. The hd800 sounded sort of like k701. HD800 is also just a bit more speaker like than other phones I've listened. 

 

[trentino]

Well, I can't say that the HD650 is bad with the HDP as I have not heard many other amp/dacs except ibasso D4. I think I simply like the HD600 more than HD650, period. I think both pairs well with the HDP.
What I can't figure out is why the 600 needs more volume compared to the 650. I thought they had the same specifications?

 

[gameplnt]

 
Hello Everyone,
i am new member in this Forum ,
i got my HDP Icon Today (after a lot of searching and reading) ,i like the Design and Packing,but my problem is it's not accepting 96KHz/24bit Connecting to iMac 27" using USB, every time i select this option the HDP still connecting and disconnecting and the sound comes a little from HDP (with tek tek tek) and changing to iMac Build in Output (keep changing every 2 seconds). i'm changing the sample rate from Audio Midi Setup ,is there anything i have to try.
one more thing ,i heard from a lot of reviews that the Volume when used vertically should be around 12 O'clock  for normal listening ,but i found that to get a proper volume i have to raise it at least to 3 o'clock or a little more, is that normal ?i'm using the HDP with AKG K701.
i am appreciating any help from you and thanks in Advance.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

 
Hello Everyone,
i am new member in this Forum ,
i got my HDP Icon Today (after a lot of searching and reading) ,i like the Design and Packing,but my problem is it's not accepting 96KHz/24bit Connecting to iMac 27" using USB, every time i select this option the HDP still connecting and disconnecting and the sound comes a little from HDP (with tek tek tek) and changing to iMac Build in Output (keep changing every 2 seconds). i'm changing the sample rate from Audio Midi Setup ,is there anything i have to try.
one more thing ,i heard from a lot of reviews that the Volume when used vertically should be around 12 O'clock  for normal listening ,but i found that to get a proper volume i have to raise it at least to 3 o'clock or a little more, is that normal ?i'm using the HDP with AKG K701.
i am appreciating any help from you and thanks in Advance.

I've seen a bad cable cause that, where the iMac acts like the DAC is being unplugged and plugged back in.  I've also seen some USB hubs mess up the ability to use 24/96 with some DACs.
 
AKG K701 can be harder to drive, and depending on the volume levels you listen at, the volume knob could be anywhere from 10 - 5 o'clock.  Do you have the Mac system volume turned all the way up when using the USB DAC?

 

[gameplnt]

 
Headphoneaddict,thanks for your concern ,.
 
in fact the 1st problem about not accepting the 96/24 solved automatically after i Update the iMac , maybe it was Driver Problem After all. 
 
my iMac System Volume Control always Turned all the Way Up ,i find that Driving My RE-0 is much easier than K701 ,the proper listening for the RE-0 from 11 to 1 O'Clock (even i thought the HDP will be More Powerfull after reading some reviews) but i think it's adequate enough to Drive RE-0 and K701 ,so far i am Satisfied , the his problem is not Audioable Using K701 at all but there is a little his with RE-0 With the Volume all the way up ,which is not a problem at all while listening.
 
now i hope to get noticeable Improvement when i use the HDP with my Anciant Denon 3803,and Audiolab 8000A.
it is  time to get some good quality recordings 24/96 , i like Classics New age ,slow music.where is the best place to start getting a good recordings ?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

 
Headphoneaddict,thanks for your concern ,.
 
in fact the 1st problem about not accepting the 96/24 solved automatically after i Update the iMac , maybe it was Driver Problem After all. 
 
my iMac System Volume Control always Turned all the Way Up ,i find that Driving My RE-0 is much easier than K701 ,the proper listening for the RE-0 from 11 to 1 O'Clock (even i thought the HDP will be More Powerfull after reading some reviews) but i think it's adequate enough to Drive RE-0 and K701 ,so far i am Satisfied , the his problem is not Audioable Using K701 at all but there is a little his with RE-0 With the Volume all the way up ,which is not a problem at all while listening.
 
now i hope to get noticeable Improvement when i use the HDP with my Anciant Denon 3803,and Audiolab 8000A.
it is  time to get some good quality recordings 24/96 , i like Classics New age ,slow music.where is the best place to start getting a good recordings ?

For 24/96 recordings I use HDTracks.com where they cost about $17.98 for a hi-res album, but HDTracks also sells lossless 16/44 albums which are CD quality and downloadable for $11.98 each.  Linnrecords.com sells hi-res and 16/44 lossless music as well.
 
A lot of new age sounds good in compressed MP3 format, and eMusic has a lot of new age artists for sale cheap.  Thats the only genre I buy from them occasionally.

 

[Zuqi]

Hi, HeadphoneAddict, Between HDP and Graham slee novo, which one is better for HF-2 as a headphone amp? thank you.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Hi, HeadphoneAddict, Between HDP and Graham slee novo, which one is better for HF-2 as a headphone amp? thank you.

I have not compared them directly, so I can't say for sure. Plus I only had the NOVO for a couple of weeks in loan.  I'd say from memory that there are some similarities between the two amps sound signatures.  You'll just have to read my NOVO impressions in the mrarroyo loaner thread and the HDP impressions here, and decide for yourself.

 

[Aleksnor]

I'm getting very interested in the Icon HDP for pairing up with the HD 650s that I'm waiting to arrive, so my question is: Does the HDP upsample everything?
 
Also, thanks a lot for the excellent review.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

I'm getting very interested in the Icon HDP for pairing up with the HD 650s that I'm waiting to arrive, so my question is: Does the HDP upsample everything?
 
Also, thanks a lot for the excellent review.

I don't believe it up-samples anything.  You can set your computer to 24/96 USB and feed it anything from 16/44 to 24/96 and get native resolution on the HDP.  16/44 music will still be 16/44.  If you set the computer USB to be 16/44, then when you play 24/96 music the computer will down-sample it to 16/44, which is why you should set the USB on the computer to be as high as the HDP can decode.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Has anyone tried the HDP with a Sigma 11 power supply? I've been extremely happy with my HDP > Jenna Labs cable > Sennheiser HD 650, but am looking to explore upgraded power and power cables. I was considering getting a PS Audio duet and a power cables first, but it seems I would get more benefit from upgrading the power supply first and then adding a conditioner down the road possibly.
 
Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Happy holidays.
 
- Dave

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Has anyone tried the HDP with a Sigma 11 power supply? I've been extremely happy with my HDP > Jenna Labs cable > Sennheiser HD 650, but am looking to explore upgraded power and power cables. I was considering getting a PS Audio duet and a power cables first, but it seems I would get more benefit from upgrading the power supply first and then adding a conditioner down the road possibly.
 
Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Happy holidays.
 
- Dave

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I never got around to trying my 12v Sigma 11 with the HDP. It's buried under my rack and hard to get to.  I use it with my Apogee mini-DAC and it helps, so I'd guess it would also help with the HDP.  I don't even know if my cable will fit the HDP.