[Hifihedgehog]

  That's an honest answer. We need more like it.

The one and only difference in the sound you'll hear is from the pads, especially if you have a melon-sized head that shmushes the pad down 'til they're disintegrated in no time. Previously, I posted a link where a foreign headphone enthusiast tested a 5 to 7 dB decrease in treble from worn pads. To illustrate, here's the graph and image from the site. Imagine who was in that boat and did not realize it? Yours truly. It was, in my honest opinion, a bigger difference in sound than going between a new HD600 and a new HD650 (excluding the extreme upper treble where I feel the HD650 is more deficient). In rebuilding my pads, I refilled them with some special acoustic foam that my university had a surplus of and I may have successfully made my HD600's freakishly neutral by adding a millimeter or two extra of pad thickness. I no longer even hear a smidge of warmth like I did--only the natural warmth and the clarity of the recording. What's so weird is they are reminding me of the midrange on my previously owned DT860, which had one of the most neutral midranges I ever encountered. Except now with it having this more flat and open midrange coupled with its original ultra low distortion, the HD600 sounds light years better than the DT860 ever did. Notice that blue line there and the bass hump on the graph below for the HD650. Though it is somewhat smaller in the case of an HD600, that bass hump is essentially gone and no longer. These sound crazy realistic now is all I can say. I won't be upgrading for a long, long time, if ever now. These things are absolutely amazing! 
 

 

[Hifihedgehog]

  The one and only difference in the sound you'll hear is from the pads, especially if you have a melon-sized head that shmushes the pad down 'til they're disintegrated in no time. Previously, I posted a link where a foreign headphone enthusiast tested a 5 to 7 dB decrease in treble from worn pads. To illustrate, here's the graph and image from the site. Imagine who was in that boat and did not realize it? Yours truly. It was, in my honest opinion, a bigger difference in sound than going between a new HD600 and a new HD650 (excluding the extreme upper treble where I feel the HD650 is more deficient). In rebuilding my pads, I refilled them with some special acoustic foam that my university had a surplus of and I may have successfully made my HD600's freakishly neutral by adding a millimeter or two extra of pad thickness. I no longer even hear a smidge of warmth like I did--only the natural warmth and the clarity of the recording. What's so weird is they are reminding me of the midrange on my previously owned DT860, which had one of the most neutral midranges I ever encountered. Except now with it having this more flat and open midrange coupled with its original ultra low distortion, the HD600 sounds light years better than the DT860 ever did. Notice that blue line there and the bass hump on the graph below for the HD650. Though it is somewhat smaller in the case of an HD600, that bass hump is essentially gone and no longer. These sound crazy realistic now is all I can say. I won't be upgrading for a long, long time, if ever now. These things are absolutely amazing! 
 

I'm still doing some further testing with tools and songs that I specifically know how they should sound like. I am amazed by the bass tightness and depth. It still reaches to the 20 to 30 Hz range, no sweat, when I ran some test tones, just no bloom in the 100 to 200 Hz range anymore. It seems to line up dead-on with the midrange. Using the track Boss: Shut Up Faker from the official soundtrack for Sonic Adventure 2, which I can use to detect bass bloom (HD 650) or lack of bass extension or heft (Q 701), these HD 600's with refilled, slightly larger earpads sound very, very close to perfect. The bass is certainly there, reaching as far as it did before and with just as much authority in the deep bass as it had earlier, but I don't get the cloudiness previously associated with the HD 600 that I used to have. The cleverly nuanced left-channel female vocals of Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head seem to have been unshrouded from the slight mid- and upper-bass curtain previously overshadowing them and sound like they are present in the room, singing in my ear. Listening to the Brazilian sensation Paula Fernandez in her first live album on the track Seio de Minas, I test for issues with treble peaks in her consonant S's, Ch's, Z's and F's which lesser headphones (such as the DT 990 and DT 880 in particular), will jab you in the eardrum with, and though I have gained tons of clarity, any annoying treble-y Rocky Mountain ridges, especially at the opening line of lyrics, are nowhere to be found! I don't know how I pulled this off with this special form I just happened to come across and tweaking along the way, but it's so immaculate and so crystal clear it makes wonder how these would stand up to Summit-Fi phones, including the HD 800 I demoed this summer!

 

[sonic2911]

Does anyone pair the HD600 with NFB-15? How does it sound?

 

[Brooko]

Lovely.
 
Also sublime with NFB-12/15 as DAC - and Little Dot MKIV as amp (for some tube goodness)

 

[sonic2911]

I think I gonna get DAC/amp first and tube amp for later. The NFB-15 sound warm, right?

 

[goldtuba]

I just received my NFB 1 yesterday, and it sounds great.  I'm looking at upgrading to tubes soon, but I will definitely recommend a DAC from Audio GD

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  I think I gonna get DAC/amp first and tube amp for later. The NFB-15 sound warm, right?

 
If you know you're going to get a tube amp later, why wouldn't you save up for it now instead of wasting money on something you know is temporary? 

 

[StanD]

   
I've got my pair in 2002-2003 (around time I've joined Head-Fi)... they had the black screened drivers. Used them through a decade (and loved them to bits).. One year ago, before I had them sold, I've replaced the drivers with brand new silver screened ones. Except the now working right driver (I had the old one blown - my bad), there was no difference in sound whatsoever..

 
 

  That's an honest answer. We need more like it.

 
 

  The one and only difference in the sound you'll hear is from the pads, especially if you have a melon-sized head that shmushes the pad down 'til they're disintegrated in no time. Previously, I posted a link where a foreign headphone enthusiast tested a 5 to 7 dB decrease in treble from worn pads. To illustrate, here's the graph and image from the site. Imagine who was in that boat and did not realize it? Yours truly. It was, in my honest opinion, a bigger difference in sound than going between a new HD600 and a new HD650 (excluding the extreme upper treble where I feel the HD650 is more deficient). In rebuilding my pads, I refilled them with some special acoustic foam that my university had a surplus of and I may have successfully made my HD600's freakishly neutral by adding a millimeter or two extra of pad thickness. I no longer even hear a smidge of warmth like I did--only the natural warmth and the clarity of the recording. What's so weird is they are reminding me of the midrange on my previously owned DT860, which had one of the most neutral midranges I ever encountered. Except now with it having this more flat and open midrange coupled with its original ultra low distortion, the HD600 sounds light years better than the DT860 ever did. Notice that blue line there and the bass hump on the graph below for the HD650. Though it is somewhat smaller in the case of an HD600, that bass hump is essentially gone and no longer. These sound crazy realistic now is all I can say. I won't be upgrading for a long, long time, if ever now. These things are absolutely amazing! 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

I always say that headphones make a far bigger difference than DACs and Amps, unless the electronics one purchased are crap.
Acoustics are important and headphones are a big part of that picture. Pads are part of how these are coupled to our heads. I think that closed back cans are even more touchy about pads.
Man those old pads look awful.

 

[Brooko]

  If you know you're going to get a tube amp later, why wouldn't you save up for it now instead of wasting money on something you know is temporary? 

 
Not a waste of money - rather best of both worlds.  NFB-12/15 provides a good dac and amp with good SS power.  Add a tube later, and you can still use the NFB dac, and switch between SS and Tube depending on what you feel like.  I use both all the time.

  I think I gonna get DAC/amp first and tube amp for later. The NFB-15 sound warm, right?

 
It has a bit of warmth - yes.  Quite full bodied.

 

[sonic2911]

   
Not a waste of money - rather best of both worlds.  NFB-12/15 provides a good dac and amp with good SS power.  Add a tube later, and you can still use the NFB dac, and switch between SS and Tube depending on what you feel like.  I use both all the time.
 
It has a bit of warmth - yes.  Quite full bodied.

I know hd600 + tube amp is a good combo, but i'm not sure about the tube amp, because of the noise. So I think I would keep a ss amp for a long time. What happen if I drive the hd600 with a bright amp? with the fiio e10k, it's little bit dark for me and the sound stage is quite narrow

 

[Brooko]

  I know hd600 + tube amp is a good combo, but i'm not sure about the tube amp, because of the noise. So I think I would keep a ss amp for a long time. What happen if I drive the hd600 with a bright amp? with the fiio e10k, it's little bit dark for me and the sound stage is quite narrow

 
I take it you've never heard a good tube amp?  I can assure you my LD MKIV is not noisy 

.
 
IMO I haven't heard an amp yet that the HD600 doesn't sound pretty good with.  And I've never heard the E10K sorry.
 
If you're worried about the NFB-15 being dark, either get the Sabre based NFB-11, or just grab a Modi and Magni.
 
Sound staging is mostly in the music (the way it was recorded), and also the headphones you're using.  Unless the amp has crosstalk issues, then it's going to have far less influence.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

   
 
 
 
I always say that headphones make a far bigger difference than DACs and Amps, unless the electronics one purchased are crap.
Acoustics are important and headphones are a big part of that picture. Pads are part of how these are coupled to our heads. I think that closed back cans are even more touchy about pads.
Man those old pads look awful.

That is my stance on the matter as well. While I did get a nice, very slight boost of clean-ness and clarity with amp and dac upgrades, like the O2 and ODAC, it is so slight that most people would not notice or really care, and I can get very, very close just plugging into my Surface Pro 2's headphone jack. Speaking of electronic crap, some electronics may have low distortion but very low driving capability. I have tried to run my HD 600's off my Samsung Galaxy S4, which sounds awesome with IEM's, but it sounds so unfounded and muddy in the bass with the HD 600 I only do it on occasion. Eventually, I will get the JDS Labs C5D and make that one and only main and mobile setup. For me, that's probably enough, unless the Echobox Explorer X1 make the mark as a jack-of-all-trades device for me and can act as an outboard amp for my devices.

 

[Sundown]

 

[jazzwave]

Today I received Audioengine D3 , a small (DAC/Amp). The size like thumb drive, almost similar with Audioquest DragonFly.
Can this DAC/amp thing drive 300 Ohm cans like HD600?...not sure , my current set up HD600 with desktop amp (modified Maverick D1).
 
Le's try, plug into DELL laptop Windows 7..it take 3 minute automatic driver installation.
Run Foobar200 V1.3.4, set up output to this DAC, plug the HD600 cans.....I set volume 32% only.
 
Ho ho ho, this tiny thing able to drive HD600 without any problem, produce good bass,for  mid and hi I would say ok. Soundstage wide enough.
For me, I like D3 amp rather than JDS lab 02 for HD600...., again, it's my preference.
The cons:, after 4-5 songs the device little bit warm.
 
If you want simple setup for your HD600 with  laptop,try the D3...
 
~ron~

 

[StanD]

  Today I received Audioengine D3 , a small (DAC/Amp). The size like thumb drive, almost similar with Audioquest DragonFly.
Can this DAC/amp thing drive 300 Ohm cans like HD600?...not sure , my current set up HD600 with desktop amp (modified Maverick D1).
 
Le's try, plug into DELL laptop Windows 7..it take 3 minute automatic driver installation.
Run Foobar200 V1.3.4, set up output to this DAC, plug the HD600 cans.....I set volume 32% only.
 
Ho ho ho, this tiny thing able to drive HD600 without any problem, produce good bass,for  mid and hi I would say ok. Soundstage wide enough.
For me, I like D3 amp rather than JDS lab 02 for HD600...., again, it's my preference.
The cons:, after 4-5 songs the device little bit warm.
 
If you want simple setup for your HD600 with  laptop,try the D3...
 
~ron~

I checked the specs which states "Full-scale output 2.0V RMS" which at 300 Ohms calculates to be 13 mW. The HD600 can handle much more than that, so I'll guess that in general terms you don't listen on the loud side. Your D1 is supposed to kick out 500 mW at 300 Ohms, enough to blow the HD600's off of anyone's head, so you must really turn that baby way down.
How would you compare the two?