[Troif]

I must say I am a newcomer to this headphone-world, but I love music and I appreciate a lot the world has recently opened to me.
 
I own now a HD555, a pair of Shure e4C and the Koss Porta Pro. I have acquired a amp/DAC FIIO E17 ALPEN and also a Sennheiser HD650.
 
I saw so many reviews of the FIIO Alpen E17 so that for the price it was impossible not to get it at start point!, which is my case. I looked at NuForces... but reviews out there indicated the E17 as a revolutionary switch in the amp/DAC market that make this market available to audiophiles beginners. 
 
3 QUESTIONS THEN FOR YOU ALL...
 
1. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENTS OF MY AMP/DAC WITH THE HD650
So I will prepare it for 12db and I will tell you my sensations... if any of you have more recommended adjustments please do not hesitate to tell me! Please tell me your recommendations.
 
2. NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOSLINK CONNECTION AND USB USING THE SAME SOURCE?
I will move my E17 to job and home and viceversa, using in my job Spotify premium account with my Koss Porta Pro at maximum quality (it is a great feature to listen music using headphones as this way no body disturbs you while working... je!) and in home I use my lossless iTunes files with the USB connected to the E17. Would it be better to use the toslink optical cable or it is not much any difference?
 
3. RECOMMENDATIONS OF OTHER HP FOR GETTING A DIFFERENT TASTE? ALWAYS HIGH TAG PRICE?
and... when I will know it is time to change or to try other headphones??? the issue I think is to compare, and comparing you get the feel of what fits into your kind of music and your taste. I am now comparing the HD555 with the HD650, and there is really a difference but they are of the same brand, so I loose some interesting comparison and personality which are indeed in every brand, so my comparison is a bit limited then I think. Any brand to look at? I love the Grado 325is... which one would you recommend? grados? shures? and should I get other headphone but in the side of <150$ or getting now always >350$ to not going to a lower quality than my HD 650???
 
quite a lot of questions... out there... THANKS!!!

 

[crazywipe]

I own both the Sennheiser hd 650 and the Fiio Alpen
At real beginning I wasn't too happy because my expectation were very high. Now after a month and more than 100 hours of burn-in I can say that they pair just ok nothing groundbreaking. The Fiio alpen is just not intended to use with high impedence headphones, it can handle but it's not the otpimal situation.

For the gain setting i use the middle one most of the time. The highest setting is very boomy in the bass with the hd 650, but it can be good with low volume tracks.

Upgrade? Yes of course

I am looking for an upgrade to get most of my hd 650.

A nice amp is the Objective 2. It's cheap (150 US Dollars) compact and has a lot of power to drive high impedence headphones.

Another option is to buy the fiio e9. You can dock the fiio alpen inside and you get a very powerfull amp to drive high impedence headphones. As i know it sounds not as good as the Objective 2.

Someone?

Cheers

 

[TominJapan]

Not ideal combo, powers the hd650 but insufficiently so remains somehow veiled, buy a real amp...

 

[mitsu763]

Adding the EO9k to the E17 would be a nice step up for the HD650. An under rated amp in my opinion.