[SomeGuyDude]

  What threw you off about the Conductor, may I ask?

 
It just sounded sterile and uninteresting. Hooked up to the LCD-2.2's (non-fazor, I thought one was fazor but I was wrong) the Schiit Lyr sounded SIGNIFICANTLY more alive. I had written off the LCD-2's entirely based on sampling them with the Conductor. 
 
I haven't tried the Hugo or any of those insanely high-end rigs, but I'm honestly not interested in doing so. 

 

[bocosb]

Got my Bottlehead Crack+Speedball few days ago and i'm just looking at it cause my headphone cable broke off and my dealer made some mistakes with my order so i dont have a cable untill tuesday - but at least i'm using the Crack as a preamplifier feeding my amp/diy speakers and is sounds amazing, brought a whole new life in those speakers, i'm listening to my whole collection at the moment   And i suspect the difference brought to the headphones will be even bigger
 
pic with the glowy wonder: 

 
A question regarding cables.. i'm usually against spending big on anything transporting sound (interconnects, speaker cables) or power cables - but i read an overwhelming number of stories about recabling hd650 and the differences that appear in sound - anyone has some links to some proper ABx studies done? or some scientific research?

 

[whirlwind]

Congrats on you BHC    

 

[paulguru]

What is the sound difference compared to HD600 ?
between two, what is the more relaxing ? ( less tire, specially in treble )

 

[3083joe]

What is the sound difference compared to HD600 ?
between two, what is the more relaxing ? ( less tire, specially in treble )

My 650 are more relaxed. 600 is a bit more tiring to me. Tubes help but I prefer my 650 over 600 but that's my experience with them. Plus I listen to mainly jazz vocials.

 

[mikoss]

I would agree with that. The 650's have a bit of added warmth in the midrange, and perhaps a slightly relaxed treble, in comparison to the 600's.

Also, I can put it another way... The 650's probably won't fatigue regardless of how long your listening session is.

 

[rogerthatmand]

  Got my Bottlehead Crack+Speedball few days ago and i'm just looking at it cause my headphone cable broke off and my dealer made some mistakes with my order so i dont have a cable untill tuesday - but at least i'm using the Crack as a preamplifier feeding my amp/diy speakers and is sounds amazing, brought a whole new life in those speakers, i'm listening to my whole collection at the moment   And i suspect the difference brought to the headphones will be even bigger
 
 
A question regarding cables.. i'm usually against spending big on anything transporting sound (interconnects, speaker cables) or power cables - but i read an overwhelming number of stories about recabling hd650 and the differences that appear in sound - anyone has some links to some proper ABx studies done? or some scientific research?

 
How was the building process for you? I'm waiting for my Crack + Speedball to arrive, but honestly after I saw the manual I'm a bit afraid.. seems really difficult. 

 

[bocosb]

   
How was the building process for you? I'm waiting for my Crack + Speedball to arrive, but honestly after I saw the manual I'm a bit afraid.. seems really difficult. 

Well, i got the Crack from someone already built, it was a very good deal.. but i wouldn't be afraid to tackle the building myself and my soldering experience is very limited Just get a good soldering iron, watch some youtube tutorials and practice soldering on some parts until your kit arrives. I'm sure it's gonna turn up ok, just take it slow

 

[DavidA]

   
How was the building process for you? I'm waiting for my Crack + Speedball to arrive, but honestly after I saw the manual I'm a bit afraid.. seems really difficult. 

Its not has hard as it looks, the directions are great and easy to follow.  I was able to build mine in a night drinking wine and listening to music on my speakers with my girlfriend.  Its important to get a good soldering station as this makes the project much easier and get good solder, I've had good results with Cardas Quad Eutectic solder .  As @bocosb noted, practice your soldering skills, this is important as some of the locations are not the easiest to solder.
Good Luck

 

[DDDamian]

   
It just sounded sterile and uninteresting. Hooked up to the LCD-2.2's (non-fazor, I thought one was fazor but I was wrong) the Schiit Lyr sounded SIGNIFICANTLY more alive. I had written off the LCD-2's entirely based on sampling them with the Conductor. 
 
I haven't tried the Hugo or any of those insanely high-end rigs, but I'm honestly not interested in doing so. 

Thanks for that: I almost pulled the trigger last night on a Soloist (the amp part of the amp/DAC Conductor) for exactly the same cans (non-fazor). Cheers.
 
Edit: I've been looking for a SS amp for the LCD's and reading hundreds of pages of this thread, and the Bursons got lots of recommendations. I have two tube amps already so I'm not likely to go the Lyr route. Have you heard either the V200 or BHA-1? Now leaning to the latter as I can go fully balanced from DAC to amp to cans that way...

 

[DDDamian]

   
How was the building process for you? I'm waiting for my Crack + Speedball to arrive, but honestly after I saw the manual I'm a bit afraid.. seems really difficult. 

Check off each step as you go (especially if spreading the work across a few days). Also - please check the Bottlehead forums for the stickies at the top of the Crack sub-forum for any manual corrections. Last I checked there was a couple there that make a few lines more clear. Congrats on the Crack!

 

[penmarker]

Spoiler: snip snip

  The HD 650 was too laidback(I like analytical headphones) for my taste so I decided to mod it.
 
I cut out the center foam(increase clarity and highs, I really like this mod) and removed the back driver foam(increase bass and soundstage). There was too much bass from removing the back driver foam so I added a thinner foam, which still have the increase in soundstage and the bass is around the same level as it was unmodded. If you remove the whole foam between the driver and the earpad, you lose bass.
 
Pics for the curious ones. If anybody want a tutorial, PM or reply to this post, I can write one.
 
HD535 earpads

 
HD 535 eapads+driver

 
HD 535, back of driver without foam

 

 
HD 600, back of driver with thinner foam. I'm using a HD 535 headband with my HD 600

 
 
 

First I'll have to apologise for quoting a very old post.
 
It seems that the poster had fitted an HD600 driver into an HD535 headband. Are the drivers for HD580/600/650 really compatible with HD535/545 with no mods? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

 

[Krutsch]

  ...
 
A question regarding cables.. i'm usually against spending big on anything transporting sound (interconnects, speaker cables) or power cables - but i read an overwhelming number of stories about recabling hd650 and the differences that appear in sound - anyone has some links to some proper ABx studies done? or some scientific research?

 
If you find any, please re-post to the group. There are examples of "experiments" performed that set out to show that all cables sound the same, but I am not aware any that demonstrate the converse.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  What is the sound difference compared to HD600 ?
between two, what is the more relaxing ? ( less tire, specially in treble )

 
The 650 is undoubtedly the easier listen. The 600 feels more "analytical", less tuned for listening, while the 650 is a bit warmer and the top top end is softened. It's not a HUGE difference, essentially they sound like slightly softer/sharper versions of each other. I have both right here and while there IS a difference, it's about 5% at best.
 
 

   
If you find any, please re-post to the group. There are examples of "experiments" performed that set out to show that all cables sound the same, but I am not aware any that demonstrate the converse.

 
IMO the difference comes down to base material and sturdiness. A silver cable is going to sound differently than a copper one (that's just basic conductivity), but that $900 Cardas cable yapping about how it's woven together and the oxygen levels and everything means squat. 

 

[Solrighal]

I have a Forza cable & whilst it sounds different it's a tiny difference that you really have to listen out for. I'm tempted to assume that as the headphone cable is the last in the chain any differences are going to be relatively small. You can't put back what isn't there in the first place.
 
On the other hand I changed the cables between my DAC & my amp the other week and the difference blew me away! I went from a Linn Black interconnect to an old QED Silver Anniversary I had in a box in the cupboard and it really is a pronounced difference. There's a lot more detail & a lot more space.
 
It's a big improvement, for me, but I could see it going the other way with a brighter headphone and an SS amp. Horses for courses really.
 
Gordon.