[Nirmalanow]

I just posted the following to my review of the iCAN amp here. It might be of interest to anyone using the HD650s that wants a bit more detail to the sound:
 
Last night I plugged my DT770s into the iCAN now that they are more broken in, and I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and detailed they sound, without veering into the edginess that I heard with the Beyer T1s. Pretty good for a headphone that costs over $1000 less! They pair up well with the iCAN.
 
But then when I went back to my HD650s there was still that nice warm tone, but now they seemed to lack that last little bit of detail, and I am kind of a detail junkie. I just love hearing every little texture and ambient sound. So I pulled my TDS202 (http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Research-TDS202-Enhancement-1-Speaker/dp/B00005QZ16) out of my living room system and added it to the chain. Boy does it bring out the details! It was too much with the DT770s, but with the thicker sound of the HD650s, it added a whole new level of sharpness and clarity, even above what the 3D effect does for them.

So if you have a set of headphones that you like, but that always feel like they lack some of that low-level detail retrieval, and some treble sparkle, then this little gadget can do wonders. It can do this with any amp, not just the iCAN. It also adds even more spaciousness to the soundstage when combined with the 3D effect on the iCAN,so should do the same on any amp.

It is probably not audiophile approved, but it is still fun, and it is only $30. I will have to see how it wears on me, as in other headphone systems, I found it got tiring after a while. But I think the sound coming out of the Tera Player is so much cleaner and smoother than anything I have ever used as a source in the past, that I might find I can use the TDS device without it wearing on me. It still sounds wonderfully clear but still warm and musical this morning. However, iIf there is any noise in the system, like hiss, that also gets boosted. Here is a review of an earlier discontinued device that used the same technology:http://www.stereotimes.com/acc110198.shtml

And here is the website of the developer of the technology: http://tdsaudio.net/testimonials/consumer.htm

Note: There is an error in the title on Amazon. There is no speaker in the unit, and you only need one for hooking up two channels via RCA inputs and outputs. It also comes with two pairs of AR RCA interconnects in the box.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

I think the HD800 is undoubtedly the "better" headphone. Very open sounding, great extension, incredible clarity. But it's lacking in musicality and timbre; I wish I knew what it was about some headphones (Grado HP1000 is the best example) that gave them that natural tone. The HD650 is excellent in that regard.

I'm really not sure myself but I'd take a guess that it has something to do with soundstage and with this comes more treble emphasis. This is in regards to dynamic drivers. Headphones such as the hd800 or K70X that have a large soundstage have a tendency to sound thinner. Thinner and brighter. A smaller soundstage is gonna sound thicker because the decay doesn't have as much room and therefore blends in to the other sounds around it. This maybe giving the impression that there is more body. I think this is why I love headphones such as the 650 and now the LCD2's as they sound more whole and tend to give the impression that the band is in your head as opposed to around your head and slightly out of reach. Air around instruments is great for mixing and analyzing the music. But this can sometimes remove the coherence and melding of the image. Especially with a genre such as Rock music where you really want the guitar and bass to blend together and sound thick and chuggy! The only genres for me that benefit from a thinner more articulate image is orchestral and ambient, this is for obvious reasons. Smaller soundstage can easily congest the large image too much.
 
Dunno.. It's an interesting topic though

 

[SunshineReggae]

HD650 has great timbre yes, but when it comes to natural sound, the HD600 is king imo.

 

[bracko]

HD650 has great timbre yes, but when it comes to natural sound, the HD600 is king imo.

They're not really that different from eachother, at least not the ones that I have heard. :rolleyes:

 

[SunshineReggae]

Quote:

They're not really that different from eachother, at least not the ones that I have heard.

 
They're different enough that I can say the 600 is the more natural sounding one though.

 

[Tuco1965]

I think it was more about the thread title.  

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

I don't want to head off topic, but do any Crack owners here know what would cause a 50Hz hum (I think) to creep in after an hour or so of listening?
 
I've asked on the Bottlehead forums, but haven't had much luck. If you have any ideas, I'd love a PM with suggestions! 

 
Sounds like a tube to me. Have you tried swapping them both out?

 

[Loquah]

Quote:

 
Sounds like a tube to me. Have you tried swapping them both out?

 
I have. It first happened with a really nice-sounding Mullard tube I bought so I thought it was that, but subsequent tube swaps haven't fixed it completely (although, strangely, it seems it happens slower with other tubes than with the Mullard)

 

[Lorspeaker]

Quote:

 
I didn't like the BCL with the HD650. Too veiled and slow. There are better and cheaper amps that synergize better. Offcourse it depends on the dac too.

 
i am having a 650 with silver cable... ( other equipt...macAir/ Audivarna, Wireworld pwrcord, rca...Lat usb )
right this moment, i can listen to it a few ways in solidstate:
1) on a BCL/dac built-in
2) on an AudioGd 10 dac/amp
3) on an AudioGd as dac + BCL as amp
 
My preference is option 3.... the soundstage imaging is just better in all ways, more sense of realism...i attribute this mainly to the AudioGd dac (vs BCLdac);
the quality of the "sound" is more  REFINED, SATURATED with microdetails on the BCL as amp...v captivating, draws my soul into the music...
this is v evident as i swapped between amps. 
 
"veiled and slow" wont be my description for my setups.  i cant speak for other setups.

 

[Pianist]

Quote:

 
I have. It first happened with a really nice-sounding Mullard tube I bought so I thought it was that, but subsequent tube swaps haven't fixed it completely (although, strangely, it seems it happens slower with other tubes than with the Mullard)

 
Man, that sucks. I know I would be pretty pissed off if I had an issue like that. Hope you will resolve it soon.

 

[Loquah]

Quote:

 
Man, that sucks. I know I would be pretty pissed off if I had an issue like that. Hope you will resolve it soon.

 
Yeah, it's extremely annoying when it sounds so sweet and then later starts to hum...
 
I've been thinking about selling my Crack to buy a Schiit or Woo valve amp, it seems a shame after all the work I put into it and I don't know if the other options sound as good with the HD650
 
 

 

 

 

[swmtnbiker]

I hope that you get the problem resolved. If so, install the Speedball in that sucker.

 

[captouch]

Quote:

I don't want to head off topic, but do any Crack owners here know what would cause a 50Hz hum (I think) to creep in after an hour or so of listening?
 
I've asked on the Bottlehead forums, but haven't had much luck. If you have any ideas, I'd love a PM with suggestions! 

I had an intermittent hum (not sure about frequency) that would come and go.  Sometimes tapping on the wood base would help it go away.
 
Turned out to be a bad solder joint.  Once I reflowed the solder and got it solid, it went away.  Have you carefully inspected for marginal connections?

 

[Loquah]

Quote:

I had an intermittent hum (not sure about frequency) that would come and go.  Sometimes tapping on the wood base would help it go away.
 
Turned out to be a bad solder joint.  Once I reflowed the solder and got it solid, it went away.  Have you carefully inspected for marginal connections?

Good idea - I'll give it a try and will stop hijacking the HD650 thread! 

 

[Aerocraft67]

So what's up with the recent reviews of the HD-650? There's a piece over on Headfonia today that'll give you bottleheads something to chatter about—or not, may already be conventional wisdom. Also, Innerfidelity had a big piece the other day, too. I wonder if there'll be a run on WA3s as a result of the Innerfidelity piece. Maybe not, since Lyr looks more attractively priced for roughly the same capability (deserving of another whole thread that probably already exists, I know). 
 
Sounds like HD-650 is settling in as the ultimate entry-level audiophile headphone, if not the perfect headphone, all due respect to the DT-880, HE-400/500, etc. Time with mine remains early in the grand scheme of things, but I'm already sniffing around for something that might handle classical better, or something that provides a sonic complement to the HD-650s fabulous warmth (or whatever you want to call it).
 
As for the reviews, the cynical view may be that they're generating page views by reviewing already wildly popular headphones. More reasonably, I guess they're just covering what the market is doing, apparently buying lots of HD-650s.