[alv4426]

That highlighted part is key to this. Honestly you are doing the same to the others which is PUSHING your opinion on everyone else but your method of doing so is bringing down the poster and anyone else who believes in the changes. This an open forum where no ones opinions should be muted and I personally think the OP (on cables) adds to the thread. Where as what you are adding is nothing other than acting like a troll, IMHO.
Quote:

I am very sorry if my post was interpreted as being impolite. It was not my intention at all. However I don't like when people are being deluded into believing in some kind of magic coming from premium cables. It would be far more fair from Stoney and other posters who promote "cable magic" to focus on more important thing like good sources, good source material and good amplification, things that really can bring advantges and make our HD650 sound magical, A premium cable is often more expensive than a nice amplifier and rarely brings any benefit at all, IMHO.

 

[Stoney]

Quote:

I don't like when people are being deluded into believing in some kind of magic coming from premium cables.

 
If you hold this opinion and wish to debate it, there are probably appropriate forums here for that. 
Pushing again and again is not good coming from you or anyone. 
Discussing how components sound is the purpose here, specifically the HD650 and associated components. 

 

[Glow Fish]

I agree. I would like to hear what others' experiences are with aftermarket cables without it having to devolve - every. single. time. - into a shrill debate on whether cables make any difference.

If you have tried a particular cable and don't find it changes the sound from the stock cable, then describe that experience. But the high jacking of threads to debate in the abstract about cables is tiresome and counterproductive. There are dedicated threads for that, so I wish people would take it there.

Personally, I like SPC and silver cables with the HD650. I believe it tightens up the sound, makes it more lively and lifts the "veil."

 

[oggdude]

I think it would be awesome if somebody did a meet in which people bring their HD650 with differing custom cable's and did a few rounds of A/B/X testing using the same amp and source using a few different styles of music. Not for any ultimate purpose to say which is best or preferred but to allow people to determine if they personally find their is a difference / improvement.
 
I am sad to say i have yet to hear a proper headphone amp and still just use the apogee one. Unfortunately as a student and with other audio equipment to buy such as a second set of monitors and an RME interface to replace my Motu it may be a long time so a custom cable will be a long way down the road.

 

[bracko]

I think it would be awesome if somebody did a meet in which people bring their HD650 with differing custom cable's and did a few rounds of A/B/X testing using the same amp and source using a few different styles of music. Not for any ultimate purpose to say which is best or preferred but to allow people to determine if they personally find their is a difference / improvement.

That would be a fair thing to do. I personally have a lot of experience with changing cables some of which I already described here on this thread. No need to say that for me personally those cable experiments didn't bring any benefits at all. YMMV. Some other things did definitely bring changes (positive or negative) to the sound:

1. Using an amp with a generous and stable voltage output.
2. Removing the pad covering the driver
3. Damping the enclosure of the driver with blu tac (a tip from the hd580 thread)
4. Washing the ear pads
5. Experimenting with the tubes in my amp
6. Not using my ipod, iphone and android phone as a source
7. Using high definition music files 24/96
8. Using a better cd transport
9. Using a high quality dac

However, my experience is not some kind of definitive truth as others presented here and YMMV

 

[daniel0407]

Hi!
 
I bought today a pair of 650 HD. The sound is great, despite I am not using a proper amp for it (I am using at the moment the Fiio E17). I have the store's exhibition can, so they are used: good thing is that they are already burned in, but I am afraid that they could be too burned. Can that happens? They do not show any visible sign of tear, damage, cracks, etc. The cable looks fine without any contact. Is there anything else that I should look at? (I have two weeks to return them if I find something that I don't like).
 
How they par with the FIIO E09k? I am waiting to get tomorrow that amp, so I would use it together with the E17 as DAC. Will I notice any difference as with the E17 alone?
 
Thanks for your help,
Daniel

 

[Stoney]

The only problem I had with the HD650 was a driver that went down in output.  Assuming you have full warranty with Senn directly, they cover this as with mine.  Demo units could have been blasted loudly, so that is my first concern. 
 
At least one person has a broken piece on the headband attachment to the driver housing, or something like that.  The post was in the past 2 weeks, in this thread I  think.  Probably rare, but worth inspecting all the parts that might be fragile.  

 

[daniel0407]

Hi Stoney, thanks for your answer. They did not blasted it loudly because their lack of amplification. When I test them in the store, they were connected to the same amp as another 17 different cans. Everything looks as it is were it should be, at least as far as I can see. Something in the sound to care about?

 

[bracko]

Chipping of the paint on the headband is quite common too.

 

[oggdude]

If they have been over driven then it is possible but they have a fairly high SPL i think someone's ears would be damaged before the headphones so it is unlikely. A good test is to play some bass heavy music, if you notice distortion then they are damaged, if not then they are not. I had distortion on the right side when i got mine but it turned out to be a bit of dust and hair on the driver which was easily fixed.
 
I would love to hear some mid level headphone amps as i am still on the fence that a small company could make better technology than Apogee which is a renowned audio technology company making some of the best converters and pre-amps on the market. In saying that tho professional mid level products seem to be designed with low impedance cans in mind as the headphone output in my Motu 8 pre has noticeably less volume that the Apogee one which is only bus powered. I'm hoping when i get an RME fireface, it will negate my need for a dedicated headphone amp. Not keen on the idea of using RCA connections, i would much prefer XLR or TRS.
 
I listen to a lot of rock and metal from the late 90's and early 2000's and typically the highest quality available is CD quality 16bit 44.1 kHz and with most high street music stores such as HMV shutting down, it's getting harder to avoid purchasing music on iTunes which doesn't offer lossless formats, very annoying.
 
I did an A/B/X test with one of my lectures using some A/B/X software they had using Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro's (don't know the impedance) and between lossless and 320kbps of a Mozart piece i got 93% on detecting which was which. I was told anything below 99% (i think) in scientific terms can still only be considered a guess which leads to the conclusion that typically the human ear struggles to detect the difference. Other tests we did showed that the bit rate makes significantly more difference than the sample rate especially for playback.
 
I found a lot of interesting studies on the AES website if anyone wants any further reading. You can also read why 16bit 44.1 kHz was chosen as the standard bit and sample rate for CD's.
 
Sorry for the long post.

 

[oggdude]

I'm going to make my own cable eventually tho for no other reason than i find the length annoying as i don't need the cable to be that long and only want a 1m cable. Any recommendations on materials?

 

[bracko]

I'm going to make my own cable eventually tho for no other reason than i find the length annoying as i don't need the cable to be that long and only want a 1m cable. Any recommendations on materials?

Mike at Rockgrotto forum can probably help you with choosing materials. There are also cheap, shorter cables on ebay.

 

[daniel0407]

Hi again, thanks you all for your answers!
 
I tested the headphones with "Protection" (Massive Attack), and sounds fine, I did not notice any (unwanted) distortion, at least nothing that I could recognise as wrong.
 
Have a nice evening!
 
Daniel

 

[foreign]

I know this question has been done to death but I currently have the hd650's and a little dot mk3 tube amp and LD dac 1. I want to upgrade my tube amp and have about $500ish to spend. I have only ever heard the tube amp is there any amp someone can recommend. Aesthetics are important so the crack is out, schiit maybe or ???
I really love the hd650 Senns just have the upgrade itch

 

[calipilot227]

I've yet to hear anything better than the Crack with HD650s, and for under $500, you won't find anything better. The Pioneer SA-8500 integrated amp is a close second, although it won't win any beauty contest either. If you put the time into finishing the Crack (painting the wood and metal surfaces), it can look very nice.