[Melange]

The HD650s that I have ordered from thomann.de are on their way and are due to arrive in the post tomorrow morning. I'm quite excited and am looking forward to trying them out.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  The HD650s that I have ordered from thomann.de are on their way and are due to arrive in the post tomorrow morning. I'm quite excited and am looking forward to trying them out.

Congrats. Your first Senn?

 

[Melange]

 
Congrats. Your first Senn?

Nope. I have a rather clapped out pair of HD590s which a friend gave to me and which I've been listening to unamplified. The HD650s should prove to be a significant upgrade, and especially when paired with the Modi and Vali which I've ordered from Schiit.

 

[Zojokkeli]

 
As long as you're not failing to feed your kids or pay the mortgage you have to live. They say you regret the things you don't do in life far more than the things you do. Enjoy these experiences when you are young and accept that it is okay to indulge in something that is very important to you. We are told by the financial industry that you should be a savings machine (because the banks make far more from your money then you ever will). I say be responsible, and bite of expenses you can handle, but if it takes you a year to pay off a headphone that you love, it is money well invested. Don't believe the hype about needing a million dollars to retire, you'll be old and needing far less than you think. I served an older gentleman one day and we got to talking. I was in my 20s and he gave me this same advice, enjoy living when you are young. Sure pay your bills and try to save some, but don't deny yourself what you really want. He explained to me how he had been a saver and constantly denied himself pleasures as he didn't want to be too indulgent and wasteful. Now as an old man he regretted not doing the things he wanted, not having that nice meal and a bottle of wine with good frieds. Why? Because he had money now, but he was too old to really enjoy what he wanted. Friends were dead or gone, had all kinds of money, but few things he really could enjoy at that age. Enjoy your 650s and don't feel bad, life is a one shot deal my friend, and when you are young your hearing is at its finest.

 
Great text to help me justify my recent spendings to myself - other than the sheer enjoyment I get from listening to them ofcourse. I'm in my mid-20's, have no kids or car, live on rent with my fiancee, some student loans and hopefully graduating next year. I work hard during summers so I can earn some money to spend on little luxuries in life, such as travelling, photography equipment, hifi and pampering the missus. I'm pretty much on the peak of my head-fi journey already, in the future I'll spring for a better pair of iem's and upgrade the amp, but otherwise I'll wait until I have a steady job to take a dive in the world of speakers.

 

[ccash]

No problem with listening to Miley Cyrus...music is timeless...Blondie and Madonna too.

It's Sunday, so off-topic is OK.   :wink_face:

But....anybody here try out a 650 with a balanced cable and bal amp? Just wanted to know if their impressions jived with mine. More air, better dynamics, mostly. Very noticeable.

Not an exact answer to your question, but since it's Sunday....

I went to the head-fi meet in LA yesterday. I thought a few hours there would be enough, but it wasn't, not even close. I did get over to the Sennheiser table and I have to say I'm a little miffed. I bought a pair of 650s a few months ago and returned them because they were just too dark (the "veil", I guess). I ended going with a pair of 600s since they were more neutral or natural to me.

So at the table they had a pair of 650s and 600s plugged into one of their amps, the HDVA 600. The 650 were balanced and the 600 were not. There was of course a volume difference when switching back and forth, but as I compensated for that, I was really surprised by what I heard. The 650s sounded great. The high end was there, nice and clear, and the difference in treble and upper-mid between the two was very subtle, and the 650s just sounded better -- fuller and richer with the low end difference being obvious, as it was when I compared them months before. The 600s sounded like I know them to sound (which made me think maybe the amp wasn't accounting for all the difference), but the 650s, with this new clarity, gave me a serious case of buyer's remorse.

So I don't know what attributed more to the difference -- the amp, which I'm sure has been developed to have synergy with their headphones -- or the balanced connection. (Or both). I left bummed, knowing I don't want to spend $1500 on their amp, and wondering if I should've tried the 650s in a balanced setup before I returned them.

I would highly recommend this setup to anyone though, if you have 2 grand to burn.

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
Great text to help me justify my recent spendings to myself - other than the sheer enjoyment I get from listening to them ofcourse. I'm in my mid-20's, have no kids or car, live on rent with my fiancee, some student loans and hopefully graduating next year. I work hard during summers so I can earn some money to spend on little luxuries in life, such as travelling, photography equipment, hifi and pampering the missus. I'm pretty much on the peak of my head-fi journey already, in the future I'll spring for a better pair of iem's and upgrade the amp, but otherwise I'll wait until I have a steady job to take a dive in the world of speakers.

Nice, I see you have the TH900. That is a headphone I am still quite interested in. How do you like it? What headphone did you have before getting the 900?

 

[joebobbilly]

But....anybody here try out a 650 with a balanced cable and bal amp? Just wanted to know if their impressions jived with mine. More air, better dynamics, mostly. Very noticeable.

 
Yes, and Yes. For me though, the 'more air' comes from a much better soundstage depth. The sound was much more holographic when I went balanced. This particularly was evident on live recordings and well mastered large orchestral pieces. It really makes you feel like you're at the venue, and in certain ones it even gives me a sense of the acoustics in that hall/room.
 
Note though... I was jumping from a humble Fiio e09k + e17 setup to the Mjolnir + Gungnir so my descriptor of "much better" is to be taken with a grain of salt. I did make a point of A/Bing with my friend's Uberfrost and Lyr too though to be sure it wasn't solely that change. IMO for that comparison the Uberfrost and Lyr are a great sounding combo with tube-rolling options, but falls behind on Gungnir + Mjolnir in terms of black background, resolution and soundstage.

 

[Zojokkeli]

 
Nice, I see you have the TH900. That is a headphone I am still quite interested in. How do you like it? What headphone did you have before getting the 900?

 
I had HD 650's before I went for the TH900's - or as a matter of fact still do, they're up for sale. I like the 900's very, very much, but at 3X the price of HD650's, it is evident that the law of diminishing returns hits really hard.

 

[Solrighal]

Check this out...

http://www.head-fi.org/t/730167/do-i-need-an-amp-well-im-glad-you-asked/0_40#post_10787299

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

A young mistress.

 
Anything Audeze puts out is far more economical...

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Not an exact answer to your question, but since it's Sunday....

I went to the head-fi meet in LA yesterday. I thought a few hours there would be enough, but it wasn't, not even close. I did get over to the Sennheiser table and I have to say I'm a little miffed. I bought a pair of 650s a few months ago and returned them because they were just too dark (the "veil", I guess). I ended going with a pair of 600s since they were more neutral or natural to me.

So at the table they had a pair of 650s and 600s plugged into one of their amps, the HDVA 600. The 650 were balanced and the 600 were not. There was of course a volume difference when switching back and forth, but as I compensated for that, I was really surprised by what I heard. The 650s sounded great. The high end was there, nice and clear, and the difference in treble and upper-mid between the two was very subtle, and the 650s just sounded better -- fuller and richer with the low end difference being obvious, as it was when I compared them months before. The 600s sounded like I know them to sound (which made me think maybe the amp wasn't accounting for all the difference), but the 650s, with this new clarity, gave me a serious case of buyer's remorse.

So I don't know what attributed more to the difference -- the amp, which I'm sure has been developed to have synergy with their headphones -- or the balanced connection. (Or both). I left bummed, knowing I don't want to spend $1500 on their amp, and wondering if I should've tried the 650s in a balanced setup before I returned them.

I would highly recommend this setup to anyone though, if you have 2 grand to burn.

 
Thanks for your impressions, they basically match mine, and reaffirm the advantages of going balanced out of a good amp.
If you are looking for a good bal amp without breaking the bank, I think Schiit has one, their Mjolnir.
http://schiit.com/products/mjolnir
 
Haven't heard it, as I use and love my BHA-1, bought 18 months ago.
cheers,

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
Yes, and Yes. For me though, the 'more air' comes from a much better soundstage depth. The sound was much more holographic when I went balanced. This particularly was evident on live recordings and well mastered large orchestral pieces. It really makes you feel like you're at the venue, and in certain ones it even gives me a sense of the acoustics in that hall/room.
 
Note though... I was jumping from a humble Fiio e09k + e17 setup to the Mjolnir + Gungnir so my descriptor of "much better" is to be taken with a grain of salt. I did make a point of A/Bing with my friend's Uberfrost and Lyr too though to be sure it wasn't solely that change. IMO for that comparison the Uberfrost and Lyr are a great sounding combo with tube-rolling options, but falls behind on Gungnir + Mjolnir in terms of black background, resolution and soundstage.

Thanks for your impressions. Sounds like balanced has more to it than improved air and separation. Better imaging too, it seems.
 
You went from SE (Fiio) to bal (Mjolnir), so not surprised there's a dramatic improvement. That's what happened to me -- went from a SE cable on BHA-1 to a bal cable on same BHA-1. With same sources. A big improvement. This highlights, on a single amp, the virtues of going all balanced for headphone listening (including balanced analog out from my DAC into the bal input of BHA-1).
 
cheers,

 

[Melange]

So I just got my hands on my new HD650s. I've read from several sources that it sounds rather unimpressive before a decent burning-in period, and unimpressive when unamplified. Given that I am currently listening to them straight out of the box and unamplified, I have to say I'm quite pleased with them! The sound they produce seems fairly clear and refined to me, with a hint of warmth - exactly what I was looking for. I'm aware that these are just initial impressions, but I can't seem to hear the strong "veil" that these headphones are associated with. If anything, they seem less "veiled" than my old HD590s. I look forward to pairing them with the Schiit Vali and hearing the promised improvement, whenever it finally arrives in the post.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I can't seem to hear the strong "veil" that these headphones are associated with. If anything, they seem less "veiled" than my old HD590s. I look forward to pairing them with the Schiit Vali and hearing the promised improvement, whenever it finally arrives in the post.

650 is not veiled. The highs are there, just not up front and in your face, as with some of the Grados.
 
Enjoy!

 

[MattTCG]

I was always skeptical about balanced. To this point I've passed on balanced, opting for the budget friendly Schiit amps for most of my hp's. Recently I had a opportunity to audition the Oppo HA-1. And now I have a balanced cable for my hd650 and hd800. I wished that I had gone balanced a long time ago, for the same reasons that others have mentioned. Plus I get better dynamics especially at lower volume where I spend most of my time listening.