[Solrighal]

  So I see people linking youtube videos all the time on this site.  Im probably way late on this but last time I checked youtube had just started to allow stereo sound (used to be mono only on all videos). Is there actually high-quality sound in the streams now?  Something an audiophile can listen too. 
 
Of course it'll have to be a hq upload....just wondering if youtube limits all uploads to their requirements.

 
I have no idea but I would urge anyone I throw a YouTube link to to make the effort and listen to a lossless copy of the track.

 

[wgr73]

   
I have no idea but I would urge anyone I throw a YouTube link to to make the effort and listen to a lossless copy of the track.

 
Gotcha, and this is what I was thinking most people are doing. I've watched some videos that people have put up and the quality to me is not that great...just wondering if there is a hidden option somewhere

 

[Krutsch]

i think hd650 plus tube amp is very smooth but its too dark. Next time i will try it. Hahahh

 
 

   
This very much depends on the particular amp in my opinion.

...and on the tubes, IMO.

 

[Krutsch]

They possess a lot of similarities. I still cannot decide which does mids better, for instance. Slightly warm, not at all cold or neutral, siding rather on the side of natural, like the Senns. The ortho drivers, however, carry a different presentation that is complementary without nullifying the HD-650s unique strengths. I highly recommend the HE-500s, but I do not know whether your OTL would drive them adequately. You need an amp that pushes a lot of current into a low impedance. Anything AGD would do it, so would the Lyr, Lake People G103/109, or Meier Audio Classic, as well as any respectable balanced amplifier. I hear Asgard does admirably too, but people debate this, with some maintaining 1w/ channel falls short of ortho requirements and others, such as Stan D (who also owns HE-500), claiming Asgard has more than enough power.

But HD-650 really are fantastic too. I am listening to some early 90s Aphex Twin on them now, and it's actually on par with HE-500, without ortho bass but with its other seductive qualities repeated ad nauseam over the course of this engaging thread.

 
Thanks for the advice. I am worried about amp requirements, as well. After the tube-spree I just went on, I am restricting my can search to those that will nicely compliment my OTL amp. I read Skylab's review of the Beyer T1 and that could be a winner, but I really want cans that compliment the HD-650s without too much overlap, from a sound signature standpoint.
 

 
Have you considered the HE-560?  From all accounts it's a very fast somewhat bright yet smooth phone that might be a good alternate to the 650.

 
From what I've read, I would agree - but see above...

 

[kman1211]

  I had the K702 65th Annies for a while (which the K712 sound sig are mostly based on). They were definitely better than the Q701s that I listened to at the local meet. They are more comfortable than the Q701s (no headband bumps, softer memory foam velour cups) and their sound signature was something closer to an in-between of Q701 and HD650... so a good sense of soundstange and details/separation without so much treble spike.
 
With that in mind... they still are brighter with more air than HD650... the Senns are still warmer, more musical/romantic and more mellow. But the K702Annies were good enough that even a treble sensitive guy like me would have been very happy with them for the long run... they were good complimentary cans to the HD650s. They just had to go in the end cause I had gone balanced and those ones can't be easily rewired to run balanced

.

They are similar but I find the K712 more spacious and a bit brighter than the Annies, it has a bit more bass as well. The K712 is slightly u-shaped but some reason the vocals and midrange don't seem distant on the headphone, especially with tubes. I liked the Q701 except for those stupid bumps and the soundstage presentation. I think the K712 is an excellent compliment to the HD 650, my HD 600 doesn't really have any place between the K712 and HD 650.
 
 

   
I'm not sure I know what sub-bass is but this sounds stunning...
 

Nice song. This video is a good example of sub-bass, especially around 2:45-3:25. I use this track and a couple others as a test for determining sub-bass. 
 
 

 

[Solrighal]

   
 

...and on the tubes, IMO.

 
Agreed, totally. I have no experience yet of anything other than the stock valve but it's already doing wonderful things.

 

[Solrighal]

  They are similar but I find the K712 more spacious and a bit brighter than the Annies, it has a bit more bass as well. The K712 is slightly u-shaped but some reason the vocals and midrange don't seem distant on the headphone, especially with tubes. I liked the Q701 except for those stupid bumps and the soundstage presentation. I think the K712 is an excellent compliment to the HD 650, my HD 600 doesn't really have any place between the K712 and HD 650.
 
 
Nice song. This video is a good example of sub-bass, especially around 2:45-3:25.
 

 
It's pretty good but a bit like going to the fireworks. I'm not even sure it's actually music if I'm honest. Just great sound effects. I'm not sure what a headphone that's good at that necessarily adds to music, that's all. I'm sure there are headphones better suited to reproducing it but they're not on my to-do list

 

[kman1211]

   
It's pretty good but a bit like going to the fireworks. I'm not even sure it's actually music if I'm honest. Just great sound effects. I'm not sure what a headphone that's good at that necessarily adds to music, that's all. I'm sure there are headphones better suited to reproducing it but they're not on my to-do list

It's just one of the few test songs I use to see how present sub-bass or to determine if a headphone and/or system has a severe bass roll off or not. I could also do a bass-test, but I prefer to use a variety of sub-bassy songs to test it instead. Well it does add to the music or a movie in the sense of a deep grounded presence, a sense of power to the music, and a solidity but it has to be implemented right. That track is only really good as a test track and not really for music pleasure. 

 

[Solrighal]

   
It's pretty good but a bit like going to the fireworks. I'm not even sure it's actually music if I'm honest. Just great sound effects. I'm not sure what a headphone that's good at that necessarily adds to music, that's all. I'm sure there are headphones better suited to reproducing it but they're not on my to-do list

 
No offence mate but sometimes on head-fi it's almost like a technical exercise. Your link goes damn low and I think I can hear the 650's struggle a bit but, and it's a mahoosive but, I don't really listen to that kind of music. Ever! I'm beginning to sound like my dad so I'll shut up right now.

 

[kman1211]

   
No offence mate but sometimes on head-fi it's almost like a technical exercise. Your link goes damn low and I think I can hear the 650's struggle a bit but, and it's a mahoosive but, I don't really listen to that kind of music. Ever! I'm beginning to sound like my dad so I'll shut up right now.

True it is a bit of a technical exercise, it's not my type of music either. I don't listen to it either in terms of music, I just found it when I was looking for a sub-bass test years ago when I was a lot younger and a bit of a bass-head. 

 

[Solrighal]

  So I see people linking youtube videos all the time on this site.  Im probably way late on this but last time I checked youtube had just started to allow stereo sound (used to be mono only on all videos). Is there actually high-quality sound in the streams now?  Something an audiophile can listen too. 
 
Of course it'll have to be a hq upload....just wondering if youtube limits all uploads to their requirements.

 
Here's a perfect example. Have a listen to this on YouTube and then find yourself a lossless copy and listen again. This kind of music, rather than the fireworks sometimes held up as exemplars, is what I am really striving for...
 

 

[kman1211]

This is a good example of youtube hurting a song with compression and probably a poor file to begin with, good song but just pretty much ruined by the compression to my ears, I have the lossless version of this song and it sounds much much better. But I have found plenty of good quality songs on youtube, especially the more recently uploaded songs.
 
 
 

 

[Nothing Within]

If i listen to dubstep and hip hop and trap but do not like alot of bass but a more balanced sound but having the bass still there, should i stick with the hd650 or go with the Denon AHD600?

 

[Nothing Within]

This is a good example of youtube hurting a song with compression and probably a poor file to begin with, good song but just pretty much ruined by the compression to my ears, I have the lossless version of this song and it sounds much much better. But I have found plenty of good quality songs on youtube, especially the more recently uploaded songs.



 

I agree youtube is NOT a place to listen to music if you want the best quality or atleast decent enough quality of the music

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

   
Thanks for the advice. I am worried about amp requirements, as well. After the tube-spree I just went on, I am restricting my can search to those that will nicely compliment my OTL amp. I read Skylab's review of the Beyer T1 and that could be a winner, but I really want cans that compliment the HD-650s without too much overlap, from a sound signature standpoint.
 
 
From what I've read, I would agree - but see above...

 
 
I think the T1 is a no brainer.  One of Jack Woo's go to headphones during amp developments is that very Beyer headphone.  And when properly amplified, they will make your heart drop....