[Billheiser]

Does anybody here have experience with the Lyr 2 and 650s combination. I have said amp with the stock tubes and I'm not sure if the tubes are on the bright side or Sennheiser did a driver tweak on the 2014 Rev lol. They sound really neutral and a little bit bright, which is okay, but I like the slight bass emphasis I use to get on the older pair (Latest Silver Box Model) I returned. At that time I owned a Cayin C5 amp, a very nuetral amp, which did wonders with the 650s, it was almost perfect. But then I decided to upgrade and sold it for the Lyr 2...

Depends. Do you have a hologram sticker on the hd650? Is it on the left or the right side? (Left is preferred). Is it silvery, or kind of gold? Hope you got the newest gold revision.

 

[kman1211]

Depends. Do you have a hologram sticker on the hd650? Is it on the left or the right side? (Left is preferred). Is it silvery, or kind of gold? Hope you got the newest gold revision.

Why is left preferred? Just seems odd that it would be preferred depending on which earcup.

 

[penmarker]

Depends. Do you have a hologram sticker on the hd650? Is it on the left or the right side? (Left is preferred). Is it silvery, or kind of gold? Hope you got the newest gold revision.

This thread broke my sarcasm detector.

 

[joebobbilly]

Does anybody here have experience with the Lyr 2 and 650s combination. I have said amp with the stock tubes and I'm not sure if the tubes are on the bright side or Sennheiser did a driver tweak on the 2014 Rev lol. They sound really neutral and a little bit bright, which is okay, but I like the slight bass emphasis I use to get on the older pair (Latest Silver Box Model) I returned. At that time I owned a Cayin C5 amp, a very nuetral amp, which did wonders with the 650s, it was almost perfect. But then I decided to upgrade and sold it for the Lyr 2...

I'd sooner blame the tubes than the amp. Tubes do have burn-in time and variation... give them a solid amount of hours before you evaluate it. Even then, I recall on my friend's Lyr, the stock tubes are pretty vanilla. You should try rolling some other ones... the Lyr seems to respond quite well with tubes. I had tried the JJ tubes that Schiit use to sell with the Lyr... I could not stand them, really didn't like those tubes. Then I tried my friend's Amperex Orange Globes which were absolutely sublime for the HD650.

 

[sscups]

I got the Lyr2 a month ago and used it with Grado 80 and Sennheiser HD558, worked great.  I recently got the HD650 from focuscamera, they had a deal for $299. 
 
The 650 are my first good headphones, so I think they sound great  : )     I've listened to blues, rock, folk...all sound really good.
 
I'm using stock tubes.

 

[Mr Rick]

Just bought an inexpensive set of balanced cables for my HD650s on Amazon. Now all I need is an amplifier to use them with.

LOL

 

[TeddyShot]

I have the Lyr 2 and used the HD 650 extensively on it, one that came in the new packaging. The stock tubes are a bit dull in the bass compared to the Voskhod Rockets I use. I never had problems with the bass, everyone who has tried my system always comments on how physical and powerful the bass is. But honestly it could be my DAC and cleaner power improving the bass moreso than the amp, I remember feeling quite mixed about the Lyr 2 after getting it, it sounded dull after my previous amp, the hyper Ef2A but I did recognize the amp sounded better. I do remember the newer HD 650 sounding brighter than the older pair I tried. Though it could simply be pad wear differences.

Wow that's exactly the same feeling I'm getting with my Lyr 2. Even though the sound quality is improved over the Cayin C5 I use to own, it isn't as captivating. I'm going to look into buying a new pair of tubes. So far I'm in between getting some Amperex Orange Globe's or Voskhod rockets, in the $30-$50 range for a pair.

Also were the older pair of 650s you tried part of the white dampening material revision in the Silver Box?

 

[kman1211]

Wow that's exactly the same feeling I'm getting with my Lyr 2. Even though the sound quality is improved over the Cayin C5 I use to own, it isn't as captivating. I'm going to look into buying a new pair of tubes. So far I'm in between getting some Amperex Orange Globe's or Voskhod rockets, in the $30-$50 range for a pair.

Also were the older pair of 650s you tried part of the white dampening material revision in the Silver Box?

Yeah, I think either the Orange Globes or Rockets will help. I find the HD 650 captivating on the Lyr 2 with the Rockets, haven't tried the OG's but I have heard good things about them. All my headphones but the HD 600 are captivating on the silver shield Rockets, some reason the HD 600 sounds oddly boring on them, almost as if too balanced.
 
The older pair I borrowed was a silver dampening material in silver box, it was about 2-3 years old I believe. 

 

[TeddyShot]

Yeah, I think either the Orange Globes or Rockets will help. I find the HD 650 captivating on the Lyr 2 with the Rockets, haven't tried the OG's but I have heard good things about them. All my headphones but the HD 600 are captivating on the silver shield Rockets, some reason the HD 600 sounds oddly boring on them, almost as if too balanced.

The older pair I borrowed was a silver dampening material in silver box, it was about 2-3 years old I believe. 

Interesting, I'll see if I could get a good pair of budget tubes by the end of the month. Also can I ask you which gain setting you prefer to use on your Lyr 2? I've heard high gain makes the 650s sound more bright than on low gain. I can confirm this as on low gain they sound less bright and the bass is more pronounced (which I love). Giving an overall neutral but more exciting sound.

 

[kman1211]

Interesting, I'll see if I could get a good pair of budget tubes by the end of the month. Also can I ask you which gain setting you prefer to use on your Lyr 2? I've heard high gain makes the 650s sound more bright than on low gain. I can confirm this as on low gain they sound less bright and the bass is more pronounced (which I love). Giving an overall neutral but more exciting sound.

Wish you luck on finding good tubes. I use almost exclusively low gain on the Lyr 2, because I find it less bright and easier on the ears and as a volume limiter, stops around the maximum DB I should listen to music to at on basically all my headphones, all similar in drivability other than my vintage 600 ohm phones which are the only ones I may use high gain on. I found the sound a bit more aggressive on high gain, not really to my liking. 

 

[TeddyShot]

Wish you luck on finding good tubes. I use almost exclusively low gain on the Lyr 2, because I find it less bright and easier on the ears and as a volume limiter, stops around the maximum DB I should listen to music to at on basically all my headphones, all similar in drivability other than my vintage 600 ohm phones which are the only ones I may use high gain on. I found the sound a bit more aggressive on high gain, not really to my liking. 

What do you mean by aggressive? Do you mean brighter?

 

[kman1211]

What do you mean by aggressive? Do you mean brighter?

It is a bit brighter but what I mean by aggressive is that it has more attack, bite, and punch to the sound. It's not by a lot though, more of a slight to moderate difference. That's generally been my experience with high vs low gain on amps in general.

 

[Heyandress7]

Hello, I need some help, I hope someone can give some advice. I just bought the hd650 and I was thinking about buying the magni / modi. But since I might be using the headphones around home in one room maybe on the living room I wanted to get some suggestions on which is a good portable amp/dac to pair with the Hd650?
Thanks!

 

[penmarker]

Maybe you can try the Centrance Hifi M8. What's your budget?

 

[Heyandress7]

$200 or less