[Fuzziekiwi]

Months later this is still the headphone I listen to 80% of the time. 

 

[Jeff Y]

 
Variety never hurts. Keep at least two HPs with sharply contrasting profiles. Your ears tire of one HP, then switch to the other.
What would you rather own -- 3 Benzes, or a Benz, a 1964 Mustang, and a Rolls?

True. I simply find that having headphones that you listen to maybe once I week is weird.
BTW I would rather own a 1964 Mustang, an Aston, and a Bentley .

 

[SomeGuyDude]

 
Variety never hurts. Keep at least two HPs with sharply contrasting profiles. Your ears tire of one HP, then switch to the other.
What would you rather own -- 3 Benzes, or a Benz, a 1964 Mustang, and a Rolls?

 
TBH?
 
One Benz and a Harley. I don't see the need in having multiple cars, but having a completely different ride available would be awesome.
 
Similarly, one pair of primary cans and some IEMs. I have others, but really I just use the 650s and the 846. 

 

[whirlwind]

 

  I'm not totally sure what that means, but I'm tempted to disagree regardless
 
No... everything has a frequency curve, not an EQ.

 
EQ is simply the alteration of a sound signature to something more desirable to the listener. Valves do pretty much the same thing.
 
Anyway, I'm not arguing the point, merely pointing out that truly flat isn't what most people are looking for.
 
In a studio, maybe. On the couch, not so much.

If only EQ sounded like tubes...then everybody would be happy....but that is just not the case.
 
I think EQ has it's place....in my experience it works far better taking away than adding....adding can be disaster....but in no way does EQ give you a tube sound....it just is not there.....you can how ever change the sound, and a good cross feed seems to work pretty well.

 

[Solrighal]

  If only EQ sounded like tubes...then everybody would be happy....but that is just not the case.
 
I think EQ has it's place....in my experience it works far better taking away than adding....adding can be disaster....but in no way does EQ give you a tube sound....it just is not there.....you can how ever change the sound, and a good cross feed seems to work pretty well.

 
I wasn't trying to suggest EQ does sound the same as changing a valve but the motivation for using it is exactly the same.
 
Also, don't be so sure. There are a number of surprisingly effective plug-ins out there that will mimic the effects of a valve quite impressively. Have a look at Voxengo's GlissEQ for example. They have a demo version available. oZone also do some nice EQ's that can emulate the effects of a valve amp pretty good.
 
But you're right, ultimately they aall fall far short of what can be achieved by just moving from SS to valve amplification.
 
Anyway, I mentioned EQ in the specific case of trying to make a 650 sound like a 600. That's not a huge shift in FR. I wouldn't attempt to use EQ if I were looking to change the sound to something more radical, like a Q701 for example. That would be madness, in all sorts of ways

 

[penmarker]

How does EQ work if you have a separate DAC that processes the digital signal? Would the audio files be pre-equalised before being fed to the DAC?

 

[bocosb]

 

I owned the HD650 for a year amplified from the Essence STX before moving to the Bottlehead Crack+Speedball a month ago.. since then my musical world has changed I find myself listening up until 3 a.m. all kind of albums, even artists i'm not so fond of. As a con, most of the time i work at home in front of the pc and with this rig the music sounds so good, my focus shifts from work to the music all the times. To me this setup reminds me of my teenage years, when i could stay for hours listening to CD's and cassette tapes no matter the source, just enjoying the music.
Right now i would say that i'm completely satisfied with my headphone and amp, maybe i will get a better dac and of course the addiction that is tube rolling

 

[ziggysp2000]

  I owned the HD650 for a year amplified from the Essence STX before moving to the Bottlehead Crack+Speedball a month ago.. since then my musical world has changed I find myself listening up until 3 a.m. all kind of albums, even artists i'm not so fond of. As a con, most of the time i work at home in front of the pc and with this rig the music sounds so good, my focus shifts from work to the music all the times. To me this setup reminds me of my teenage years, when i could stay for hours listening to CD's and cassette tapes no matter the source, just enjoying the music.
Right now i would say that i'm completely satisfied with my headphone and amp, maybe i will get a better dac and of course the addiction that is tube rolling

Well that's really the point, I think. Which cans and accompanying rig make it impossible for you to stop queuing up songs?
 
What gear makes music truly fun again.
 
Once you find that, you've made it. Of course, different headphones for different occasions but I think most people do have a 'go-to' that, yes, there maybe better headphones for a specific track or band or whatever, but they can enjoy basically anything with that one pair.
 
The good news is you can potentially keep finding elevated degrees of this contentment as you creep up the chain with new gear. As I've said previously (somewhere, to someone) .... any new gear that allows you to enjoy your music for the first time all over again, is sacred.

 

[castleofargh]

 

 

  I'm not totally sure what that means, but I'm tempted to disagree regardless
 
No... everything has a frequency curve, not an EQ.

 
EQ is simply the alteration of a sound signature to something more desirable to the listener. Valves do pretty much the same thing.
 
Anyway, I'm not arguing the point, merely pointing out that truly flat isn't what most people are looking for.
 
In a studio, maybe. On the couch, not so much.

If only EQ sounded like tubes...then everybody would be happy....but that is just not the case.
 
I think EQ has it's place....in my experience it works far better taking away than adding....adding can be disaster....but in no way does EQ give you a tube sound....it just is not there.....you can how ever change the sound, and a good cross feed seems to work pretty well.

all you need is to find someone who has the knowledge and system to generate an impulse response through whatever amp you like, and record it back with a nice and super clean ADC. send whatever colored amp to him and then anybody using a relatively transparent amp with a convolver can get something crazy close to the colored amp's sound(on the basis that in power isn't an issue and that you're using a relatively transparent amp yourself).
if the difference isn't just in the frequency response, then an EQ isn't the answer. the EQ isn't to blame for that, its job is to alter frequency response not to add mad distortions. doesn't mean there isn't a digital answer because there always is one. saying that we can't do something in the digital domain is the same as saying that digital audio doesn't work.
 
 
 
Quote:

  How does EQ work if you have a separate DAC that processes the digital signal? Would the audio files be pre-equalised before being fed to the DAC?

 
EQ can be digital, using something on your computer. or analog, using something between the DAC and the amp, or the amp itself (what I call a defect and others call a coloration).
if it's a digital equalizer, the good ones can simulate all kinds of filters both digital and analog EQ(the result really is the same), but does it in the digital domain by changing the values of each sample in the PCM streaming. so the DAC just gets very slightly different data, and converts it into analog signal(wave) that will now sound like you changed the frequency response. so it's a pretty clever stuff all done with math.
in the analog domain, you use electrical components to alter the wave signal and make it sound as you want. an amp designer would logically strive to make it so that all his components end up as transparent as possible. but somehow a few of them end up making non transparent stuff because they suck, or because they feel like it sounds nice and hope to be noticed by consumers as being a good "different".
anyway the coloration of the amp will be subjected to the exact same electrical rules as an actual EQ making the same frequency response changes. so all the people who hate EQ because of whatever phase problem, a colored amp will exhibit the same kind of phase shift for the same analog EQ, or digital EQ with analog settings(modulo whatever choice is used to get minimum phase or not) . it's not possible to change sound without affecting the electrical signal. and if it was possible to do it without the "problems" of an EQ, then EQs would use that magic solution obviously ^_^.
so

Originally Posted by ziggysp2000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
No... everything has a frequency curve, not an EQ.

isn't exactly true.

 
changes in frequency can come from several stuff in the headphone because it is bound by electricity, mechanic and acoustic. but for the amp, the electrical options that aren't a defect are limited to "tune" the frequency response(on purpose, or not).

 

[ziggysp2000]

isn't exactly true.

 
changes in frequency can come from several stuff in the headphone because it is bound by electricity, mechanic and acoustic. but for the amp, the electrical options that aren't a defect are limited to "tune" the frequency response(on purpose, or not).

 
Ok, I accept that, you're right, makes sense. The point I was really making is you cannot manually change the frequency curve of an amp / headphones like you can with an actual EQ (hardware or software versions).
 
Of course there will be fluctuations in a frequency curve for a variety of reasons, but not necessarily intentionally! I also realize with something like tube rolling you can change the curve significantly, but that's not like pushing a knob up and down for a given frequency range

 

[Solrighal]

  I owned the HD650 for a year amplified from the Essence STX before moving to the Bottlehead Crack+Speedball a month ago.. since then my musical world has changed I find myself listening up until 3 a.m. all kind of albums, even artists i'm not so fond of. As a con, most of the time i work at home in front of the pc and with this rig the music sounds so good, my focus shifts from work to the music all the times. To me this setup reminds me of my teenage years, when i could stay for hours listening to CD's and cassette tapes no matter the source, just enjoying the music.
Right now i would say that i'm completely satisfied with my headphone and amp, maybe i will get a better dac and of course the addiction that is tube rolling

 
This has been exactly my experience when I moved from the O2 amp to the Project Ember MkII. I was up until ridiculous o'clock last night (this morning) listening to Queen, for God's sake! And it was brilliant!
 

 

[ziggysp2000]

   
This has been exactly my experience when I moved from the O2 amp to the Project Ember MkII. I was up until ridiculous o'clock last night (this morning) listening to Queen, for God's sake! And it was brilliant!
 

Queen is so nicely recorded, it's always a fantastic experience, regardless which headphones I use!
 
Fantastical. 

 

[DDDamian]

   
This has been exactly my experience when I moved from the O2 amp to the Project Ember MkII. I was up until ridiculous o'clock last night (this morning) listening to Queen, for God's sake! And it was brilliant!
 

I do love the 650's for that kind of soaring, operatic rock. Was enjoying some early Genesis - Musical Box from the SACD the other day through the Crack. Brilliant.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I do love the 650's for that kind of soaring, operatic rock. Was enjoying some early Genesis - Musical Box from the SACD the other day through the Crack. Brilliant.

 
+10
 
The 650s are wonderful for 1970/80s hard rock -- Rush, Led Zepp, some Springsteen, Triumph, Aerosmith ( i.e. some badly recorded tracks that would shred my ED's on other HPs). Only my 650, so far,  can allow me to enjoy these tracks at modest volumes.

 

[Jeff Y]

I doubt there is anyone at all who have listened to this amp here because the company is so small but has anyone ever listened to the HD650 paired with the Graham Slee amps?
I love especially the 650 paired with their Solo SRG2 and the Ultra Linear.
 
I'm considering getting a stationary desktop external amp (solid state only, don't want to bother with tubes no matter how good they may be) to hook up to my Hugo for use at home and other than the Graham Slees, I'm considering Cavalli's Liquid Carbon. Does anyone have any suggestions for a solid-state desktop amp that pairs well with the 650s other than the two I have mentioned?
I have tried some amps like Burson Audio's or Vioelectric and found them not doing so well with the 650s. Burson for being too bright, energetic, and fast with the 650s which took away the things I loved about the 650s like the tonality, darkness, bass decay, and such. Then Vioelectrics did not fare well either because it was too analytic and somewhat boring with the 650s (good with HD800s though).
 
Thank you.