[connieflyer]

Agree with DDDamian, I started out with just the asus sound card and a good one at that, moved up to an older receiver and then to the Ember amp.  Experimented with a lot  of tubes and find this to be an amazing sounding can.  Second pair of them actually, first did not wear out just got good deal on new pair on amazon quick sale. The Bottlehead amps are also very good with the 650's am thinking about building one this winter, but to get the most out of these headphones, you need a nice amp.  Made all the difference to me. Spend probably 3 hours or more a day under these, exploring music.  Your journey has just begun, but you have a very good starting point.  Spend some time reading the forums and ask questions if you are not sure of something.  We never stop learning until we stop asking questions.

 

[DavidA]

@thejammonster, as @DDDamian and @connieflyer have said you have a great headphone that needs a good amp.  I have a Ember, Lyr2, and BH Crack and for the HD-650 the BH Crack is the best IMO.  I've also heard the HD-650 on amp much higher up in price and they do sound better on them but its not something that I can notice easily so for me its not worth the cost to upgrade to them.
 
Also, I used to have a Xonar DG sound card is it worked quite well for my HE-400 and HD-700 until I heard them on the Ember and haven't looked back since.
 
Good luck

 

[thejammonster]

  Hate to say, but you've just bought an amazing pair of cans that are not the easiest beasts to drive! If you drop money on an amp you will get substantially better sound. You've got 1/2 of a race car....A few pages back some entry-level amps were discussed, but give a hard look at the garage1217 offerings like the Ember or Polaris. If that's a bit much then grab a Fiio E12.
 
They are really great sounding cans but do need amping....

 

  Agree with DDDamian, I started out with just the asus sound card and a good one at that, moved up to an older receiver and then to the Ember amp.  Experimented with a lot  of tubes and find this to be an amazing sounding can.  Second pair of them actually, first did not wear out just got good deal on new pair on amazon quick sale. The Bottlehead amps are also very good with the 650's am thinking about building one this winter, but to get the most out of these headphones, you need a nice amp.  Made all the difference to me. Spend probably 3 hours or more a day under these, exploring music.  Your journey has just begun, but you have a very good starting point.  Spend some time reading the forums and ask questions if you are not sure of something.  We never stop learning until we stop asking questions.

 
Cool, thanks guys!  Do you think the JDS O2+JDAC would be a decent starting point for an all-in-one solution?  I will primarily be using the headphones with my PC.

 

[whirlwind]

Yep.....that would be a great place to start  

 

[DDDamian]

And the road is paved......

 
As @whirlwind hints, we all start somewhere. That set of cans can carry you through to some top-tier amps and just get better with each step. But an entry-level like O2+JDAC will take you miles above what your hearing now. Many of us have been down this path (sorry about your wallet) but trust me get a dedicated amp at least and amp/dac if you can.

 

[maho]

I've considered myself an "audiophile" now for around 4 years. I've been hitting the 5.1 scene hard and have peiced together a decent little set-up (always room for improvement, though). Recently, however, I went from owning my own home in a rural area to renting an apartment in a city. As one could imagine,the opportunity for my big speaker set-up just wasn't there anymore and I had to leave all of it behind in storage; Space, proximity to neighbors and the ability to listen at volumes I desire while still being acceptable to said neighbors are all factors in this situation.
 
So, needing my HQ music back I decided to get into the headphone world. Now, to be fair, I have owned a few pairs of in-ear and a couple pairs of over-ear cans that, in mind mind, were getting the job done. This was, of course, before I got in to the glorious world of uncompressed digital sounds and good old fashioned analog sounds (the source is a giant piece to this whole puzzle). I just purchased some Sennheiser HD650s along with a Schiit Modi/Magni 2 Uber set-up and I've been absolutely "blown-away" by the upside that a decent pair of cans and the power to drive them possess.
 
I have not paired these headphones with any other amp/DAC combo, or vice versa, but I would recommend this combination to anyone looking to upgrade their current set-up, or, for a perfect "first dive" into this head-fi world.

 

[mikoss]

  [useful advice]

 
This is great advice for anyone just getting into these cans. May I also suggest some cheap tube gear... whatever you can find that has a tube, hook it up to feed the 650's, and enjoy some magic. (garage1217's gear as Damian suggested, or the Aune T1, or the Grant Fidelity tube dac, or the Bravo tube amps, or any of these http://www.ebay.com/bhp/tube-dac ).

 

[Krutsch]

  I've considered myself an "audiophile" now for around 4 years. I've been hitting the 5.1 scene hard and have peiced together a decent little set-up (always room for improvement, though). Recently, however, I went from owning my own home in a rural area to renting an apartment in a city. As one could imagine,the opportunity for my big speaker set-up just wasn't there anymore and I had to leave all of it behind in storage; Space, proximity to neighbors and the ability to listen at volumes I desire while still being acceptable to said neighbors are all factors in this situation.
 
So, needing my HQ music back I decided to get into the headphone world. Now, to be fair, I have owned a few pairs of in-ear and a couple pairs of over-ear cans that, in mind mind, were getting the job done. This was, of course, before I got in to the glorious world of uncompressed digital sounds and good old fashioned analog sounds (the source is a giant piece to this whole puzzle). I just purchased some Sennheiser HD650s along with a Schiit Modi/Magni 2 Uber set-up and I've been absolutely "blown-away" by the upside that a decent pair of cans and the power to drive them possess.
 
I have not paired these headphones with any other amp/DAC combo, or vice versa, but I would recommend this combination to anyone looking to upgrade their current set-up, or, for a perfect "first dive" into this head-fi world.

 
Welcome to Head-Fi and sorry about your wallet...
 
I dove into Head-Fi for the same reason... moving from a house into an apt. Moved back into a house and am still into Head-Fi.
 
Great starter setup (well, end-game, if you can conttrol your wallet) ... enjoy 

 

[mikoss]

You guys check out the Chesky songwriter contest? Both artists sound absolutely splendid on the 650's.
 
Here is a track that is blowing me away from Molly Pinto Madigan... I think I will have to buy this album.
https://mollypintomadigan.bandcamp.com/track/siren

 

[Haeleus]

I just got my first amp/dac (Schiit Stack 2 Uber) and a brand new HD650 and I am very happy with it so far, such a massive improvement over on-board sound (can't go back to a headset after this)! After trying a few phones at a local store I always come back to Sennheiser because of the comfort and sound balance of their open design.
 
That said, can the Schiit Magni 2 Uber on high gain damage this headphone? I was dumb and decided to crank the volume not realizing how high it would go (thought the impedance of the 650 would not allow it to play so loud) and for 1-2 seconds before I rapidly lowered it again I got a nasty vibration/distortion on my left-side. Since I've never had an amp before I'm not sure if this is fine or if I just potentially damaged the driver...I've always been paranoid that my right-side is always louder but that could just be my hearing (hard to tell with stereo sound) so while there's no distortion I don't know if the volume could mute a driver.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

  I just got my first amp/dac (Schiit Stack 2 Uber) and a brand new HD650 and I am very happy with it so far, such a massive improvement over on-board sound (can't go back to a headset after this)! After trying a few phones at a local store I always come back to Sennheiser because of the comfort and sound balance of their open design.
 
That said, can the Schiit Magni 2 Uber on high gain damage this headphone? I was dumb and decided to crank the volume not realizing how high it would go (thought the impedance of the 650 would not allow it to play so loud) and for 1-2 seconds before I rapidly lowered it again I got a nasty vibration/distortion on my left-side. Since I've never had an amp before I'm not sure if this is fine or if I just potentially damaged the driver...I've always been paranoid that my right-side is always louder but that could just be my hearing (hard to tell with stereo sound) so while there's no distortion I don't know if the volume could mute a driver.

 
I wouldn't worry.  I doubt the Magni has what it takes to overpower the HD650.  You would have heard distortion almost immediately.

 

[mikoss]

Amps can most definitely wreck your gear. Headphones, speakers... Watch the volume. I'm hoping the drivers aren't damaged. You'd probably hear distortion at a normal volume if they were, so chances are you're ok.

You may also find this helpful:
http://onlinetonegenerator.com/hearingtest.html

If you notice that one side of your headphones gets lower in volume around 8kHz, you probably have some hearing damage. (You can confirm by wearing your headphones backwards and listening again... If the results are the same, it's your ears. If the other side is lower, you may have mismatched drivers, or driver damage).

If the volume seems to get louder and uncomfortable as the tone gets higher, you may have hyperacusis (which I do).

Otherwise, the entire sweep should be the same volume.

 

[dittore]

Has anyone tried the HD 650 drivers in the HD600s chassis? It should sound the same in both chassis if they are identical (they ssem to be).

 

[kman1211]

  Has anyone tried the HD 650 drivers in the HD600s chassis? It should sound the same in both chassis if they are identical (they ssem to be).

I have, the sound was a bit cleaner, slightly colder, and more spacious than the stock HD 600 sound. The drivers are a bit different sounding, the HD 650 drivers are a bit better in terms of refinement, imaging, and smoothness.

 

[Haeleus]

   
I wouldn't worry.  I doubt the Magni has what it takes to overpower the HD650.  You would have heard distortion almost immediately.

 

Amps can most definitely wreck your gear. Headphones, speakers... Watch the volume. I'm hoping the drivers aren't damaged. You'd probably hear distortion at a normal volume if they were, so chances are you're ok.

You may also find this helpful:
http://onlinetonegenerator.com/hearingtest.html

If you notice that one side of your headphones gets lower in volume around 8kHz, you probably have some hearing damage. (You can confirm by wearing your headphones backwards and listening again... If the results are the same, it's your ears. If the other side is lower, you may have mismatched drivers, or driver damage).

If the volume seems to get louder and uncomfortable as the tone gets higher, you may have hyperacusis (which I do).

Otherwise, the entire sweep should be the same volume.

I'll try this this out when I get home, thanks!
 
There was no distortion, my only potential concern was whether that sort of damage would result in muted sound on one side but if my only risk was actual distortion then I think I'm fine. Granted, since my amp has a 300Ohm max output of 320 mW doesn't that mean it can't damage 650s since its long-term max power is 500 mW?