[iancraig10]

Well with women, I guess it's vocal processing and men have a volume control fitted, so the only thing left are the eyes?

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Luckily, yes. Facial processing big-time, picking up contextual/emotional/social cues.

 

[iancraig10]

 

[titaniumx3]

Been going back and forth between my HE400i and HD650. Both have their strengths and weakness, but if there is one thing that stands out the most, it is just how ******* good the mids are on the HD650; they are simply magical. The lushness is just off the scale. Always knew it, but trying out another headphone has just further cemented that. The HE400i simply can't compete in this area.

 

[masterfuu]

Been going back and forth between my HE400i and HD650. Both have their strengths and weakness, but if there is one thing that stands out the most, it is just how ******* good the mids are on the HD650; they are simply magical. The lushness is just off the scale. Always knew it, but trying out another headphone has just further cemented that. The HE400i simply can't compete in this area.

From all the years of headphones and speakers I can confirm most magic will come from mids. Hd650 is king in that area and amazing in other areas as well.

 

[mikoss]

Lehmann Audio Rhinelander.

So do you prefer them to the 650's? Would you agree they're tuned closely? Warm/dark?

Also John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: the Complete Masters. Blowing my effing mind. Amazing release.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Also John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: the Complete Masters. Blowing my effing mind. Amazing release.

+1. Coltrane.
 
Bill Evans Trio as well.

 

[painted klown]

Schiit has just announced the Vali 2. This thing looks perfect for the budget conscious wanting to dip their toes in tubes. It only uses one tube and you can roll 6DJ8, 6922, ECC88, 2492, 6N23P to tune the sound to preference.

The original Vali is a great budget amp but there were compromises (microphonic and non-rollable tube). Folks just starting out are really spoilt for choice these days. A budget rig consisting of a MULTIBIT Bifrost > Vali 2 > HD600/650 would be a fine place to start. It might even be a good place to end your Head-Fi quest.

I have actually been eyeballing the original Vali this past week, and nearly pulled the trigger on one, but thought I would be pining to try tube rolling and didn't do it. Now comes along the Vali 2. On paper, it looks to be a pretty decent upgrade to the original Vali (and a perfect "starter amp" for tube n00bz), even though the cost is a bit more. It looks like it's going to be fairly flexible as well, something I appreciate as everything I own (aside from the 650) are easy to drive 'phones.
 
My biggest concern (not knowing ANYTHING about tubes) is possible channel imbalance due to only having a single tube for both channels. As mentioned, Schiit does mention this as a possible issue, so I worry about trying to roll tubes and ending up being disappointed when the tubes aren't balanced, and I have wasted my precious (little) money.  I am guessing there are ways to avoid this, how, I don't know...
 
Also, when I look at web sites to order tubes, I am totally lost. I tried typing in the tube info that Schiit provides on their website, but it didn't seem to help me sort out my confusion. Additionally, I am not sure what "kind" of tube to look for in regards to the Vali 2 amp, Schiit says double triodes, however that means absolutely nothing to me and typing that in on the sites for buying tubes yields no results. Instead of sorting by type, they seem to sort by by model number.
 
Is there a good web site I can read to help educate myself? Maybe a beginners crash course or something not too technical or easy to understand without having knowledge of electric circuits.

 

[dtabn]

From all the years of headphones and speakers I can confirm most magic will come from mids. Hd650 is king in that area and amazing in other areas as well.

 
Yea, I might be picking up a pair of 650's so I can have a complimentary pair to my 400's just for this reason.  Luckily the 400i's don't suffer from the high end issues that the 400's did....  also another reason id like to pick up a pair of 650's, 400's are horrible with female vocals.  You can EQ them a bit, but it doesn't take care of everything.

 

[AlanU]

   
Yea, I might be picking up a pair of 650's so I can have a complimentary pair to my 400's just for this reason.  Luckily the 400i's don't suffer from the high end issues that the 400's did....  also another reason id like to pick up a pair of 650's, 400's are horrible with female vocals.  You can EQ them a bit, but it doesn't take care of everything.

For the US folks the price of the HD650 just under $400 for a brand new headset. This is such a no brainer !!! 
 
After auditioning so many HP the HD650 is probably an extremely safe pair of HP.
 
For Canadians the price of these HP is still reasonable for the level of SQ you get.  Even though I already own a set I was tempted to buy another set during the Canadian black friday price on amazon for $419 CDN. 

 

[dtabn]

Yea, I probably will end up picking up a pair of these this spring, I'm in the middle of upgrading my amp, and boy is that going to be pricey.  I will need some time to recuperate funds.
 
Was there a black friday deal for the US on 650's?  I will be really sad if I missed out....

 

[painted klown]

So do you prefer them to the 650's? Would you agree they're tuned closely? Warm/dark?

Also John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: the Complete Masters. Blowing my effing mind. Amazing release.

 
 

 
+1. Coltrane.
 
Bill Evans Trio as well.

Are either of you fans of Coltrane "Blue Train"? I am under the impression that is a bit of a classic, and a "must have" for any jazz collection. I'd really like to give it a go, but I am not aware of what release has the best mastering job.
 
Just like Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" there are multiple releases of this disc, and I am not sure what version would be the best to get.
 
I did read that the Legacy Edition (50th anniversary edition remaster that was repackaged) was essentially the definitive edition (of Kind of Blue), so I picked it up and immediately fell in love with that record. I also really want to get the soundtrack to Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud. I listened to it on Spotify and it blew me away.
 
I also discovered Dee Dee Bridgewater, and picked up "Dee Dee's Feathers" and love it as well. I have loved Norah Jones for a LONG time now, and have grown to really like Diana Krall a lot as well. Sadly, the mastering jobs on their records aren't always that great. Kinda annoying to have this great, beautiful music being interrupted with distortion on dynamic peaks and vocal tracks that get louder.

 
I discovered the classical music thread on this forum, and there were so many recommendations from the (very) friendly posters in that area, that I couldn't keep up with them. Classical music pieces tend to be longer, and so it takes a while to really listen to them and fully familiarize myself with them. I don't know classical music, but have a strong interest in it. I should really hop back in there and listen to more stuff. I think I would really like it. I did really like the David Fray video they recommended to me. That guys love for classical music, and his enthusiasm for it, is truly infectious.
 
Anyway, now I am rambling...LOL!

 

[AlanU]

  Yea, I probably will end up picking up a pair of these this spring, I'm in the middle of upgrading my amp, and boy is that going to be pricey.  I will need some time to recuperate funds.
 
Was there a black friday deal for the US on 650's?  I will be really sad if I missed out....

I didn't look at amazon.com...I'm afraid my sinking horrible Canadian dollar does not allow me to shop in the US anymore
 
I do not know your current amp but the most drastic change in SQ is usually swapping headphones if your going from 1 solid state to another.  If you jumping from Solid state to tubes....that's going to give you some more additional flavour to your music. 
 
I've have aproximately $800 dollars worth of power conditioning to my headphone rig and I do find that this relaxes and provides flow to my system. There's alot of ways to play in this hobby

 

[connieflyer]

 
I have actually been eyeballing the original Vali this past week, and nearly pulled the trigger on one, but thought I would be pining to try tube rolling and didn't do it. Now comes along the Vali 2. On paper, it looks to be a pretty decent upgrade to the original Vali (and a perfect "starter amp" for tube n00bz), even though the cost is a bit more. It looks like it's going to be fairly flexible as well, something I appreciate as everything I own (aside from the 650) are easy to drive 'phones.
 
My biggest concern (not knowing ANYTHING about tubes) is possible channel imbalance due to only having a single tube for both channels. As mentioned, Schiit does mention this as a possible issue, so I worry about trying to roll tubes and ending up being disappointed when the tubes aren't balanced, and I have wasted my precious (little) money.  I am guessing there are ways to avoid this, how, I don't know...
 
Also, when I look at web sites to order tubes, I am totally lost. I tried typing in the tube info that Schiit provides on their website, but it didn't seem to help me sort out my confusion. Additionally, I am not sure what "kind" of tube to look for in regards to the Vali 2 amp, Schiit says double triodes, however that means absolutely nothing to me and typing that in on the sites for buying tubes yields no results. Instead of sorting by type, they seem to sort by by model number.
 
Is there a good web site I can read to help educate myself? Maybe a beginners crash course or something not too technical or easy to understand without having knowledge of electric circuits.

You might want to look at the Garage 1217 Project Ember if you want to roll tubes, in addition to the 6SN7's and dual 7193, dual 6L5's they also support the following ..... 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
 
Are either of you fans of Coltrane "Blue Train"? I am under the impression that is a bit of a classic, and a "must have" for any jazz collection. I'd really like to give it a go, but I am not aware of what release has the best mastering job.
 
Just like miles Davis "Kind of Blue" there are multiple releases of this disc, and I am not sure what version would be the best to get.
 
I did read that the Legacy Edition (50th anniversary edition remaster that was repackaged) was essentially the definitive edition, so I picked it up and immediately fell in love with that record. I also really want to get the soundtrack to Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud. I listened to it on Spotify and it blew me away.
 
I also discovered Dee Dee Bridgewater, and picked up "Dee Dee's Feathers" and love it as well. I have loved Norah Jones for a LONG time now, and have grown to really like Diana Krall a lot as well. Sadly, the mastering jobs on their records aren't always that great. Kinda annoying to have this great, beautiful music being interrupted with distortion on dynamic peaks and vocal tracks that get louder.

 
I discovered the classical music thread on this forum, and there were so many recommendations from the (very) friendly posters in that area, that I couldn't keep up with them. Classical music pieces tend to be longer, and so it takes a while to really listen to them and fully familiarize myself with them. I don't know classical music, but have a strong interest in it.

 
Miles is very good, but somewhat overplayed -- I like Coltrane, Larry Young, Eric Dolphy.
 
For jazz vocalists, try Patricia Barber. Her discs are very well-recorded.
 
If you are starting to build a classical CD collection, THE book to get (the one that got me initiated 20 years ago), is Ted Libbey's NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection. Also superb is Jan Swafford's Vintage Guide To Classical Music
 
http://www.amazon.ca/Vintage-Guide-Classical-Music/dp/0679728058/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449971423&sr=1-4&keywords=jan+swafford
http://www.amazon.ca/NPR-Guide-Building-Classical-Collection/dp/0761104879/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449971456&sr=1-1&keywords=ted+libbey