[purpledrank]

I have a laptop and wanted to know what portable amp/dac combo you guys use with your HD650? I would prefer to have a 2 in 1 in the $200 price range. I definitely need a DAC because the soundcard on my laptop sucks.

 

[435279]

The Chord Mojo works very well for me and my HD650's.

 

[nick77]

Picked up a used Channel Islands VHP-1 on the cheap and thinking about pairing with the HD650's. I dont see this amp mentioned much, would this be a good combo?

 

[Darien]

  @Darian, as a few have posted, save until you can get a DAC/AMP that will do the HD650 justice, I would budget around $1000 for both the DAC and AMP but look at it as an investment that will last for many years and depending on what you get will also work with many other headphones.  My reason for the $1000 budget is that seems to be where diminishing returns really start to show up.
I've settled on a Bifrost MB and Teac UD-301 for my DACs,  Ember, Lyr2 and BH Crack for amps.

you dont think the emotiva stealth would do it justice?
 
so for your 650hd do you use 2 dacs and 2 amps at the same time? or do you usually use either bitfrostt+lyr or ud301+bhcrack, etc. ? (sorry if this is a dumb question)
 
I feel that is not good for me considering most people ive met with 650hd usually stay around the 500$ range for dac/amp and they make much  more money then i do, so i really am in no position to buy 1000$ amp/dac.... im leaning most to the emotiva stealth cus it also has spidif input (i am a PC gamer and plan to utilize dolby surround for games too) - the emotiva steallth is the only thing i've found in that price range that has everything i want. 

 

[Tuneslover]

As a magni 2 uber user, I would very much like to hear how you think your new Polaris compares. I've considered that upgrade myself in the past.

Me too.  Comparisons between these 2 company's products would certainly be an interesting read.  Of course with HD650's!

 

[Darien]

hey guys i just got my 650 sounds pretty good so far with my e10k, but honestly even on LOW gain i can get it loud enough to make my ears bleed without even going all the way to 8 (max) -  so what would be the benefit of getting a more expensive amp if the e10k has enough power to get them this loud?

 

[donlin]

  hey guys i just got my 650 sounds pretty good so far with my e10k, but honestly even on LOW gain i can get it loud enough to make my ears bleed without even going all the way to 8 (max) -  so what would be the benefit of getting a more expensive amp if the e10k has enough power to get them this loud?

Adequate volume is only one of many benefits that a better amp can provide.  Just like different headphones sound different, all amps sound different as well, although the differences are much more subtle than between headphones.  As amps go up in quality, there is usually a blacker background allowing for more detail to come through, there is more extension and control at the frequency extremes, etc.  For me, one of the biggest benefits of better amplification is reduced treble grain and upper midrange glare, the music is smoother and easier to listen to.

 

[connieflyer]

From headphonia's review.....
The Result
As I quickly mentioned before, the general sound signature of the E10 was warm and fun with good bass body. It had full mids and a reasonably open sound with inoffensive treble. Sound stage wise it wasn’t the best and the E10 never was a king for what technicalities are concerned but overall, it was really hard not to love its sound. The E10K Olympus 2 definitely is an improvement and there’s more to love.
The Olympus 2 for starters has a whole lot less floor noise than its older brother, with my CIEMs there is as good as none. Sound stage now is quite a lot bigger and you will hear more detail from bass to mids to highs. It has a cleaner and more dynamic sound, a better resolution and especially the mids and treble section has improved a lot. It’s like a veil was lifted and an extra layer of detail and quality was added. At the same time the old E10 sounds more aggressive and more centered than the new version. It also sounds louder at the same volume setting.
One of the most important (Fiio) features is the Bass Boost. As you can see in the graph on the next page it still has quite an impact on the sound but it’s not quite the same as it was in the previous version of this unit.
 
Sound wise it wasn't the best and the E10 never was a king for what technicalities are concerned ...I think you are mistaking sheer loudness with quality of sound.  I have listened to the 650's direct from Asus Essences 2, and through Harman-Kardon avr 501, now use an Ember...http://garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_004.htm. and have a much better sounding presentation than any of the other amps I tried.  If you are looking for portable that is another issue, d650's are 300 ohm headphones not meant to be driven by such small current devices, they will get loud but will not sound that great. If you are looking at just power consider this....
 
 

 

[Darien]

Ahh I see guys, thanks for the explanations. Yeah I checked out the g1217 site but it's so hardcore I can't even figure out how to buy the items lol....but i've heard really good things about the emotiva dc-1 and since yesterday I pretty much decided when I upgrade in the future I will get that.

 

[ubs28]

hey guys i just got my 650 sounds pretty good so far with my e10k, but honestly even on LOW gain i can get it loud enough to make my ears bleed without even going all the way to 8 (max) -  so what would be the benefit of getting a more expensive amp if the e10k has enough power to get them this loud?

While my iPhone can get these HD 650 to reasonable volume as well, it is really grainy and thin. The soundstage is also small.

Best is to test the HD 650 on the HDVD 800 and see what the differences are.

 

[ubs28]

you dont think the emotiva stealth would do it justice?

so for your 650hd do you use 2 dacs and 2 amps at the same time? or do you usually use either bitfrostt+lyr or ud301+bhcrack, etc. ? (sorry if this is a dumb question)

I feel that is not good for me considering most people ive met with 650hd usually stay around the 500$ range for dac/amp and they make much  more money then i do, so i really am in no position to buy 1000$ amp/dac.... im leaning most to the emotiva stealth cus it also has spidif input (i am a PC gamer and plan to utilize dolby surround for games too) - the emotiva steallth is the only thing i've found in that price range that has everything i want. 

I agree. I wouldn't spend alot of money on a DAC / amp if the headphone doesn't cost much itself.

These HD 650 even work fine out of soundcards ( I have an Apogee soundcard / audio interface ).

Simply test your 500 dollar amplifier against the HDVD800. If the difference is small, then you have found a winner.

 

[castleofargh]

if it goes loud enough and doesn't clip, then at that given loudness it has enough voltage and current and thus, power.
there are plenty of reason why a given amp might not perform or simply sound as nice as another amp, but the "not enough power" argument is really getting old. it's coming up every 5 pages or so and half the time the device actually has enough power for normal listening. 
and the sad thing is that you can read all about how a pono "can" drive the hd650 well when balanced (2V max), but then in here even an O2 will be debated as not having enough power(about 5V max into 300ohm). that's really where you realize how subjective opinions aren't the most reliable thing to argue about power needs.

 
 
 
yes my tablet doesn't sound amazing directly into the hd650, it's real and there really is no need to be an expert to notice that the sound sucks.  but power isn't the cause so let's stop throwing it in as the go to excuse anytime we want to say that one source sounds better. my tablet has enough current and voltage into 300ohm to drive the headphone louder than I ask for. that's not the problem. and it's probably not with the E10K at normal listening levels.

 

[spiderking31]

The benefits of a powerful amp is obvious my friend the HD650's are 300 ohm headphones. You may be getting volume. But the 650's also need a fair amount of power to sound amazingly good! I'm using a little dot amp with 6H30N power tubes (500Mw per channel). The HD650's have a maximum input of 500Mw per channel. The bass is going to be muddy. The soundstage is going to be small, and these headphones are going to sound mediocre without proper amplification! High impedance headphones do very well with a tube amplifier (OTL type amp). I hope this helps you put a little the higher the power output at 300 ohm's, the better they will sound my friend

 

[donlin]

I agree. I wouldn't spend alot of money on a DAC / amp if the headphone doesn't cost much itself.

These HD 650 even work fine out of soundcards ( I have an Apogee soundcard / audio interface ).

Simply test your 500 dollar amplifier against the HDVD800. If the difference is small, then you have found a winner.

Your first point may be true in general, but in the case of the 650's, they benefit from the most expensive electronics you can throw at them.  Many of us who have had more expensive phones, don't hang onto the HD650's because they are low cost but because they are the best sounding.  In that case we want to get the best out of them we possibly can.

 

[Darien]

so do you guys think the emotiva dc-1 will be good enough for me considering i cant spend more money than that? when ya have a lot of money it's easy to look down on others with less and ask "why can't you just save up for a thousand dollar setup??" but there are other things i have to buy with the money i have, like food.
 
otherwise should i return the 650hd and get something else? what else would be good for a lower budget? cus i didnt like the sharpness of the 598hd hurt my ears, and i hear beyerdynamic sets are more harsh....what should i get instead of my 650hd if i cant afford those high end gear? was looking at the fidelio x2, but the qc stuff is so effed up to get a good pair right now...what else can i do?