[SEABREEZE]

  Hi,
 
I have searched long for the answer to this question so I apologize if it was already discussed.  I have finally started to go "upscale" in my desire for good audio equipment.  My start was to get headphones and I purchased Sennheiser HD650.  Right now, I am listening out of a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and everything I read said I needed an amp to power the 600ohm cans.  So, I wanted one portable and I bought a E1 Soundblaster.  
 
I know this is cheaper and I just wanted to put my toe in the water here. But, alas, I have to have both the phone and the AMP up to full blast and it still is just barely good.  I figured it would be a lot louder and fuller. 
 
Any idea what I need to do here?  I know I can get very powerful amps for desktop but I travel a lot. My plan is to use:
 
- On airplane, Bose TC15
- in Hotel - Sennheiser HD650 with portable amp. 
 
Do I have a problem with how I am hooking them up?  Is the amp just too bad (all reviews said it would get volume to the point of pain.. but for me, at full blast, it is not even close).
 
Thank you so much for any help.  

When you go balanced out of amp into the 650's will you hear the full potential of the HD650... The right cables used will also help.  See if you can get to a meetup where you can sample a Balanced setup going into the 650's You can get some really nice sound from SE but hear balanced then you will understand..  Enjoy the experience !!  

 

[DavidA]

  Hi,
 
I have searched long for the answer to this question so I apologize if it was already discussed.  I have finally started to go "upscale" in my desire for good audio equipment.  My start was to get headphones and I purchased Sennheiser HD650.  Right now, I am listening out of a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and everything I read said I needed an amp to power the 600ohm cans.  So, I wanted one portable and I bought a E1 Soundblaster.  
 
I know this is cheaper and I just wanted to put my toe in the water here. But, alas, I have to have both the phone and the AMP up to full blast and it still is just barely good.  I figured it would be a lot louder and fuller. 
 
Any idea what I need to do here?  I know I can get very powerful amps for desktop but I travel a lot. My plan is to use:
 
- On airplane, Bose TC15
- in Hotel - Sennheiser HD650 with portable amp. 
 
Do I have a problem with how I am hooking them up?  Is the amp just too bad (all reviews said it would get volume to the point of pain.. but for me, at full blast, it is not even close).
 
Thank you so much for any help.  

I think you might have a defective E1 but I couldn't find any info on the output power.  I tried my Fiio X3ii which is not a very powerful DAP but it is able to drive the HD-650 to 100dB level quite easily which is way too loud.  My Galaxy S5 (which is crap IMO) can get the HD-650 to my listening level of 65dB at 2 clicks less than max volume so either you are listening at a significantly higher level or something is wrong.  Do you have an app to use on your S7 to check the dB level?  The apps are not the most accurate but will give you some idea of the level you are listening at which might help find the issue.

 

[basman]

My HD650 duty is for light tracks such as Jazz and classical music. This phone really shine on these types of music. But whem I'm about to rock I have my Grado soldiers lining up for the duty.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

My HD650 duty is for light tracks such as Jazz and classical music. This phone really shine on these types of music. But whem I'm about to rock I have my Grado soldiers lining up for the duty.

Grados are good for rock, I agree.
 
For smaller-scale classical and vocals, the 650 is superb -- just not for large-scale works like symphs and chorals imo.

 

[basman]

Grados are good for rock, I agree.

For smaller-scale classical and vocals, the 650 is superb -- just not for large-scale works like symphs and chorals imo.

Agree with vocals too as I was listening to Diana Krall last night and really enjoyed the tracks from wildflower LP. I haven't tried it with orchestral and chorals but I doubt it with my amateur and abused ears.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

For Classical,for me it's the Q7XX or DT88#.....YMMV

 

[SHAMuuu]

  For Classical,for me it's the Q7XX or DT88#.....YMMV

I think dt660> 880 for classical.  For me anyway. And its closed! Maybe my ears are messed up, but love hearing tablas and sithars on em!

 

[DavidA]

My HD650 duty is for light tracks such as Jazz and classical music. This phone really shine on these types of music. But whem I'm about to rock I have my Grado soldiers lining up for the duty.

HD-650 and RS1: great pair of complimentary headphones, for me its HD-650 and RS2e and jazz on HD-650 is one of the finer things in life
 
For classical I usually reach for HD-700, HD-800 or SR-009, for opera the HE-560 is hard to beat but the T1 is not far behind

 

[Dobrescu George]

I wrote a review for HD650. Pretty good headphones!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-650-headphones/reviews/18057

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   Pretty good headphones!
 

An understatement. Sold mine last year.
Bought used one this year.
 
Enough said.

 

[Dobrescu George]

An understatement. Sold mine last year.
Bought used one this year.

Enough said.

You do sound like you're having lots of fun!

But that's totally understandable , especially since it's a headphone I would most likely return to, especially while listening to jazz and cabaret.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

You do sound like you're having lots of fun!

But that's totally understandable , especially since it's a headphone I would most likely return to, especially while listening to jazz and cabaret.

Absolutely. I don't do much critical listening at night, just want to chill and be enveloped by the music. 650 does it sooooo well.

 

[Dobrescu George]

 
Absolutely. I don't do much critical listening at night, just want to chill and be enveloped by the music. 650 does it sooooo well.

 
Yes! HD650 is great for that! Probably the most relaxing headphone I tested to date if we consider it's overall sound and ease of usage and comfort. LCD2 and LCD4 are also quite relaxing, but both are heavier and I do have neck fatigue after 30-40 minutes of wearing them 

, while hd650 doesn't present you with any fatigue at all. 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
Yes! HD650 is great for that! Probably the most relaxing headphone I tested to date if we consider it's overall sound and ease of usage and comfort. LCD2 and LCD4 are also quite relaxing, but both are heavier and I do have neck fatigue after 30-40 minutes of wearing them 

, while hd650 doesn't present you with any fatigue at all. 

Neck fatigue is bad. I had LCD-2.2, it was like a barbell on my head, compared to my HE560, which is beautiful -- never know it was on my head!
 
Your English is very good -- did you learn it in Romania?

 

[Dobrescu George]

 
Neck fatigue is bad. I had LCD-2.2, it was like a barbell on my head, compared to my HE560, which is beautiful -- never know it was on my head!
 
Your English is very good -- did you learn it in Romania?

 
Thank you 

 (I'm not sure if you're serious or if my Eng is actually bad since I am working every day to improve my Eng and I'm not that happy with my current level)
 
I learned Eng from many places, school, music, reading books in Eng, games, Anime, personal study. I learned business grade Eng in school 

 
But to answer your question, I learned in Romania and I'm still living in Romania 

 It is an interesting place to say the least