[Solrighal]

The internet never fails to surprise me. This thread has went down the rabbit hole.

 

[iancraig10]

Eh? Nothing to do with me!!

The guy saying that the hd650 doesn't actually 'need' an amp..... you are right. No headphone needs an amp other than the one in the device sending the signal.

The best amps shouldn't actually change the sound.

However, in order to get proper peaks which take a lot more power to get without clipping, you DO need an amp. Some people wouldn't notice the clipping and would be perfectly happy with the 'tonal' sound that they get.

I've even had a guy come here to compare a Grado with the Senn and he couldn't hear the difference. He just thought that the Grado was louder. So an amp wouldn't help him either.

 

[davehg]

Using my trusty darTZeel LHC-208 DAC/Integated.

These 650's are amazing. !

When I had a home system, always wanted to try the darTZeel but they were few and far between on Audiogon.

Welcome to HPs. If you come from exotic home hi fi, the prices in the HP world are so much more tolerable. I paid about $3k for my HP amp which I thought was reasonable but come to find out people thought was pricey.

The HD650s are wonderful, punch way above their price point, and sound wonderful on better gear.

 

[rikk009]

Eh? Nothing to do with me!!

The guy saying that the hd650 doesn't actually 'need' an amp..... you are right. No headphone needs an amp other than the one in the device sending the signal.

The best amps shouldn't actually change the sound.

However, in order to get proper peaks which take a lot more power to get without clipping, you DO need an amp. Some people wouldn't notice the clipping and would be perfectly happy with the 'tonal' sound that they get.

I've even had a guy come here to compare a Grado with the Senn and he couldn't hear the difference. He just thought that the Grado was louder. So an amp wouldn't help him either.

I hope some DAC manufacturer make a chip which has high enough output that they can drive headphone without an amp?

 

[peter123]

For those who like to use an amplifier I find the Burson Conductor V2+ (with its internal DAC) to be an extremely good pairing with the HD650. This pairing is the best I've heard with the HD650 so far (I've only got them for about three weeks).....

I also like them a lot from the balanced output on both the Opus #1 and Aune M1s.

 

[castleofargh]

from a technical point, a DAC is likely to output something with enough voltage but almost no current. and the output of my DACs tend to be around 100 or 150ohm. not my idea of a "neutral" ground to test a headphone. it should be loud enough for the 650(most likely will need a good digital attenuation), and it might not even sound horrible thanks to the high impedance of those cans, but I don't believe it's a great idea to test a headphone and I fail to imagine what it's supposed to say about the headphone. 
 
I'm not saying the hd650 needs some super amp, just that a DAC is built to be plugged into several thousand ohms, not into headphones.

 

[stilleh]

i love my 650s. just wanted to add here that if you don't put brainwaves angled sheep skin pads on them your doing headphones wrong.

my mod:
remove old pads and foam
install brainwaves angled sheep skin pads

done

and.. the sound is phenomenal. the comfort is phenomenal

Got a link to the pads you are talking about?

 

[martyn73]

I'm finding my HD650 with Lake People G100 Final Edition and Chord 2Qute connected to my PC via USB is giving my Stax SR-007 MkII and SRM-727II a run for their money. The only truly noticeable difference is that the Stax has a wider soundstage and dynamic range. Other than that since properly amping the HD650 with either the NJC Audio Reference II with an iPhone 7 or the G100FE and Chord 2Qute I tend to go for the HD650.

 

[Dino2000]

 
That's one way to boost sales, provided it's NOT true.  I would think that a replacement model would be released BEFORE a still popular model is discontinued.

 
I don't know what to make of the email. I also mentioned HD600 and there was no mention of that in the reply. And they do share parts. I also do not know how much weight a "Sennheiser Customer Support Specialist" (or this specific one) should be given.
 
Still, I didn't like reading that.

 

[equalspeace]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01J53WTUQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488761875&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=brainwavz+angled+sheepskin+pads&dpPl=1&dpID=41PcJeyVeSL&ref=plSrch

Got a link to the pads you are talking about?

 

[LazyListener]

 
If you put a headphone output directly on the line out of the DAC, that is what you get with a Chord DAC. There is no amplifier in it.
 
Other DAC's like the Auralic Vega are even louder than the Chord Hugo for example if you put the volume up (atleast the unit that I tried seemed to be able to deliver more power than the Hugo).

A standalone DAC component (with no amplifier built in) will have some sort of preamp output, but that outputs a weak, low level signal that isn't mean to be plugged directly into headphones.  Plus you rarely get any type of "volume" control on a standalone DAC.  They call it it a "preamp" output for a reason.  It's supposed to be plugged into an amplifier.
 
Are you saying headphones should be tested without an amplifier and plugged directly into preamp outputs of a DAC?

 

[penmarker]

Chord DACs with headphone outputs have at least amplifiers or pre amps in them. They are just discrete, like the DAC section.

 

[jimmers]

Originally Posted by penmarker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
They are just discrete, like the DAC section.

FPGA counts as discrete?

 

[penmarker]

  FPGA counts as discrete?

From my understanding, if its not off the shelf available/ready component then its discrete.

 

[stilleh]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01J53WTUQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488761875&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=brainwavz+angled+sheepskin+pads&dpPl=1&dpID=41PcJeyVeSL&ref=plSrch

Thanks. Can they be found anywhere except on Amazon? Amazon does not ship to Sweden...