[trybeingarun]

@AudioThief @DavidA @trybeingarun

Thank you very much for your replies. I decided to buy an AMP already, I think I must look around and choose one till HD6XX comes.

Here's one more option for you (though I haven't tried it myself). If you get something like a nuforce ha-200 for < $200 in Massdrop (and use it with a aux to rca splitter right now) then you can aim to setup a monoblock config by getting a balanced dac & another ha-200 to complete your setup, in that order when you have enough money.

 

[DavidA]

@AudioThief @DavidA @trybeingarun

Thank you very much for your replies. I decided to buy an AMP already, I think I must look around and choose one till HD6XX comes.

Good luck with your search for an amp, to me the cheapest amp that I really like with the HD650 is the Garage 1217 Solstice at $250, you can change the output impedance to better match a wider variety of headphones and you also have the option of rolling tubes to tune the sound to your preferences. I know you find it hard to spend more than the cost of the headphones but remember that the HD650 which the HD6XX is based is still a $300+ headphone and that at one time it was a TOTL headphones at $700+

Since you have a preference for portable then I would suggest a DAP versus getting a add on amp, too many devices is not something that I like to deal with if going portable and the second generation X3ii is quite cheap these days since the newer X3iii will be out soon or is out already. Some say it will not drive the HD650 but to me its decent and unless going to a separate DAC and amp that will cost upwards of $750 (Modi MB and BH Crack w/ tubes, upgraded caps) you'll be hard pressed to do better IMO.

 

[peter123]

Here's one more option for you (though I haven't tried it myself). If you get something like a nuforce ha-200 for < $200 in Massdrop (and use it with a aux to rca splitter right now) then you can aim to setup a monoblock config by getting a balanced dac & another ha-200 to complete your setup, in that order when you have enough money.

Like this

I like the HD650 better with the Burson V2+ since it has a bit more attack but the HA-200 in balanced configuration is probably my second favorite for the HD650, very laid back and smooth pairing.

 

[castleofargh]

Could you explain why so many people want OTL or very powerful amps for their HD650/HD6xx for me? English is not my first language, so I might have messed up terms and stuff.

out of all the people who went for more power(written on the side of the box as max possible value) and thought it was an improvement, how many made proper measurements to check that the main change in audio was indeed power related before they decided to run their mouth?
all you know is that you tried 2 amps and you preferred one of them. 2 totally different amps, with different designs, different specs, different components. so how did you go in your head from the fact that almost everything is different to, thinking "it's power I know it"?
instead of trying to see what might align with your preconceptions, try to disprove your reasoning and see how that works.
as for why you think your rational is fine, sadly we're wired that way:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

 

[AudioThief]

out of all the people who went for more power(written on the side of the box as max possible value) and thought it was an improvement, how many made proper measurements to check that the main change in audio was indeed power related before they decided to run their mouth?
all you know is that you tried 2 amps and you preferred one of them. 2 totally different amps, with different designs, different specs, different components. so how did you go in your head from the fact that almost everything is different to, thinking "it's power I know it"?
instead of trying to see what might align with your preconceptions, try to disprove your reasoning and see how that works.
as for why you think your rational is fine, sadly we're wired that way:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Man.. I haven't said anything about what I think sound like this or that - I have read many times that the HD650 needs powerful, clean amplification to sound its best - via amps that provide a lot of wattage. Thats all I am saying. If thats simply false, and that they indeed sound equally good out of my phone because science, then allright.

 

[RickB]

Man.. I haven't said anything about what I think sound like this or that - I have read many times that the HD650 needs powerful, clean amplification to sound its best - via amps that provide a lot of wattage. Thats all I am saying. If thats simply false, and that they indeed sound equally good out of my phone because science, then allright.

They won't sound that great out of your phone, but something as basic as a $99 Magni 2 will do the job.

 

[castleofargh]

Man.. I haven't said anything about what I think sound like this or that - I have read many times that the HD650 needs powerful, clean amplification to sound its best - via amps that provide a lot of wattage. Thats all I am saying. If thats simply false, and that they indeed sound equally good out of my phone because science, then allright.

here

HD6XX deserves a lot of power. I would consider a powerful desktop solid state or a OTL tube or something like that. I am not very technically inclined, but afaik the HD6XX has big impedance swing, so to get out their full potential they need a lot of power.

You can get sufficient volume from most sources.. But if you invest money into a high end headphone I wouldn't bottleneck it like that.

I'm not saying you created the hd650 power cult, but you're the one providing fuel to such idea right there, advising people about something that as far as I can tell hasn't been properly verified and doesn't relate to obvious electrical reasons.
do you know how much power actually goes through your hd650 at your preferred volume level? I can understand if you don't care, but then how do you know what "a lot of power" means?

and of course the alternative to disagreeing with you isn't that your phone must sound equally good into the hd650. because the difference between your phone and a powerful amp, once again, isn't just power. I know that when you have a hammer everything is a nail, but when you have a hd650 every amp decision isn't about power.

 

[chef8489]

here


I'm not saying you created the hd650 power cult, but you're the one providing fuel to such idea right there, advising people about something that as far as I can tell hasn't been properly verified and doesn't relate to obvious electrical reasons.
do you know how much power actually goes through your hd650 at your preferred volume level? I can understand if you don't care, but then how do you know what "a lot of power" means?

and of course the alternative to disagreeing with you isn't that your phone must sound equally good into the hd650. because the difference between your phone and a powerful amp, once again, isn't just power. I know that when you have a hammer everything is a nail, but when you have a hd650 every amp decision isn't about power.

Well I do know through my Vali 2 on low and high gain they sound different at the same volume Ie matched volume level not matched on the knob.

 

[AudioThief]

here


I'm not saying you created the hd650 power cult, but you're the one providing fuel to such idea right there, advising people about something that as far as I can tell hasn't been properly verified and doesn't relate to obvious electrical reasons.
do you know how much power actually goes through your hd650 at your preferred volume level? I can understand if you don't care, but then how do you know what "a lot of power" means?

and of course the alternative to disagreeing with you isn't that your phone must sound equally good into the hd650. because the difference between your phone and a powerful amp, once again, isn't just power. I know that when you have a hammer everything is a nail, but when you have a hd650 every amp decision isn't about power.

Well, as far as I understand.. and again, I am not very technically inclined, but the hd650 has an impedance of 300ohm but impedance swings up to 500 ohm. Now obviously for volume alone, sensitivity is more important, and they are reasonably sensitive. But for having as low distortion/clipping as possible and the best sound quality, you need more power. My current amp runs 2X1W into 300 Ohm and 2x500mW into 600 ohm which should be sufficient for the HD650 - while something weaker would probably not achieve the same non distorted sound. I mean again I am not technically inclined so maybe its all just bs.

 

[castleofargh]

Well I do know through my Vali 2 on low and high gain they sound different at the same volume Ie matched volume level not matched on the knob.

seems perfectly possible, it depends on how the gain switch operates. but does that say something about power going into the hd650? most likely once you have volume matched, the power going into the 650 is pretty similar.
maybe the gain switch has 2 different impedances and then any variation comes as a consequence of that impedance change. maybe the internal design works best at a specific gain in general. or in particular, maybe it's a matter of the voltage coming from your DAC(which is one of the reasons to have a gain switch). and all the possible reasons I can't think about or simply don't know about ^_^.

Well, as far as I understand.. and again, I am not very technically inclined, but the hd650 has an impedance of 300ohm but impedance swings up to 500 ohm. Now obviously for volume alone, sensitivity is more important, and they are reasonably sensitive. But for having as low distortion/clipping as possible and the best sound quality, you need more power. My current amp runs 2X1W into 300 Ohm and 2x500mW into 600 ohm which should be sufficient for the HD650 - while something weaker would probably not achieve the same non distorted sound. I mean again I am not technically inclined so maybe its all just bs.

again you seem to see power as a magical cause and cure for everything. I'm not aware of any direct correlation between low distortion and power increase for any proper pairing and nominal use. reading your post you got to wonder why people bother with headphone amps when speaker amps can do hundreds of watts. ^_^ "it's a trap!"
about distortions in general, do you think OTL amps or most tube designs are suggested in this topic because they offer the lowest distortions into the hd650? spoiler: they do not. people just like the resulting sound.
IMO you need to start looking at the amp question as a multi-variable problem(or if you care about low distortions, start looking into measurements, what they mean and how they are done).

 

[LazyListener]

@castleofargh
I think most consumers believe that higher impedance means higher resistance to the flow of power coming out of the amp. So naturally, a higher impedance can needs a more powerful amp, to "overcome" the higher resistivity and move and control those drivers optimally in a way that produces the sound quality they're capable of, regardless of volume level.
Are you saying that all else being equal, that power alone, does not benefit the sound quality of high impedance cans, regardless? Are you saying that extra power only provides a single benefit - higher volume?
I think most consumers understand that there's a lot more to sound quality, when it comes to amps, than just how many mW or W it outputs. Ultimately, for most consumers, their ears and wallets will decide, not how much they know about amp designs.

 

[Mdraluck23]

What's a good place to start with an amp? I have a Yulong u100 I've been using for two years now but I'm having that ol itch. Been out of the game for a while.... Is it as simple as a Magni 2 uber or similar? What's the current consensus on a good price/performance amp? Also looking for maybe going balanced.... any ideas for a cable and amp?

 

[trellus]

What's a good place to start with an amp? I have a Yulong u100 I've been using for two years now but I'm having that ol itch. Been out of the game for a while.... Is it as simple as a Magni 2 uber or similar? What's the current consensus on a good price/performance amp? Also looking for maybe going balanced.... any ideas for a cable and amp?

I'm hoping someone pipes in with some great advice because I also have a Yulong U100 paired with my HD 650 and I'm thinking even a low-priced dedicated amp like a Schiit Vali 2 might improve the sound, but I have little experience with amps and none with Schiit amps (discounting the original Fulla amp/DAC).

 

[chef8489]

I'm hoping someone pipes in with some great advice because I also have a Yulong U100 paired with my HD 650 and I'm thinking even a low-priced dedicated amp like a Schiit Vali 2 might improve the sound, but I have little experience with amps and none with Schiit amps (discounting the original Fulla amp/DAC).

The Vali 2 does sound great with them.

 

[trellus]

The Vali 2 does sound great with them.

Thanks, that's where I've been leaning after some research but glad to hear specifically another Head-Fi'er endorse this combo.