[i luvmusic 2]

As long as the cable isn't broken there's no need to throw money out the window although, for some people, that is the side effect of joining this hobby.

We need to stop talking about cable here you don't want them to come to us....

 

[wwmhf]

I was almost going to join/debate with you on the cable thing, ha ha ha ...

 

[DavidA]

We need to stop talking about cable here you don't want them to come to us....

I think almost every thread has a "cable" question once every other month and unless the moderators say all talk of cables should be done only in a "cable" thread then it will keep happening. It can get annoying at times since it keeps going in circles but if it pertains to the headphone in that thread it doesn't bother me much as long as its discussed with civility to all.
Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend

 

[Letmebefrank]

No, it is not a cheap silver cable at all, at least considering its price point

Thank you all for your contributions. From what I've read it seems the hd650s are not so sensitive to cable changes.
I think I'll keep listening them with the balanced cable they came with, at least for a while.
Later on I'll decide whether to upgrade or not.

Thank you all!

I have 3 custom cables for my hd650; a balanced 4 wire braid from Impact Audio Cables (great quality and customer service), an 8 wire occ braid with mini 4-pin swappable termination, and the stock cable shortened and reterminated in 4 pin xlr.

I have tried to notice a difference, I've even thought I heard a difference but I can't replicate it, so I'm putting it down to placebo/bias. I keep going back to the stock cable for its flexibility and lack of cable noise.

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend

Thanks David, its also my birthday weekend so I'm consuming a lot of good audio and beer with my fiance in celebration.

 

[DavidA]

@Letmebefrank, happy birthday to you, cheers:

 

[Mompy7777]

Hello guys,
What is the best option for a portable or semi-portable DAC/AMP on these headphones?
What I have on my watch list:

Chord Mojo
iFi Micro iDSD Black Label
Apogee GROOVE

Im open to suggestions

 

[cswann1]

Hello guys,
What is the best option for a portable or semi-portable DAC/AMP on these headphones?
What I have on my watch list:

Chord Mojo
iFi Micro iDSD Black Label
Apogee GROOVE

If you're dead set on spending that sort of money, any one of them I'm sure would do the job. But then, so does my Fiio E18 Kunlun. It drives my 300ohm HD-580s very well imo.

But since I'm replying I might as well give my schpeel on full size gone portable. In a nutshell, I'm not a fan. For one thing it's a pain in the ass to have to lug around FS headphones. For another, you expose your $500 headphones to wear and tear they don't see in your home. Thirdly, despite the practical and aesthetic issues of FS in a portable rig there's the issue of isolation. Those open backed HD650's will give zero isolation. Incoming our outgoing. So the less incoming isolation you have the more you need to turn up the volume to compete with external noise, which is not that great for your long term hearing health, but also is very annoying to people around you because you have no external isolation either. IEM's provide excellent isolation from outside noise which enables you to really enjoy your music at much lower volume.

There is a reason thousand dollar (and up) IEMs exist.....they sound fantastic, they're small and light and can be driven to very satisfying levels right from your phone/DAP. But you really don't need to spend that kind of money for good IEM's. A pair of $50 single driver IEMs can sound great and there is every sort of driver configuration at all price points to choose from.

A lot of people are put off by cramming things in their ears. I understand that, but it's like wearing contact lenses. The first time you put a contact lens in your eye, it's incredibly uncomfortable. But after a couple of days you can wear contact lenses for 12+ hours a day and never even think about them. IEMs are like that, your ears will become tolerant of them quickly.

 

[Mompy7777]

If you're dead set on spending that sort of money, any one of them I'm sure would do the job. But then, so does my Fiio E18 Kunlun. It drives my 300ohm HD-580s very well imo.

But since I'm replying I might as well give my schpeel on full size gone portable. In a nutshell, I'm not a fan. For one thing it's a pain in the ass to have to lug around FS headphones. For another, you expose your $500 headphones to wear and tear they don't see in your home. Thirdly, despite the practical and aesthetic issues of FS in a portable rig there's the issue of isolation. Those open backed HD650's will give zero isolation. Incoming our outgoing. So the less incoming isolation you have the more you need to turn up the volume to compete with external noise, which is not that great for your long term hearing health, but also is very annoying to people around you because you have no external isolation either. IEM's provide excellent isolation from outside noise which enables you to really enjoy your music at much lower volume.

There is a reason thousand dollar (and up) IEMs exist.....they sound fantastic, they're small and light and can be driven to very satisfying levels right from your phone/DAP. But you really don't need to spend that kind of money for good IEM's. A pair of $50 single driver IEMs can sound great and there is every sort of driver configuration at all price points to choose from.

A lot of people are put off by cramming things in their ears. I understand that, but it's like wearing contact lenses. The first time you put a contact lens in your eye, it's incredibly uncomfortable. But after a couple of days you can wear contact lenses for 12+ hours a day and never even think about them. IEMs are like that, your ears will become tolerant of them quickly.

For use on the streets I use my AudioTechnica M50x, the thing here is that I want a DAC/AMP for using it on my office laptop, and since in my work they have a clean desk policy I can't have a full desktop DAC/AMP, I need something that I can carry around in my backpack or keep in my locker (that's what I do with my HD650)

 

[DavidA]

For use on the streets I use my AudioTechnica M50x, the thing here is that I want a DAC/AMP for using it on my office laptop, and since in my work they have a clean desk policy I can't have a full desktop DAC/AMP, I need something that I can carry around in my backpack or keep in my locker (that's what I do with my HD650)

While I love the HD650 I wouldn't go through the trouble and cost to use them as a semi-portable and think it might be easier to find another headphone to use at your work that I wouldn't feel to bad if lost or damaged and easy to drive with just a DAP/phone/laptop like a HD239, PX-100ii, V-Moda XS or original Momentum on-ear, while not at the level of the HD650 they are easy to drive, very portable and I wouldn't feel as bad if they are lost, stolen or break.

One other option that I will suggest is the HD700, my old GF used to use her HD700 with a Fiio X3 almost every day when she was walking her dog. The HD700 lets in a lot more of the surrounding sounds but she liked it since she was still aware of her surroundings and the HD700 sounded better at lower listening levels than the HD650 to her.

 

[Krutsch]

Hello guys,
What is the best option for a portable or semi-portable DAC/AMP on these headphones?
What I have on my watch list:

Chord Mojo
iFi Micro iDSD Black Label
Apogee GROOVE

Im open to suggestions

I personally use a Sony PHA-3 when I travel. Has no trouble driving the HD-650s or anything else I own.

 

[rikk009]

Hello guys,
What is the best option for a portable or semi-portable DAC/AMP on these headphones?
What I have on my watch list:

Chord Mojo
iFi Micro iDSD Black Label
Apogee GROOVE

Im open to suggestions

In my experience, portable ones don't have that power to push the drivers to deliver that bass. Look for something powerful like a balanced out DAP.

 

[harney]

Thought i might add to this large thread ...

I have 650 silver drivers in the old blue box had them for many moons now and have been driven by many many things over the years ..

I decided to buy some new 650's to replace as the others where getting old ....

the new ones arrived bought new from amazon came in black box silver drivers and hologram sticker on the right inside driver ..and after spending a whole week with them comparing both before selling the old one's on ..i was completely surprised as to how much worse the new ones sound to me ...

The old pair sound more spacious far more detailed and by far a much superior bottom end ...it just does not make sense.... is this the burn in veil peeps go on about re a new set..or could i have ended up with a dud new 650..

don't get me wrong the new ones sound ok but nothing like my old ones the differences are not subtle its all most night day difference more so on the detail and the bottom end ..i also found i have to drive more volume on the new ones to get to the same level as the old ones ..

As i thought i was going mad

I blind tested with four friends and all four preferred the old ones ..

I even tried swapping the cables from the new to old and even swapped the ear padding and the old head band on the new drivers made no difference and all four of them still preferred the old set...

so what do you think ????

 

[DavidA]

I've only listened to 4 different HD650, all have been the latest black box version and didn't notice any "night and day" differences between them, if any at all. Sennheiser is pretty good with QC compared to other companies but its still possible you got a dud. Since you got them from Amazon I would send them back since I don't think "burn-in" will change a sound signature that much.

 

[Fearless1]

Compression of the pads with age makes a difference as well. I have an older and a newer pair the difference is minimal (to my ears).

 

[cskippy]

Here's a graph with four different HD650s. 1st is a HD6XX with Dynamat and no rear foam, 2nd is an old HD650 stock unknown pad age, 3rd is a new HD650 dynamat no rear foam, and 4th is my own pair new HD650 with custom mods/damping.