[DavidA]

The Jot is a good amp for the HD650 but I still prefer my BH Crack due to the over all tone being a little more mellow versus the cleaner clearer sound of the Jot.

 

[phobos04]

Hi head-fiers.

Please is anybody using the 650s balanced, with the entry level sennheiser XLR cable, with a Schiit Mjolnir 2?
Are you using low gain or high gain setting? Which setting do you prefer?

I'm experimenting a bit with the low gain setting. My first impression is that the mids are a bit recessed. Is it reasonable?

Thank you all!

 

[Paddy]

Just got my HD 650 today and will be spending the next while comparing them to my HE 400I. I am in shock at how good the bass is as I wasn't expecting much and there is plenty for deep house tracks, I'm also very surprised how similar they are to the HE 400I with the 400i just being a tad brighter

 

[Solrighal]

Just got my HD 650 today and will be spending the next while comparing them to my HE 400I. I am in shock at how good the bass is as I wasn't expecting much and there is plenty for deep house tracks, I'm also very surprised how similar they are to the HE 400I with the 400i just being a tad brighter

Congratulations. Listen, do yourself a favour, don't back-to-back test them. Don't switch back & forth every couple of tracks. Instead, use them exclusively for a prolonged period, something like a couple of days without changing them out. When you go back to "bright" cans you'll be shocked.

 

[Paddy]

Congratulations. Listen, do yourself a favour, don't back-to-back test them. Don't switch back & forth every couple of tracks. Instead, use them exclusively for a prolonged period, something like a couple of days without changing them out. When you go back to "bright" cans you'll be shocked.

Thank you. Yea I think I'll just keep the HD 650 on for a few days and then go back to see what I think though the brightness difference isn't by much as the HE 400I have such a sweet finish 99% of the time. I must say I'm loving the HD 650 so far

 

[lugnut]

Thank you. Yea I think I'll just keep the HD 650 on for a few days and then go back to see what I think though the brightness difference isn't by much as the HE 400I have such a sweet finish 99% of the time. I must say I'm loving the HD 650 so far

I also find it really helps to take notes on certain songs & albums, then compare the notes after switching from one set of phones to another. This works good for me as my short term audio memory is not what it once was.

 

[Paddy]

I've had a few days of listening to the HD 650 and after comparing to my HE 400i I've been left with the following early impression (this could change in time): When I first put the HD 650 on I was really pleased how comfortable they were, by far one of the most comfortable I ever tried and looks wise, the design is beautiful and sleek. Flicking through some tracks from different genres from indie to house to classical I was really impressed with the sound especially the bass as I was expecting it to be far inferior to the HE 400i and while it is not as smooth it has just as much guts to it in the lows.

To be honest I can't deny the fact that to my ears these headphones sound VERY similar to the point where I had to keep changing over to really notice differences and the differences aren't huge. I feel that I could be happy with either headphone though the HE 400i just edges it for me. Listening to tracks that I had played numerous times with my He400i were at the beginning incredible with the HD 650 but after long periods of listening I felt these tracks were missing something so I switched back to my HE 400i and wow, it was like the music had opened up. With the HE 400i instrument separation is amazing, it felt like the music was playing in a much bigger space while with the HD 650 it felt a bit more closed but only slightly. This is by far the biggest difference I noticed between the two. With the HE400i I could clearly hear every pluck of a guitar or house melody sounds were more separate and distinct, with the hd650 these sounds were only slightly more mushy together. The HE 400i sounded like it was playing in bigger space and was more airy yet every instrument is loud and can easily be heared, the HD 650 sounded more closed, almost like in a small studio, vocals are just as up front but certain instruments seemed to be given more priority in volume and I feel this is done to not cause any fatigue, going back to the He400i from the HD650 was like going back to the same headphone only taking off a filter which widens the sound and opened it up. Bass with these headphones in my opinion are just as punchy but when I really compared the lows the only way to describe the difference between the two is imagine the HD650 and HE 400i were both subs, the HE400i just sounds like a technically better sub as it's bass is punchy but very smooth, the HD 650 was in some tracks actually punchier but sub bass is a bit muddier.

I love the HD 650 and while I do prefer the HE400i it only edges it for me. They both produce such similar sound that I don't see how one could like the 650 and not like the 400i. I can now rest easy in that I now know in this price range for me there is not a better sounding pair of headphones. Now my future focus will be on dac/amps ☺.

 

[Niggi183]

I have a Valhalla 2 coming tomorrow also to play around with on other genres, and a pair of Hifiman 4xx from Massdrop in December.

Mind to do a brief comparison between the Jot and the Valhalla 2?

 

[MattTCG]

Mind to do a brief comparison between the Jot and the Valhalla 2?

These are both good amps with different flavors. Not surprisingly the Jot has better speed/decay with a bit of a U shaped signature. (punched up slightly at both ends) The Valhalla 2 is more cohesive across the spectrum and better balanced in it's presentation. But for me, the Valhalla 2 can be a little dry which is strange for a tube amp. It's not a real tube rollers amp as the stock tubes sound about as good as you'll get.

The sound stage of the Jot is a little collapsed where the Valhalla 2 has pretty good staging. Recreation of tone with both instruments and voices is better on the Valahalla 2, where the Jot will have better dynamics and sound more punchy. And also the Jot is the more versatile amp by far with a DAC/phono option and balanced in/out as well. Also consider that the Jot is relatively new in it's life cycle where the Valhalla 2 has been out for some time and could see a revision soon.

At the end of the day it just comes down to what you're looking for in a amp and your preferences. They both play very well with the hd650.

 

[umvue]

https://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Sen...05538131&sr=8-5&keywords=hd650+balanced+cable

How's this balanced cable? I want to buy one for my DP-CMX1

 

[Niggi183]

These are both good amps with different flavors. Not surprisingly the Jot has better speed/decay with a bit of a U shaped signature. (punched up slightly at both ends) The Valhalla 2 is more cohesive across the spectrum and better balanced in it's presentation. But for me, the Valhalla 2 can be a little dry which is strange for a tube amp. It's not a real tube rollers amp as the stock tubes sound about as good as you'll get.

The sound stage of the Jot is a little collapsed where the Valhalla 2 has pretty good staging. Recreation of tone with both instruments and voices is better on the Valahalla 2, where the Jot will have better dynamics and sound more punchy. And also the Jot is the more versatile amp by far with a DAC/phono option and balanced in/out as well. Also consider that the Jot is relatively new in it's life cycle where the Valhalla 2 has been out for some time and could see a revision soon.

At the end of the day it just comes down to what you're looking for in a amp and your preferences. They both play very well with the hd650.

Thanks for the impressions . On the Valhalla 2 side of things your impressions are just like mine. I rolled some jj e88cc, which made the upper mids and highs more enjoyable for me and made it sound a little bit lusher (more "tube-like"). All in all the soundstage improvement and seperation is what stands out the most in comparison with the vali 2.

 

[kman1211]

These are both good amps with different flavors. Not surprisingly the Jot has better speed/decay with a bit of a U shaped signature. (punched up slightly at both ends) The Valhalla 2 is more cohesive across the spectrum and better balanced in it's presentation. But for me, the Valhalla 2 can be a little dry which is strange for a tube amp. It's not a real tube rollers amp as the stock tubes sound about as good as you'll get.

The sound stage of the Jot is a little collapsed where the Valhalla 2 has pretty good staging. Recreation of tone with both instruments and voices is better on the Valahalla 2, where the Jot will have better dynamics and sound more punchy. And also the Jot is the more versatile amp by far with a DAC/phono option and balanced in/out as well. Also consider that the Jot is relatively new in it's life cycle where the Valhalla 2 has been out for some time and could see a revision soon.

At the end of the day it just comes down to what you're looking for in a amp and your preferences. They both play very well with the hd650.

I second the Valhalla 2 being a little dry and not responding much to tube rolling. It had some nice cohiveness and tone. Didn’t have the HD 650 when I had it but I get the feeling it would be quite a good if not very good pairing based on the HD 600 on it and other headphones, it will probably be quite sweet and refined sounding on it. I find it played best with neutral or warmer higher impedance headphones such as the HD 600(assume the HD 650 as well) and DT 1990/Amiron. The T1.2 was a mixed bag on it. Haven’t heard the Jot but based on the description it’s probably more like the Lyr 2 than the Valhalla 2, the Lyr 2 does respond a lot better to tubes and power upgrades than the Valhalla 2. The HD 650 can have a very powerful low-end and shockingly strong yet cohesive dynamics on a good Lyr 2 system.

 

[wwmhf]

What do you mean by the "power upgrades" for Lyr 2? I am grateful if you can provide a little more details.

I second the Valhalla 2 being a little dry and not responding much to tube rolling. It had some nice cohiveness and tone. Didn’t have the HD 650 when I had it but I get the feeling it would be quite a good if not very good pairing based on the HD 600 on it and other headphones, it will probably be quite sweet and refined sounding on it. I find it played best with neutral or warmer higher impedance headphones such as the HD 600(assume the HD 650 as well) and DT 1990/Amiron. The T1.2 was a mixed bag on it. Haven’t heard the Jot but based on the description it’s probably more like the Lyr 2 than the Valhalla 2, the Lyr 2 does respond a lot better to tubes and power upgrades than the Valhalla 2. The HD 650 can have a very powerful low-end and shockingly strong yet cohesive dynamics on a good Lyr 2 system.

 

[kman1211]

What do you mean by the "power upgrades" for Lyr 2? I am grateful if you can provide a little more details.

Power conditioning and a thicker power cable. A good DAC with a healthy output power helps too and if using USB on Windows, make sure USB power management is disabled to prevent potential issues. Didn’t effect the Valhalla 2 much other than being slightly fuller and a little more dynamic, but the Lyr 2 gained some serious heft and backbone to its sound. Not all components or headphones react equally and/or the same to these types of changes; some change notably and some barely change.

 

[DavidA]

Mind to do a brief comparison between the Jot and the Valhalla 2?

Agree with @MattTCG about differences between Jot and Valhalla2, they both pair well with the HD600, to me the Valhalla2 is a little limited due to not being sensitive to tube rolling and the Jot was not a good pairing if you have other headphones like the HD800, HE560 and T1, it was just a bit too bright.

The Lyr2 responds to tube rolling much better than the Valhalla2 but like @kman1211 noted the I didn't care for the Valhalla2 due to the somewhat dry sound which actually does pair well with the HD650.

At the price of the Valhalla2 and Jot I'd also consider the Ember which I feel is a more versatile amp than either but still prefer the BH Crack over all of these amps and for anything under $1000.