[LAmitchell]

i almost gave up on building a decent head-fi setup.
 
i'm so glad i stuck with it: i finally have the sound that i have been craving for years.
 
i love my hd650 and i love reading all the great info on head-fi.
 

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

i almost gave up on building a decent head-fi setup.
 
i'm so glad i stuck with it: i finally have the sound that i have been craving for years.
 
i love my hd650 and i love reading all the great info on head-fi.
 

I know what you mean.  Its very rare for headphones to be able to deliver the sort of sonics that the HD650 is capable of.  I have recently balanced my stock cable and using the Audio GD Phoenix...the HD650 can scale to have a massive soundstage and pinsharp imaging with very good speed!

 

[steveotron]

Just ordered my HD 650 from J&R. I had called Sonic Sense the other day and they were going to sell it to me for a pretty good price (told them I was referred by Head-Fi'er who had bought from them), but they are sold out until the 26th/27th, so I had to ask J&R to match, which they did after I rejected their first offer which wasn't as good as Sonic Sense. I feel really bad for not going with Sonic Sense since they were great to work with, but I couldn't wait any longer (waited since Black Friday when Newegg had them for $299). Would highly recommend them (or J&R) if you're planning on getting them soon.
 
I'm about to order the NuForce HD to pair with them since I don't need the extra features of the HDP. The only question now is silver or black? I have an iMac on my desk with another monitor, so the Silver might match well, but I could sell it one day, and black would match better with my Windows PC. Black also seems to be a better seller on Amazon, so it'll probably be easier to resell in case I decide to upgrade later on.
 
Anyways, I can't wait to get them. I just hope the clamping won't be too bad!

 

[sphinxvc]

The NYC J&R store marks the 650s at $379, almost everything in store is cheaper than online ($499).
 
Are you sure the Nuforce HD is on par with the HDP?  

 

[steveotron]

They sold them to me for the same that you paid Sonic Sense for yours (thanks again!).
 
As for the HD, all the components are exactly the same as the HDP except it doesn't have the other inputs other than USB and it's not a preamp. Pretty much the same thing since I planned on using USB anyways.
 
Quote:

The NYC J&R store marks the 650s at $379, almost everything in store is cheaper than online ($499).
 
Are you sure the Nuforce HD is on par with the HDP?  

 

[leng jai]

I haven't actually touched my HD650s since I bought the D7000s and I'm seriously considering selling them. Got a Burson 160 coming in the mail so I'm going to see how well they pair with the HD650s before I make a decision.

 

[Roger Strummer]

 
Quote:

Quote:

i almost gave up on building a decent head-fi setup.
 
i'm so glad i stuck with it: i finally have the sound that i have been craving for years.
 
i love my hd650 and i love reading all the great info on head-fi.
 

I know what you mean.  Its very rare for headphones to be able to deliver the sort of sonics that the HD650 is capable of.  I have recently balanced my stock cable and using the Audio GD Phoenix...the HD650 can scale to have a massive soundstage and pinsharp imaging with very good speed!

That scalability is what keeps the 650 as one of my favorite headphones, it makes them a proposition of great value. It is one of those cans that can convince you that amps do make a difference, now I don't know if there is something inherently better in having them balanced, but a balanced 650 with say a beta22 is a very very good rig.
 
I think they are in a tier behind the SOTA right now (HD800, LCD-2, etc), but in no way they are mid-fi like I have read in other threads lately. I think that may be because since they are now a lot cheaper than the average flagship, people use them in less than ideal situations (which doesn't necessarily require huge amounts of money, but some time to research what goes well with them) and don't hear their full potential.

 

[BrianMendoza]

Hey guys! My 650's just got shipped today! I can't wait to give em a shot and have the co-exist with my Grado RS1's.
 
I got a killer deal on them. They were an new, opened boxed item, from a fairly local music store, and sold for $250 including priority shipping!

 

[leng jai]

I wholeheartedly agree with this. The "mid-fi" label that has been given by some to the HD650s is quite frankly ridiculous and indicative of its current price range more than anything. The only reason I've stopped using them lately is because of the D7000s and their livelier sound signature. the bass quality and midrange of the HD650s is quite incredible when sufficiently powered and easily the best there is for the price. I'm excited to see how they sound with the Burson which is supposedly designed with the HD650s in mind.
 
I would say that the HD650s are in the same league as the D7000s sonically, they just have different sound. Their replaceable parts puts them up another level as well. One thing I will say is that I wish they had slightly better build quality. They look kind of cheap especially next to the D7000s and don't match the calibre of the sound they produce.

 
Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

i almost gave up on building a decent head-fi setup.
 
i'm so glad i stuck with it: i finally have the sound that i have been craving for years.
 
i love my hd650 and i love reading all the great info on head-fi.
 

I know what you mean.  Its very rare for headphones to be able to deliver the sort of sonics that the HD650 is capable of.  I have recently balanced my stock cable and using the Audio GD Phoenix...the HD650 can scale to have a massive soundstage and pinsharp imaging with very good speed!

That scalability is what keeps the 650 as one of my favorite headphones, it makes them a proposition of great value. It is one of those cans that can convince you that amps do make a difference, now I don't know if there is something inherently better in having them balanced, but a balanced 650 with say a beta22 is a very very good rig.
 
I think they are in a tier behind the SOTA right now (HD800, LCD-2, etc), but in no way they are mid-fi like I have read in other threads lately. I think that may be because since they are now a lot cheaper than the average flagship, people use them in less than ideal situations (which doesn't necessarily require huge amounts of money, but some time to research what goes well with them) and don't hear their full potential.

 

[SoSpecial]

So say if I bought an HD650, what would be a good rig to pair it with on a budget just to get it sounding decent? I was thinking something like a Schiit Asgard and some $100-$200 DAC.

 

[ajreynol]

grab something from Audio GD.  people seem to love their stuff.

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

running out of an E7+E9 actually.  plenty of power for it.  I had to get the E9 because the E7 couldn't drive it to reasonable volume levels.
 
and understood.  I'll take a break from the D5k/7k for awhile and see how I feel after a few days.

The HRT MSII+ was a huge improvement over the E7 - treble is better and midrange is much more energetic.

 

[KuKuBuKu]

Quote:

I wholeheartedly agree with this. The "mid-fi" label thats been given by some to the HD650s is quite frankly ridiculous and indicative of its current price range more than anything. The only reason I've stopped using them lately is because of the D7000s and their livelier sound signature. the bass quality and midrange of the HD650s is quite incredible when sufficiently powered and easily the best there is for the price. I'm excited to see how they sound with the Burson which is supposedly designed with the HD650s in mind.
 
I would say that the HD650s are in the same league as the D7000s soincally, they just have different sound. Their replaceable parts puts them up another level as well. One thing I will say is that I wish they had slightly better build quality. They look kind of cheap especially next to the D7000s and don't match the calibre of the sound they produce.

Agreed. I really am not a huge fan of the build quality (paint chipping), even though I like the look...Sound is a different story. Sounds incredible with all my favorite genres!
 

 

[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

So say if I bought an HD650, what would be a good rig to pair it with on a budget just to get it sounding decent? I was thinking something like a Schiit Asgard and some $100-$200 DAC.

 
Quote:

grab something from Audio GD.  people seem to love their stuff.

 
The Audio-gd NFB-12 is a current hot, promotionally priced ($200) high-quality DAC with built-in headphone amp, if you can stand to send them your money and then wait, and wait, and wait, for shipment.
 
I think it may be at the end of its run as budget DAC FOTY (flavor of the year), but I ordered a Maverick Audio D1 Tube Magic DAC/preamp with built-in headphone amp at the same time as my Senn 650s right before Christmas.  The built-in headphone amp is not stellar, but can be improved greatly with a simple, cheap op-amp swap.  I have no idea how robust the built-in headphone amplifier in the Audio-gd NFB-12 is, but the DAC circuit looks on paper to be considerably better than my D1, which was also $200.  With either unit, you could listen to the 650s through their built-in headphone jack until you make a decision on a separate amp.  I ended up buying the matching Maverick A1, which has a great all-tube headphone output section, but I waste some of its capabilities in that it is also capable of driving bookshelf speakers, and I can't offend very sensitive neighbors with any airborne noise.
 
Generally, I don't get into tubes vs. solid state discussions, but if you eventually went the Schitt route, I'd get a Valhalla rather than an Asgard.  Just IMHO, of course.

 

[attenuated 3db]

I don't know if there is any sort of antagonism or rivalry between Head-Fi and other headphone-related websites, but as a Sennheiser 650 owner, I found this article particularly informative, especially about how Sennheiser "engineer Axel Grell found that when the ‘phones measured flat, they sounded harsh. So he very carefully tuned the response to have notches at 5kHz and 16kHz. These notches, speculates headphone maker-designer Tyll Hertsens, of HeadRoom, mimic the ridge notches of the concha — the largest and deepest concavity of the external ear, or pinna — which help you determine the azimuth and elevation of sounds."  
 
Excerpted from:
 
http://www.headfonia.com/the-sennheiser-trio-hd580-hd600-hd650/