Digital-Pride
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2010
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Well tdockweiler, it just goes to show that price and size are not always indicators of performance.
Maybe I should get the Headroom Micro Amp (not the battery powered one) and try it out. I'm now almost impressed with the HD-650, but not quite...yet.
I used the Headroom Micro Amp with the 650 for > 5 years. In terms of volume, the Micro could drive the 650 to insanely high levels, much higher than any sane person would care to listen to. All in all, the 650 sounded very good with that amp. However, when I got a better amp, there was an improvement, for instance in terms of depth of soundstage. There is also more texture to the sound. I've never heard the Bithead, so I can't say if it would be that much of an improvement to upscale to the Micro. My advice is, save your money for a really good amp. There are those -- for instance, in the sound science forum -- who say that differences among amps are mostly imagined, but that has not been my experience.
I know, I've read them too... all brains but no ears.. ha ha
@ sphinx, Shahrose, skeptic - Thanks for the insightful posts on the previous page. I'm drawn more to the Woo amps now but there's an opportunity to pick up a DV337 in the FS forum at more than half the price of a WA6-SE. I'm a sucker for bargains even if I can foresee a situation where I'll be looking to upgrade from that in a few months time. I just need to convince myself to go all in with a WA6-SE setup and not look back.
@ sphinx, Shahrose, skeptic - Thanks for the insightful posts on the previous page. I'm drawn more to the Woo amps now but there's an opportunity to pick up a DV337 in the FS forum at more than half the price of a WA6-SE. I'm a sucker for bargains even if I can foresee a situation where I'll be looking to upgrade from that in a few months time. I just need to convince myself to go all in with a WA6-SE setup and not look back.
I used the Headroom Micro Amp with the 650 for > 5 years. In terms of volume, the Micro could drive the 650 to insanely high levels, much higher than any sane person would care to listen to. All in all, the 650 sounded very good with that amp. However, when I got a better amp, there was an improvement, for instance in terms of depth of soundstage. There is also more texture to the sound. I've never heard the Bithead, so I can't say if it would be that much of an improvement to upscale to the Micro. My advice is, save your money for a really good amp. There are those -- for instance, in the sound science forum -- who say that differences among amps are mostly imagined, but that has not been my experience.
Thanks for this post, it helps. Well, to be honest, I don't listen to music enough to justify a amp over $500 right now. Actually, more like $400. I figure I will just try to get the best amp I can for under $400. I also heard the Micro amp sound great with the K702 too. The way I see it, when I buy an amp, there is always going to be another out there that is better
Yeah I've also noticed a lot of differences betweens amps. Switching from the Asgard to the E9 made me love the K702, but I prefer the HD-650 and HD-598 for 75% of my music. I use the K702 for gaming, classical, movies, ambient music and soundtracks.
I love how the HD-650 sounds on the Airhead/Bithead, so I hope the Micro Amp sounds similar.
There are good, cheap Asian clones of my much more expensive amp. The clones are less than $400. You should check out their respective threads (search Matrix M-Stage and Lovely Cube). The people on those threads claim that those amps are just as good or even better than the original BCL. If true, then it's a great deal. I totally recommend you consider them, although keep in mind that I personally haven't heard the clones. I have the original though and it is a fantastic amp for the 650. For an even better deal, you can buy the LC as a do-it-yourself kit if you're into building things.
I'm not an audiophile but I own the hd 650 with the original BCL. I previously used the headphone with the STX on board amp and I could not make out a significant difference between STX amp and the BCL. Lol... the BCL does have a nice construction though.