[123hby]

HD650 is a very good headphone, you can keep it forever

 

[HFCOBRA]

Hello, I plan on getting the 650s soon and I was wondering what are some great SS, OP, and tube amp for them for less than 500?  I do not mind buying used amps at all.
 
Also, what is the difference between SS, OP, and tube amps?  I do not know the first thing about amps and I would buy some to try them out but I do not have the money right now (hopefully I will in the next 6 months to buy one for the 650s).  So I am asking for some guidance and hand-holding from more experienced HD650ers.  
 
I do not think that I can get together anything more than 400-500 for an amp (but I would prefer to spend 250ish) in 6 months sadly so no super high end stuff for me.  
 
I will probably pick out a more expensive amp than I can afford and watch the for sale section to see if it pops up used so I can enjoy it!  Although I am open to any and all suggestions of course and I would rather get great sound while saving money instead of spending a lot extra for the same sounding amp.
 
Also, how important is a DAC and how does/can it affect the sound?

 

[Sniperbombers]

@everyone who has described their bass situations -
 thank you for replying towards the whole "thump" thing. Everything mentioned will forever be taken into account.
- dacs / amps changing frequency waves to boost accordingly to personal preferences - 

 

[Tilpo]

Hello, I plan on getting the 650s soon and I was wondering what are some great SS, OP, and tube amp for them for less than 500?  I do not mind buying used amps at all.
 
Also, what is the difference between SS, OP, and tube amps?  I do not know the first thing about amps and I would buy some to try them out but I do not have the money right now (hopefully I will in the next 6 months to buy one for the 650s).  So I am asking for some guidance and hand-holding from more experienced HD650ers.  
 
I do not think that I can get together anything more than 400-500 for an amp in 6 months sadly so no super high end stuff for me.  
 
I will probably pick out a more expensive amp than I can afford and watch the for sale section to see if it pops up used so I can enjoy it!  Although I am open to any and all suggestions of course and I would rather get great sound while saving money instead of spending a lot extra for the same sounding amp.
 

OP amps are SS amps. It is used to differentiate between discrete and integrated circuit solid-state amplifiers. Discrete SS amps are amplifiers without any integrated circuits (AKA 'chips') in the signal path. Some purists insist this is better, but this is not necessarily true. They are better for high-power applications and give the designer more room to play around with, but generally opamps can deliver a higher performance for a lower cost if implemented correctly.

The difference between SS and tube amps is generally that SS amps deliver a higher performance at a lower cost, as well as being more linear in general. (i.e. they add less distortion). Tube amps on the other hand are famed for sounding better subjectively. They tend to have a warm sound signature, which many people perceive as pleasant. My advice is to get a solid state amp rather than a tube amp, but there are some decent tube amps at your budget as well.

And make no mistake. High-end amps do not provide a 'day and night' difference over good entry level or mid-fi amps. They might give marginal improvements, but even that is unfortunately debatable.

Also, how important is a DAC and how does/can it affect the sound?

In my opinion it is important to get a decent DAC. After that better DAC's will probably not make much difference, even less than amps. You can easily get a more than adequate DAC for around $200, imo.

 

[PhoebeFairchild]

You can get a used Ray Samuels Emmeline HR-2 headphone amplifier for about $500 USD on Head-Fi if you are patient. It is great solid state headphone amplifier that uses operational amplifiers that you can switch out to tune the sound of your home audio system. It works great with my Sennheiser HD-650 headphone. It drives my HD-650s with great power and authority. It is also an excellent match in terms of sound performance.

 

[Jonlereux]

I had been looking for a solid state amp and actually had a failled attempt to purchase a RS HR2 amp here on Headfi so I just purchased a Schiit Lyr and am very impressed with the performance. I am using my Oppo BDP 95 as the source with RCA's out to the Lyr. Lyr is under $500
From what I have heard tube selection is a big factor in the way it sounds; currently using the Ge tubes that came with the amp. There is an entire post for the tube rolling for this amp, so it becomes a long read. If you have a weeknd to spare you can read others experience with tubes and the Schiit Lyr

 

[jtaylor991]

My Audio-gd Compass is a good amp for your budget, although you would have to buy one used since it isn't listen on Audio-gd's website anymore from what I can find. It's a solid state(SS) amp/DAC combo, and the DAC is decent too.

 

[MickeyVee]

I've been wanting to get the Lyr for a while now and even went as far as getting a set of Lorenz tubes for it.  I also want to setup a small speaker system in my office.  The only problem is room for all the stuff on my desk. I was at the grand re-opening of a high end audio store (they moved to a new location) and they were demoing a neat little tube pre / headamp / 15wpc class D amp.  They were running this puppy into an $8000 pair of speakers and it sounded pretty nice.  The head amp is driven by the tube and puts out 3 watts at 32 ohms so I thought that I'd take a chance on it sounding pretty nice with my HD650's.. well, it does.  Just been running it for an hour or so and I know it will need some break in but so far, I'm pretty impressed.
 
So, what is it? Carot One by Ernestolo out of Italy.  I did some searching around but couldn't find much on it.  The sweet thing is that it will take my Lorenz so I'll roll the tube once it's broken in.
 
I'm really enjoying running the HD650's with a tube amp. it's punchy, dynamic, open, airy and and for the first time, i'm finding the HD650's a little bright. (this may calm down as the Carot breaks in or I get used to the sound signature).  I may eventually get the Lyr but this baby will satisfy my short term goals.

 

[Austin Morrow]

Quote:

I've been wanting to get the Lyr for a while now and even went as far as getting a set of Lorenz tubes for it.  I also want to setup a small speaker system in my office.  The only problem is room for all the stuff on my desk. I was at the grand re-opening of a high end audio store (they moved to a new location) and they were demoing a neat little tube pre / headamp / 15wpc class D amp.  They were running this puppy into an $8000 pair of speakers and it sounded pretty nice.  The head amp is driven by the tube and puts out 3 watts at 32 ohms so I thought that I'd take a chance on it sounding pretty nice with my HD650's.. well, it does.  Just been running it for an hour or so and I know it will need some break in but so far, I'm pretty impressed.
 
So, what is it? Carot One by Ernestolo out of Italy.  I did some searching around but couldn't find much on it.  The sweet thing is that it will take my Lorenz so I'll roll the tube once it's broken in.
 
I'm really enjoying running the HD650's with a tube amp. it's punchy, dynamic, open, airy and and for the first time, i'm finding the HD650's a little bright. (this may calm down as the Carot breaks in or I get used to the sound signature).  I may eventually get the Lyr but this baby will satisfy my short term goals.

Yes, I find that almost all tube amps (besides some of the really calm and dark sounding ones) sound really good with the Sennhesier HD650. Even my budget entry Schiit Valhalla sounds really good with my HD650's streaming off the HRT MS II+.

 

[Tilpo]

Yes, I find that almost all tube amps (besides some of the really calm and dark sounding ones) sound really good with the Sennhesier HD650. Even my budget entry Schiit Valhalla sounds really good with my HD650's streaming off the HRT MS II+.

The question is, do they always sound better than solid state ones? Or do all amps sound really good with the HD650?

 

[MickeyVee]

Just for giggles, I plugged the 650's back into my Matrix Mini-i.. I won't be doing that anymore. Even after a couple of hours with the Carot, the Matrix is now relegated strictly to DAC duties with the HD650's. 
 
Quote:

Yes, I find that almost all tube amps (besides some of the really calm and dark sounding ones) sound really good with the Sennhesier HD650. Even my budget entry Schiit Valhalla sounds really good with my HD650's streaming off the HRT MS II+.

 

 

[Austin Morrow]

Quote:

The question is, do they always sound better than solid state ones? Or do all amps sound really good with the HD650?

No. I've heard amps that sound horrible compared to solid states. I don't think that tubes have a universal sound like everything they claim to be. And let me rephrase and correct my post I did above. When I said that almost all tube amps sound really good with the HD650, I mean tube amps that are in the $300 and up price range. It's rare to see a tube amp outperform a budget price range.
 

 

[HFCOBRA]

Thanks for all the helpful posts!   I already have the Xonar Essence STX so I was wondering if I decided to get an amp, would I need a DAC or is the one in the card a nice one?   What outputs on the card should I plug into the DAC/amp for the best quality?  I am thinking about getting an amp but I am not sure if I need a DAC or not.  I know the dedicated amp will sound a lot better for sure though.
 
EDIT: I have decided to get a SS amp, no decision yet whether or not to get a DAC.  Any good recommendations for this?  I did a search but there are a ton of threads and I have only looked through the top page and all those threads are several years old so I figured asking would not be a big deal.  

 

[ben_r_]

Quote:

Thanks for all the helpful posts!   I already have the Xonar Essence STX so I was wondering if I decided to get an amp, would I need a DAC or is the one in the card a nice one?   What outputs on the card should I plug into the DAC/amp for the best quality?  I am thinking about getting an amp but I am not sure if I need a DAC or not.  I know the dedicated amp will sound a lot better for sure though.
 
EDIT: I have decided to get a SS amp, no decision yet whether or not to get a DAC.  Any good recommendations for this?  I did a search but there are a ton of threads and I have only looked through the top page and all those threads are several years old so I figured asking would not be a big deal.  

 
 
I am very happy with my Nuforce HDP and HD650s! Sounds to me just like my Xonar ST.

 

[fallingreason]

I also vote for the HDP.  Seems to have great synergy with the HD650 from what I can tell so far (just got the 650's)
 
However, I would say the DAC is a big step up from the Xonar ST/STX which I owned for about 1 year.  Noticeably more detailed IMO, and a brighter/more fun signature.  I even thought the uDAC2 was an upgrade from the STX.