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Sennheiser HD650 & Massdrop HD6XX Impressions Thread
Nov 15, 2012 at 4:32 PM Post #8,671 of 46,513
For my money it's tough to beat the odac. I fancy the one built by Joe at Audio Poutine. Very slick build...
 
 

 
The only downside to the odac IMO is that it is usb bound. I prefer an optical connection. 
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 Don't flame me it's my choice. I ended up going back to the bifrost which is excellent. 
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 4:53 PM Post #8,672 of 46,513
Quote:
bmou said:
thinking of getting a pair of these headphones for christmas. the most upscale i've ever had are Beyerdynamic DT 1350 portables which i drive off of nothing but whatever source i plug them into. my home headphones are ATH-AD700s. so i'm looking to upgrade. i run those through iMac -> E17 & E10 -> ATH-AD700.
 
i really want to get a tube amp for home use, continue using my E17 on the go for vacations and get a better DAC as well.
 
i mostly listen to indie rock, indie emo, lately dream pop, alternative, hip-hop, a bit of game soundtracks. basically, i'm all around.
 
would this be a headphone to look into or should i steer clear? i'd like to point out i also don't have any gripes with either headphone that i owns sound. after EQing the ATH-AD700 the bass is no problem and the DT 1350 is fine flat to me.
 
Click to expand...

 
I really like my HD 650 and have no problem recommending it (if the price is acceptable to you.)
 
Some listeners are of course less enthusiastic.
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 5:01 PM Post #8,673 of 46,513
bmou said:
thinking of getting a pair of these headphones for christmas. the most upscale i've ever had are Beyerdynamic DT 1350 portables which i drive off of nothing but whatever source i plug them into. my home headphones are ATH-AD700s. so i'm looking to upgrade. i run those through iMac -> E17 & E10 -> ATH-AD700.

i really want to get a tube amp for home use, continue using my E17 on the go for vacations and get a better DAC as well.

i mostly listen to indie rock, indie emo, lately dream pop, alternative, hip-hop, a bit of game soundtracks. basically, i'm all around.

would this be a headphone to look into or should i steer clear? i'd like to point out i also don't have any gripes with either headphone that i owns sound. after EQing the ATH-AD700 the bass is no problem and the DT 1350 is fine flat to me.

 
Click to expand...


I have both. I like the DT's for travel but no comparison to the HD650's...
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 5:17 PM Post #8,674 of 46,513
Well I'm very happy with the my new HD650's with O2/ODAC.
 
Just one issue, is there a way to lessen the clamping force on these? It's gotten slightly better over the past week but after a few hours it starts to feel a bit fatiguing. 
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 5:38 PM Post #8,675 of 46,513
Pads will "flatten" pretty quickly over the first week. After that you can gently bend the metal of the headband to lessen the clamp. Just be careful. I prefer this to the stack of books trick because that tends to compress and flatten the pads. 
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 5:43 PM Post #8,676 of 46,513
Quote:
insilin1i said:
Well I'm very happy with the my new HD650's with O2/ODAC.
 
Just one issue, is there a way to lessen the clamping force on these? It's gotten slightly better over the past week but after a few hours it starts to feel a bit fatiguing. 
Click to expand...

 
I believe some have mentioned it's possible to stretch them a bit, but it seems like a difficult thing to do given their construction.
 
Have you considered getting a smaller head?
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 5:51 PM Post #8,678 of 46,513
You have to love the helpful crew around here!
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 6:33 PM Post #8,681 of 46,513
matttcg said:
Pads will "flatten" pretty quickly over the first week. After that you can gently bend the metal of the headband to lessen the clamp. Just be careful. I prefer this to the stack of books trick because that tends to compress and flatten the pads. 
Click to expand...


You DO realize, it's best to remove the pads when doing the book trick? Lol.
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 7:05 PM Post #8,682 of 46,513
Contemplating getting these or their brother, the 600, but would you mind weighing in on what's most cost effective?
 
Now:
Motherboard -> Audio-gd Sparrow A -> K550
 
Possible:
Motherboard -> Audio-gd Sparrow A -> HD650 (500)
Motherboard -> Matrix M-stage or Lovely Cube -> HD650 (500 + 300/200 - What I can get for a Sparrow on FS)
Motherboard -> HD650 (500 - What I can get for a Sparrow on FS)
 
I really like Classical and Pop, but the K550s are a bit behind on pop, while phenomenal with classical.
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 8:25 PM Post #8,683 of 46,513
The HD 650s will definitely need some amping... the mobo option just isn't gonna be fair to the HPs.  So far I'm finding that the e17 and e09k combo does fine for the HD 650s.  I know it's not quite the level that these cans can truly perform, but it's very solid bang for the buck... the fiio combo is very hard to beat for the price (desktop amp and portable amp/DAC solution for about $250) =)
 
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 8:44 PM Post #8,684 of 46,513
Quote:
nanago said:
Contemplating getting these or their brother, the 600, but would you mind weighing in on what's most cost effective?
 
Now:
Motherboard -> Audio-gd Sparrow A -> K550
 
Possible:
Motherboard -> Audio-gd Sparrow A -> HD650 (500)
Motherboard -> Matrix M-stage or Lovely Cube -> HD650 (500 + 300/200 - What I can get for a Sparrow on FS)
Motherboard -> HD650 (500 - What I can get for a Sparrow on FS)
 
I really like Classical and Pop, but the K550s are a bit behind on pop, while phenomenal with classical.
Click to expand...

 
Why do you want an amplifier? You know that your motherboard produces inferior sound?
 
Don't be fooled by the "if it costs more, it's always better", "external audio hardware is necessarily an improvement over internal hardware because it's external", or the "HD 650 needs a mega-amp" mantras. None has any basis in fact.
 
I use my HD 650's, and DT 990's, with the Matrix M-Stage and the ODAC+O2. The M-Stage is a good-sounding amplifier and it's considerably more convenient to use (for me) than the ODAC+O2. However, I prefer the sound of the ODAC+O2 as it's quite neutral -- more so than the M-Stage. The side effect of neutral is that it will faithfully reproduce the bad qualities of bad recordings. I describe it as "ruthless." If neutral isn't what you want, a tube amp might be more to your liking.
 
Your listening preferences should be the determiner here.
 
Nov 15, 2012 at 9:00 PM Post #8,685 of 46,513
I use my 650 straight line out from a 2008 macbook.. the sound is neutral/tonal with just a slight roll off on the lows but nevertheless the highs have great resolution, energy and extension
 
my 650s are 118hrs burned in so far..
 
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