[greenkiwi]

The reason they went away so fast is, many people who don't ever use headphones beyond gaming and casual listening went ahead and bought an audiophile headphone just because online forums were raving about it and the price was sweet. These same people will soon realize what a mistake they have made, when they try to listen to these headphones through their phones, without an amp. They will soon try to sell theirs and there will be a lot of 6xx coming to the used market, that's my belief.

I have listened to the 650 unamplified... and it's still a very good headphone.

 

[sup27606]

  I have listened to the 650 unamplified... and it's still a very good headphone.

Agreed, but may be not measuring up to the hype for some people. If one thinks he can plug the 650s into his phone, play online streaming music and close his eyes, and it will instantly take him into the middle of a concert hall, thats not going to happen. I bet some of these hyped folks were thinking that way.

 

[sup27606]

Found this balanced cable for 650 for the pono player. The price looks way cheaper than other sites. Anyone has any experience with this cable/store?
 
https://customcans.co.uk/s/s/index.php/cables/balanced-headphone-cables/balanced-headphones-and-cables/basicpono.html

 

[SomeTechNoob]

The reason they went away so fast is, many people who don't ever use headphones beyond gaming and casual listening went ahead and bought an audiophile headphone just because online forums were raving about it and the price was sweet. These same people will soon realize what a mistake they have made, when they try to listen to these headphones through their phones, without an amp. They will soon try to sell theirs and there will be a lot of 6xx coming to the used market, that's my belief.

I tried putting HD 600s on my HTC One M9 and from the short listening test I did, it was powered just fine.  Obv it would be nice to get a longer listening session between my dac/amps and my phone, but my phone(which contains all my songs, including lossless ones) output sounded very, very satisfactory.

 

[RERO]

These same people will soon realize what a mistake they have made, when they try to listen to these headphones through their phones, without an amp.

 

  If one thinks he can plug the 650s into his phone, play online streaming music and close his eyes, and it will instantly take him into the middle of a concert hall, thats not going to happen.

 
This is pretty much nocebo at work here. Yes, most phones don't measure as good and/or output as much power as majority of amps (even USB powered ones)... but at reasonable levels (<90 dB), modern phones with flat FR are mostly indistinguishable from solid state amps.
 
But people don't want to admit they can't discern differences, so that's why people belittle phones based on their technical inferiorities.

 

[Voxata]

I can definitely tell the difference of amps, and driving my cans from a phone is miserable...

 

[schalliol]

Noise floor is one of the biggest things with amps.  I have found them to make a huge difference, but it is absolutely true that your biggest change is going to be with your headphones.  The same holds true for loudspeakers.  For example, an open headphone with a large (decent) driver will kill a set of cheap closed headphones.

 

[raybone0566]

650's sound horrible from a phone. The bass is wooly & plain sloppy.

 

[SomeTechNoob]

It also is highly phone dependent.  Audio quality varies wildly based on what phone you try, kind of like onboard audio for computers.
 
The V20 is a phone, as is the HTC 10.  Both are pretty damn good.  Then you have stuff from Samsung that uses the potato snapdragon dac.

 

[sup27606]

   
This is pretty much nocebo at work here. Yes, most phones don't measure as good and/or output as much power as majority of amps (even USB powered ones)... but at reasonable levels (<90 dB), modern phones with flat FR are mostly indistinguishable from solid state amps.
 
But people don't want to admit they can't discern differences, so that's why people belittle phones based on their technical inferiorities.

I am not talking about loudness level. Yes, the 650 could be reasonably loud with any phone or low powered amp, but there are other factors to sound quality, like dynamic range, noise floor, clipping, distortion etc. Please read about how amps benefit low efficiency headphones. There have been multiple discussions about this on head-fi and elsewhere.
 
Your statements are incoherent and possibly colored by your attachment to phones. You start your sentence saying most phones are not as good...what is the definition of good?? Is it loudness, resolution, soundstage, imaging?? Can you do a part by part comparison between each of these factors between a phone and a high end amp using a high impedance headphone like the 650? ...Then you end your sentence by saying something about flat FR, as if thats the determining factor for sound quality.
 
 

but at reasonable levels (<90 dB), modern phones with flat FR are mostly indistinguishable from solid state amps.

 
As I said, there are other factors besides loudness and flat FR, and they are not snake oil.
 

But people don't want to admit they can't discern differences, so that's why people belittle phones based on their technical inferiorities.

 
I don't know what to say about this. Obviously, I discern sonic differences between a phone and a good amp. Better the headphone, more vivid are the differences.
 
Every electronic device is built with a purpose in mind. A phone is designed to be a portable device and it sounds good with low impedance high efficiency headphones. I have great respect for modern phones for what they do. My complaint is not about phones, its about those people who buy high end headphones without reading about them and later regret buying, and in the process deny other people the chance to own a headphone they really value.

 

[chesebert]

Here are the minimum requirements for holographic middle of a concert hall sound:
 
1. Playback/Dave/Linn KDS/MSB Stack or equivalent source
2. Beta 22 or better amp (Eddie Current amps preferred)
3. Upgrade cable (pick one that suits your system and listening preference).
 
Enjoy!

 

[Rob80b]

  Here are the minimum requirements for holographic middle of a concert hall sound:
 
1. Playback/Dave/Linn KDS/MSB Stack or equivalent source
2. Beta 22 or better amp (Eddie Current amps preferred)
3. Upgrade cable (pick one that suits your system and listening preference).
 
Enjoy!

don't forget......and either the HD800S or Focal Utopias.

 

[raybone0566]

With a list like that the 650's are all you need. My 800's see very little use any more.

 

[chesebert]

  don't forget......and either the HD800S or Focal Utopias.

I did say "minimum requirement"

 

[Rob80b]

With a list like that the 650's are all you need. My 800's see very little use any more.

Have you tried the 800S, not a huge difference but enough to make a difference, IMHO the 650s are not quite technically adept at obtaining the realism fronted by the 800S, the 650 are a fine phone to chill out to and an easy listen and can do no wrong so in that light.... I can see how they could garner more listening time than the 800..and of course the reason they have retained their popularity for over a decade.
And for over a decade I’ve had the 580/600s on hand, the 700 and the 800 for me were a long over due technical revelation, the original 800s took it slightly over the top which is why I retained the 700s until the “S” materialized. Recently acquired the current version of the 650s, again an improvement over my original 580/600 and a an excellent listen but in all honesty regardless of source and amplification I doubt very much it can attain the levels of audio reproduction from the later models.
This hobby is very subjective and the 700s definitely proved that with greatly opposing views on its capabilities, a total hate love relation… I was on the Yah side.
The 650s due to their non-opposing nature were just the opposite and the whole reason we’ve got a cavalcade of just over 30,000 request after the first 5000 drop of the 6XX, which I’m one of… they are a fine sounding secondary phone for my TV viewing and general chilling out, the 800S are reserved for critical listening or as they say my night out at the opera….. : )