[BoomBox]

My HD6XX that's about a month old, with a cable + 4.4mm adapter from CustomCans!

 

[davehutch]

My HD6XX that's about a month old, with a cable + 4.4mm adapter from CustomCans!

Would you like to elaborate and tell us all about it?

 

[davehutch]

My HD6XX that's about a month old, with a cable + 4.4mm adapter from CustomCans!

Seriously though... what's the cable like and what are you running them from?

 

[BoomBox]

Seriously though... what's the cable like and what are you running them from?

Aah sorry, forgot about this thread :'/

The cable is from CustomCans, the first part (turquoise/grey) is terminated to a 4-pin female mini xlr. Then I adapt to other systems, in this case to a 4.4mm balanced connection with the purple/black cable.

The 4.4mm connector is for a nw-zx300, and sounds absolutely phenomenal.

 

[davehutch]

I'm wondering whether it would be a worthwhile upgrade to the stock cable, used single ended? Probably hard for you to know if you're using it balanced anyway?

 

[davehutch]

I'm 'upgrading' from my Grace Design m9xx and not intending to buy another DAC/Amp for a few years.

My options currently look like this:

• Fostex HP-A4BL £299 (Sideways move rather than an upgrade or is balanced a significant improvement despite low power figures?)
• Audio-GD R2R-11 £360 (Single ended only but highly regarded)
• Schiit Jotenheim £520. Seems to do it all but some say qc issues and maybe too bright?

My thinking is that a DAC is a DAC is a DAC to some extent, but for the HD650, the amp would play the most vital role.
With the Fostex being the lowest powered and the Jot the highest, each choice has its disadvantage I guess?

Any assistance would be grateful appreciated as I can't hear any of these before purchase except maybe the Fostex.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I'm 'upgrading' from my Grace Design m9xx and not intending to buy another DAC/Amp for a few years.

My options currently look like this:

• Fostex HP-A4BL £299 (Sideways move rather than an upgrade or is balanced a significant improvement despite low power figures?)
• Audio-GD R2R-11 £360 (Single ended only but highly regarded)
• Schiit Jotenheim £520. Seems to do it all but some say qc issues and maybe too bright?

My thinking is that a DAC is a DAC is a DAC to some extent, but for the HD650, the amp would play the most vital role.
With the Fostex being the lowest powered and the Jot the highest, each choice has its disadvantage I guess?

Any assistance would be grateful appreciated as I can't hear any of these before purchase except maybe the Fostex.

A DAC is not a DAC. There are definitely subtle differences between DACs. It all depends on how trained and sensitive your ears are. To make it even more fun, you can men generalizations about the DAC chips, but the implementation of the DAC makes a big difference.

In general, the Multibit DACs, especially from Schiit, are a bit less harsh, have less digital glare, than the SD DACs from Schiit, and others. One could say the MB DACs are a little smoother. For many, a fantastic system is the Schiit Jot (amp only) with a Mimby DAC. The combo should work fantastic with the 650.

Are you looking for a warm, lush sound, a more accurate dry sound, a "fun", but a little fatiguing rockin' sound? Are you looking for wide soundstage, or intimate soundstage? The DAC can help with these, as well as the amp.

 

[davehutch]

I’m after a neutral DAC, one that doesn’t add any of its own character to a recording
Also an amp that drives the HD6xx really competently, without running out of steam.
On top of that, if I can get a balanced output that would be great, as it certainly can’t do any harm.
I don’t want to be using a two-box solution as I don’t have a dedicated ‘desk’ to put this on.
Don’t need balanced analogue inputs, nor unbalanced probably.
Any of the above I should cross off straight away?
Oh yes, also not big and not too ugly

 

[Allanmarcus]

ok. What is it you don't like about the MD Grace? Sorry if I missed that earlier.

 

[davehutch]

Very good question. I'm concerned that my HD6xx aren't being driven to their full potential. With only 110mW maximum being available at 300 ohms and with the HD6xx having a peak of 500 ohms around 100Hz, I imagine that the amp section is struggling a bit to control the lower frequencies and this is having a knock-on effect elsewhere in the spectrum.
I'm basing this on my past experience with loudspeakers and underpowered amplifiers.
Long, long ago I had a pair of Linn Sara 9 isobarik speakers which were a complete bitch to control as they were 6 ohms nominally and dropped to something like 2 ohms in the bass.
I needed a very good amp for those and I'm figuring that I could do with an amp that comfortably puts out a couple of hundred mW across the impedance range of the Sennheisers.

I don't have any actual evidence to say that it would be beneficial as I've only listened to one other amp, the Questyle 400i and I really couldn't tell much difference in a single demo session, mainly because the only balanced cable they offered me had a fault on one channel so I didn't get a good listen. But I also base my understanding on the hundreds of posts I've read on HF and on reviews I've trawled through on YT.

Now I'm using Sonarworks True-Fi as well, it automatically lowers the level going to the DAC by around 8dB to avoid clipping so sometimes, I'm running the Grace at almost maximum volume, where THD would start to play a part as well as its lack of output wattage.

I do understand that a balanced output most likely gives me a lot more volume to play with but the Audio-GD apparently has no issues with output using single-ended. I'm not altogether convinced about any other sonic benefits of using balanced cables so I'm looking at the balanced feature more for the added power output than anything else.
Of course, I would then get to shop around and buy a balanced cable in a lovely colour scheme and then hear for myself if there is any benefit, so that would be nice as well but not strictly necessary .

Fostex is small, cheap and has balanced but nowhere can I find it's output at 300 ohms. One forum member has said it's likely to be lower powered than my current Grace.
Audio GD is getting a lot of good reviews and isn't very expensive. It has all the features I'd need but wouldn't allow me to be a 'posh' cable
Schiit has a good balanced architecture, more features than I currently need, looks good and is balanced out with loads of power. Most expensive of course but I'd expect that.

First World problems eh?

 

[DaaDaa]

I'm 'upgrading' from my Grace Design m9xx and not intending to buy another DAC/Amp for a few years.

My options currently look like this:

• Fostex HP-A4BL £299 (Sideways move rather than an upgrade or is balanced a significant improvement despite low power figures?)
• Audio-GD R2R-11 £360 (Single ended only but highly regarded)
• Schiit Jotenheim £520. Seems to do it all but some say qc issues and maybe too bright?

My thinking is that a DAC is a DAC is a DAC to some extent, but for the HD650, the amp would play the most vital role.
With the Fostex being the lowest powered and the Jot the highest, each choice has its disadvantage I guess?

Any assistance would be grateful appreciated as I can't hear any of these before purchase except maybe the Fostex.

i own the R2R 11 DAC. it sounds sweet and musical and it is phenomenal for the price. it has a higher noise floor (background not as quiet as Joteheim)
if you have a lot of planar headphones like Audeze you get better results with R2R11 but if your headphjones are a little easier to drive chord mojo is even better imho

 

[davehutch]

i own the R2R 11 DAC. it sounds sweet and musical and it is phenomenal for the price. it has a higher noise floor (background not as quiet as Joteheim)
if you have a lot of planar headphones like Audeze you get better results with R2R11 but if your headphjones are a little easier to drive chord mojo is even better imho

But I didn't think the Mojo could deliver anywhere near the power to drive the Sennheisers? I know you might get the volume out of them but will they drive 300-500 ohms without breaking a sweat?

 

[DaaDaa]

Chord mojo drives HD650 and HD6XX no problem with great results

 

[davehutch]

Maybe I should just stick with the Grace Design in that case. More powerful than the Mojo at 600 ohms?
I've just re-read pretty much the entire m9xx thread and I've come to the conclusion that this is actually an extremely good DAC with a reasonable, but not ideal amp.
I'd need to be careful upgrading that the DAC is equally great so I'm crossing off the Jot from my shortlist as most on that thread agree it isn't as good as the Grace.
If I were to upgrade, it's looking more like the Audio GD R2R.

 

[tracyrick]

Just got my HD6xx and Magni 3 last week. Super impressed with both.

I can't believe how great the 6xx sound. Price/performance ratio is crazy! Paired with the M3, these phones are so balanced and effortless and doing everything right. Bass hits with tight and clear thuds, trebles are all there without sibilance, mid range strong, etc...

For kicks I hooked up my 6xx directly to my Fiio X3ii. Even at high gain and max volume, the sound was not quite loud enough. And it was completely lifeless. So the amp buy was absolutely needed. The numbers didn't lie in this case.

Amp has a huge amount of headroom, so ready for even more challenging phones if I go that route. I'm at 9'oclock with low gain right now and the sound is more than loud enough in a quiet environment. No hissing, or other crap, even when turning the volume knob. Just all goodness.

Next I'm looking forward to comparing my Sines, even though they are a much different phone.