I absolutely had to hear the HD650 before selling off the "headphone museum" I've accumulated. They arrived Wednesday. The HD650 is very impressive at first listen, but I left it alone while putting better than 48 hours on it. Night before last, I started switching between the HD800 and HD650 on my crazy rig, above - Concero as SPDIF converter > Bushmaster MkII's DAC section > TBI Audio MG3 speaker amp > resistor network.
It's amazing what you can learn about one headphone by listening to another - understatement of the year, right?
The HD800's improved bass and lack of treble harshness sounded great to my ears on that daisy chain,
until I heard the HD650 on the same chain. The HD650 might actually be the best compromise out there, for the money, in my opinion. I know the HD650 has been around for a long time, commanding a great deal of respect, but I'm only just getting around to owning a pair that I can spend some time with.
I used the world "compromise" because the HD800 has strengths the HD650 lacks, of course (detail and sound stage, for example), but hearing the HD650's bass, I am reminded of the LCD-2, except with added air, treble energy, sound stage, and even a wee bit of improved resolution over the LCD-2 (not that the LCD-2 has ever been heralded for its resolution). For my ears and tastes, the HD650 is a marriage of the HD800 and LCD-2 - with my earlier most-recent purchase, the HD600, being the more accurate, tonally balanced, version of that same marriage - less like the LCD-2, more like the HD800 - none of which is news to most readers here, I'm sure.
But the HD650 has opened my ears to something else that I hadn't detected previously: Where the Bushmaster MkII's amp section doesn't have enough horsepower to control the bass of the HD800, or even give it sufficient bass energy (good, but not great), the TBI Audio MG3 > resistor network breathed life into the HD800 bass - not as well as the hybrid Schiit Vali, in that regard, but with a less "ethereal" sound - and I'm after a "transportable" rig that can perform dual-duty as a battery-only desktop rig, where the Vali requires a 16V "AC" supply. So, prior to getting the HD650 and having already dismissed driving the HD800 from the Bushmaster MkII's amp section, the Concero > Bushmaster MkII > MG3 > resistor network had become my favorite HD800 amp - and solid state, at that - a good thing, in my book...
But then, having heard the bass of the HD650 off of that same chain, night before last, lamenting the loss of some traits offered by the HD800 - resolution and sound stage - I realized that the HD800 still didn't have enough bass for my tastes. And then, after a couple of hours of back and forth between the two of them, I decided to try moving the HD650 to the Bushmaster MkII's headphone out (bypassing the TBI Audio MG3 amp and resistor network). Whoa! This single change immediately revealed that the MG3 > resistor network was
degrading the analog output of the Bushmaster MkII: It was not only reducing resolution slightly, it was dramatically reducing dynamics. I was shocked at how readily detectable a difference there is in dynamics, between the speaker amp with resistor network and the Bushmaster MkII's headphone out, using the HD650.
Some of you may be aware from my posts to the "speaker amps for headphones thread" that I had previously become disappointed with how the TBI resistor network, necessary to silence the hiss caused by excessive gain in the TBI MG3, had killed the LCD-2's dynamics that could be heard on more powerful amps. Here, in comparing the HD650 on the MG3 > resistor network to the HD650 plugged directly into the Bushmaster MkII's headphone out, I realized that the MG3 was hurting dynamics for the HD650 as well. I hadn't noticed it when moving the HD800 back and forth between the MG3 and Bushmaster MkII headphone out, because the Bushmaster MkII just doesn't have enough oomph for the HD800, but, in my opinion it's got plenty of everything it needs for the HD650, despite even Stanley Beresford saying that it doesn't. I'm telling you that, to my ears, the HD650 sounds better overall, on the Bushmaster MkII's headphone out than on any other amp I have right now.
Seriously - my MG3 just became a full-time loudspeaker amp for my Definitive Technology SM 45 near-field monitors. I have no further use for that resistor network - it's sucking both dynamics and, to a much lesser degree, resolution out of the signal, even though it imparts a smooth treble and that sweet, natural, organic signature that I love so much about the MG3 - and which did wonders to tame the treble of the HD800. The fact is, the Bushmaster MkII > HD650 sounds
way better than the MG3 > HD800 (despite the MG3 > HD800 pairing sounding better than Bushmaster MkII > HD800).
But it gets better still. Night before last, I was absolutely thrilled with the Bushmaster MkII > HD650. (My mantra: "I'm absolutely thrilled!") And then, I started comparing the LCD-2 and HD650 off of the Bushmaster MkII headphone out. I had tried the Bushmaster MkII > LCD-2 a couple of weeks ago, when I first got the Bushmaster MkII, and was very impressed at the time, but I was hell bent on finding a solid state (and battery-powered) solution for the HD800, so put that experience on my brain's back burner.
Now that I've (temporarily?) suspended my search for an HD800 "cure," I find myself increasingly enamored with the Bushmaster MkII - with both the HD650 and the LCD-2. There are things to like about the HD650's treble and sound stage, and yet, it's not that far off from having the LCD-2's bass. It has a wee bit more treble detail than the LCD-2, too. It's down to a matter of what you like (and how much you want to spend) but I find both headphones to be very enjoyable off of the Bushmaster MkII.
People can tell me all day long that the Bushmaster MkII doesn't have enough power for either the HD650 or the LCD-2, but... There are some folks other than myself out there who swear by the Bushmaster MkII > HD650 pairing, just as there are lots of people who talk about how the LCD-2 does amazingly well with lower power amps, even though Audeze recommends a minimum of 1000mW for their planar magnetics.
Take note that Stanley Beresford has posted that his amp section sports a relatively higher current output for its power rating (current instead of voltage) than other solid state amp designs, and I've read on several occasions elsewhere, that planar magnetics thrive on high-current signals over getting power from the voltage side of the equation.
One last contrast: I've long been a fan of the CEntrance DACmini CX > LCD-2. In fact, this has remained a benchmark for me, for quite some time. I sold my Burson Soloist because it can't compete with the CEntrance DACmini (all but ignored these days, as one of yesterday's heroes.) Switching back and forth between the Bushmaster MkII and CEntrance DACmini CX, this morning, as an integrated DAC/amp solution, I prefer the Bushmaster MkII with both the HD650 and the LCD-2. And that's without consideration of the greater than 3:1 difference in price. The magic is definitely in Stanley Beresford's DAC section, more than the amp, with none of the slight etch I've always tolerated in the DACmini CX DAC's treble, but keep in mind, the Bushmaster MkII does not have a USB receiver, as does the DACmini CX. Still, the friend who led me to trying both the Bushmaster MkII and HD650 is using the very affordable,
HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC with an optical cable to feed SPDIF to his Bushmaster MkII - and considers the Bushmaster MkII > HD650 to be nearly the equal of his Speedballed Crack > HD650. (So you don't really need a Concero to convert USB to SPDIF...)
Laughing at myself, I will again proclaim, "I'm absolutely thrilled with the way this sounds!"
Mike
