[AndyRx7]

I've noticed something a bit annoying lately. I produce music (recreationally) on my computer and use my HD-650's for monitoring. I find that I often feel the drums / bass are lagging a bit behind the other instruments, or that the tempo feels too slow. Then, when I listen through my speaker setup, that effect is gone. The result is that I often increase the tempo of my songs too much when listening through the HD-650's.

So.. is this something inherent in the headphones, or is it an amplification problem? My setup is MicroAmp, MicroDAC, with the stock power bricks. Might this problem be solved with a better power setup (i.e. Headroom's DPS)? I'm totally guessing here.

Thanks in advance for any input, hope this makes sense.

Andy

 

[yellafella321]

its not your imagination. hd650's are just like that. They aren't terribly under driven or anything, the micro stack should be more than up to the task.

 

[PsychoZX]

The only real way to speed em up is to drive them with a balanced amp IMO.

 

[jjcha]

The HD6x0 series can be driven to pretty impressive levels of speed and detail out of a balanced amp or something like tjkurita's 300B SET amp. I thought the Dynamight did a fine job technically with them, though it never captured my imagination.

But at the end of the day, it will never be as fast as a modest K 1000 or electrostat rig. Out of normal/average rigs, it's slower than most of the stuff out there (e.g., audio-technica W5000, Grado SR-225, etc.)

Best,

-Jason

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyRx7 I've noticed something a bit annoying lately. I produce music (recreationally) on my computer and use my HD-650's for monitoring. I find that I often feel the drums / bass are lagging a bit behind the other instruments, or that the tempo feels too slow. Then, when I listen through my speaker setup, that effect is gone. The result is that I often increase the tempo of my songs too much when listening through the HD-650's. So.. is this something inherent in the headphones, or is it an amplification problem? My setup is MicroAmp, MicroDAC, with the stock power bricks. Might this problem be solved with a better power setup (i.e. Headroom's DPS)? I'm totally guessing here. Thanks in advance for any input, hope this makes sense. Andy

Don't forget that fully extended bass that you are getting from your 650's will sound 'slower' than your speaker setup which won't be reaching nearly as deep - bass is by its very technical nature slow.

That being said, the 650 as others have pointed out is not a speed-demon. Very natural to my ears though.

 

[AndyRx7]

Thanks for the info! I guess I won't worry about it too much

A balanced amp is not really in the galaxy of my budget for now lol.

 

[granodemostasa]

Both the M3 and the Glite are faster than the micro dm, i thought.. they could help a little. Ultimately, if you want to monitor drums, something like an MS2 might be a better headphone.

 

[pbirkett]

Thats one reason why I hate the HD6x0 series, in particular the HD650, because it lacks PRaT and that is fundamental part in making music sound fun.

I'd rather (and do) listen to cheaper headphones that do the PRaT thing so much better. Even when fed with electronics with good PRaT, the 650's do their best to try and tame it.

I would not recommend those headphones to anyone who listened to fast paced music ever.

 

[Nigel]

Hi,

Have you tried them without the foam covering the drivers?

 

[dura]

IMO it's the accentuation of the transients (the steep leading edge that gives attack to f.i. picking a snare) that gives speed to components.
However, components doing this to a lesser extend often concentrate more on timbre and exhibit a more friendly and enjoyable tonality so more-speed-is-better is a onedimensional simplification.