Honestly, for what it's worth when the HD650 is matched with the exact right amp choices, any veiling vanishes, it really does, thus as we push for folks to amp those cans well. They really achieve a higher level amped very well if matched.
Understand your thoughts too, as I will always keep both my HD650 and Lambda Normal Bias among my collection. Spritzer has a fondness for the LNB, stated many times up to most recently.
The Lambda Normal bias was the 1st Lambda design, and low bias, and it is really a nice performer (disagree with the $20 analogy BS). You may want to go into other pro-bias Lambdas & can do so affordably and also affordably with a great matching amp too. I have many Staxen, and what you want is found in the higher Stax (even some Lambdas), better Lambdas possess those sound qualities you are looking for. The only thing you won't get is the extreme dynamic slam impact of say, a Foster driver (ala TH900), but Stax low extension is there with the right models & respectfully so. Don't want to send you down a slippery slope with the wallet though; it's happened to most of us already.
Best rec is a used Stax SR-404LE (LTD, Limited) or Airbow/Stax SR-SC11, based on the same model. Paired with a used Stax SRM-323S or SRM-353X, or what I use is a Stax SRM-1/MK-2 Pro amp; these are all ss amps, not tubes. With much patience, you can get these eventually at a nice price used, but it takes waiting for a mint set & to find a set. The last amp listed has both pro bias & normal bias if you keep your LNB cans, which will come to life if using a transformer box now rather than an amp.
Or, a used Lambda Nova Signature or Koss ESP/950 which can run either on the included Koss e/90 amp or run on Stax amps with an adaptor cord. If just experimenting a bit above the LNB, a used SR-202 or SR-207 (same just newer designation) is real affordable, but needs an amp, best at the least the SRM-252, or can get away with a SRM-212, but that's pure bare bones amp & lacks power, details suffer. All these cans & amps in this last paragraph are very effective price-wise; but with the Koss ESP/950, if paired out with a Stax amp (it is excellent on it's own e/90 amp) needs a more powerful amp to run it like the 3 amps in paragraph above.
Not sure if you desire only open, closed or vented-closed or are welcome to any type. If your heart is set on the TH-X00, (I have Mahogany), seriously look at the E-MU Teak-Rosewood-Ebony in better preference (I have the Rosewood). It addresses the thread topic, but don't want to engage in a branding discension. Those exchanges could be PM'd instead. Being that you may buy & are looking, the biocell ZMF Eikon especially, or Atticus (model with TPE drivers material like HD800) may clic all your boxes, and the new Denon AH-D7200 biocell now is reporting to have perhaps a refined signature with the Foster driver (see that thread), different than we see with previous Denons and these other brands. It's really new, reports just emerging. There are some nice choices for you out there. Almost seems a BeyerDynamic T1 might be your cup of tea.
Last note on measurements - I use them to see faults, ruling out models with flaws that can be heard when listening to those models. But, there can be 2 different headphone models, different brands, that have almost identical measurements but they both sound really different. The InnerFidelity sets of measurements are very good, but listening is what really seperates the best out of the bunches.
Hope of some help, sorry if sidetracking too much off thread, just helping here to have you find what suits you best.
Thanks, this is really helpful!
I currently have the SR-3030 kit (SR-303 and a solid state amp). The amp has a normal bias input and I was able to A/B the Lambda NB with the included SR-303. And the Lambda NB I tried on it was just unquestionably more to my taste than the included SR-303. But even with the Lambda NB, the physical bass impact is still missing, though the bass has a lot of texture. For something like Metallica's black album, the softer portions are much better with the Stax but then the louder parts feel less physical and are too airy. Aphex Twin feels better on the Lambdas than the Sennheisers, except when it gets strident. A lot of artists don't sound better on one or the other... portions of songs do. The Lambda NB really spoiled me despite being so old, it just had a sonorous quality that was light without being thin and strident, which I find the SR-303 to be even if it's otherwise great, but I immediately knew which I preferred and it wasn't a small difference. I understand the SR-303 and SR-404 have the same driver and are somewhat similar in terms of sound signature, and the sound signature is too "thin" and too "hi fi" for me, too tailored toward gentle finger picking and soft guitar (Joanna Newsom and softer Beck sound very good with both, for instance; classical is just great with the SR-303, but I'm not sophisticated enough to listen to classical lol).
I'm letting the drop for the TH-X00 expire because it sounds like I don't quite know what I want yet. The DT-1350 I might like simply like because I expect less of it, but it also has a sound signature I favor. It's so good given how small it is, the bass extends forever and it's both tightly controlled and deep and there's detail that isn't strident, with no distortion. It's bright without being strident.
What's sort of unfortunate for me is that I moved to an apartment with pretty thin walls and there's a major street outside and I often run a fan for white noise and air circulation. So something with at least a little isolation would be nice. This wasn't a factor before I moved, but now I'm reconsidering my purchases.
I understand that measurements aren't everything, but the impulse response on the HD650 looks slow to me. What amp (for a reasonable price) would you suggest that removes the veil? I don't fully trust that it can be removed, though I've heard it sound good from a high end chain, enough to make me buy one even after I had the Stax. But it was still very polite. Neither headphone is fully satisfying currently, but neither is a top of the line set up. You hear both and you hear the flaws because the rest is so good. So that's why I'm thinking screw it, sell both, get something closed. The T5p looks really tempting, but I need to save up for a down payment on a house so that's off the table at $1100. The Stax also do sound more "open" and a lot more spacious, the image on the HD650s is very small to my ears, much better than the 1350s but not incredible. So I want to improve that.
I don't want more than one pair of headphones (well, I want one for work, one for home, and one for the gym but that's based on form factor, not sound signature, and I already have the DT1350 and Triple Fi IEM, both of which I like). I used to be into photography and was getting pretty good at it until I bought a 4x5 view camera, after which nothing was worth photographing because I couldn't find something to justify taking a picture of at that cost or with that quality... the opposite of the Instagram effect. Stop I stopped that but now I find comparisons of low end digital cameras and lenses to be hilarious because who cares, get the one that has a look you like, until you spend big bucks they're all pretty bad. So that's how I feel, a little technical superiority means nothing next to a sound signature I like or a little more isolation from street noise. I also don't like that the Stax are clear enough to reveal flaws in a recording and I don't like that the Sennheisers are too polite to even when they should. There's a really hideously recorded snare in the mix of the Justice song Civilization that makes it unlistenable on the Stax and it sounds fine on the Sennheiser, but it... shouldn't. Same with some Pumpkins, like the crescendo during Disarm. So while it's nice to have these bad passages of benchmarks of badness, it's also eye-opening that a lot of good music will never sound good. Sucks, actually. I just want something fun for music, but I want it to be at least detailed enough that it doesn't smooth out all the flaws. There's some music (Yeezus, most Oasis, etc.) that's mixed so loud that nothing will save it and, you know, that can go and sound bad. Does that sound good on a TOTL rig? No way, right? But I do want something like Rihanna or alt rock (Weezer, Pumpkins, Nirvana) to sound okay, because that sounds like how most things are mixed these days and I listen to a lot of alternative rock and some recent hip hop and electronic (less, though). I don't want such a good headphone that it makes my music sound bad, but I do want it to be a little less veiled than the HD650s currently are. I'm a music fan, not a producer or audiophile, and am neither interested in monitoring nor being too analytical My source is Spotify at 320Kbps but I have a great DAC. I'm not interested in having great headphones, but I listen to music way too much to get bad headphones. I bought some HD598s and those are now going to my parents as a gift with a new Spotify subscription. Can't stand how boring they are, it's almost like they're only good enough to be identifiably boring. Yeesh.
Okay I went way off topic. If you could PM me a reply maybe I'd really appreciate it!
Will a Yamamoto HA-02 have enough power to drive them?
