What's the first thing you'd change in my rig?
- Thread starter richdytch
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soundstige
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Yes, I should believe one person's justifications for over-spending, instead of the mountains of conclusive scientific evidence to the contrary.
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richdytch
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I saw the first few replies to this thread and thought it had reached its natural end. Then I checked back and there had been a flood of new replies... so thanks all for your impressions.
My gut feeling went along with the people who said an amp upgrade might provide the best improvement. I'd suspected that while the Little Dot does an OK job with the HD650s, it isn't capable of getting the best out of them.
Then last week I acquired a pair of Beyerdynamic d770s (250 Ohm) for work, and brought them home with me. I've been very impressed with the bass and treble extension when powering them with my Fiio E9, although the bass is a bit excessive. The v-shaped hole in the mids does leave something to be desired. I tried them on the little dot using Voshkod 6zh1p-ev tubes - which I'd always found complemented the HD650 very well. The Beyers sounded very cold. Then I wondered what would happen if I used an incredibly rich-sounding tube and if that might compensate for their mid-range coldness. I popped in some Mullard m8161 tubes which I'd always found far too creamy for the HD650 - and bingo, there appears to be a really good relationship now between the dt770 and LD. The little dot's somewhat rolled-off bass response is also compensating for the slightly excessive bass of the 770.
The HD650s now sound positively strangled in comparison. I'm finding a level of detail, fun and engagement with the music that I've not had before. I don't consider this the end of the road - because everything I read suggests that the HD650 is capable of being a much better headphone than the dt770. So I'm going to try and get to listen to them on some amps of a higher order. I wish I could track down someone near me with a Shiit Lyr, and I'm keen to go and visit Graham Slee and try some of his Solos.
I'm a very happy chap right now - aware that on some fronts it's a step back, but a great advance on others. There's also the possibility that I may not naturally enjoy the Sennheiser sound signature too much - although I've sometimes had them produce breathtaking results with the little dot (just not consistently), so I'm convinced they have a lot more to offer.
*edit* ok - so a few days in I acknowledge that the dt770's bass is over the top and and upper mids/low treble can be quite fatuguing, but at least I know now for sure that a) I want to hear the HD650 with an amp from the next level, and b) to explore other headphones.
Rich.
My gut feeling went along with the people who said an amp upgrade might provide the best improvement. I'd suspected that while the Little Dot does an OK job with the HD650s, it isn't capable of getting the best out of them.
Then last week I acquired a pair of Beyerdynamic d770s (250 Ohm) for work, and brought them home with me. I've been very impressed with the bass and treble extension when powering them with my Fiio E9, although the bass is a bit excessive. The v-shaped hole in the mids does leave something to be desired. I tried them on the little dot using Voshkod 6zh1p-ev tubes - which I'd always found complemented the HD650 very well. The Beyers sounded very cold. Then I wondered what would happen if I used an incredibly rich-sounding tube and if that might compensate for their mid-range coldness. I popped in some Mullard m8161 tubes which I'd always found far too creamy for the HD650 - and bingo, there appears to be a really good relationship now between the dt770 and LD. The little dot's somewhat rolled-off bass response is also compensating for the slightly excessive bass of the 770.
The HD650s now sound positively strangled in comparison. I'm finding a level of detail, fun and engagement with the music that I've not had before. I don't consider this the end of the road - because everything I read suggests that the HD650 is capable of being a much better headphone than the dt770. So I'm going to try and get to listen to them on some amps of a higher order. I wish I could track down someone near me with a Shiit Lyr, and I'm keen to go and visit Graham Slee and try some of his Solos.
I'm a very happy chap right now - aware that on some fronts it's a step back, but a great advance on others. There's also the possibility that I may not naturally enjoy the Sennheiser sound signature too much - although I've sometimes had them produce breathtaking results with the little dot (just not consistently), so I'm convinced they have a lot more to offer.
*edit* ok - so a few days in I acknowledge that the dt770's bass is over the top and and upper mids/low treble can be quite fatuguing, but at least I know now for sure that a) I want to hear the HD650 with an amp from the next level, and b) to explore other headphones.
Rich.
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