[Tigerwoodkhorns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't believe 2 hours later I'm still listening to the uDAC > HD600 right now, when I could be listening to my Apogee mini-DAC > Woo WA6 if I was in the mood to let it warm up...

That brings up a good point. I want to avoid tubes in a headphone system because when I decide to listen, I just want to plug in a play. If I had the time to let something warm up and listen for a while, I would go and use my main system and listen to some vinyl. My headphone system will be my lazy system.

Anyway, glad to hear that it is that involving. Should be a great setup for my purpose.

 

[Melanter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by weibby /img/forum/go_quote.gif OP, do yourself a favor. Scrap the whole idea because you're decision seems rather flimsy and this is just an impulse buy.

hmmm impulse buy that I've been reading about and agonizing over for almost two weeks?

 

[midoo1990]

I read this whole thread now and I just wanna say that I am a little bit frustrated from the OP.you wanted advice and Larry (a.k.a HeadphoneAddict)gave you tremendous responses and alot of his time for answering all of your questions but then you completly went off route and threw this advice to the trash and got an entirely different headphone the hd650 that have a diff. Sound signature than the 600. My advice to you is to wait until the hd650 arrives to you and listen to them from whatever source you have and if you don't like the sound,then you should seek for an amp recomendation here.
Just my 2 cents...

 

[Tigerwoodkhorns]

Larry,

A big thank you. I received my NuForce uDAC and it has plenty of power for my listening habbits. It also added bass to the HD 580's that I am using right now and nice soundstage and detail.

I also ordered a pair of HD 600's. This should work very well with my source material (MP3's and lossless).

To anyone getting into this, the NuForce / Senneiser combo is quite impresive, especially for the price. Even not for the price, being a long time audio nut, I am amazed at the sound from quality headphones such as these. Eliminating crossovers and separate drivers as well as room interferences, baffle effects, etc. is a major advantage over regular stereo.

The NuForce really made a difference too, quite an impressive piece of gear, and well built. I did not expect a solid feeling quality metal box for the $100.

In summary, if you are new to this, do not hesitate to get the NuForce uDAC / Sennheiser 600's (qualified by the fact that I'm using 580's right now). Even though I am new to this headphone thing, I have been into high end audio for many years and own and have heard many very high end systems. You would have to spend several thousand or more to get this kind of sound from a conventional stereo.

The other problem is that when you start to get up there with regular audio, you get amazing soundstage and detail, but many recordings start sounding very poor because of the resolution. The NuForce / 580 combo seems to have nice detail (very nice) but still sounds great with 192K MP3's. I'm impressed by some of the detail in these MP3's. There is such a thing as going too far too with resolution if yr sources vary, although I'd love to hear a high end HP rig with my vinyl front end.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I just want to mention that Melanter did PM me with an apology that he really didn't know the HD650 were that much different sounding from the HD600. I told him no problem. I am kind of curious if my prediction that the uDAC would be better with HD600 than HD650 holds true.

 

[aimlink]

^ I guess his private apology is no longer so private.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimlink /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ I guess his private apology is no longer so private.

I posted that because:

(1) I wanted people to stop ragging on him for what he did, and
(2) I wanted to show that he is humble enough to do it in private and not try to make a show of it.

Do you not think that was a good reason to share?

 

[aimlink]

Even with your good intentions considered, unless you asked him if it was ok to do so, I'd say no, it wasn't.

 

[drandall]

FWIW, i asked these same questions and headphoneaddict gave me the same suggestions...get the HD600, get the uDAC and then eventually an amp.

i can't tell you how right he was. the HD600 is a fantastic headphone with smoothness, grace and balance. combined with the uDAC, it sounds even better.

what is really amazing to me is just how the uDAC holds up when you start to lean on it. with the volume at 2 or 3 o'clock, the sound is still tight and coherent without any noticeable shredding. yes, there is a sense that at some point it starts to run out of puff, but it's a $99 DAC/AMP combo. i can't imagine getting more for your money.

i guess what i'm saying is that this is really solid advice and while i can't speak to the 650 or other combos (not having heard them), i can tell you that i'm very very happy with how things have turned out so far.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimlink /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even with your good intentions considered, unless you asked him if it was ok to do so, I'd say no, it wasn't.

Melanter, I am sorry for posting that you graciously apologized and in private and then I made it public.

 

[Melanter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Melanter, I am sorry for posting that you graciously apologized and in private and then I made it public.

Hey it's all good! I see that both you and Aimlink have my best interests in mind, thanks to both of you!

 

[maingarden]

I gotta say I'm very close to following headphoneaddict's advice and running with udac2 and HD 600...sounds like the udac2 would give best opportunity for adding better amp part later.  
 
I went HD 595 first hoping for a good unamped experienced and found some problems with this.  Some rock that is heavy on mids, like arcade fire, or electronic got congested with the HD 595 and was too bright, albeit tamer than the MS1i that got me into this headfi mess.  i was surprised to find the 595 even bright for certain pink floyd tracks at volumes i would like to enjoy a full sound.  this cut down on listening times.  the HD 595 really sounds natural to me for classical though.  
 
questions before reaching deeper into my wallet....hopefully @ headphone addict:
 
-will rock music heavy on mids suffer with the HD 600s like the 595?  i understand 595 is more forward.  for reference, i use klipsch S4 now and this is very non-fatiguing for me.
-I still don't need to update my soundcard, right?  i have a imac G5 and will be upgrading to latest imac but don't plan on adding soundcard, instead going with USB DAC/AMP.  I understand there are better players for lossless formats than itunes....another topic
-is something like ibasso D4 worth the $100 or am i better off waiting for better amp opportunity to go with udac2 in the future???
 
thanks for the help!  
-main source is computer
-music preference is broad but mainly rock, rock/electronic, classical
 
 
Quote:

FWIW, i asked these same questions and headphoneaddict gave me the same suggestions...get the HD600, get the uDAC and then eventually an amp.

i can't tell you how right he was. the HD600 is a fantastic headphone with smoothness, grace and balance. combined with the uDAC, it sounds even better.

what is really amazing to me is just how the uDAC holds up when you start to lean on it. with the volume at 2 or 3 o'clock, the sound is still tight and coherent without any noticeable shredding. yes, there is a sense that at some point it starts to run out of puff, but it's a $99 DAC/AMP combo. i can't imagine getting more for your money.

i guess what i'm saying is that this is really solid advice and while i can't speak to the 650 or other combos (not having heard them), i can tell you that i'm very very happy with how things have turned out so far.

 

[grokit]

Good advice for sure; the K701 would have been too hard to drive well for something like the uDac or most potable amps.

 

[eggburt]

I'm also an old timer at hi-fi but new to the headphone thing.  I've owned some for years but used them very little.  When I decided to get in to it "seriously" I did my research and bought a Ray Samuels amp to go with my ipod classic.  Then I had to make a decision on phones.  I had researched it and had an idea what I wanted, but because there was no where to me to listen to them I hesitated.  Finally I asked Ray Samuels what he thought would go good with SA71A, and without missing a beat he recommended the HD600.  Small world, this was what I was considering.  I bought them and couldn't be happier.  Makes me wonder why I even look at this forum any more, I'm done fretting and am now into listening.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

I gotta say I'm very close to following headphoneaddict's advice and running with udac2 and HD 600...sounds like the udac2 would give best opportunity for adding better amp part later.  
 
I went HD 595 first hoping for a good unamped experienced and found some problems with this.  Some rock that is heavy on mids, like arcade fire, or electronic got congested with the HD 595 and was too bright, albeit tamer than the MS1i that got me into this headfi mess.  i was surprised to find the 595 even bright for certain pink floyd tracks at volumes i would like to enjoy a full sound.  this cut down on listening times.  the HD 595 really sounds natural to me for classical though.  
 
questions before reaching deeper into my wallet....hopefully @ headphone addict:
 
1) - will rock music heavy on mids suffer with the HD 600s like the 595?  i understand 595 is more forward.  for reference, i use klipsch S4 now and this is very non-fatiguing for me.
2) - I still don't need to update my soundcard, right?  i have a imac G5 and will be upgrading to latest imac but don't plan on adding soundcard, instead going with USB DAC/AMP.  I understand there are better players for lossless formats than itunes....another topic
3) - is something like ibasso D4 worth the $100 or am i better off waiting for better amp opportunity to go with udac2 in the future???
 
thanks for the help!  
-main source is computer
-music preference is broad but mainly rock, rock/electronic, classical
 
Quote:

FWIW, i asked these same questions and headphoneaddict gave me the same suggestions...get the HD600, get the uDAC and then eventually an amp.

i can't tell you how right he was. the HD600 is a fantastic headphone with smoothness, grace and balance. combined with the uDAC, it sounds even better.

what is really amazing to me is just how the uDAC holds up when you start to lean on it. with the volume at 2 or 3 o'clock, the sound is still tight and coherent without any noticeable shredding. yes, there is a sense that at some point it starts to run out of puff, but it's a $99 DAC/AMP combo. i can't imagine getting more for your money.

i guess what i'm saying is that this is really solid advice and while i can't speak to the 650 or other combos (not having heard them), i can tell you that i'm very very happy with how things have turned out so far.
 

 
In regards to the 3 questions:
 
1) I don't think the mids will be a problem.
 
2) Technically the uDAC-2 or D4 is an external USB soundcard.
 
3) If you weren't ever getting another amp later, then the extra 9v power of the D4 would be helpful with the HD600, assuming you don't mind the 8-10 hour battery life with 9v batteries.  But if you can get a more powerful desktop amp later then I would stick with the uDAC-2 for now and use that to feed a bigger amp later.  If using the DAC line out only, the D4 line out wont add any benefit over the uDAC-2 line out, negating the extra cost.