Good AMP For HD 650

CAPTAINBUMFLUFF · 18 Mar 2010 at 22:47

Hi got hd 650s following some advice on this forum, however everywhere I read people say I am not getting full potential out of connecting it to ipod, and many say amps are needed. As I have never had a amp before I would appreciate some suggestions, does a cd player need to be connected to one, dont know the process thanks guys

Hamoodii · 18 Mar 2010 at 23:26

CAPTAINBUMFLUFF said:
Hi got hd 650s following some advice on this forum, however everywhere I read people say I am not getting full potential out of connecting it to ipod, and many say amps are needed. As I have never had a amp before I would appreciate some suggestions, does a cd player need to be connected to one, dont know the process thanks guys

What do you use the headphones for ? Gaming, music?

The Graham Slee ones are excellent but a little pricey, a tube amp would be good for music (warmer sound though) but not as good for gaming.

CAPTAINBUMFLUFF · 19 Mar 2010 at 00:16

hi thanks for the reply only use for music forgot to add i got a asus essence sound card is that good enough to reach full potential of them
regards

Greenlizard0 · 19 Mar 2010 at 04:03

The amp in the Essence is pretty good. Remember to select the correct resistance.

Hamoodii · 19 Mar 2010 at 10:23

Greenlizard0 said:
The amp in the Essence is pretty good. Remember to select the correct resistance.

Yeah 300 ohms for the 650s iirc.

CAPTAINBUMFLUFF · 19 Mar 2010 at 11:10

sorry might be stupid question but do cd's sound better than mp3, set the correct gains on the sound card
thanks

gurusan · 19 Mar 2010 at 11:32

Yes CDs are better as MP3s are a lossy format...in other words you lose data when you encode to MP3 from a CD. There are lossless formats like FLAC though.

CAPTAINBUMFLUFF · 19 Mar 2010 at 12:24

thanks for the quick response will make sure i go hmv and pick up some cd's

tenshin111 · 20 Mar 2010 at 10:27

Hamoodii said:
What do you use the headphones for ? Gaming, music?

The Graham Slee ones are excellent but a little pricey...

Well, you can get Graham Slee's 'Voyager Portable Headphone Amplifier' for about £160. It is NOT much for a good headphone amp really

MikeHunt79 · 20 Mar 2010 at 10:32

I find the E-mu 0404 USB works well with my HD600's, so I'd imagine HD650 working just as well as they're pretty similar headphones in many ways.

C64 · 20 Mar 2010 at 12:07

Any news on how much the FiiO e7 will be looks a decent budget amp no ?

MikeHunt79 · 20 Mar 2010 at 12:20

C64 said:
Any news on how much the FiiO e7 will be looks a decent budget amp no ?

Is that the one that run from a 9v battery? I think the HD650's will need more voltage swing than that...

C64 · 20 Mar 2010 at 12:34

1, portable USB DAC + AMP;

2, Individual USB interface : PCM2706 same as most usb dac

3, Individual high end DAC converter : WM8740 same as some hi-end audio products

4, Individual high fi amplifier : TPA6130 same as E5,E1

5, Build in Li-ion battery : 1100mAh vs E5 only 200mAh

6, Build in 128*64 OLED displayer : it is the first portable usb dac with OLED displayer in the world, and use to display battery life, volume , working information etc..

7, Build in 3 stage bass boost : So it is more suitable for different request!

8, Input/output:

Mini USB input x 1 : USB digital audio signal input and power supply
3.5mm stereo X1 : line in
3.5mm stereo X2 : Headphone out
Dock x1 : include USB interface, line in/out, Ir remote signal, etc..!

9, Output power: 150mW X 2

10, Playtime: >80 hours!

tenshin111 · 20 Mar 2010 at 14:30

C64 said:
1, portable USB DAC + AMP;

2, Individual USB interface : PCM2706 same as most usb dac

3, Individual high end DAC converter : WM8740 same as some hi-end audio products

4, Individual high fi amplifier : TPA6130 same as E5,E1

5, Build in Li-ion battery : 1100mAh vs E5 only 200mAh

6, Build in 128*64 OLED displayer : it is the first portable usb dac with OLED displayer in the world, and use to display battery life, volume , working information etc..

7, Build in 3 stage bass boost : So it is more suitable for different request!

8, Input/output:

Mini USB input x 1 : USB digital audio signal input and power supply
3.5mm stereo X1 : line in
3.5mm stereo X2 : Headphone out
Dock x1 : include USB interface, line in/out, Ir remote signal, etc..!

9, Output power: 150mW X 2

10, Playtime: >80 hours!

HD 650s are pretty high-end headphones and should be complemented with a high-end headphone amp not some 'made-in-china' toy

What about this:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/system1/digital-analog-converter/dac1-pre

For a mere... $1,595 You won't be disappointed!

Another worthy alternative:

http://www.gracedesign.com/products/m902/m902.htm

This one is even more expensive...but what a piece of art! This is what we call 'hi-fi' these days... :cool:

C64 · 20 Mar 2010 at 15:08

Well I think he wants a portable amp that can also be used well at home, I'd like to see all the reviews in on the e7 might be a solid budget portable amp sounding as good as amps twice it's price.
Got the impression he isn't looking to spend like £500-£1000 on an amp.

Another praiseworthy matter is that the E7 drives my 300 Ohm Sennheiser HD 650 phones just fine. A lot of misinformation and legends have been spread by ‘audiophiles’ about these phones. While they’re certainly not the most suitable to be used directly on most MP3 players, they are not that overly hard to drive and they don’t need a super-powerful amp, as is often claimed. The HD 650 sound pretty much the same driven by the FiiO E7, the AudioFire 4, as well as my overly beefy tube amp, the Woo Audio 6 (which adds nice harmonic distortions, but doesn’t drive the HD650 any ‘better’ than the other ones, in the grand scheme of things).

Taken from this review http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2010/03/fiio-e7-headphone-amplifierusb-dac-review.php

tenshin111 · 20 Mar 2010 at 15:31

I know, I just got carried away

I wish I could afford one those though