I don't what amp/DAC to get for my HD650s.

[Rodney890]

So honestly when it comes to hi-fi headphones I'm actually pretty inexperienced and don't really know what I'm doing, anyways I got a pair of HD650s for Christmas and have been using a little Fiio portable amp for them but I know it's not nearly good enough and want to upgrade for better sound quality. The only problem is I have no idea what to get. I know I don't want to spend over $500, but I don't know if I should get a tube amp and DAC, just a tube amp, or an amp/DAC combo thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jcn3]

So honestly when it comes to hi-fi headphones I'm actually pretty inexperienced and don't really know what I'm doing, anyways I got a pair of HD650s for Christmas and have been using a little Fiio portable amp for them but I know it's not nearly good enough and want to upgrade for better sound quality. The only problem is I have no idea what to get. I know I don't want to spend over $500, but I don't know if I should get a tube amp and DAC, just a tube amp, or an amp/DAC combo thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

You'll get some good opinions here, but will find much more info at Head-Fi.org - Headphone forums and reviews for audiophiles.

[dalethorn]

So honestly when it comes to hi-fi headphones I'm actually pretty inexperienced and don't really know what I'm doing, anyways I got a pair of HD650s for Christmas and have been using a little Fiio portable amp for them but I know it's not nearly good enough and want to upgrade for better sound quality. The only problem is I have no idea what to get. I know I don't want to spend over $500, but I don't know if I should get a tube amp and DAC, just a tube amp, or an amp/DAC combo thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Headphone, DAC/Amp, Source .... I might recommend a DAC/amp, but all I know so far is your headphone.

[GUTB]

The HD650 sucks, sell it.

 

I recently discovered the greatest value in hi-fi from this forum. The Dragonfly Red through a Jitterbug drives my TH900 to an amazing level of quality given the price. It compares favorably to the $700 Deckard (which is a tweaked Matrix B-Stage $430) paired with the same headphones and BEATS much more expensive amps I've tried to pair them with.

 

It's not a miracle -- it doesn't compete with my reference headphone setup ($4k Focal Utopia plus around $3k of gear), but if I had started off with the Red+TH900 I don't know if I would have felt the need to go further. This great pairing might be due to the TH900's good phase and impedance characteristics...the THX00 has even better and the Nighthawk is better still, both of which are solid mid-fi options closer to the HD650 in terms of cost.

 

 

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[Johnseye]

The HD650 sucks, sell it.

 

I recently discovered the greatest value in hi-fi from this forum. The Dragonfly Red through a Jitterbug drives my TH900 to an amazing level of quality given the price. It compares favorably to the $700 Deckard (which is a tweaked Matrix B-Stage $430) paired with the same headphones and BEATS much more expensive amps I've tried to pair them with.

 

It's not a miracle -- it doesn't compete with my reference headphone setup ($4k Focal Utopia plus around $3k of gear), but if I had started off with the Red+TH900 I don't know if I would have felt the need to go further. This great pairing might be due to the TH900's good phase and impedance characteristics...the THX00 has even better and the Nighthawk is better still, both of which are solid mid-fi options closer to the HD650 in terms of cost.

 

 

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I've been hesitating on pulling the trigger on the Red because of the 96khz and DSD256 cap. I'm looking for a headphone dac with 192khz and DSD512 capabilities. So far the Onkyo is leading that short list. It also has MQA hardware decoding. It's about double the price of the Red, and it's Onkyo, but it has the specs to dance. What are your thoughts?

[DuckToller]

Did you take into account the IFI Micro iDSD Black Label?

It should tick your boxes. You can find lots of info in the AMR/IFI pages in this forum.

 

I am not at all connected to them, but as owner of the same HP the BL is on top of my wishlist for 2017.

I do use the Red with RPi3/Volumio at the moment.

Cheers, Tom

[Johnseye]

Did you take into account the IFI Micro iDSD Black Label?

It should tick your boxes. You can find lots of info in the AMR/IFI pages in this forum.

 

I am not at all connected to them, but as owner of the same HP the BL is on top of my wishlist for 2017.

I do use the Red with RPi3/Volumio at the moment.

Cheers, Tom

No MQA it seems, but thanks.

[GUTB]

If you're talking about the DP-X1 it supports up to DSD256. The Red doesn't support DSD at all. The only DSD512 headphone unit that I know of is the iDSD.

 

 

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[Johnseye]

If you're talking about the DP-X1 it supports up to DSD256. The Red doesn't support DSD at all. The only DSD512 headphone unit that I know of is the iDSD.

 

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You're right, it does only support up to 256. I was mistaken. I wonder if the iDSD will ever support MQA or if there is hardware that would already have to be built into it. Or do I need to decide between DSD512 and MQA, in which case I think I'll lean toward MQA.

[Solstice380]

The Tidal MQA software decoder will get you most of the way there. That opens up the DAC options a lot right now.

 

 

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[Johnseye]

The Tidal MQA software decoder will get you most of the way there. That opens up the DAC options a lot right now.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

 

Most of the way yes. I'd still prefer hardware decoding to get me all the way.

 

Here's another headphone dac option I'm considering. DSD is only 128 but it hits all the other boxes.

 

https://mytekdigital.com/clef/

[wwaldmanfan]

Most of the way yes. I'd still prefer hardware decoding to get me all the way.

 

Here's another headphone dac option I'm considering. DSD is only 128 but it hits all the other boxes.

 

https://mytekdigital.com/clef/

HD 650's are 300Ω, and need a fair amount of power. Many portable headphone amps that mention iPhone and the like in the same breath don't have enough juice. That unit may be a fine DAC, but you may need a separate amp to get the best out of the Sennheisers.

[Lebouwsky]

Bottlehead crack or schiit valhalla are by a lot of enthousiasts seen as one of the best partners for the 650 (within a matching budget)

[Rodney890]

Wow thanks everyone for all the help! I think I'm going to get a LittleDot MKii tube amp, and pair it with a audioengine D1 DAC, I will also replace the tubes in the LittleDot amp. Do these two seem like a good combination?

[TubeLover]

You'll get some good opinions here, but will find much more info at Head-Fi.org - Headphone forums and reviews for audiophiles.

 

+10. Head-Fi is THE resource for your needs. The community there has such vast headphone experience, including amps, DAC's, etc. Go there immediately and research fully. You will end up with all the knowledge you need to make the best possible choice.

 

JC

[biosailor]

I bought HeadAmp's GSX Mk2 headphone/preamp. The Best Buy I ever did. A bit pricey maybe, but there's all options you can exploit. Later on, a power amp can be added should you want to veer into two channel loudspeaker territory. The amp is stellar, never ever heard anything as good as the GSX Mk2. The amp is a crucial component and it'll stay with me. Since I have it, I stopped looking for upgrading altogether.

 

 

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[warp2600]

Wow thanks everyone for all the help! I think I'm going to get a LittleDot MKii tube amp, and pair it with a audioengine D1 DAC, I will also replace the tubes in the LittleDot amp. Do these two seem like a good combination?

 

High impedance headphones like your Senns are meant to pair with OTL amps. I was also considering the Little Dot MkII for my 250 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT990 but just before ordering an MkII, I read that the model is prone to overheating, so I got myself an MkIII and I LOVE it! It provides lots of power to the Beyer, the sound is amazing.

[dalethorn]

+10. Head-Fi is THE resource for your needs. The community there has such vast headphone experience, including amps, DAC's, etc. Go there immediately and research fully. You will end up with all the knowledge you need to make the best possible choice.JC

 

If you're looking for a sales pitch of extraordinary $$$ value, yes indeed.

[progfu]

I'm running the iFi iDSD Micro with a set of HD600s and the pairing sounds VERY good, so the HD650 should be no different. There is more than enough juice to drive them even on the medium power setting. For the money I don't think you can really improve on its quality and flexibility in terms of format support and onboard hardware tweaks.