I’ve been using HD600 for some time with my Aune X7s as amp and Focusrite Solo as dac. I was thinking of getting a pair of HD650 in the future since I’m looking for a relaxing, warm and enjoyable sound. I know that 650 sounds well with a tube amp, but those are expensive and to me quite unnecessary since I already have X7s. I can only think of XDuoo MT-602 as tube amp because they are cheaper.
So my questions are: 1. Is it worth to own both HD600 and HD650?, 2. If I had 650, would X7s do the job or should I invest in a tube amp? and 3. Is XDuoo MT-602 powerful enough to drive 650?
I know that the 6XX variant is cheaper but I live in Europe so buying things outside EU is risky because of customs police and taxes (especially during this COVID time).
I will be grateful for any advice. Thank you for taking your time answering or just reading my post. (I’m still a noob in the audio world)
I agree with @Freyr that to change up the 600’s sound you would be best serve driving it with a tube amp. In Europe you can check out Feliks Audio. They make very nice tube amps and some are not crazy expensive. The other entry point for you is probably a Darkvoice 336SE. I would only go that route if you absolutely can’t get/afford a Feliks.
zen dac. both as dac and/or amplifier. it will sound better as a dac then the focusrite. its also a very warm dac that has bass boost. it will give your hd600’s a different, more warm sound. sounds great to me with my hd600’s. the amp will drive them to about(i don’t have equipment for this, purely my ears) 90-95 db. thats off of usb. haven’t tried with dedicated power supply, which gives it more power from what others have said(havent tried to confirm)
edit: thats also single ended. dont have balanced to try the balanced port, which also has more power.
I already have an amp (Aune X7s) so I don’t think that would be too necessary or priority 1. If I really must, then I would consider the very cheap tube amp, which is XDuoo MT-602. My X7s drives the HD600 well, I have a very stable volume control. I was just thinking if I should invest into buying HD650 as is warmer, more relaxing, etc. I want the best different variants of the same price and quality range as my HD600. However many people said that both sound the same with a little EQ configuration.
Both unavailable.
Isn’t the X7s enough? I bought it for like 300 USD in hope that I have entered the required power pass for my HD600 and future headphones.
so compared to the 600, the 650 is. but there are other headphones that will be more warmer and relaxing
So you are looking for something pretty different than the 600? I would look at the akg712 , the beyer dt880(600 ohms) Hifiman Edition xx and Sundara, and either a fostex 610 or x00, Emu Teaks, or Denon 5000/5200 I think most of those will fit in a similar price range of what you are looking for, and most should all have more bass giver or take and wider stage than the hd600. Some will have a brighter treble, and recessed mids comparatively, so pretty different than the 600/650/6xx If you aren’t familiar with these, these are pretty popular on this site, and you can search extensively on here. Also i have either owned or had on loan all of the mentioned headphones, so feel free to ask about them Also your amp should be fine with any of these, but depending on if you pick any, an upgrade amp would benefit in the future, just depends on ss or tube.
nah its alright. the focusrite is solid. not great, but solid. you can still keep it hooked up for your mic and use the zen for headphones only.
edit: and like Bmn1251 said, you can also try different headphones that are not senn’s. the aune is a great amp and the focusrite is plenty good enough on its own.
If I had known earlier, I would definitely buy the Zen Dac because it’s slightly more expensive than Solo. It’s a shame. People said that DACs aren’t so important so I thought it was ok. Thanks for the tips. I will definitely check if those will be available in my country.
Gotcha. For pure power, yes, the X7s is enough. The HD600 arguably doesn’t sound its best with solid state amps. So rather than buy a new Senn 6?? model, it made sense to try it out on a tube amp first. However, since that’s not an option, @Bmn1251’s suggestions on alternate headphones are all excellent. The X7s should power all of those headphones just fine as well.
i just know my hd600’s sound a lot more tubelike on the zen then say my sprout100 or magni3+ or even my lyr3. on the zen they are fairly close to my bottlehead crack. though the crack has a lot more juice headroom but also is 3x the price.
Wow! I used the guide and there were also many different headphones I was definitely not familiar with. I liked the HD600’s design as it fits perfectly for me so I thought going for 650 is ok. I will definitely check those out. Thank you for the list.
Edit1: DT880 600ohm sounds quite heavy on power. People (DMS too) said that 560s replace DT880 but those are too analytical, which isn’t exactly what I’m looking for. The only pros I see is the better imaging and sound stage.
They do like a lot of power, i haven’t heard them on your amp, but they where great on the asgard3. But you dont need a speaker amp to power these to be happy with them
Yea, they do lean more analytical, but can still be kinda fun, and do well on tubes if you where to go that route. But yes wider sound stage than hd600
i cant imagine it being that much better than your aune, but not sure. Tubes help, but something in that tier isnt going to drastically benefit that headphone more than your aune i think. I do think you should try out a different headphone though as that will be the most worthwhile unless you wanted to spend more on an amp for the 600
To experiment i got t Bravo tube amp, they sell for like $60 on Amazon and I bought it for $40 used. Best $40 buck I have ever spent on audio gear. I’m hooked on tube sound. I’m using a pair of Sennheiser 580’s and very happy with it. I never need to turn the power past 5. Now I’m looking out for tube amps for my in room speakers…
Lots of responses here I’m sure have addressed things. My $0.02 is that the two headphones being discussed 600/650 are far far too similar for someone looking to shake things up.
A OTL tube amp has a wonderful harmony with HD600 which could help to achieve a lot of the sound signature pieces you seek. ($200+ DarkVoice) Going another route, EQ could help things a lot (for free). Some might recommend upgrading the DAC over the interface you have, but you may have some chain needs that require using that, I’m sure I’d know if I read through the thread better.
I prefer my 600’s to 6xx when I did critical listening between them, but… pretty damn close. I’d throw dollars elsewhere. Obviously the biggest diff would be in cans with very different tuning.
Recs for Beyerdynamic or Sundara sound out of place to me. Beyer are very detailed and treble-rich. The Sundara offers the mid-forward well-timbered mids of HD600 and adds more shimmer up high. I like all of these, but they are not different enough and to me go the WRONG way from stated goal (relaxing, warm)
As another mentioned, the 650 doesn’t present anything different to your amp than the 600 does. The XDuoo that you’ve linked is a hybrid tube that will be versatile, but won’t transform your sound to the ability of a full, OTL, tube amp.
Is there genres of music that you particularly like? Do you want to stick to open-backs? What would you change about the Senns sound, if you could?
Also your amp should be fine with any of these, but depending on if you pick any, an upgrade amp would benefit in the future, just depends on ss or tube.