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HD 650 with an Amplifier ?

Thank you. How would those be less of a feeeling music coming out of a box than my sennheiser ? But you are right, easy to try with amazon.
 
 
The Sennheiser HD6xx has no muffled sound. The measurements say it's quite compliant to Harman.
HD6xx

Cheap good IEMs (20-30€) are:
7Hz x Crinacle Zero2
Truthear Gate
Tangzu Wan'er 2
KZ PRX
 
Last edited:
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
And what about this style ?

Intra-Auriculaires ?

Click to expand...
I've no idea. If you can test and return if not happy, try them.
 
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
And what about this style ?

Intra-Auriculaires ?

Click to expand...
Don't post these extremely long links with personal data. You can cut everything after and including the question mark '?':

In Amazon links you can skip everything after dp/IDENTIFIER/ :
 
Just ordered a HD650, but I don't think I would have considered it for use with a cellphone without some amplification really. Playing loud or not, I would believe the internal amp would be taken to a much higher percentage of it's capacity than with an external dac/amp or a decent dongle. For instance using 90% of the capacity of the internal amp or using 30% of the capacity of an external alternative to reach the same decibels. That, I believe, would have consequences for the listening experience.

Perhaps that could be the cause of your dissatifaction?

Just my two newbie cents.
 
But why make life complicated when listening on a mobile phone? I have a cheap Nokia Android phone, 2 cheap IEMs, and cheap AA headphones - all sound fine in the 3.5mm jack (the IEMs more than fine) and all go loud enough to cause ear damage.... HOw many hours a day is Raymond going to be listening on phone when travelling? Just sayin'.....

My Truthear Gates are the model with a mic, so can be used for calls too.
 
You have to revisit the initial post and consider what Raymond actually asked, and I take the liberty to quote:

".... While away from home working, my long evenings could be enlightened with some music. The Sennheizer HD 650 seems to be a good choice, I suppose it will work fine with my smartphone but would an amp add anything in sound quality? ...."

It was not my preferred solution, or yours, Raymond was after. He was asking about the feasibility of a potential solution he had in mind. Will HD 650 be fine phone only or would it make sense in terms of sound quality - to add an amp.

Cheap IEMs will add nothing to the sound quality of HD650 combined with a smartphone.
 
Soundproof said:
Cheap IEMs will add nothing to the sound quality of HD650 combined with a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Maybe you have not seen that the thread opener was asking in post #42 if an IEM could be an alternative to the HD650.
 
zonk said:
Maybe you have not seen that the thread opener was asking in post #42 if an IEM could be an alternative to the HD650.
Click to expand...
You are right indeed. I've read the thread a couple of times befor posting, thus I surely have read it, but it didn't stick I'm afraid.

My bad, and my apologies to Redacted.
 
I listened again to my Sennheiser HD6XX.
I think that I was too quick to judge the sound.
For vocals and instrumental music with few instruments
the sound is really not bad.
Arstists like Gabrielle Cavassa, YSE, Halage and so on.

However, when I listen to
Beethoven 9th, the sound gets saturated.

I will try the HD800 when I find it for a good price used.
Thank you
 
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
I listened again to my Sennheiser HD6XX.
I think that I was too quick to judge the sound.
For vocals and instrumental music with few instruments
the sound is really not bad.
Arstists like Gabrielle Cavassa, YSE, Halage and so on.

However, when I listen to Beethoven 9th, the sound gets saturated.
Click to expand...
What means saturated? Distorted? Compressed? Are you sure it's not the recording?

You have to keep in mind that the HD6xx series headphones have 300 Ohm impedance so need a lot of voltage to drive them loud. If you listen to classical music and raise volume such that nor al loud passages are fine it is possible that you clip the amp at loud passages, leading to distortion. This can happen with headphone outputs of USB powered DACs or Notebooks and smartphones, where the supply voltage is a meagure 5V.
 
Thank you LTIG,
When I say saturated, I mean when there is a big orchestra
the sound is not so nice as with a singer and a guitar
and yes actually it is at its maximum volume
so this is probably what is happening then.

Saturday I will get from Amazon the JCALLY JM20MAX USB-C
to try out but it probably won't be enough.

When I get back home again mid july I will try from Amazon
a good amplifier to see if this improves the HD6XX.

​

​

 
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
I listened again to my Sennheiser HD6XX.
I think that I was too quick to judge the sound.
For vocals and instrumental music with few instruments
the sound is really not bad.
Arstists like Gabrielle Cavassa, YSE, Halage and so on.

However, when I listen to
Beethoven 9th, the sound gets saturated.

I will try the HD800 when I find it for a good price used.
Thank you
Click to expand...
The Sennheiser Outlet has sometimes refurbished HD800S in their store and additionally to the reduced price an extra discout of 20%.

https://eu.sennheiser-hearing.com/fr-fr/collections/outlet/products/hd-800-s-refurbished

The refurbished one with the extra 20% discount is now 1039€. The 20% discount is only temporarily.

1782289346208.png


If you subscribe to their newsletter you could get another 10% discount.
 
Last edited:
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
Thank you LTIG,
When I say saturated, I mean when there is a big orchestra
the sound is not so nice as with a singer and a guitar
and yes actually it is at its maximum volume
so this is probably what is happening then.

Saturday I will get from Amazon the JCALLY JM20MAX USB-C
to try out but it probably won't be enough.

When I get back home again mid july I will try from Amazon
a good amplifier to see if this improves the HD6XX.

​

​

Click to expand...
Soon will be released the successor of the Qudelix 5k. It has bigger battery and is more powerful.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-dac-headphone-amp.17386/page-57#post-2613968

Or you choose a desktop solution like something from Topping.
That store in Spain has sometimes good offers for refurbished items.
https://zococity.es/collections/outlet?gf_402364=Topping
 
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
Saturday I will get from Amazon the JCALLY JM20MAX USB-C
to try out but it probably won't be enough.

When I get back home again mid july I will try from Amazon
a good amplifier to see if this improves the HD6XX.
Click to expand...
I bought the Qudelix 5k for my smartphone. Unbalanced output is already higher than most dongles, but balanced out doubles it once more. I got a matching balanced cable (1.4 m, by Openheart brand) from Aliexpress for my HD800, it is cheap, robust and non microphonic - perfect, and louder than I like to listen safely. I think you can also get a balanced cable for a HD6xx, or replace the original connector by a balanced one.
 
RaymondFromThePyrénéés said:
Hallo everybody. Just came back home to test my new Sennheiser HD 6XX.
Bœuf.
Some 40 years ago I had a pair of Stax.
I recall a much more open sound.
These Sennheiser sounds muffled, as if the artists have been put into a box.
I will use them on my next trip but I will also search for something better to use during my working weeks away from home.
Bless my home stereo
Click to expand...

Ime they need an amp. I've owned the hd650 for years and they sound open, dynamic and have amazing bass with a headphone amp. Without it, directly plugged into a phone output, anemic, muffled etc.
 
Thank you Marc, that says it all to me for now.

Another curious but probably normal experience I had this afternoon :

With Qobuz and my HD6XX, my smartphone Samsung A25

does not sound so great, I agree, but I still have a sound.

But when downloading high quality music into my VLC application,

my HDXX6 stutters, while a simple 20€ telephone headset does not sutter.

I suppose that this has all to do with the 300 Ohm impedance

and that I need an amp. I got this.

But a question ? :

where can I find a very easy to use

and more efficient application for a smartphone, than the VLC ?
 
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