HD-650s - Time to buy an amp, suggestions please.

[Mr_WhiteUK]

Hello.

Well I've had my HD-650s for about 8-9months now, and they still amaze me every time I put them on.

But I thought it might be time to get an amp, I don't really want to spend more than £120-150 at the moment, it depends when I buy it.

My main concern is the source, it's my MacBook, which has a decent output that also supports optical, but CDs are just too much hassle, not to mention the fact that I only have about 2% of my music collection left on CDs.

Now, unamped they still amaze me more than anything else I've ever heard, but I know they're capable of so much more.

But the concern with the source, is the fact they're MP3s, obviously low bitrate music sounds awful on the HD-650s as it reproduces all the flaws in the music, most of my collection is 192kbps-320kbps which sounds good to me.

But I'm concerned that an unamped 192kbps-320kbps sounds fine, but when amped may reveal the flaws in the files, and subsequently end up sounding worse, if you understand what I mean.

Could there be any truth in my concern? or should it be fine?

The last thing I want to do is shell out on an amp for a less enjoyable experience

And onto the next thing, what amps would you suggest?

My first price bracket is £0-£120, my second is £120-£250, so suggestions in both those price ranges would be greatly appreciated.

So what do you guys reckon? I'm still using stock cables as well.

I'm open to buying secondhand if I can find a good seller and example.

Your help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Happy new year

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by Mr_WhiteUK

Hello.

Well I've had my HD-650s for about 8-9months now, and they still amaze me every time I put them on.

But I thought it might be time to get an amp, I don't really want to spend more than £120-150 at the moment, it depends when I buy it.

..................
My first price bracket is £0-£120, my second is £120-£250, so suggestions in both those price ranges would be greatly appreciated.

So what do you guys reckon? I'm still using stock cables as well.

I'm open to buying secondhand if I can find a good seller and example.

Your help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Happy new year

Hi....good set of headphones,as you've no doubt found.

They do benefit from a good amp,and as much from being fed high bit-rate MP3s if that's your usual source.

I tend to use either lossless or uncompressed with mine which obviously does use a lot more space but I do think it's worthwhile...anyway...amps...

At the £120-150 bracket,you will find things like the Creek,Ant Amber,and possibly used X-Cans,plus the host of chinese amps which are either tubed or solid state,and some are actually quite decent.

As you move up,you begin to get to newer X-Cans,possibly the Slee and Earmax,and a few others.

I'd suggest trawling this area for a bit and finding out what other users have.

[NicolasB]

At that sort of price level you may find that an amp doesn't actually improve the sound all that much; at best, the difference is likely to be "subtle". Make sure you audition anything you're proposing to buy before you buy it, and compare it directly with your existing setup.

For the record, I use a Graham Slee "Solo" headphone amp with my HD650s and that's a very nice combination. (But not cheap).

[StevieDvd]

Since your source is a laptop you may want to consider the new breed of small usb/dac/amps.

The 3 that spring to mind are the:

1. Ibasso D1 - from China
2. Ray Samuals Predator (still on special into price
) from USA
3. Headamp Pico - from USA

I have the Ibasso which is a very popular budget combo, and have my name for the Pico which should arrive soon.

loads of reviews & opinions on all 3 over at head-fi.org

Steve

[Mr_WhiteUK]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'll look into them