HD650 Headphones

[The_K_Man]

Originally Posted by Retf

Hi guys i have a pair of Sennheiser HD650 Headphones, I'm trying to get the best out of them (that i can afford anyway). So am looking to buy a headphone amp. (budget £1000)

I mostly will be using them for making electronic music, and my set up so far is desktop PC w/ stock soundcard into a cheap behringer mixer lol. I get lots of jitter and distortion where i'm obviously lacking a good soundcard or DAC to take on the load from the DAW. Therefore I ideally need some sort of usb Interface/soundcard/DAC, and then a headphone amp or an all in one solution.

I'd also need this to possibly act as a volume control for my active monitor's as they are currently running from the stock PC sound soundcard into a cheap and nasty hissing behringer mixer (that doesn't even have a power switch!)

Ive been reading alot about the Benchmark DAC1, however most of the posts are from 2005, and I'm guessing things have changed alot since then, and i ideally need it to be USB, but havn't really seen reviews other than one saying benchmarks DAC1 usb option is poor, and if it kills all my problems with one stone then USB is an option i maybe should opt for.

I don't know if ive got confused along the way in researching so many different things, that I will even need all this. All i know is that i want a good sounding pair of headphones, that i'll be able to do most of my mixing and tracklaying/producing before taking it to a well treated room and final mixing.

But my current set up gives me noise and jitter.

Notice how much activity your post has received until now?

Mentioning the use of headphones to mix or master on a professional audio board is akin to wearing garlic to a vampire convention!

Just sayin'

[TheBrightSide]

Actually working with headphones is a topic that is well covered here.
This thread alone is over 50 pages long.
Best mixing headphones!

While mixing on cans may not be ideal, it can be a great alternative for those without the luxury of expensive monitors and a treated room.

Also, when you consider the amount of ipods in use, people are listening to their music on headphones more than ever before.

[The_K_Man]

Originally Posted by TheBrightSide

Actually working with headphones is a topic that is well covered here.
This thread alone is over 50 pages long.
Best mixing headphones!

While mixing on cans may not be ideal, it can be a great alternative for those without the luxury of expensive monitors and a treated room.

Also, when you consider the amount of ipods in use, people are listening to their music on headphones more than ever before.

Admittedly I do strap on this or that model when I need to hear something specific in a mix. But "ipods in use" is not a good reason for mixing through them. (horrors..)

[Bill Way]

Look at the Bottlehead Crack amp. Love it on the 800s. (It's slightly better with the Speedball p/s upgrade, and a little better again with a WE 421A tube, which you can find for $50-ish if you're patient.) If you're handy with a soldering pencil, then look up the schematic for the Corda Crossfilter circuit and add it in. With the Corda circuit in, headphone sound becomes more a little more easily translatable to what you hear from speakers.

WW