Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro-80 Closed Studio Headphones

These headphones are my first pair of high-end (probably mid-fi to some) cans and after a year or two of use, I have mixed feelings about them. When I first got them, of course they were a HUGE step up and I loved the bass from them, they were the perfect headphones to me. I was hearing sounds I had never heard before in music, hearing imperfections and low-quality sounds as well. However, one thing I've learned on this site and in time with various equipment, terms like "quality" are largely based upon a users' prior experience with other products. I went from some really terrible $20 and $30 over the ear headphones that were just "ok". The jump to these cans was tremendous.

However, after learning more and being able to nit-pick "quality", I think there's quite a bit of room for improvement. A few things in this area would be sibilance (I think it's called) where the higher sss sounds, sound like they were encoded at 64kbps or something. While this isn't hugely noticeable, it can get annoying if you really listen for it. Another thing would be driver distortion, sometimes the driver can get contaminates on it which can ruin the lower frequencies. From reviews and posts though, there almost seems to be a defect in some drivers where no matter how much people clean, it never goes away. I find that usually, for me, cleaning does help. Typically some low-strength tape works such as painters tape, getting around the black foam and whatnot.

While there are those downsides, I still fully enjoy these cans. I'm happy with what I paid and how much use I've gotten out of them and will still continue to get out of them. I don't know that I would recommend them to a mid-fi user but someone that is just beginning to get into quality audio and likes gaming or movies, this is an excellent pair of headphones. There are also plenty of mods to these cans to help improve the quality and if you really like the style but want something better, there's the DT880 or DT990 models that are more expensive but you do get more.

Tonal accuracy is very good. I am using as a reference my home theater with Sunfire XT ribbon hybrids and Bag End professional mastering subwoofers. The all important mid-high region is spot on. Bass is slightly emphasized, true, but the degree is exaggerated IMO.

Transients are very good, bordering on excellent.

Imaging is very good, bordering on excellent. Bettered by semi-open and open headphones, but they have their own drawbacks.

Comfort is very good - one can adjust the spring tension to one's preference - very nice feature.

Isolation is Good to Very Good - a bit above mid-pack. I haven't seen a variation in this aspect amongst closed backs, excluding super high isolation special purpose cans.

Main drawback is load/efficiency. In my experience these can not be adequately be driven by either a laptop sound card or by an MP3 player, even the powerhouse Cowon D2. I have a Turtle Beach USB DAC/amp at work, and a Total Airhead for travel. Without amplification, sound suffers substantially.

Note that if you are listening to these without a few hundred hours use on the phones, you aren't getting the full sound quality. Over time, I found that the bass became less prominent, mids/highs smoother, and imaging improved substantially. These phones have one of the longest break-in periods of any audio product I have ever owned.

I can and do listen to these all day long at work and on the plane. Very non-fatiguing, highly recommended.

I'll preface my review with that I am not a seasoned audiophile, so I don't know all of the jargon, but I do appreciate good sound, and I like what I hear in these.   They are by far the best sounding headphones I have ever listened to.

Granted my collection of headphones is very limited.

I was looking for a closed circumaural design, primarily because I find circumaural cans to be the most comfortable, and I like the isolating effect of closed designs (less sound out to annoy others, less noise in to annoy me).

These headphones work very well in that regard.  I have occasionally even flown with them. Who needs active noise canceling, when these work as well as they do?  Though while flying, a portable dedicated headphone amp definitely helps.

The biggest negative with these is the break-in.  I almost returned the headphones when I first got them as I found the highs PAINFUL and piercing.  at first break-in didn't seem to help, but as a "hail Mary" I left them on for a couple of weeks playing music I enjoy and it did the trick.

These headphones are not neutral monitors for sure.  at the same time, I feel like their reputation for being overly bassy is a little undeserved.  often when listening to music I feel like using an equalizer to up the bass a bit.   That being said, I listen to a lot of 80s stuff where the bass isn't very prominent in the mix.

Overall, I feel like I got a set of great sounding headphones for a relatively low price.  I am happy with them.

If I knew what I know now when buying them, I may have opted for the 250ohm versions though.

I purchased this headphone after I returned the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II.

I was not satisfied with the soundstage of the sennheiser, plus after an hour of wearing them my ears started to feel bruised.

The DT770 Pro does not have these downsides, the only downside is the siblance.

In a song with a lot of S's or maybe hard t's the headphone starts to whistle. If the volume is cranked up it the whistle actually hurts my ears. Strangely enough this is not the case with all songs that have a lot of s's. Maybe it is not al the fault of the headphones, maybe the vocals are badly recorded, the singer could have used to much ssssss or the song wasn't mastered right.

I have a pair of mackie studio monitors and songs with too much S's sound slightly uncomfortable on these, but when I listen to that song through the headphones it's worse.

Use: I wear these headphones when I play the drums, because of the isolation the drums are much less harsh (it is placed in a very small room) and I don't have to crank up the volume too much.

Ofcourse I also use it for listening to music or any application with sound when I don't want to disturb my girlfriend.

The sound quality: Is good, it does have a lot of bass, but not too much and it is tight. I like the mids, and the highs are crisp but sometimes a bit harsh (siblance). The harshness of highs is something that is very common in closed headphones, probably because all of the sound is directed into the ear.

The soundstage is very wide, and has a lot of detail making it easy to hear different sounds/instruments.

Verdict: Probably one of the best headphones if not the best in that price range.

Well, I  was looking for raplacement of my HD380 PRO at work.

The environment:

- music type: heavy metal (Slayer, Kat, Metallica, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Candlemass, etc...)

- music source: laptop flac/high res m3

- DAC: Fiio e17

- AMP: depends: Fiio e17 or Fiio e17 docked into Fiio e9.

So, in comparison to HD380PRO, I find  DT 770/80:

- weaker in bass 

- better in mids

- better in highs

So probably I will not win Nobel prize :-) quite obvious...

Overall hearing dynamics of HD380 is much better then DT770/80. however:

- HD380 just crashes my head with bases, while DT770/80 simply delivers it

- HD380 is much less comfortable after 1hr+ listening then DT770/80. Much. Really MUCH. 

- Mids were much better in  DT770/80 then in HD380

- Highs were much better in DT770/80 (I was able to hear separate clappings in concert recordings, while on HD380PRO I only heard noise)

- BUT!!! - HD 380Pro provides much more power of the sound. It is simply louder and much more dynamic... MUCH more then in DT77/80 case

- It is very hard to adjust EQ and AMP settings to different records in DT770/80 then in HD380 case. DT770 seems to be very very sensitive to EQ and APM settings, while HD380 takes anything and plays good.

- isolation of HD380 seems to be a TARGET which other closed headphone might only wish to reach (I use DT770/80 at work, and my collegues claim that they are louder much more than HD380PRO).

In general - DT770/80 gave me much more details what is happening in mids and highs. The sound is very clear in comparison to HD380PRO.

Am I satisfied ? NO. I expected much more power and more loudness&dynamics. So sooner or later I will find appropriate CLOSED headphones stuff.

These cans were my first set of higher fidelity audio and since been have been enjoying music much more because of what they bring to the table. I have owned these headphones for about 2 years now and they have a decent amount of use. Unfortunately when i first bought them, my only extra piece of audio equipment was a FiiO E7. But recently I bought the FiiO E9 and a Schiit Audio Modi DAC. That pairing has even more so brought up the potential in these headphones. 

Treble/highs

Nice, it is non-fatiguing which makes listening to music on these very easy and enjoyable for hours. The highs are clare but a little rolled off. They have a good sound to them and because the cups are so large, the instrument separation is quite nice for a closed back pair of cans. 

Mids

Unfortunately this is the worse part of these headphones. Not to say the mids are terrible but they could be much stronger. They are recessed and not as clear as the other spectrum. They are not colored and sound quite neutral but they are not impressive. I also own a pair of Shure SRH 840's and those blow the Dt770's clarity and mids out of the water. I love my beyers but for most everyday listening i prefer the shures

Bass/low

This is where things get quite good, i bought these headphones for the bass. I was going to get beats (SO ******* HAPPY I DIDNT) but my friend told me about this website and to check out these headphones and i am beyond grateful for his help. I love the bass on these cans. Because they are not the most efficient and easy to drive phones they will sound good not great coming from a laptop or phone but connected to my amp.... they sound pretty damn good. I love some house music or electronic, these cans really shine in that respect

OVERALL

they are a great pair of headphones and are well worth the money just for the headphones. Oh and did i mention are they build like a tank... they are some of the most comfortable headphones i own and love using them for their main purpose. If you are looking for a more efficient and everyday pair of phones, check out the SRH 840's wont regret those. As for these, they are fun and a great buy for what they offer. True German Engineering