The DT880 Appreciation Thread - Page 4

Want I mean was, it doesnt have the kick or presence of some other headphones. It helps if the amp is punchy at the bottom end. The 531 is also like this, but when used with my amber amp it sounds good... duncan likes his as well...

The 860 is a brighter headphone than the 880 this is why Meier-Audio recommends the 860 to be driven through a 120 ohm jack.Through the 120 ohm jack they sound very much like the 880.

Needless to say it's a keeper for me. Its sonic character is really fitting to my taste, airy, tight bass, wide soundstage, smooth midrange, detailful...

Every headphones in the future has to be better than DT880 in order to stay alive in my stable. After DT880,the future cans in the price vs. performance ratio department is looking steep

I dont really feel like starting a new thread for such an easy question so I'll just ask here and see if I can get any answers. I am looking at getting the 880 but was wondering how different and more importantly better the new 880 will be. I dont really care about looks that much just sound quality.

Also to all dt880 owners with cable mod... how does it improve or change the already great sound of these cans? or are the cables redone by enthusiasts because they are only happy with it if they know that the cable has been 'modded'? im anxious to know.
i've seen many cardas cable mods around.. are they copper?

I finally received my DT880's. I've wanted a pair for quite some time. They are everything I hoped they would be. I was expecting the bass to be a bit light, but I was pleasantly surprised. It it crisp and detailed and goes down low. It is a good complement to my Grado's and Ety;s These are definitely keepers, and I don't think I;ll need another headphone for a while.

Now I need to upgrade my amp!

Beyerdynamics say the changes are just cosmetic. Taking into account that the old one is cheap now I got one recently, and I don't regret it!

You know, it dawned on me that the DT880 aren't so much a music lover's headphone as they are a hi-fi lover's headphone. Sometimes "critical listening" gets demonized around here, but I don't see why it cannot go along with enjoying the music -- i.e. BOTH analyticalness and deep musicality, which in my opinion defines the DT880.

Why do I say it's not a music lover's headphone? Because frankly, the DT880 sounds harsh, thin and crappy when the music does. And as most of us know, many recordings just don't make the grade quality-wise. Those that do not will sound terrible through the DT880, and invite harsh judgments on the sound quality of the DT880 itself. Those that do sound absolutely wonderful... those qualities that lesser headphones tend to cover up are here fully revealed. Unfortunately, these may be our favorite artists and recordings.

The DT880 has weeded my CD collection. Fortunately, the genres I listen to most (classical, jazz, film soundtracks, new age) consist primarily of better-than-average recordings. The poor and even average ones have had to go, or get relegated to lesser cans (which BTW the K501 is not, it's almost as revealing as the DT880).

Six months after I purchased my DT880s, they're still showing me new tricks. The K501 stopped doing that after less than a month. At times I am frankly amazed, and feel as though I'm inside a vast cathedral of sound... the music is sometimes literally outside my head, and I feel as if I'm there at the performance. No other headphone has been able to do this for me as often or as effectively as the DT880. I stated in another thread that I would happily pay $500 for a pair of DT880s if that was what they cost, and I mean it.

I could go on from here and really wax eloquent about the DT880 (particularly how it's clear I've discovered my personal "desert island headphone"), but I think I'll go listen to some music instead .

I think that it also depends which headphones you're coming from. I've been listening with SR225 for extended time now and going back to the dt880 reveals more detail and depth in the music. They sound positively sweet in comparison.

I may be following in your footsteps in that I am increasingly starting to find the HD650 mellow. (String sound isn't as well defined) but putting on an 880 brings that 'singing' tone back. There ain't a lot to beat 880's; especially at that price.

Now I'm thinking of a better source because of those headphones!!

Ian

I am certainly loving my DT880s at the moment. I am becoming more and more convinced that I do not need to try another headphone, at least not for the time being. It seems more sane to spend it on buying more music. I find myself being perfectly content with the balance of the sound too, I don't need more bass than this to be perfectly fair, and the somewhat pronounced highs do not bother me as they do not fundamentally alter the balance of the sound, the only effect is that they have a bit more energy to them without sounding unnecessarily harsh to me. If the recording is harsh, I certainly won't blame the headphones. The lower bass is also just amazing, I listened to a CD that I had not listened to in a awhile, and certainly not with these headphones, and I began to check if I had not done anything wrong when I ripped the MP3 files. I turned I didn't, it was just that there was a quite a few low bass keyboard lines and guitarlines that I had not heard properly before.

One disadvantage might be the fact that they might not go well together with harsh recordings. Fortunately for me, I am completely desensitized to bad and bad production as a result of too much listening to obscure metal. What people complain on this board is essentially nothing compared to the truly harsh and unforgiving nature recordings of some metal recordings that I listen to. Sure, I could use an equaliser and other things to make the sound more pleasing, but then I am messing with the intent of the artist. A lot of recordings are intentionally harsh to convey the spirit of the music. Production in my world is not an end in itself but should be used to convey the music in question in the best way possible. Acoustic music needs a clear and neutral production, music with distored guitars does not. To whine too much about production is to put too much importance on the form and ignore the content in my eyes. This is not equal to thinking that the reproduction of the music does not matter, that should be flawless.

Hey fewtch...if you scroll to the top of this page....your comments are different from what you just said.

I know it's been a while...but it's just funny to read that in the same thread.

I will also post some further impressions of my DT880s.

As I said in the beginning, its bass is nice and deep, it offers a great soundstage, and treble that doesn't sound harsh unless your source is harsh. I'll elaborate a bit more on the soundstage. The DT880s have the ability to present music at both a distance and close up, depending on your music, of course. I've noticed that sometimes, the music will sound very far away, distant, ethereal and untouchable, almost, but in the next moment, there's a layer of music that appears a lot closer -- that's one thing I like about its soundstage, as it has the ability to convey a certain amount of depth that I had never heard with my MS-1s. It also has much better positioning and "rotational accuracy" (accuracy in a circular soundfield around your head -- although more ovular since front/back soundstage is harder to define), I might say, than my previous MS-1s. I can sometimes tell that the music is definitely coming from the front, or from behind, or so and so distance in a forward/backward direction, rather than simply left/right. As for detail, I've only heard a couple of good cans, but I believe that the detail is there, and they do a good job of not sounding veiled.

Onto the negatives... I'll list them briefly

-Fairly distant midrange, especially at low volumes
-Lighter on the bass than I'd like in an ideal can
-Comfort around the head is very good, but as a person with big ears, I find that it gets annoying sometimes when my ears are constantly touching the pads (not the entire ear, but a portion of it is skimming the pads) so when I move my head around a lot, or take a yawn, things get shuffled around

my god, you summed up my experience with these headphones perfectly, though you forgot to mention the great comfort.

yay planning to get these in the near future

Absolutely love my DT880s. I got the 250ohm version, using it with a Fiio E17. The highs are just gorgeous. I really wasn't that impressed with them right out of the box, but they have improved considerably over ~40 hours or so. I thought the mids seemed a little distant at first, but I think they have improved as well. They're not as sparkly or forward as I'd like them to be, but the highs make up for it. The bass on these isn't huge either, but it's extremely accurate and tight -- not floppy at all. I'm very happy with them now and I can only imagine they'll get better with time and a new amp/DAC. I'm thinking of getting an ODAC and waiting for the ODA to come out to pair them with. Then maybe in a few months get a Little Dot or a comparable reasonably-priced tube amp to see what all the fuss is about. Everyone raves about the 600ohm version of these, but I think the 250ohm sounds great. For $80-100 less than the 600ohms and a lot easier to drive, I'd say the 250s are just the way to go. Almost forgot to mention comfort -- I can almost forget these are on my head. The velour pads are wonderful, being quite a step up from the vice-grip HD280s I have.

 

Amazing job, Beyer.

 

 

 

Now it's time to find some slightly warmer headphones with a bit more bass but reasonable amount of clarity... rap and some acoustic stuff isn't the best on these. Bon Iver in particular is warm-sounding as it is, and these headphones make it sound dry. I want something that's less analytical but still clear. I can't stand my music sounding muddy. Anyone got a suggestion? I remember reading some things about the HD650s that convinced me they're not for me, though I can't recall what. Gonna read up on the HD600s.

I'm looking to order a pair of DT880 Premiums when my tax return comes in within the next week and a half, and am very unsure which impedance to choose. I'm going to be using them at work for the most part. I'm also going to be ordering a Fiio E11 to pair them with.. SO, 32, 250, or 600? I listen to a lot of Metal and Dubstep. 

 

Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a better amplifier to pair these with for ~$70 let me know! 

 

Thanks in advance everyone!