[Brooko]

Nic
 
I've owned both - the 250 Pros and also the 600 ohm Premiums (I have them currently).  There isn't a whole lot of difference between the two.  Unless you have, or are planning to get an amp that is pretty powerful (eg decent tube amp), just stick with the 250ohm.  You won't be missing anything - and at least they will be easier for the Fiios to handle.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

 
I've owned both - the 250 Pros and also the 600 ohm Premiums (I have them currently).  There isn't a whole lot of difference between the two.  Unless you have, or are planning to get an amp that is pretty powerful (eg decent tube amp), just stick with the 250ohm.  You won't be missing anything - and at least they will be easier for the Fiios to handle.

 
Posts like this should be made stickies in order to discourage people from beginning sentences with the following words:
 
"I haven't heard either, but I've read that the 600 ohm model is much smoother and more refined...."
 
In fact, if I read that again I may become slightly aggro...

 

[niic]

Pulled the trigger and went for the 250 DT880, which will hopefully give me a bit more exciting listening sessions, while being friendlier to my student wallet than the 600 DT880 and its amp requirements.

 

[shane55]

Quote:

Nic
 
I've owned both - the 250 Pros and also the 600 ohm Premiums (I have them currently).  There isn't a whole lot of difference between the two.  Unless you have, or are planning to get an amp that is pretty powerful (eg decent tube amp), just stick with the 250ohm.  You won't be missing anything - and at least they will be easier for the Fiios to handle.

 
I've also owned both. And while the 600 Ohm model slightly reduces the stridence of the highs, the rest of the spectrum seems identical.
If you like the sound of one, you'll like it on the other.

 

[R Scott Ireland]

I've also owned both. And while the 600 Ohm model slightly reduces the stridence of the highs, the rest of the spectrum seems identical.
If you like the sound of one, you'll like it on the other.

I currently own both, and I agree with this assessment.

 

[ninewalker]

Hi! My first post here on head fi though I've been lurking for a bit. I've had my DT880/600 for about 4 years. Can't say how it compares to the 250/32 ohm versions so I'll refrain from commenting. It is one of my favorite headphones. Nowadays I find myself reaching for the HD600 more, I guess it's just a matter of changing tastes. The DT880, however, is my first love. It has weathered a lot of headphone purchases and I've never even thought of selling it to fund another purchase.

 

[cheuh]

Quote:

Hi! My first post here on head fi though I've been lurking for a bit. I've had my DT880/600 for about 4 years. Can't say how it compares to the 250/32 ohm versions so I'll refrain from commenting. It is one of my favorite headphones. Nowadays I find myself reaching for the HD600 more, I guess it's just a matter of changing tastes. The DT880, however, is my first love. It has weathered a lot of headphone purchases and I've never even thought of selling it to fund another purchase.

 
Which one do you think is the better overall headphone?

 

[devhen]

Quote:

Quote:

Hi! My first post here on head fi though I've been lurking for a bit. I've had my DT880/600 for about 4 years. Can't say how it compares to the 250/32 ohm versions so I'll refrain from commenting. It is one of my favorite headphones. Nowadays I find myself reaching for the HD600 more, I guess it's just a matter of changing tastes. The DT880, however, is my first love. It has weathered a lot of headphone purchases and I've never even thought of selling it to fund another purchase.

 
Which one do you think is the better overall headphone?

 
Which one you prefer will be totally up to you and what sound signature you prefer and what qualities in a headphone you consider most important. The HD600 has better, more forward mids while the DT880 has better, more detailed highs. Neither have a whole lot of bass but both have very high quality bass and both respond very well to a good bass-emphasized EQ. Lots of people love the quality of the DT880's bass but I slightly prefer the HD600's. Its bass can seemingly be EQ'd infinitely. I have one particular EQ setting with a HUGE sub-bass emphasis and with it I get an amazing amount of high quality bass with no distortion, an amount of quality and punch that I previously thought impossible with open cans. On the other hand, with the DT880s, although also impressively versatile and also seemingly impervious to bass distortion, there seems to be a point at which further bass EQ has no effect. As such it can't quite reach the level of head-rumbling bass that the HD600 can produce. However, none of this crazy bass EQ'ing will be necessary for you if you don't listen to or enjoy very bassy genres and even without EQ they both do surprisingly well with bassy genres IMO.
 
Soundstage width is about even. Neither have extremely wide or deep soundstages but are still definitely better than closed cans in that regard. Because of the forward mids on the HD600 most people will perceive a slightly wider soundstage on the DT880s.
 
Both are extremely comfortable and breathable. Its hard to pick a winner in comfort. They are both loads more comfy than the huge majority of cans out there. Its not that all other cans are uncomfortable, these two are just extremely comfy and most people will be very happy with the comfort of either.
 
The DT880 isolates a bit better but neither are a good choice if you need good isolation since they are both open-backed.
 
Both are extremely good headphones. If you value detail retrieval highly get the DT880s. If you value mids and a warm sound that is not fatiguing get the HD600.
 
But all that said... after extensive use of both I have to tip my hat to the HD600. I consider it, overall, the technically superior headphone of the two.

 

[Tinola]

Loved the DT880 600ohm when I had it. I miss it now... Maybe someday, I can get it again and ejoyed it.
Detail retrieval was phenomenal on those. Great for any genre IMO

 

[ninewalker]

Quote:

 
Which one do you think is the better overall headphone?

 
What devhen said pretty much sums up my own opinion. I still like the DT880s for EDM and for Electronica in general, I also still prefer the DT880 with classical, because I feel that the HD600s are too laid back for some Classical like say...Verdi's Requiem. The Dies Irae just doesn't sound like the Dies Irae with the HD600. That's not to say it's bad, I just prefer the DT880s in that regard. Again it's all down to preference. If I want to listen to rock I reach for the HD600s.

 

[Chris J]

Dear DT880 users,

After reading tons of reviews on the DT880 and getting a tip here on Head-Fi that I might enjoy the DT880s if I find my HD598s a bit dull, I think I'm ready to order the DT880.
I'm really at a loss at which ones to buy though: the 250 or 600? They will be hooked up to a Fiio E10.

My main question would be: will the DT880 600 still give me awesome (=/= loud) sound with the Fiio E10 for the forseeable future until I might upgrade to a different amp (maybe half a year, maybe a year)? And if I were use the DT880 600 as an excuse to upgrade to a dedicated amp, would something like the Fiio E9 or E12 work? (I'm not loyal to Fiio at all, but they are quite cheap and widely available in my location).

Thanks for your collective knowledge!

Best,
Nic

The E10 would work better with 250 Ohm DTs.
But I have no trouble driving my 600 Ohm DTs with a FiiO E12 or E09K.

 

[niic]

Thanks for the input guys!
The 250 ohm version should arrive tomorrow. Can't wait!
It's also a bit of an experiment to see if I like the Beyer sound, and to that end the 600 ohm version plus a desktop amp is just outside my comfort zone, budget wise.

 

[iGREASE]

Could someone explain to me what Bass Distortion is?

 

[devhen]

Quote:

Could someone explain to me what Bass Distortion is?

 
I'll give it a shot though my knowledge on it is somewhat limited. Hopefully others can chime in as well.
 
Bass distortion happens at the very lowest sub-bass frequencies. The lower the frequency the more the driver has to exert itself and the more air it has to push in order to reproduce those sounds. Distortion happens when either the driver doesn't have enough airflow to allow the driver to push the amount of air it needs to create that signal or when the driver can't exert itself, physically, as much as is required for that frequency. Basically all headphones will have some level of bass distortion and you can find out to what extent by running a test tone of a very low frequency, say 20hz or 30hz, the lower the better, and turning up the volume until you hear it distort. In my experience it pretty much always sounds very similar to what its like to have a hair stuck in the driver. Closed cans can have bass distortion when they don't allow enough airflow into the cups. Other drivers will have distortion regardless of air flow if the driver is having to exert itself more than it is capable of. I like to test my headphones for distortion as soon as I get them so I know how much volume I can get from them before it starts to distort. In the case of the DT880 and HD600 bass distortion is impressively limited. I can still crank up the volume on my G109 with a 30hz test tone and eventually get distortion but it happens at volume levels that I would never actually listen at (and I occasionally listen quite loud). In that regard they are both very impressive and as I mentioned in my earlier post, even EQ'ing up the bass dramatically still doesn't result in distortion even at the loudest levels I sometimes listen at. Very cool.

 

[Yaksha25]

After reading through a vast majority of this thread and many others I decided to purchase a set of 600ohm's and they just arrived in the mail. 
 
First reaction is oh sweet baby jebus these are amazing! I am glad I decided to look here. The next few days rediscovering things is going to be an awesome experience.