The Beyerdynamic DT880 Discussion thread

[apatN]

Quote:

 
i thought they sounded horrible. 

How anyone can enjoy DT880s with leather pads is beyond me because I hate that cave-effect you're talking about. The leather pads sounded even worse on the 03 DT880.
 
Try the closedback mod if you want more thump in your music. The best thing about the mod is that it is highly tunable. You can make it as cold as a K701 or as warm and boomy as a Darth Beyer.
 

 

[NoXter]

 
Quote:

The problem is all Beyer sells anymore is the Aviator leather pads, which do sound awful on the hifi cans. They used to sell leather pads specifically designed for the D880/990 via Manufacture, but for some reason they stopped.

 
But you can still buy different pleather-pads (with and without perforated bottom-side). The difference in sound is very very small. The only thing left is wearing comfort, but Beyer uses good quality pleather so it is negligible.
 
I had the Manufaktur leather-pads and they sounded also awful with my DT880. Leathe/Pleather suits much better with closed headphones or headphones which are originally designed for leather/pleather-pads (the vintage DT880 for example).

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Hey Pat...
Did I somehow miss a detailed review of your newly re-cabled DT880's? If so, please give a link, otherwise... what do you think??

 
shane
 

 
Shane,
Thanks for asking.  : )
God willing, I'll post something on the threads next week.
In short, the ZXAC Impact re-cable brings about widespread improvements to the stock performance of the DT880/600.  To be on the safe side, I am going to let the cable "break in" for a 100+ hours or so before posting anything.
Patrick
 

 

[TheWuss]

aren't the german maestro pads compatible, apatN?

 

[Bombarde]

Hi!
 
I'm new to Head-fi, and thanks to all of you here, a happy new DT880/600 owner. Actually, I've been hanging around for a couple of months now taking it all in, and eventually wading through the initial T1 thread (whew!).
 
I had pretty well decided I wanted the T1s, but wasn't ready to leap that far, having heard nothing better than my Grado SR-80is, which to my ears, were too much in the upper midrange, and were fatiguing to listen to and to wear. From what I'd read here, it seemed to me that the DT880/600 might be a good baby-step to the T1s, and at 1/4th the price a good way to get exposed to the Beyer sound.
 
I'm loving the 880s! I listen to a pretty wide range of music - a lot of classical and classical organ, but with a good bit of rock, new age (hate that term, but a lot of it is otherwise hard to classify), and electronic thrown in. And Shpongle, which I couldn't begin to classify. The 880s make it all sound great.
 
So thanks to all of you! (my wallet, of course, does not share this sentiment) Can't believe it took me so long to actually sign up, but I guess I had a lot more to learn than to say at the beginning. 
 

 

[Zombie_X]

Quote:

aren't the german maestro pads compatible, apatN?

I can answer this for you as well. Yes the pads are fully compatible. I refer their's to the official beyer pads.

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

Hi!
 
I'm new to Head-fi, and thanks to all of you here, a happy new DT880/600 owner. Actually, I've been hanging around for a couple of months now taking it all in, and eventually wading through the initial T1 thread (whew!).
 
I had pretty well decided I wanted the T1s, but wasn't ready to leap that far, having heard nothing better than my Grado SR-80is, which to my ears, were too much in the upper midrange, and were fatiguing to listen to and to wear. From what I'd read here, it seemed to me that the DT880/600 might be a good baby-step to the T1s, and at 1/4th the price a good way to get exposed to the Beyer sound.
 
I'm loving the 880s! I listen to a pretty wide range of music - a lot of classical and classical organ, but with a good bit of rock, new age (hate that term, but a lot of it is otherwise hard to classify), and electronic thrown in. And Shpongle, which I couldn't begin to classify. The 880s make it all sound great.
 
So thanks to all of you! (my wallet, of course, does not share this sentiment) Can't believe it took me so long to actually sign up, but I guess I had a lot more to learn than to say at the beginning. 
 

Hey Bombarde!  Welcome to Head-Fi and welcome to team beyerdynamic.
So, what amp are you using to drive the DT880s?
 
Cheers!
The Wuss

 

[Bombarde]

Quote:

Hey Bombarde!  Welcome to Head-Fi and welcome to team beyerdynamic.
So, what amp are you using to drive the DT880s?
 
Cheers!
The Wuss

Thanks! 
 
I'm currently driving it from the internal headphone amp in my Peachtree iDecco.
 
I'm not really sure how that stacks up against other options in the sub-$1000 category - kind of curious how it would be compared to a dedicated tube amp. Not sure how you would classify the iDecco's headphone amp - the 6N1P tube is in the circuit, but I'm no electronics engineer, and I don't know if it's playing the same role there as in something like a Woo.
 
I know that the power amp that drives the speakers is SS, and the tube is merely in the preamp stage. But I don't know what the topology of the headphone circuit is. I do know that Srajan at 6moons thinks that the iDecco works great driving T1s, so I guess it can't be too bad.

 

[Sesam]

Ok this is my first post, have been lurking on this site for some time. But decided to sign up now that I finally bought some decent headphones 

 
Anyway I went with DT880 600 ohm, so happy with these I have to post some pics (hey I hope you people don't mind as this is an appreciation thread afterall 

).
 


 
 
So anyway I'm planning on getting an external amp (I'm currently using only the Xonar Essence STX built-in one). But as I have no way to try out any headphone amps, it's really difficult to decide on what to buy. 
 
What do you people think about the Firestone Fubar 4 plus? How would it compare against the Xonar STX built-in amp, and you think that would be a good combination with these speakers?

 

[TheWuss]

yeah...  let your ears tell you if its working or not.
the other nice thing about the idecco is that if you decide to get a separate amp, you can use it as a dac, right?
 
give the dt880s plenty of time to open up and loosen up...  and enjoy them!

 

[Bombarde]

Quote:

yeah...  let your ears tell you if its working or not.
the other nice thing about the idecco is that if you decide to get a separate amp, you can use it as a dac, right?
 
give the dt880s plenty of time to open up and loosen up...  and enjoy them!

Well, so far, my ears like it a lot... its just... you know, you come here and read about all these wonderful things, and you wonder...

 
And yes, the iDecco has line out connections from which you can pull the signal straight from the DAC.
 
I've only had the 880s for about 2 weeks, and other than the first few days, haven't really subjected them to overnight break in sessions - just listening to them and going along for the ride. They've definitely improved along the way. Some nights it's just hard to take them off. 

 

 

[shane55]

Quote:

Well, so far, my ears like it a lot... its just... you know, you come here and read about all these wonderful things, and you wonder...

 
And yes, the iDecco has line out connections from which you can pull the signal straight from the DAC.
 
I've only had the 880s for about 2 weeks, and other than the first few days, haven't really subjected them to overnight break in sessions - just listening to them and going along for the ride. They've definitely improved along the way. Some nights it's just hard to take them off. 

 

 
Congrats and welcome.
 
Trust TheWuss. He knows what he's talking about.
And don't bother playing through the night unless your head's between them. Don't need pinknoise or anything other than a variety of music styles. I can also say that these wonderful cans change over time (25 - 50 hrs, I've noticed the most change), and for the better!
 
Enjoy
 
shane
 
EDIT... from what I've read the Peachtree should be just fine. Enjoy it.  

 

[apatN]

Quote:

aren't the german maestro pads compatible, apatN?

Yes, they are. They are slightly bigger though.

 

[Sganzerla]

 I bought one today after reading many opinions about it but I'm still curious about its bass and soundstage capabilities compared to a K701 - there is a wide range of opinions and many conflicting reports.
 
 I'll post a comparison here after receiving mine, using Compass and MSSH as amp.

 

[Zombie_X]

I feel that they are great all-rounders and can handle any genre just fine. They do have more bass than a K702 and their soundstage is smaller, and they have very smooth treble that is very detailed.
 
Quote:

 I bought one today after reading many opinions about it but I'm still curious about its bass and soundstage capabilities compared to a K701 - there is a wide range of opinions and many conflicting reports.
 
 I'll post a comparison here after receiving mine, using Compass and MSSH as amp.