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The Beyerdynamic DT880 Appreciation / Discussion thread - Page 6

post #76 of 3415
9/16/09 at 10:03pm
Yeah, but SS amps are less happy driving 600 ohm headphones than tube amps are, in general. It's just the nature of the beast. Tubes are great at swinging lots of voltage; SS devices are better with delivering current (as demanded by lower impedance loads).
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post #77 of 3415
9/16/09 at 10:11pm
I know it's SS, but could anyone tell me if the SPL Auditor has enough juice to run the 600 ohlmers to potential? - OOPS sorry missed that earlier post.

Otherwise, any suggestions for a good budgetish effective solution; either SS or tubes?
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post #78 of 3415
9/16/09 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by setamp View Post
I am on the verge of buying either a 990/600 or 880/600. I am leaning toward the 990/600 for its bass but not certain yet.

Could anyone compare the sound of either of these phones to the new Shure 840's?

A particular preference of mine is to avoid any grain/glare/harshness/brightness in the upper mids and lower highs. I also tend to like full yet controlled bass.

I like the 840's at their price point. If I had a complaint it would be that they are somewhat unforgiving of poor source material (I think some of these studio engineers have attended too many loud concerts).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I have read the Manufactur are preferred due to impedance matching of drivers. Is this a legitimate concern or am I safe ordering stock 600's from Moon?
The 840's really don't sound like the Beyers at all. It's a little hard to describe. Part of it is the closed versus open factor, but not entirely. I like the 840's pretty well, but would take either the 990 ot 880 over the Shure's in a heartbeat. And partly is that they do have more glare AND grain than the Beyer cans do. They also are not as nuanced.

880 versus 990 has been covered extensively elsewhere, but it really comes down to whether you want the extra bass or not. Aside from that they sound very similar.
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post #79 of 3415
9/17/09 at 11:54am
Btw, the black velour pads I ordered w/my Manufaktur DT880/600's have a very different texture than the standard grey velours.
They are more stiff & not as comfortable. Dunno if there would be a sonic diff.
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post #80 of 3415
9/23/09 at 8:37pm
I wanted to try the Earmax Silver Edition with the DT880/600's. It's a beautiful piece of kit, but despite the sweet tone, it's not cutting the mustard in the power department.

Both are still burning in, but the volume pot on the Earmax is averaging between 2 & 4 o'clock (starts at 7, ends at 5) depending on the recording. Don't think I'm getting the best out of these Beyers with the max 50 mW output of this amp, despite the better PS & tubes over the standard model. A lower-than-average (1.5V) output source doesn't help.

I may have to try another direction.

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post #81 of 3415
9/23/09 at 10:32pm
I just got DT880 250 version. I like these so much already even before I've decided on an amp that I'm already considering going right to the 600 ohm version!

are the Moon Audio 600 ohms the same can as the Manufakturs? I don't really care about cosmetic options, I actually really like the stock look. Ordering w/in the US just seems like it would be easier and probably faster.

And any amp recs. always welcome too, of course.
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post #82 of 3415
9/23/09 at 11:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpelg View Post
Thought I'd want a tubed OTL amp to power these, but I'm not sure I want to go in that direction. Now I'm thinking SS again.
GS-1 is the one I'd recommend, never had to switch to high gain with 600Ohm DT880, GLite has plenty of power to drive them too at 12 or so o'clock. Either they do not need that much power to sound great or these Gilmore designs gives them more than plenty.
BTW, 600Ohm DT880 are much smoother than 250 Ohm counterpart up to the point of blurring some details, warming them up more with tubes will just exacerbate this.
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post #83 of 3415
9/24/09 at 12:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
The 840's really don't sound like the Beyers at all. It's a little hard to describe. Part of it is the closed versus open factor, but not entirely. I like the 840's pretty well, but would take either the 990 ot 880 over the Shure's in a heartbeat. And partly is that they do have more glare AND grain than the Beyer cans do. They also are not as nuanced.

880 versus 990 has been covered extensively elsewhere, but it really comes down to whether you want the extra bass or not. Aside from that they sound very similar.
Same here. The beyers are a different class of headphones vs. the 840 in terms of price and performance.
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post #84 of 3415
9/24/09 at 1:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT View Post
GS-1 is the one I'd recommend, never had to switch to high gain with 600Ohm DT880, GLite has plenty of power to drive them too at 12 or so o'clock. Either they do not need that much power to sound great or these Gilmore designs gives them more than plenty.
BTW, 600Ohm DT880 are much smoother than 250 Ohm counterpart up to the point of blurring some details, warming them up more with tubes will just exacerbate this.
so hard to choose, i've been looking for a ss amp to go with my darkvoice 337. which one to choose? gs-1 or phonitor
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post #85 of 3415
9/24/09 at 8:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT View Post
600Ohm DT880 are much smoother than 250 Ohm counterpart up to the point of blurring some details, warming them up more with tubes will just exacerbate this.
I am hearing this as well. Too much smoothness is not for me. I need more of a balance between detail & euphony.
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post #86 of 3415
9/24/09 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpelg View Post
I am hearing this as well. Too much smoothness is not for me. I need more of a balance between detail & euphony.
So maybe that's why the Meier amps are said to synergize with the Beyers so well, the meier SS is perhaps tube-like enough to drive them nicely while not going over the top into smearing detail, etc. I bet the gilmore lite would therefore also get good reviews for pairing with beyer, though I haven't researched that combo much yet.
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post #87 of 3415
9/24/09 at 9:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpelg View Post
I wanted to try the Earmax Silver Edition with the DT880/600's. It's a beautiful piece of kit, but despite the sweet tone, it's not cutting the mustard in the power department.

Both are still burning in, but the volume pot on the Earmax is averaging between 2 & 4 o'clock (starts at 7, ends at 5) depending on the recording. Don't think I'm getting the best out of these Beyers with the max 50 mW output of this amp, despite the better PS & tubes over the standard model. A lower-than-average (1.5V) output source doesn't help.

I may have to try another direction.

Yeah. 50mW isn't a lot. The "weakest" of my tube amps outputs 100mW at 600 ohms.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT View Post
BTW, 600Ohm DT880 are much smoother than 250 Ohm counterpart up to the point of blurring some details, warming them up more with tubes will just exacerbate this.
I agree that the 600 ohm cans are smoother. However, it's far from the case that all tube amps are warmer sounding than SS amps. That's an old stereotype. Some tube amps are, but others are not. The SS Phoenix, for example, is warmer and "smoother" than my Singlepower Extreme, which seems almost bright by comparison.

As always, it's a case of specific synergies - trying to say the 600 ohm Beyers work better with tube amps vs. SS is dangerous, and I have been guilty of this generalization myself. The truth is that some specific amps work well; others do not.
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post #88 of 3415
9/24/09 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
As always, it's a case of specific synergies - trying to say the 600 ohm Beyers work better with tube amps vs. SS is dangerous, and I have been guilty of this generalization myself. The truth is that some specific amps work well; others do not.
The question is, which are the ones that work well, and which are the ones that don't. ;-)

There's a headphone buyer's guide breaking down good purchases in a few different categories (by price, I think?) - is there anything like that for amps? And especially for amps with certain headphones? If not, I think there should be. A thread that lists the amps that are known or generally thought to have good synergy with various beyer cans and amps that people might be better off avoiding would be really helpful, I think.
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post #89 of 3415
9/24/09 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by userlander View Post
So maybe that's why the Meier amps are said to synergize with the Beyers so well.
Funny you should mention Meier Audio amps. I just placed an order with Todd for a leftover Prehead MkII. It should have plenty of power, plus it has 0-ohm & 120-ohm outputs, as well as some subtle (and defeatable) tone control switches. Lots of options.

I'll let you all know how it works out...
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post #90 of 3415
9/24/09 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by userlander View Post
The question is, which are the ones that work well, and which are the ones that don't. ;-)
Indeed!

From personal experience, the following amps work especially well with the 600 ohm Beyers, in no particular order: Audio-GD Phoenix; Darkvoice 337; Decware CSP-2; RSA Apache and Stealth; Ming-Da MC84C-07; Blue Circle Audio SBH.
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