Dt-990 Low Ohm vs Dt-990 High Ohm

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/513393/information-sonic-differences-between-all-current-dt770-dt990-models

Read this, there do is a difference in SQ ;-)

cough...there are no differences (audibly)...cough.

With the exception of the DT770-M which is for drummers (different acoustic config), and the PRO models which have greater head-clamp, the only evidence for the drastic sounding differences between impedance versions despite the only REAL difference being longer/shorter wire in the voice coil is ....drumroll......EARS.  Yes EARS, and all of the psychological expectation bias and psychoacoustic phenomenon that goes with it. 

You may not like me for it, but if you claim to hear a difference without using proper ABX protocols, I call BS.  Just like I call BS with fancy cables, power cables, and all other kinds of audio nonsense (where to start). People hear things that don't exist all the time and that's pretty prevalent on head-fi.

To be fair, the only factor that is altered with a different impedances is resistance, and only with different source Zouts could there be any potential difference in sound.  It is my experience with tube amps that higher gain settings necessary for higher impedance headphones also introduces changes in FQ response, but these are artifacts of the amp and not of the headphone.  Same enclosures (in each model), same diaphragm, same cable, same wire, same clamp force (in premiumline headphones vs pro line headphones) and yet there are wild claims of sonic differences, imaging and soundstage....WTF? 

Using longer and/or thinner wire does increase the resistance load of a headphone, but why should that affect bass, midrange, treble, imaging and soundstage if used with a Zout of ~0ohms?

I'm looking for evidence to validate these auditory (anecdotal) claims myself, and so far, what little physical evidence there is has yielded minimal results in support of sonic differences between impedance options.  If anybody has any astonishing measurements to post here I would be very grateful and will sell off my 250ohm version for a better one.  Until then I keep it. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catharsis 

cough...there are no differences (audibly)...cough.

 

With the exception of the DT770-M which is for drummers (different acoustic config), and the PRO models which have greater head-clamp, the only evidence for the drastic sounding differences between impedance versions despite the only REAL difference being longer/shorter wire in the voice coil is ....drumroll......EARS.  Yes EARS, and all of the psychological expectation bias and psychoacoustic phenomenon that goes with it. 

 

You may not like me for it, but if you claim to hear a difference without using proper ABX protocols, I call BS.  Just like I call BS with fancy cables, power cables, and all other kinds of audio nonsense (where to start). 

This gives me hope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschristian44 

would this be a good setup for an upgrading from ad-700's?

 

this amp:

http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-micro-amp.php

 

with these headphones:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024NK34O/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0821QRC4MG5Q9HEFJTPX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

If you like more bass, more treble and questionably less soundstage then yes. 
 

Maybe I could finally get a Beyerdynamic then! Run the 32ohm straight off my MP3.

I was worried the 32 wouldn't "sound as good" or be "disappointing", so for the longest time, I wouldn't buy them.

As long as I can get a high majority of it's "real" sound without using amp, I will buy them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschristian44 

if i were gonna spend the 200-300 on them, i would get the higher ohms just so i can have high quality sources.

But if you get the higher OHM variants, you won't be spending $200-300 on them...

...Now, you have to spend that much more for a decent amp to run them.

Just as a note, the ONLY thing I've ever seen higher impedance headphones do is 2 things:

a) They normally offer a better probability of being unaltered (Frequency response-wise) by a source / amplifier with a higher output impedance.  Running a 32ohm DT880 through a tube amp with a high output impedance is a big no-no.  Running a 32ohm headphone from a portable source, or from most modern day SS amps / sources should sound great.

b) High impedance cans draw less current, and as a result I have seen measurably worse performance with THD, SNR dynamic range, stereo crosstalk with LOW impedance headphones vs higher ones, although the threshold of these differences are most likely beyond the limits of perception.

If I may be purely objective, impedance is strictly an electrical property, and thus, only electrical aspects such as current draw, voltage draw, voltage division (as is the case with high output impedance) and noise (from current draw) etc, should be affected.  Assuming you have an amp or source with enough current, enough voltage, and an output impedance less than the impedance load of a headphone, you should experience exactly the same sound as a beyer headphone of any other impedance.  If somebody can provide evidence to the contrary, or present a mechanism of action as to why sound would vary so wildly simply by increasing the length of wire or thinness of wire in a voice coil I am all ears.  Seriously I need to see something compelling, much like I need to see evidence that a $10,000 cable is really necessary or is any different than lamp cord at $3.00 per foot.

They are indeed a nice headphone!! And I see someone already linked to my thread on the difference in the sound.