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I truly believe these are one of the best Classical Music headphones I've ever heard - Page 3

post #31 of 47
8/30/11 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 

I'll definitely get on that soon.  I found an amp that I think really enhances the K701/2 as well.  I have a TTVJ 307a with Pinnacle transformers.  I may not have it for long tho...considering trading it, but the combo between the K702 and the 307a with Pinnacle Transformers is genuinely great.

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beyerdynamic DT 770 Stereo Headphones
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post #32 of 47
1/1/12 at 3:46pm
>I truly believe these are one of the best Classical Music headphones I've ever heard

last time someone told me that about K271mk2, so I thought, hey, that's cheap, and forked out $200. and I was thoroughly disappointed by the muted bass response.
Classical music does not sound good or natural, when you have a 100hz down severe roll-off. Piano and Orchestra especially lose quite a bit of the appeal. (especially things like Beethoven's Piano concertos, or symphonies with prominent use of drums)

Judging by the http://www.head-fi.org/t/409732/some-more-frequency-response-graphs#post_5429438 chart, I personally wouldn't go near DT660 for classical. Not forking out another $200 biggrin.gif .
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post #33 of 47
1/1/12 at 3:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by svyr View Post

>I truly believe these are one of the best Classical Music headphones I've ever heard
last time someone told me that about K271mk2, so I thought, hey, that's cheap, and forked out $200. and I was thoroughly disappointed by the muted bass response.
Classical music does not sound good or natural, when you have a 100hz down severe roll-off. Piano and Orchestra especially lose quite a bit of the appeal. (especially things like Beethoven's Piano concertos, or symphonies with prominent use of drums)
Judging by the http://www.head-fi.org/t/409732/some-more-frequency-response-graphs#post_5429438 chart, I personally wouldn't go near DT660 for classical. Not forking out another $200 biggrin.gif .

well, to each their own, but I wouldn't judge too much by frequency charts.  

 

The DT660s are extremely neutral sounding to my ears.  They aren't THE most transparent of all time, and they do have a little extra brightness despite their neutral tone, but I really think they are a fantastic classical headphone.  A few people on a budget contacted me after this thread and seem to be in agreement with this assessment.  I didn't like the K271 btw.
 

 

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post #34 of 47
1/2/12 at 12:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidMahler View Post

well, to each their own, but I wouldn't judge too much by frequency charts.  

The DT660s are extremely neutral sounding to my ears.  They aren't THE most transparent of all time, and they do have a little extra brightness despite their neutral tone, but I really think they are a fantastic classical headphone.  A few people on a budget contacted me after this thread and seem to be in agreement with this assessment.  I didn't like the K271 btw.

 

a) I'm not judging purely on a FR chart, but anchoring on a similar HP I've heard via the FR charts, which is a reasonable inference.
b) FR charts are more then sufficient to show bass roll-off
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post #35 of 47
1/2/12 at 1:34am

I'm going to throw a couple of spanners into the works here with.

 

Classical music covers an extremely wide range of sounds and frequencies, more than you would get with most other music (with the possible exception of extended bass). When I audition any HP my ultimate test is its reproduction of piano sound. The harmonics produced by a piano are totally unlike anything else and to make it harder, ranges from very low to very high frequencies. I've auditioned many headphones that passed all my other tests and failed when it came to the piano section. So question 1 is - how well does it reproduce classical piano? Can I tell a Bosendorfer from a Steinway from a Yamaha

 

The same goes for strings - violin and cello in particular.

 

The other instrument that is also hard to accurately reproduce is that most glorious of instruments - the human voice. How do you feel that the DT660s handle those in the likes of lieder as opposed to opera.

 

After that we can talk about soundstage - both depth and width (a string quartet for example), can I clearly hear the individual players?

 

What I am saying is how close can these cans get me to the concert experience? I love the idea of them being very neutral in their presentation which I suppose means not emphasising any particular part of the frequency spectrum but can they make it sound like I'm in the recital hall?

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post #36 of 47
1/2/12 at 9:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by holden4th View Post

I'm going to throw a couple of spanners into the works here with.

 

Classical music covers an extremely wide range of sounds and frequencies, more than you would get with most other music (with the possible exception of extended bass). When I audition any HP my ultimate test is its reproduction of piano sound. The harmonics produced by a piano are totally unlike anything else and to make it harder, ranges from very low to very high frequencies. I've auditioned many headphones that passed all my other tests and failed when it came to the piano section. So question 1 is - how well does it reproduce classical piano? Can I tell a Bosendorfer from a Steinway from a Yamaha *1

 

The same goes for strings - violin and cello in particular.

 

The other instrument that is also hard to accurately reproduce is that most glorious of instruments - the human voice. How do you feel that the DT660s handle those in the likes of lieder as opposed to opera. *2

 

After that we can talk about soundstage - both depth and width (a string quartet for example), can I clearly hear the individual players? *3

 

What I am saying is how close can these cans get me to the concert experience? I love the idea of them being very neutral in their presentation which I suppose means not emphasising any particular part of the frequency spectrum but can they make it sound like I'm in the recital hall? *4

I've numbered your questions

 

1.  A lot will depend on your ability to discern these things.  Even with the best speaker / headphone system in the world, I couldn't make a claim that you would be able to tell a Yamaha from a Steinway.  I can usually spot a Yamaha more easily than I can a Bosendorfer. It's not a question I've ever been asked specifically - being able to discern different piano brands. 

 

2. I think it handles all vocal genres well from intimate lieds to opera.

 

3. Yes, but it is a closed back headphone, so the soundstage is more collapsed than many open models.  But its very large for a closed back.  Maybe the largest I've heard.

 

4. No, no headphone can do that in my opinion, but they do a very good job for headphones IMO.

 

 

I've been talking headphones with you for years. Now I can help you with your purchase:) Sales Specialist & Headphone Guru @ Headphones.com
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post #37 of 47
1/2/12 at 10:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by svyr View Post


a) I'm not judging purely on a FR chart, but anchoring on a similar HP I've heard via the FR charts, which is a reasonable inference.
b) FR charts are more then sufficient to show bass roll-off

Do you feel the K271 has a similar frequency response 

 

660271.jpg

 

I've been talking headphones with you for years. Now I can help you with your purchase:) Sales Specialist & Headphone Guru @ Headphones.com
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post #38 of 47
1/2/12 at 2:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidMahler View Post

Do you feel the K271 has a similar frequency response 

350x80px-LL-b3bae95b_660271.jpeg

again, specifically talking about the severe bass-roll-off (10db at 20hz(?) from 100hz)). Also, it looks like 660, has a mid-bass 100hz bump.
Edited by svyr - 1/2/12 at 2:12pm
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post #39 of 47
1/4/12 at 12:45pm

I recently started to combine dt660 with Gary Ali's PA2V2 amp and found there is a great synergy in the treble region of heavy brass orchestral music.

This little and cheap amp reproduces shattering treble with debt and without any Sybilance e.g in Sym 5 tchaikovsky. 

 

 

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post #40 of 47
1/18/12 at 4:26pm

I wish this thread had appeared more recently, I might have been able to save myself a little bit. The Beyerdynamic dt1350 are absolutely great sounding set of cans, but after about the 2hr mark of listening my outer ears are not happy campers due to the on ear pad pressure. The clamping pressure isn't really that high,it's just that they don't like something pressing on them(or in them, my ears have an extremely hard time dealing w/ IEMs,much more so than on them). So ...I just ordered the DT660s about a half hr ago , to go w/ my other cans (DT880 600ohm, AKG 702, HiFiman HE-4). These are my cans for home use w/ one of my desktop amps (Schiit Lyr or Beyerdynamic A-1). I'll be using the DT660s w / my Fostex HP P1 portable dac/amp. We should start renting out the headphones we own when we're not using them, so that we have money for our next set of cans !!!

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post #41 of 47
1/18/12 at 5:17pm

Interesting. I now want to hear these.

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post #42 of 47
1/19/12 at 11:47am

how do the K702 compare to the DT660's?  also, any amp recommendations?

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post #43 of 47
1/19/12 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by operafan View Post

how do the K702 compare to the DT660's?  also, any amp recommendations?



i was just about to ask the same thing. i know my k's do really good with classical 

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post #44 of 47
3/13/12 at 11:23am

I bought DT 660 and listening it for 2 weeks.David it's really just great with classical. Both symphonic, chamber, solo instrumental, vocal and they are really good with jazz also. Again thank you very much.

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post #45 of 47
4/9/12 at 5:49am

I will give it a try if I have got a chance. To bad I see this article only after I come back from headphone store. Thanks for great review again David. Never knew close phones are capable of making good classical cans.

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

beyerdynamic DT 770 Stereo Headphones
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beyerdynamic DT 660 Premium Headphones
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › I truly believe these are one of the best Classical Music headphones I've ever heard