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Headphone Amps for Beyerdynamic DT 880's (600 ohm)

post #1 of 9
10/24/11 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 

Alright guys, so I just signed up specifically for this question, hopefully you guys can help me out. 

 

I'm going to be (hopefully very soon) be purchasing some 600 ohm Beyer DT 880's. The problem is, while I know how to choose headphones, I am very much a noob when it comes to amps. All I really know about them is that if you want really great sound, you need one, if you have higher than 32 ohm cans, you need one. That's about it. 

 

So I was hoping you guys could help me out in choosing the right amp for these sexy cans. Not sure if what I intend to do/listen to helps, but I'm mainly a Jazz and Blues guy, but I do dabble in all genres. Also, I will be using these for gaming a lot. I've been highly recommended these for a competitive gaming headphone. 

 

As far as price, I'd rather not limit it, but as good as you can get for as low as you can get would be sweet. If I could spend like 200 bucks or less, that would make me a very happy man. That said, if you have an amp that is dying to be paired with these cans, don't be afraid to shout it out. Any input helps.

 

Thanks in a advance guys. It does not go unappreciated.

 

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post #2 of 9
10/25/11 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iBurley View Post

Alright guys, so I just signed up specifically for this question, hopefully you guys can help me out. 

 

I'm going to be (hopefully very soon) be purchasing some 600 ohm Beyer DT 880's. The problem is, while I know how to choose headphones, I am very much a noob when it comes to amps. All I really know about them is that if you want really great sound, you need one, if you have higher than 32 ohm cans, you need one. That's about it. 

 

So I was hoping you guys could help me out in choosing the right amp for these sexy cans. Not sure if what I intend to do/listen to helps, but I'm mainly a Jazz and Blues guy, but I do dabble in all genres. Also, I will be using these for gaming a lot. I've been highly recommended these for a competitive gaming headphone. 

 

As far as price, I'd rather not limit it, but as good as you can get for as low as you can get would be sweet. If I could spend like 200 bucks or less, that would make me a very happy man. That said, if you have an amp that is dying to be paired with these cans, don't be afraid to shout it out. Any input helps.

 

Thanks in a advance guys. It does not go unappreciated.

 


I have the 880/600's and was doing some listening last night with three amps.  

 

If don't mind smoothing out the highs a bit and losing a bit of detail, the Bottlehead Crack ($219 + shipping, DIY assembly) is a nice choice.  OTL tube amp, which is supposed to be best for 600ohm high impedance cans.  Plenty of power to drive them - I'm only at 9:00-10:30 o'clock on the volume dial.  Plus you can switch out tubes to change the sound signature.  There's a Crack upgrade for $99 that's supposed to further improve sound, but I haven't tried it/listened to it myself so I can't say what it sounds like or whether it's worth it with the 880/600's.

 

When I say smooth the highs and lose a bit of detail, I'm comparing to my other amp which is the Hifiman EF5.  It's $500 new (but you can find it for $250-350 used), and it's a hybrid amp (one 12AU7 tube and an opamp output).  I get the most detail from the EF5, but it's not as warm as the Crack.  Since the 880's aren't really warm to start with, the combo some might find a little too cold.  Both are nice, but over the long haul, the Crack is probably less fatiguing and forgiving with a wide variety of different music types.  

 

The third amp is the built in amp of the Audio GD NFB-12.  It's fine, but I wouldn't settle for it unless I wanted the DAC (which is nice) and used the amp portion as a stop-gap until I got a better one.

 

Those are the only 3 I've tried (besides the HP out of receivers and preamps).

 

I've heard positive things about the Phenix/Sense G3 or G3-T7 (another OTL tube amp), which is only about $170 shipped off of eBay and no assembly required, but I haven't listened to it myself.

 

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post #3 of 9
10/25/11 at 6:05pm
Thread Starter 


Hmm...I suppose I will need a DAC also. I hadn't thought ahead that far but I will be plugging the cans into my computer. So I guess what I am looking for is amp and DAC combos. Or a set I suppose. Like I said, I really am a noob when it comes to amps and such.

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post #4 of 9
10/25/11 at 6:25pm

hey iBurley.

ive been pushing my 600 ohm 990s with a vintage pioneer receiver.  it did ok but not a lot of headroom and would lose a lot of balance at mid to high volumes.

 

i just ordered a woo wa3 for them.

 

i will let you know how it turns out

 

but a dac made a pretty noticable difference in my set up.

 

so you may want to go that route.

 

also i've been told the matrix cube does a decent job as well and is similar to the audio gd, its a dac first that still has a small amp to hold you over.

 

anyways good luck.

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post #5 of 9
10/25/11 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 

Haha, Rawrbington, aren't you the guy from that recipe sharing site that likes Type O Negative?

 

*wink*


Edited by iBurley - 10/25/11 at 7:23pm
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post #6 of 9
10/25/11 at 8:27pm

yes sir.

hope you like the 880s

im a big beyer fan myself

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post #7 of 9
10/27/11 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 

I actually had never had my ears behind a pair until like a week ago. I did buy some AKG K701's, and I believe I had asked about an amp for them on Waffles, but I ended up sending them back. After a few long gaming sessions, those bumps on the headband proved to be a large nuisance. So I started asking around for other recommended studio cans for gaming. Because as I do a ton of music listening, a lot of the time I'm on the computer, I'm playing games. So in my quest, I actually found a thread on here where a man was looking for the "Holy Grail" of gaming headphones. His finding was that the DT 880's were amazing for gaming. I then started reading reviews on them, and people love them for music as well, apparently a similar sound to the K701's but with better bass response and detail retrieval. So I started asking around and a friend of mine actually has them, along with some little single tube amp that he let me try them with. I played Counter Strike for about 3 hours with them and decided I needed a pair. After two hours of straight gaming, no discomfort, not bad on the heat, and I would have continued if there wasn't a new episode of a show I like that I had to get home to see. I had heard of Beyer, obviously, but never actually listened to a pair.

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post #8 of 9
10/27/11 at 4:13pm
If your PC has optical or coaxal digital output then I will recommend the Fiio D3+E9 and this combo works great.
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post #9 of 9
10/28/11 at 5:35pm
Thread Starter 

Alright, so from looking around, it looks like I will PROBABLY be going for the Phenix G3-T7. Can anybody recommend me a good DAC to pair with this?

 

edit: Also, I was stumbling around the internetz yesterday and I found a review of the Furutech ADL GT40. It was saying that it was the perfect one box solution. That it excells in everything it does, and even if it were sold as 4 separate things (Headphone Amp, DAC, Preamp, and Phono Stage), they would all be exceptional. Would it be worth saving for a bit and picking one of these up for use with it? Or is there some other amp/DAC combo (in one box, because I'm OCD like that) that would be a good choice?


Edited by iBurley - 10/28/11 at 6:08pm
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