Which of these two pairs of headphones should I choose?

If i were you i would get a used DT770 05'. Better sound quality and isolation than both of them and it's under $200.

I think you can get the 06 from around $200 on amazon new

can you still get the hd598 new for around 170 USD?
if you can get that instead. its only like $10-20 more than the m50 if its still on sale.
 

Well here is a new pair on sale.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Beyerdynamic-DT-770-32-Ohm-Premium-Stereo-Headphone-/300659881272?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item4600b9b538

Quote:

Originally Posted by IvanKozlov 


So the DT770 is better than the Sennheiser and the Audio Technica I listed?

Yes. But it's a matter of personal opinion, I really did not like the M50, yet many other people did, as well, I was quite disappointed with the HD558, so the 518 I assume is worse. Not to say the Dt770 doesn't have its flaws I just preferred it to the other two. As well the SRH840's by Shure is one of my favorites, or you can also try the KRK-KNS8400, which I heard is better than the SRH-840. There are many options do a bit of searching and you might find what you're looking for.

The DT770 Pro can be had for under $200 new. But be aware that there are several variations of it:

• DT770M - avoid this unless you intend to only use it while playing the drums.
• DT770 Pro 80Ω - easy to drive. bass heavy. can be modded to bass neutral by closing a couple vents.
• DT770 Pro 250Ω - may need an amp especially if you like it loud. bass neutral.
• DT770 Premium 32Ω - cannot predict in advance if it will be bass heavy or neutral.
• DT770 Premium 250Ω - looks and feels classier than the "Pro" version. less clamping force.
• DT770 Premium 600Ω - similar to 250Ω version. definitely needs an amp. higher resale value.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the advantage of a higher ohm version? I see the seller phandrew linked to is selling them (32 ohm) because he wants the 80 ohm version. I don't think I will be getting an Amp, mostly driving with the onboard sound from my motherboard. I assume this means that the lower ohm rating the better.

I don't want to jack this thread, but also am against starting yet another "Which headphone to get?!" thread, so I'll just ask here. I was also looking at the ATH-M50 headphones, and had also considered the Grado SR80i phones. Of course they are inherently different, one being closed and the other open. I think a closed set would probably be better, as to not annoy anyone else happening to be in my room, but I'm really open to anything. Remember I won't be using an amp.

Currently I'm on an old pair of Sennheiser HD 202 phones, how much better sound quality can I expect for a pair of $100-$200 headphones with onboard audio? I listen to rock and electronic music mostly, but also do a fair amount of gaming. I don't at all consider myself an audiophile, and really don't have much experience with headphones.

Thanks for any help!

Here is an article that explains the differences: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/comparison-beyerdynamic-dt-880-32-ohm-dt-880-250-ohm-and-dt-880-600-ohm-headphones

It's for the DT880 but the same principles apply.

Basically there are two things to consider: loudness and damping factor. For loudness, it's pretty much less ohms == more loudness. For damping factor, you want a headphone with an ohm rating that is much higher than the output impedance of your amp (if you use one) or your player (if playing directly). It's not always easy to find out what the output impedance is, but you can expect around 32Ω for portable players, and around 0Ω for good solid state amps. No idea about sound cards, sorry. So with the 32Ω Beyers, it's a tradeoff between having it play louder on the portable player, and dealing with a less than ideal damping factor that affects the sound quality. Fortunately with the DT770, there is also an 80Ω version that gets you the best of both worlds. FWIW, I sometimes use my 250Ω Beyers directly out of my laptop and it still gets plenty loud to me.

The other thing about the DT770 is there is a bass heavy version. As far as I know all the 80Ω ones are bass heavy. This is not due to the ohm rating but because of a small vent on each ear cup. Apparently that little bit of air flow in the closed DT770 makes all the difference in bass.

Okay, so a higher Ohm rating will give better dampening (sound quality? I don't know what dampening is :D) but past a certain rating it won't get loud enough w/o an amp. It's also good to know the 80Ω DT770s are only bassier b/c of the vent, so i assume the 32Ω version could be modified to add that back. Okay then, how much better are the DT770s compared to the M50s?