TwoEars
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
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Hi, guys. This started as a post over in the DT-1770 discussion thread but I'm moving it here out of respect for that thread and not to hijack it too much.
So here's the story. Right away when I got the DT1770's I noticed that these cans had potential, the midrange was nice and smooth, treble was extended and smooth, soundstage was very good and precise for closed cans, timbre was good, bass was deep and with layering. But I also noticed that these cans had a few problems. The problems were these:
1) For me the midrange lacked intimacy, air and ease compared to my HD650 and HD800. The DT1770 sounded good... but something was wrong. The sound was a little bit "slow" or "mellow". I didn't automatically want to grab the DT1770's over my HD650's. For a lack of a better word the DT1770's lacked absolute transparency and musicality. Female vocals didn't really grab me.
2) The midrange was great, but the bass was overpowering and bleeding into the midrange. In stock form these are not neutral cans, not by a longshot. I would not recommend these stock for mixing. Not as bad as some other high-end closed cans on the market but still... EQ'ing will be needed. More on that later.
First off before I did anything else I put the DT1770's on an accelerated burn-in schedule. 30 hours of Rammstein on loud volume. There is not a can in the world which isn't at least 90% burned in after that, but the sound didn't really change much. I had hoped that the midrange would open up but it didn't, more drastic measures were needed. I started by taking off the headphone cushions and then also the thick foam pads on either side of the headphone. This was a big improvement in the midrange, definitely clearer and more easy going. But now something else was bothering me, when playing tracks with a lot of bass I could hear small crackling sounds. It sounded like something was moving about. Almost as if the white textile mebrane which had been behind the thick foam piece was now moving about, and maybe it was. So I listened for an hour or so more and then I decided to go all in.
In the end these were all the things which came out of the DT1770's and which were obstructing the sound:
One thick foam piece, one thin textile mebrane, another thin membrane. I suppose it's all there to tune the sound but you gotta remember that whenever you tune sound using foam and membranes you also take away alot of details, directness and ease in the music. In the extreme case scenario imagine listening to a pair of headphones through a pillow, how good does that sound? Ideally you want as little as possible between your ears and the headphone drivers. The more direct path the better, the rest is EQ if needed. And here is the end result:
Looks pretty good. And here is the HD650 for comparision. Also with visible driver:
This here opened up the midrange of the DT1770 something astronomical. Problem solved. Now let's deal with that bloated bass. This might change but right now I settled on a -3.5 dB bass EQ from zero to about 200 Hz. Then I also EQ'ed down the treble about 3 dB to compensate for removing all those treble reducing foams and mebranes. Like this:
And the result? To my ears these headphones are now so much better it's not even funny. Before the midrange was failing to engage but now female vocals are sending shivers down my spine and making my hairs stand on end. The treble is more extended and much clearer but stops shy of being harsh to my ears, even without treble EQ it's still more forgiving than a stock HD800. The bass is clearer and better layered, and after EQ'ing it down it no longer bleeds into the midrange. The bass is there, it's good but it's no longer trying to take center stage. Not all headphones respond well to removing bass, we got lucky in that the DT1770 has no problems with this.
Before my mods I was on the fence about keeping these, I was worried that since they failed to engage me they would just be collecting dust. But now with the mods I'm definitely keeping them. The sound can be summed up like this:
Bass: Much better and more layered then HD600/650. Not quite as deep, tight or layered as the HD800, but still very good (yes - the HD800 has world class bass, just give it a +3db bass boost).
Midrange: As good as HD600/650, and I'm not saying that lightly.
Treble: Clearer, airier than HD600/650. But not harsh or metallic in the way that a stock HD800 can be. A few dB down to compensate for lack of foam and other things does the trick.
Soundstage: Absolutely fantastic for closed cans, more precise than HD600/650. Not as big as HD800 but for closed cans very, very good.
Musicality/intimacy: The mods completely changed this for me. Before it felt lacking but now I wonder if it isn't as good as the HD600/650.
Yupp. In their current form these are keepers, they're not going anywhere.
If you only listen to classical or midrange focused music, and have no problems with open cans, I think you should still listen to and consider the HD600/650, and probably the new Hifiman 400S as well. But if you specifically want a closed set of cans with a neutral reference type sound, and which can play a bit of everything, these are you babies right here.
FYI - this is how you take them apart: You can try the mod without going "all in" like I did. You can start with just removing the big foam piece first. If so start with removing the cushions, then pull up on the exposed plastic lip with your fingernails. It should come loose. Pull up on the inner plastic lip. Like this:
And it should come apart like this:
The plastic ring will flex a little but it's very sturdy, I'd say the risk of damaging it is pretty low. Then when you mount it back together take care to align the plastic lip in the right direction, it only goes in one way. Then you can remove the big foam piece, mount it back together, and see how you like. I'm not saying the sound change is for everyone, probably not for bassheads. But for people who like HD600/650/800 and neutrality I think it's worth trying.
Update: I made an XLR adapter cable for my tube amp (before it was straight from the DAC) and now I don't think there's a need for any EQ at all actually. It's still a tad bass heavy compared to neutral but I can live with it. Treble is not at all harsh, just extended and smooth. Very smooth. I was actually surprised at how much change there was in powering the cans from my tube amp, seems these cans are very transparent and respond very well to tube amps just like the T1 and HD800 does. Here's the complete rig now. Sounds great! A little bit like the HE-500 actually, a pretty fun powerful sound but also detailed and extended.
That's it from me. I hope someone else wants to have a try at modding their DT-1770's at some point
So here's the story. Right away when I got the DT1770's I noticed that these cans had potential, the midrange was nice and smooth, treble was extended and smooth, soundstage was very good and precise for closed cans, timbre was good, bass was deep and with layering. But I also noticed that these cans had a few problems. The problems were these:
1) For me the midrange lacked intimacy, air and ease compared to my HD650 and HD800. The DT1770 sounded good... but something was wrong. The sound was a little bit "slow" or "mellow". I didn't automatically want to grab the DT1770's over my HD650's. For a lack of a better word the DT1770's lacked absolute transparency and musicality. Female vocals didn't really grab me.
2) The midrange was great, but the bass was overpowering and bleeding into the midrange. In stock form these are not neutral cans, not by a longshot. I would not recommend these stock for mixing. Not as bad as some other high-end closed cans on the market but still... EQ'ing will be needed. More on that later.
First off before I did anything else I put the DT1770's on an accelerated burn-in schedule. 30 hours of Rammstein on loud volume. There is not a can in the world which isn't at least 90% burned in after that, but the sound didn't really change much. I had hoped that the midrange would open up but it didn't, more drastic measures were needed. I started by taking off the headphone cushions and then also the thick foam pads on either side of the headphone. This was a big improvement in the midrange, definitely clearer and more easy going. But now something else was bothering me, when playing tracks with a lot of bass I could hear small crackling sounds. It sounded like something was moving about. Almost as if the white textile mebrane which had been behind the thick foam piece was now moving about, and maybe it was. So I listened for an hour or so more and then I decided to go all in.
In the end these were all the things which came out of the DT1770's and which were obstructing the sound:
One thick foam piece, one thin textile mebrane, another thin membrane. I suppose it's all there to tune the sound but you gotta remember that whenever you tune sound using foam and membranes you also take away alot of details, directness and ease in the music. In the extreme case scenario imagine listening to a pair of headphones through a pillow, how good does that sound? Ideally you want as little as possible between your ears and the headphone drivers. The more direct path the better, the rest is EQ if needed. And here is the end result:
Looks pretty good. And here is the HD650 for comparision. Also with visible driver:
This here opened up the midrange of the DT1770 something astronomical. Problem solved. Now let's deal with that bloated bass. This might change but right now I settled on a -3.5 dB bass EQ from zero to about 200 Hz. Then I also EQ'ed down the treble about 3 dB to compensate for removing all those treble reducing foams and mebranes. Like this:
And the result? To my ears these headphones are now so much better it's not even funny. Before the midrange was failing to engage but now female vocals are sending shivers down my spine and making my hairs stand on end. The treble is more extended and much clearer but stops shy of being harsh to my ears, even without treble EQ it's still more forgiving than a stock HD800. The bass is clearer and better layered, and after EQ'ing it down it no longer bleeds into the midrange. The bass is there, it's good but it's no longer trying to take center stage. Not all headphones respond well to removing bass, we got lucky in that the DT1770 has no problems with this.
Before my mods I was on the fence about keeping these, I was worried that since they failed to engage me they would just be collecting dust. But now with the mods I'm definitely keeping them. The sound can be summed up like this:
Bass: Much better and more layered then HD600/650. Not quite as deep, tight or layered as the HD800, but still very good (yes - the HD800 has world class bass, just give it a +3db bass boost).
Midrange: As good as HD600/650, and I'm not saying that lightly.
Treble: Clearer, airier than HD600/650. But not harsh or metallic in the way that a stock HD800 can be. A few dB down to compensate for lack of foam and other things does the trick.
Soundstage: Absolutely fantastic for closed cans, more precise than HD600/650. Not as big as HD800 but for closed cans very, very good.
Musicality/intimacy: The mods completely changed this for me. Before it felt lacking but now I wonder if it isn't as good as the HD600/650.
Yupp. In their current form these are keepers, they're not going anywhere.
If you only listen to classical or midrange focused music, and have no problems with open cans, I think you should still listen to and consider the HD600/650, and probably the new Hifiman 400S as well. But if you specifically want a closed set of cans with a neutral reference type sound, and which can play a bit of everything, these are you babies right here.
FYI - this is how you take them apart: You can try the mod without going "all in" like I did. You can start with just removing the big foam piece first. If so start with removing the cushions, then pull up on the exposed plastic lip with your fingernails. It should come loose. Pull up on the inner plastic lip. Like this:
And it should come apart like this:
The plastic ring will flex a little but it's very sturdy, I'd say the risk of damaging it is pretty low. Then when you mount it back together take care to align the plastic lip in the right direction, it only goes in one way. Then you can remove the big foam piece, mount it back together, and see how you like. I'm not saying the sound change is for everyone, probably not for bassheads. But for people who like HD600/650/800 and neutrality I think it's worth trying.
Update: I made an XLR adapter cable for my tube amp (before it was straight from the DAC) and now I don't think there's a need for any EQ at all actually. It's still a tad bass heavy compared to neutral but I can live with it. Treble is not at all harsh, just extended and smooth. Very smooth. I was actually surprised at how much change there was in powering the cans from my tube amp, seems these cans are very transparent and respond very well to tube amps just like the T1 and HD800 does. Here's the complete rig now. Sounds great! A little bit like the HE-500 actually, a pretty fun powerful sound but also detailed and extended.
That's it from me. I hope someone else wants to have a try at modding their DT-1770's at some point
