[Chris J]

I find I turn the volume up more when I listen to my DT880s, relative to my Q701s.
I find the Q701s are great for low level listening sessions.
In addition, I prefer the DT880/660 Ohm thru tubes.
They can tend to sound a bit dry thru SS amps.

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

I find I turn the volume up more when I listen to my DT880s, relative to my Q701s.
I find the Q701s are great for low level listening sessions.
In addition, I prefer the DT880/660 Ohm thru tubes.
They can tend to sound a bit dry thru SS amps.

The tubes loosen them up a bit. But nowhere near enough for me.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

The tubes loosen them up a bit. But nowhere near enough for me.

 
Yep.
And that is why I often reach for my Q701 'phones.
 
My next 'phone purchase will be a pair of Grado RS-2i, which, to me, are a very vivid sound.
I'm not sure if the Grados are very accurate, but I will say that they are a sort of polar opposite to the DT880 sound.

 

[mrAdrian]

Chris what sort of music do you listen to? I am close to conclude the 701s aren't my cup of tea

K400 however is very nice oh so beautiful mids~

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Chris what sort of music do you listen to? I am close to conclude the 701s aren't my cup of tea

K400 however is very nice oh so beautiful mids~

 
Now we are on a first name basis?
Kidding!
 
Adrian,
I listen to a lot of what I will call acoustic jazz (jazz with acoustic instruments) with and without vocals of varying vintages - (this is what makes the Q701s really shine)!
 
I also listen to:
some modern rock
some classic rock
various modern pop artists, but not dance and rap
a fair amount of music which is mostly acoustic guitar and vocals
But with the other stuff I tend to go back and forth with the Q701 and DT880, depending on how the recording sounds.  Is it a bright recording? A dull recording?
Q701s are also very nice for low volume level listening. Sounds a bit contradictory, the Qs are fundamentally bright, but they are a broad bandwidth 'phone with very deep, extended bass.
With DT880s I tend to want to turn the volume up a bit more. Bass will always sound punchier with the DT880s.
 
Sorry about all the DT880 references, but they are my point of reference and comparison!
 
Oddly enough, I only listen to Classical music via loudspeakers!
 
regards,
Chris

 

[bassophile]

Do you guys reckon the K701, HD650 and DT880 - the original Big Three, cover all bases?
 
If so, can you comment on why they cover all bases? What is different about their sound relative to each other?

 

[mrAdrian]

Quote:

Do you guys reckon the K701, HD650 and DT880 - the original Big Three, cover all bases?
 
If so, can you comment on why they cover all bases? What is different about their sound relative to each other?

 
I was hoping to use my 1500th post to answer this question and sort of do a mixed review of all those headphones sitting in my room atm, but so far I'm still forming impressions.
 
I can safely say without a Denon/Ultrasone, you will NOT have covered all BASSes at least.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

 
I was hoping to use my 1500th post to answer this question and sort of do a mixed review of all those headphones sitting in my room atm, but so far I'm still forming impressions.
 
I can safely say without a Denon/Ultrasone, you will NOT have covered all BASSes at least.

 
Post 1500!
 
This deserves a drink!

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Do you guys reckon the K701, HD650 and DT880 - the original Big Three, cover all bases?
 
If so, can you comment on why they cover all bases? What is different about their sound relative to each other?

 
Short answer is:
 
K70x and Q701 series - bright
 
DT880 - neutral
 
HD650 - dark

 

[bassophile]

Quote:

 
Short answer is:
 
K70x and Q701 series - bright
 
DT880 - neutral
 
HD650 - dark

 
When I saw that, I always thought 'dark' = 'bass monster'
 
But then, now owning both at the same time, I realize that the HD650 and DT880 have pretty much the same amount of bass. But both have more than the K701. Do you agree?
 
And does the K701 really have more treble than the DT880, thus making it brighter?

 

[davidsh]

I think the k70x has a more 'light' feel to them. I don't necessarily think the k70x has much more treble than the dt880. But it has less bass.

 

[Brooko]

Hi all
 
@mrAdrian - as we have similar setups, thought I'd toss my 'two-pennies' in .......
 
Your setup - NFB 5.2 -> DV336 -> HD580, K400, D5000, MS Pro
 
Mine - NFB-12 -> LD MKIV -> HD600, K701, DT880, SR3251 (woodied)
 
My aim was similar to yours - rather than continually climbing the tree, I wanted to try most of the former flags (or close to them), and have variety that would totally satisfy me.  I do find with the current range I have, I've ceased looking for gear now, and am far more interested in the pursuit of music.  In that regard - yes, I think the DT880 does serve nicely to round out the collection.  I personally find they're a great all-rounder (particularly with tubes), and just give a slight smile rather than a real V.  I know a lot of people regard them as being slow - but it's something I've never found - mind you a lot of my music is slower paced (prog and classic rock, jazz, classical, acoustic, indie and folk).  I'm not really into too much really fast paced stuff.
 
The one thing I do like about the DT880 is the imaging.  The SS is by no means huge - but I do find it pretty accurate.  The K701 can sometimes be too big (SS), whilst the HD600 can sometimes be a little too laid back (I love it - but sometimes I crave a little more sparkle).
 
For me, it bridges the gap between the K701 and the HD600.  And then of course there is the 325i - which is just flat-out fun
 
Anyway - all 4 cans get pretty much equal time - just depends on what I'm listening to and what my mood is.

 

[kramer5150]

Great thread topic... I'm in the same boat.  Except my trio is RS1 / K701 / DT880... Multiple mid-fi cans to pick from to suit my mood.  So far I'm not reading anything deterring me from the DT880-250.  Thinking it should pair up well with my earmax OTL amp, and a little tube rolling.  DT880 prices are crazy low right now, little over $200 on ebay.  I've been away from HF for 5-6 years.  When I left the DT880 was a ~$400 headphone.  Come back and its half what it used to cost!!!
 
Playing around with the headroom graphs compared to my K701, the DT880 bass extends deeper and has a little more treble energy.  I'm thinking with the right tubes (amperex, mullard, telefiunken). it should be a great pairing.  The real question though is how the 880 responds to transients and resonant decays?  Is it fast/snappy like the 701?... or more "syrupy" like the DT990.  My memory of the 880 was that it excelled in this area, although its peaky treble could have been playing tricks on me.
 

 

[davidsh]

Compared to my HE-400/500 the dt880 is SLOW

 

[mrAdrian]

I want to add that HiFi equipments that are appreciated for over a decade speaks something. People's preference over HiFi never change largely, therefore if something is regarded neutral/close to neutral before, it will be neutral/close to neutral in the future. As far as I am concerned, I don't hear any significant short-coming over all these older classics. Therefore we are quite at the tipping climax point of HiFi. Yes a lot of new technology is going on, but so far they are not fully translating into superior headphones - at least not at the price point that we are looking at.
 
Especially when your goal is to sort of try out different sound signatures or to compliment each headphone with another, I think mid-Fi old classics are a great way to get into the hobby! In my opinion, I will get either (or both 

) ONE headphone that absolutely dominate others in my music preference, or (AND) ONE headphone that IS HIGH FIDELITY. And we are not really looking at that in this thread. I do think buying a LCD2 for its bass plus HD800 for soundstage PLUS a Stax for its transient responses PLLUUUSSSS TH900 for its close etc rather luxurious for most of the people; especially when HD650 is dark as the LCD2, K701/SA5000 share on par soundstage and detail as a HD800, Denon's with mods can be tuned more neutral and hold the urge for a TH900 etc etc.
 
p.s. I think I just listed the HiFi collection I own in my dreams, maybe lefted out a Woodie AT :S And a HifiMAN :S sh!t :S