[Elegiac]

I just stumbled across Zeos' review of the 880/600 and he makes it sound like you need a small nuclear reactor to drive these.

Dude sure loves his drama.

Ehhh, I think what he's trying to say is that they scale. I know mine are fully driven, more or less (400mw Class A @ 600 ohms), but if I had even better gear, they'd sound... even better? Sounds sorta stupid now that I say it out loud. True though.

 

[Syan25]

The Schiit Vahalla 2 OTL tube headphone amp is great little nuclear reactor for them.

I use this combo too

 

[SHAMuuu]

High impedance cans usually do well with this, due to their very lightweight voice coils.

It's a shame more brands are shunning high impedance drivers in headphones, as to me they sound excellent (especially in terms of transient response).

I'm speaking on just Beyerdynamics here.

I don't think it's just high impedance that one should look at. Though I did feel uncomfortable having a 250 ohm'er 880, knowing the 600 ones were in existence

but in all seriousness, having Beyerdynamics varying from 5ohm to 2000ohm, they all seem to have their quirks.

But one thing I do know, their first design was built like a tank. Just compare the magnets.

Not to mention it was in a full metal housing, and the voice coils seem formerless (even though Focal said they were the first?) I could be wrong.

I think the Tesla drivers are truer to their original roots.

Also I've tried stabb'in the modern Beyer diaphragms and they are quite robust. Though I do wonder why Focal uses metal drivers still, and Beyer gave up on them. I did read a post once that it was due to manufacturing inconsistencies for the "special aluminum"

DT880 is still one of my favs as an overall, but many of the mid range Beyers suffer from QC issues, which are apparent when you do a bass sweep.

But if you are lucky enough to get a nicely matched pair, then it is still decent.

The HD600 and dt880 ... never seem to go away ...

 

[jonathan c]

The Beyer DT880 (600 ohm) really comes to life with the abundant finesse & power of Icon Audio HP8 Signature (O/T/C). The attack, clarity, directness, gravitas, soundstaging are exemplary.

[Tubes: Melz 6N8S pair, Telefunken ECC801S; Cable: Lavricables Grand Silver.]

 

[Sonic Defender]

Cables don't make a difference, but that sure is a beautiful looking system. I'll bet it sounds great. I miss my DT880. Sigh.

 

[jonathan c]

You can always purchase another. On Amazon’s Prime Day, the DT880 (600 ohm) is shown at $169 USD (app. $223 CAD) .

 

[Sonic Defender]

You can always purchase another. On Amazon’s Prime Day, the DT880 (600 ohm) is shown at $169 USD (app. $223 CAD) .

I'm actually tempted. It was one of my favourite headphones. I just don't get much time for headphone listening anymore. Thanks for letting me know. You may end up being responsible for me spending money needlessly .... but don't feel guilty.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

The Beyer DT880 (600 ohm) really comes to life with the abundant finesse & power of Icon Audio HP8 Signature (O/T/C). The attack, clarity, directness, gravitas, soundstaging are exemplary. [Tubes: Melz 6N8S pair, Telefunken ECC801S; Cable: Lavricables Grand Silver.]

I love my Audiolab 6000CDT. I'm using my DT880 600 ohm and HD600 headphones with a Schiit Vahalla 2 OTL tube headphone amp. A pair of Amperex orange globes for the input tubes.
My DAC is a Modi Multibit 2. Really a great budget headphone rig.

 

[Thomasr]

You can always purchase another. On Amazon’s Prime Day, the DT880 (600 ohm) is shown at $169 USD (app. $223 CAD) .

I ordered a spare 880/600 when I spotted them on Amazon.ca for CAD$130 over the weekend. Package arrived about an hour ago and is now tucked away in reserve

 

[jonathan c]

I love my Audiolab 6000CDT. I'm using my DT880 600 ohm and HD600 headphones with a Schiit Vahalla 2 OTL tube headphone amp. A pair of Amperex orange globes for the input tubes.
My DAC is a Modi Multibit 2. Really a great budget headphone rig.

Show a picture! Not just a great ‘budget’ headphone rig — a great headphone rig, period! PS - I assume that you have Valhalla 2 at the high-gain setting for DT880 / HD600. [As an aside: I have found that Lyr 3, Mjolnir 2, Valhalla 2 all sound better with more delineated soundstaging when in the high-gain mode - irrespective of headphone.]

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Show a picture! Not just a great ‘budget’ headphone rig — a great headphone rig, period! PS - I assume that you have Valhalla 2 at the high-gain setting for DT880 / HD600. [As an aside: I have found that Lyr 3, Mjolnir 2, Valhalla 2 all sound better with more delineated soundstaging when in the high-gain mode - irrespective of headphone.]

Definitely high gain. I've owned the Asgard 2, Asgard 3, and Magni 3 and set all on high gain. I currently have the Piety for when I want a quick listen and I don't want to warm up the tubes. I knew it wouldn't have a problem with the 300 ohm Sennheisers but I was really surprised how well the Piety can handle the DT880 600 ohm headphones.

 

[jonathan c]

I'm actually tempted. It was one of my favourite headphones. I just don't get much time for headphone listening anymore. Thanks for letting me know. You may end up being responsible for me spending money needlessly .... but don't feel guilty.

If your Beyer flame is rekindled, the expenditure is hardly needless .

 

[jonathan c]

A slightly different ‘sonic flavour’ from that in post #12,514 but just as satisfying:

[Woo Audio WA3 (OTL) with Chatham JAN 5998 + pair Brimar CV455 (Footscray, 1956)]

 

[Syan25]

Cables don't make a difference, but that sure is a beautiful looking system. I'll bet it sounds great. I miss my DT880. Sigh.

I miss mine too

 

[Bret Halford]

Outstanding video by Beyer, interviewing a pair of OG acoustic engineers that designed the DT770/880/990:



Very interesting to hear their stories and also their impressions of the new ProX 700/900 line!