Songs
Lisa Ekdahl _ Of My Conceit
Vocal Jazz
Highs- The airy nature of Lisa’s voice is well maintained, the extra touch of treble and air from the Beyer adds a nice intimacy to her voice, almost as if she’s whispering in your ear
Mids- Very airy, tone is nice good body, very delicate weight as well. While the airy treble is intimate, the mids are very neutral and linear. Not extra weight or body at all.
Bass- Perfect, wonderful timbre, good tactile nature.
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile [The Goat Rodeo Sessions ] Where’s my Bow? {16bit 44100hrz sample rate}
New age classical composition.
Highs- The violins are very playful, there is a lovely bright and airy nature to the Dt 880, detail retention is top notch. I can hear the separate notes of the two violins. One to my right the other to my left.
Mids- Very lovely, the timbre is excellent, just the right amounts of body and weight, the tone is nice as well very natural. The upper mids have a nice sweetness to them as well, very lovely!
Bass- Bass is wonderful; the Cello has an excellent and very solid weight to it, a nice delicate impact on every low note. Once again good timbre.
David Chesky- [Jazz In The New Harmonic]-Transcendental Tripping
New Age Jazz, Binaural
Highs-Excellent, airy and the upper most notes of the Trumpet are well detailed, maintain a nice edge, yet are not metallic or sibilant. In addition the sound stage is perfect, the drums are audibly behind and to the right in the sound stage. The imaging is top notch! The Drums have a nice snap, to them. Again, airy, crisp neither recessed nor overly forward.
Mids-Just plain sexy, the mids are excellent, the Tenor sax just has a fantastic timbre to it, very real. Perfect balanced and weight, in addition it’s easily located to the slight right of center, with the Trumpet on the slight left of center. David Chesky him self is on Piano located a tad behind the Tenor Sax, and again the tone of the piano is great. The individual strings that compose the unified sound are easily identified singularly, yet enjoyed just as easily as a whole.
Bass-Lovely tone, great solidity and impact on the Double Bass notes, and the placement is slightly behind the Trumpet and adjacent to the piano, again the imaging is excellent. The details and texture in the bass are nice as well, you can hear the string vibrating against the wood as the Bassist changes notes.
Kenji Yamamoto-[Metroid Prime Sountrack[-Chozo Ruins {16bit 44000hrz sample}
Ambient Orchestral Sound Track
Going to only speak of Sound Stage and Balance for this track
Sound Stage- The sound stage and frequency response work well together, the layering is lovely. There are sounds every where, front and center, left of center, slightly behind center, to the rear and right of center, and to the left rear of center. There are also well placed and airy… echoing high and low notes. The track is for valley, the echo noises add depth to the sound, in addition at the top of the sound stage is… what sounds like wind. Again the layering of this track on the Beyer Dt 880 is perfect… the highs are slightly placed behind everything in the track, and despite being a “bright” can the treble do not lose there place in the sound stage. In addition… the Dt 880 maintains a nice air in between all the instruments, separation is good. Although the track is also recorded a little narrowly… while the narrow sound of the valley is maintained, the Dt 880 never create a cramp or overly busy sonic presentation; everything is placed just right within the sound stage.
Balanced Frequency- Just right for my tastes, the balance has a gentle tilt to lower treble, which for this track is mainly percussion, which is sonically behind the other sounds, there are also some echoing high notes, the air of the DT 880 gives them such a realistic timbre and presentation. There are echoing low notes throughout the track, they are easily followed without being presented in a forward manner, adding to the ambiance of the track, lastly the mids are front and center. A gentle piano plays keeps a steady tune in the mid center, a top of it a stringed instrument that shifts from left to right of center. Again the balance is perfect. Every individual piece works together.
Using an eq, really messes this track up, the bass is too forward, removing depth from the track. The gentle piano is lost, and the vocal sweeps are over powering. [Eq setting explained in another article found here]
Benga [Invasion EP] Evolution {16bit 441000 hrz sample}
Good ole Dub Step, -Will be Eq’d to determine how headphones handle eq
Highs- Cymbals have good air, the mids and bass tend to over power them in this track… thankfully The slightly bright Dt 880 prevents that! Nice energy on the highs
Mids- Nice tone to the mids, the E Piano maintains a playful weight and a nice body, In addition the crunch of the mids in the Wobble has a nice tactility and weight
Bass- DEEP and TIGHT, I do recommend you eq a little sub bass into the Dt 880 to enjoy Dub Step, as it helps bring a little more aggression and fun into the bass. But Either way it remains well textured with nice deep tight impact.
Metallica [Master Of Puppets] Welcome Home (Sanitarium) {16bit 44100hrz sample}
Metal
Speed- this track features a very simple layering of instruments, but the mirco details in the guitar solo's make or break the track.
Highs- Nice, great sense of air in the highs. In addition a sweet notes with the upper guitar riffs,. The cymbals also have a nice sense of energy to them, very crisp.
Mids- Electric Guitars since nicely, delicate nature of the mids retains all the speed of the guitar solos. The vocals are also very nice, James voice has a good balance of warm tone, and crunch in it. The distorted guitar riffs as well have a good balance of crunch and mid weight to them.
Bass- Nice bass, I miss the Bass Guitar a little, but it’s weight is always there. In addition the Kick Drum has a nice impact to it!
Matisyahu- [Live At Stubb’s]- Exaltation
Live Reggae –listening for the little bits of extra noise that are often present in live music [detail retention]
To start, all the little extra bits of noise are there. Faint voices chime in every few seconds, and when the crowd cheers it’s nice and crisp, giving the live performance a nice LIVE feel to it! Feels like I’m in the front row!
Highs- Good energy and air in the cymbals, loving the crisp snap to them, sweet notes of extension on them as well. Upper range of the guitar is also excellent. Good balance of energy and sweet tone.
Mids- … Vocals are great, Matisyahu has a nice warmth to his voice, that paired over top the attack of the guitar make for a great mid presentation. The Dt 880 retains all the weight and body of both the voice and guitar. Additionally, when the crowd sings, there’s no congestion in the multitude of voices.
Bass- Ahh, here the bass comes alive. Punchy and yet laid back. Good texture, the bass is right where it needs to be. At the back of the sound stage, yet it’s got body and weight that Reggaes bass lines are known for.