[fjf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcusaudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the DT880 in combination with the Meier Head5 amp. Combination is excellent.

Yep, Meier amps drive very well the DT880...

 

[fongalv]

Hi guys, I'm also in agreement that the DT880s pair up very nicely with a tube amp. I'm running my stock '03 DT880s with the XiangSheng 708B amp and the volume knob NEVER goes above the 9 o'clock position. In fact I sometimes struggle with the the volume knob because its simply waaaay too loud for comfort

.

Heres my entire rig:

 

[Omom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjf /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep, Meier amps drive very well the DT880...

2x I was satisfied with H5 + DT880, Opera is further step to musical nirvana...

 

[marcusaudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt. Z /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe, the DT880 are best driven with tubes, such as the Woo3

can you explain why? Do you refer to 'warm' sounding tube amps?

 

[marcusaudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romanee /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know this is a not-entirely accurate generalization, but many tube amps — though the 880s sound lush and beautiful with them — will probably not offer the extra HF enhancement the OP requires. I happen to love the 880 via Audiovalve RKV-MkII (with OPA627 upgrade) + Eddie Current EC/DC which offers highs that are lucid & sweet with remarkable imaging and inner detail, but alas the HF loss issue — and, of course, the preference seems to be towards a portable.

Do you know to what extend the RKV-MkII is similar to the Corda Eartube (which is a Meier design manufactured by Audiovalve)?

 

[Capt. Z]

I don't think it's the warmth of a tube amp, since tube amp does not mean warmer sounding.

My experience with good tube amp is, that they just sound more natural to my ears, more air around the musicians and more seperation between the mucisians. But hey, that's me and my ears.

In regard of not having enough power with some of the amps used. I believe that could be a sign, that the source output is loo low for some of the amps used. My Woo3 has more power than I ever can use and the 20 some years old 600 ohm Beyerdynamics need lots of power.

 

[barshnik]

I've been quite happy with my ER4-P's driven without amp directly from the iPod, but they don't work out when doing the physical therepy for 2 hours twice daily (cable thumping and ear discomfort). Las Vegas, despite it's size, really has no place to audition earphones, so after much lurking here decided on the DT880's. Comfort, my ears' condition and my preferred music (classical, jazz, pop/rock in that order) made them seem to be a good choice - they won't be here till tomorrow or Tue, but the Hornet was decided on and is here happily burning in.

A tube 'home' amp will be on my shopping list if my experience with extended use of full size cans is a good one, although I have quite a nice speaker setup with Harbeth Compact 7's. My wife goes to be early becuase of her job hours, and I'd like to listen later at night without bothering her. Thanks for your help,

John F

 

[MrLA]

i raised the same question to the person who made the cable, cantsleep. he said the impedence has not changed with the recabling and he noticed the dt880 were difficult to drive before and after cable changed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting. Maybe it was the recabling? I have researched this exact topic extensively since I have 600 ohm 2005 DT880s on the way. Skylab who owns these exact cans has been a great help. Xenos has tons of gain for them, Headphonia will drive them well too. I'm not sure that there is a huge sensitivity difference from the 600 to the 250 ohm model but it can only favour the 250 ohm in terms of there being enough gain... So more powerful portables with a gain switch should be fine for the OP. (Whether most portables have the oomph (voltage) to drive the DT880s - or any high impedance can - as well as a home amp is probably the bigger issue.) I don't share the OP's need for extra treble but i just bought an original n_maher built Millet Hybrid on here, sharing the belief that tube power will go nicely with the sound signature of the DT880s. We will see...

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLA /img/forum/go_quote.gif i raised the same question to the person who made the cable, cantsleep. he said the impedence has not changed with the recabling and he noticed the dt880 were difficult to drive before and after cable changed.

I don't think that we necessarilly disagree. I do know that some of the more powerful portables will even drive the 600 ohm version with good volume and decent sound but for sure the DT880s are best with a home amp.

 

[MrLA]

i don't think the difficulty of driving DT880 has much to do with low or high impedence of the headphones, but rather the sensitivity of the headphone drivers. i believe the DT880's drivers have very low sensitivity for headphones; and heaphone amps, do not matter how big they are, never got enough wattage or current (by designed) to drive these very low sensitivity of the DT880's drivers to the loudness(dB) i wanted, imo.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLA /img/forum/go_quote.gif i don't think the difficulty of driving DT880 has much to do with low or high impedence of the headphones, but rather the sensitivity of the headphone drivers. i believe the DT880's drivers have very low sensitivity for headphones; and heaphone amps, do not matter how big they are, never got enough wattage or current (by designed) to drive these very low sensitivity of the DT880's drivers to the loudness(dB) i wanted, imo.

Both sensitivity and impedance matter. An amp that will deliver a certain power into 100 ohms will deliver less into 200 ohms, depending on the design of the amp. How much less really will vary widely depending on the amplifier topology.

No doubt though, that the sensitivity of the drivers will have a greater impact on how much volume an amp can deliver through a given headphone, and of course, the level of the input signal also matters.

 

[MrLA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Both sensitivity and impedance matter. An amp that will deliver a certain power into 100 ohms will deliver less into 200 ohms, depending on the design of the amp. How much less really will vary widely depending on the amplifier topology. No doubt though, that the sensitivity of the drivers will have a greater impact on how much volume an amp can deliver through a given headphone, and of course, the level of the input signal also matters.

skylab, i couldn't agree more. thanks for laying it all out.

though, imo, any amp costing more than $500(esp. ss amp) should not having difficulty driving low/high impedence loads. if it does, it isn't designed properly, costs too much, and should be avoided doesn't matter good a sound it reported to have.

in my case, i used the same source and materials that i had used with other headphones that i didn't have problem with getting enough loudness thus i got the same level signal feeding the amps. gs-1, melos, and dynahi-sa went to clipping and i still didn't it was loud enough.

 

[euclid]

a warm one

 

[barshnik]

The DT880's were delivered this morning. I'll refrain from making rash comments until both the Hornet and cans are burned in. But, here are some 'un-rash' comments from a (nearly) newbie Headfier:

gen 5 Video iPod, iPod mini, Apple Lossless format
ALO bling bling LOD
RSA Hornet
beyerdynamic DT-880, 250 ohm

1) If nothing much happens after breaking in from right now, new out of the box, I think I'll have come pretty close to hitting my sonic sweet-spot. Plenty of depth and just enough bass punch; smooth mids; and just enough sizzle (even to my HF deprived ears) in the highs. And, it is portable to boot.

2) Quite a nice foam padded 'pleather' carrying case comes with the DT-880's.

3) The Hornet packs considerably more detail, depth and punch than the headphone jack of my HK AVR-635 home theatre receiver.

4) With Hornet gain set to high, 12 oclock is a nice listening level, 1 oclock is pretty much as much as I can handle.

5) I'd swear there is some degree of loudness level compensation going on somewhere, as low volume listening levels are enormously pleasing as well as medium and high volume levels.

6)The width of the Hornet is EXACTLY the same as the iPod mini, which makes for a nice mobile package. An accident?

John F

 

[saba]

How about A2 is it good or not?
can A2 drive dt 880 250 ohm?(perfect drive)