[pcolbeck]

Hi

I have a pair of Beyer DT-311s that I bought about five years ago and haven't really used much so they are still in good condition (bought them for a personal tape player that just annoyed me with tape hiss so didn't use them much).

Are these phones any good (I have nothing to compare them with but they sound OK to me) and what kind of price bracket would I be looking at to get an appreciable difference in quality.

I will be using them with a Cambridge Audio CD player and a Sony PCDP and hopefully a CMOY amp (and if that turns out OK perhaps a META42).

Thanks

Pat

 

[williamgoody]

Well, put them on and try them out. Do you like what you hear?

Seriously, it's all about enjoying the music with the very best sound that YOU enjoy. If you don't like what you hear, let us know what the phones are missing and we can make some better recommendations possibly.

 

[pcolbeck]

I agree if you like what you hear then thats fine. There again if you have never heard anything else then you don't know what you might be missing ....

What I am trying to get at here is wether these phones are really cheap and nasty or are good entry level phones. If I would have to spend £150 to get something better I am not interested for now as my budget doesnt allow and I will stick with these and build a CMOY to see if that makes a difference. If a pair of £50 headphones would give me more detail then I would probably buy them.

The thing is at the time I bought these I wasn't into headphones at all really and just walked into a hifi shop and asked for some reasonably priced phones that would be better and comfier than the ones that came with the portable tape recorder, and they are by a long way, but I didnt do any testing and cant even remeber how much they cost me.

Thanks

Pat

 

[williamgoody]

Well, again it realy depends on your tastes and what you prefer. There really is no set way to say "you go from this phone to these phones, etc. There are people here who swear by the KSC 35's, which originally cost only $20.

Maybe if you have an audio shop near you, you can take the 311's
with you to compare to other cans to see what's good and bad about them.

I'll say this. For me, I haven't heard a pair of Beyerdynamic's that I didn't like yet.

 

[wallijonn]

chances are that the 311's are 600 ohms and therefore may be incompatible with today's devices.

 

[Duncan]

The 311s were one of my very first full sized 'phones

They're not too bad as it goes, pretty efficient, and bassy... The treble is a little dry IIRC, but for £40 which was their original retail cost, they were pretty damned great!!

...They won the What Hi-Fi headphone of the year award in 1994 IIRC

 

[pcolbeck]

Thanks people.

Seems they are OK so I will stick with them for now and see how it goes with the CMOY.

>> chances are that the 311's are 600 ohms and therefore may be incompatible with today's devices

Excuse the newbie confusion, but could someone elucidate a bit on this one. Does this mean they wont work with a new Sony PCDP and also will this be something I will have to take into consideration when designing a CMOY ?

Thanks

Pat

 

[williamgoody]

As I understand it, the higher the ohmage of a set of phones, the more powerful amp you'llneed to adequately power them. With 600 ohms you'll definitely need the amp, and the more power with the amp the better.

 

[wallijonn]

with a personal cd player they will not sound "loud" even at max volume. since the volume is maxed out, the pcdp MAY sound distorted (even if it is at a lower volume).

you will just have to try it out. some pcdps may have logrithmic, versus linear, pots, so the volume may not get loud until the last 1/4 turn.

if at 3/4 of volume it sounds acceptable, then the problem will be one of frequency response. if it sounds "bassy" at 3/4 volume then it is mated well and should suffice.

 

[Duncan]

Who said they were 600ohm?

These were consumer level, and whilst I don't remember the stats myself ~ seeing that they were aimed at people with PCDPs and the like, at 600ohms, Beyer would've been shooting themselves in the foot...

In actual fact, a little investigation brings to light that they are 40ohm phones

 

[Rameish]

40 ohm nice cans. Bought mine in 1989. You must have bought New Old Stock: -) Filmsy headband though. Beyey DT-431 and 531 betters it. But sadly they are also discontinued now.

 

[nickchen]

Gravedigger!

 

[Gaso]

What I can recollect they were very good set of cans. Very musical, nice groove, although the weren't exactly refined. Same sound signature as DT-531, but DT-531 brought the groove aspects further. Build quality was not so great, the drivers kept on sliding on (and off) the headband. But altogether great value!

 

[Rameish]

Yeah crappy headband and the drivers sit on top of your ears. It's a basic hi-fi can like the SR-60/SR-80 although I prefer both the Grados to it. If you dont compare the DT-311 with either is brethern or it's american cousins you will not be dissapointed with the DT-311.