[ReD sKyE]

I wish the search worked....

Has anyone compared these headphones, especially in the bass department? I've auditioned the 770s and love em, but they're so damned ugly, the spiral cord sucks, and they're not very portable.

Thanks for the help,
Adam

 

[ReD sKyE]

Anyone?

 

[ReDVsion]

Wait for Iron_dreamer. I know for a fact he's tried both.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I have indeed owned both the HFI700 (mine says 650DVD, same thing) and the DT770pro 250ohm. I have also tried the 80ohm version, not broken in at guitar center, and the 600ohm version at Dean's place yesterday. SO I have all the bases covered.

When I owned the 250ohms, I used them as portables sometimes, but they were just too damn bulky, though I liked the isolation and short stretchy cord for going portable. The 650DVD is my current portable, and it is much more discreet, and convinient, though the isolation is not as good, and the long cord needs to be tied up (perhaps I will recable some day).

Sound-wise the Ultrasone has the strongest bass in the lowest octave of really almost sub-sonic headshaking stuff, but the rest is not nearly the DT770 which borders on too much bass for me like the Grado PS1. The mids of the DT770 sound better, but they are more hidden by the bass. The mids on the Ultrasone are kinda dry and lifeless. The highs of the DT770 are more extended but harsher with bad recordings. The ultrasone's highs are still sibilant, but not as harsh, rarely annoying, as the DT770's highs can be annoying quite often. Also the Ultrasone is very closed-in sounding whereas the DT770 is one of the more open sounding closed cans I've tried (which is almost all of them out there). The imaging of the Ultrasone is slightly tighter, despite the smaller soundstage.

The DT770-80 has the most balanced bass with the mids, so it is the one I'd want of the three variations, then the 600ohm, then the 250. The bass gets progressively louder in that order, drowning out the mids.

Soundwise I prefer the DT770-80, DT770-600, HFI700, DT770-250 in that order. I still own the Ultrasone becuase it is much more portable, and that is what I need since I have the woodies at home. Feel free to ask any more questions you might have.

 

[John Reeves]

Hi Red Sky,

Just a thought, consider the HFI-650,s. According to Jan Meier they have a more balanced sound than the DVD version.

IMHO they have an excellent bass response without being overpowering, and have both a good mid-range and treble. Often the mid-range will suffer on cans which are bass heavy.

My music tastes are mostly metal, rock etc, but I do like clarity on vocals.

To be fair, I haven't had the chance to try the DVD version, and if I did I could well prefer them.

So, my post is purely to suggest an alternative rather than to say which is the best.

regards

John

 

[arnett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer Sound-wise the Ultrasone has the strongest bass in the lowest octave of really almost sub-sonic headshaking stuff, but the rest is not nearly the DT770 which borders on too much bass for me like the Grado PS1. The mids of the DT770 sound better, but they are more hidden by the bass. The mids on the Ultrasone are kinda dry and lifeless. The highs of the DT770 are more extended but harsher with bad recordings. The ultrasone's highs are still sibilant, but not as harsh, rarely annoying, as the DT770's highs can be annoying quite often. Also the Ultrasone is very closed-in sounding whereas the DT770 is one of the more open sounding closed cans I've tried (which is almost all of them out there). The imaging of the Ultrasone is slightly tighter, despite the smaller soundstage. The DT770-80 has the most balanced bass with the mids, so it is the one I'd want of the three variations, then the 600ohm, then the 250. The bass gets progressively louder in that order, drowning out the mids. Soundwise I prefer the DT770-80, DT770-600, HFI700, DT770-250 in that order. I still own the Ultrasone becuase it is much more portable, and that is what I need since I have the woodies at home. Feel free to ask any more questions you might have.

ID,

Thanks for the comparison. I've been interested in the HFI-700 for some time but could never find a comparison to the DT-770s.

But could you go into a little more detail on the 250-ohm vs. 600-ohm DT-770s? I understand that the bass is less in the 600-ohm version -- but what about the mids and treble? I remember someone suggesting that the 600-ohm Beyers were somewhat HD600-like in their presentation.

Also, have you ever owned the AKG K240S? HeadRoom recently put up K240S frequency response graphs which have really caught my eye. According to their graph, the K240S has quite a bit more bass than most cans (always a plus!

).

 

[ReDVsion]

The K240S does have quite a bit of bass... but there's a lot of flab, and it's not nearly as tight as it ought to be, and very little 'THWACK'.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnett But could you go into a little more detail on the 250-ohm vs. 600-ohm DT-770s? I understand that the bass is less in the 600-ohm version -- but what about the mids and treble? I remember someone suggesting that the 600-ohm Beyers were somewhat HD600-like in their presentation. Also, have you ever owned the AKG K240S? HeadRoom recently put up K240S frequency response graphs which have really caught my eye. According to their graph, the K240S has quite a bit more bass than most cans (always a plus! ).

Mids seemed about the same to me, on a song without much bass, so I could properly judge them. Highs actually seemed better extended on the 600-ohms, but a little scratchier than the 250. No DT770 I've ever heard has sounded remotely like and HD600 (or any other headphone for that matter, though they might sound like the DT990, which I've not heard).

Don't both with the K240S, even with a good amp (Gilmore, Grace) the bass is flabby and uncontrolled, though the mids and highs and soundstage are nice, esp. for the price, but the bass is just too overblown for me. It is acutally not as much bass as the DT770, but it is so out of control, and doesn't go very deep. I just don't like it, at all! Almost as bad in the bass as the Triports (sorry had to say it).

 

[insomniac]

I could compare the HFI-650 and the DT 770 Pro 250ohm headphones.

I didn't find the Ultrasones to be that much smaller or more discreet than the Beyers. The Ultrasones fold up into a ball which is an advantage however.

Disagreeing with Iron Dreamer a bit, I found the Ultrasones to be better isolating than the Beyers. Far better in fact. The Ultrasones were also more comfortable to me. The band on the Ultrasones is much bigger and don't feel as tight as the Beyers. The stretchy cord on the Beyers is nice.

The Beyers I found could not be driven by a portable very well while the Ultrasones were driven moderately well.

As for bass, the Beyers go deeper but the Ultrasones were fairly deep and tight. I've never heard cans that have the bass of the Beyers. The highs and mids were much better on the Beyers. But they were a little too recessed for me. On certain recordings, the highs sounded recessed and sibilant at the same time, if that's possible. The Ultrasones exhibit a bit of the honky sound of closed cans. The Beyers do not. The soundstage is much better on the Beyers as well.

Overall, the Ultrasones suit my needs better but on absolute sound, I'd give the nod to the Beyers.

 

[ReD sKyE]

Cool. Thanks a bunch for the comparisions and suggestions, guys.

John, I've already compared the dt770s to the ultrasone 650s, and the ultrasones just did not have enough bass for me. In fact, headphones in general don't have enough bass for me, and the dt770s are the closest thing to what I want in bass that I have come across. The only problem I have with them is that they're kinda ugly and cumbersome and not too portable. And they require a damn good amp.

Iron_Dreamer, so the ultrasone 700s have more deep bass, while the 770s have more bass in general? Also, how do you think that the 770s would match up with a superdual or govibe? I've tried them with other portable amps, and that just didn't cut it.

Thanks for the help. It's really hard to compare headphones when you can't listen to them side by side.

Peace
Adam

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReD sKyE Iron_Dreamer, so the ultrasone 700s have more deep bass, while the 770s have more bass in general? Also, how do you think that the 770s would match up with a superdual or govibe? I've tried them with other portable amps, and that just didn't cut it.

The DT770 has as close to speaker bass as you'll hear from headphones, short of the Grado PS-1. The Ultrasones rule that really low movie-theater rumbling bass, hence the DVD notation. All the rest of the bass is way more powerful in the Beyers, and their overall sound is better as well. The only portable amps I've used the DT770 from are the Supermini (did a good job, but didn't listen very long, which would lead me to believe the Superdual should do well) and the new XR71 (kickass). If you need a portable amp with power the XR71 is the way to go, it can even power the freakin' K1000, from just two 9v batteries, and it is smaller than my wallet!

 

[arnett]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

It’s so interesting how vilified the DT-770s are on this forum. Actually, I take that almost as a badge of honor because I’ve personally found so much of the conventional wisdom here at Head-Fi to be total rubbish.

It’s also interesting how so many people use what I consider improper adjectives to describe the DT-770s. To me, “dark” cannot describe bass response. There’s no such thing as “bright” bass response so there cannot be “dark” bass response. I also don’t agree that a headphone with a lot of bass can be described as dark. A headphone with lots of bass can only be called “bass-heavy,” IMO. If you look at the frequency response graphs of the DT-770s, you’ll see the upper treble boosted slightly more than the lower bass. Based on the descriptions of the DT-770 around here, I wonder about many members’ ability to hear high frequencies.

 

[Rodent]

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21917
Though it's the 650s.

 

[ReD sKyE]

Thanks again guys.

Iron_Dreamer... sorry, this may be a stupid question, but where and for how much can I get an xr71 (I'm under the impression that it's a $400 amp, and I like my wallet, thank you very much

)?

Adam

 

[ReD sKyE]

BTW, has anyone tried the ultrasone 500s and 550s? How do they compare to the 700s and beyer 770s?

Thanks,
Adam