1UP
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2004
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Being a happy DT990 owner, and looking for some closed phones for work, I chose the uncommon DT150s; half because they sounded quite good in a short demo and half because there's scant feedback on them anywhere (i.e. here)!
Looks, construction, comfort
Pics are available on Beyer's site, but basically, the DT150 is no Monica Bellucci! They look like a cubist prop from the original Dr Who tv show. But hey, it's what inside that counts
and ergonomics-wise they're good/very good - quite lightweight, with a comfy headband and soft eapieces. Rugged and with a detachable straight cable, it's easy to see why they're popular in a pro-environment.
Isolation and leakage
Very good; they block out all the fan noise from my PC and gave me the same "I'm in another world even with no music playing" feeling of the DT880s. But being of course, a fully closed phone, the leakage is much superior to that of the semi-closed flagship model. Again, tick this checkbox as an important criterion for the workplace.
Sound quality
Test equipment - as per my sig. Played a variety of acoustic, jazz, pop, rock.
The good: neutral/smooth midband, pleasing and even presentation of vocals, genuinely powerful lower-bass
The bad: a big intractable bloom at around 400hz - has a fatal side-effect of squashing dyanmics and detail in the upper-mids and treble. Did my very best to ameliorate this using the E-Mu DSP (cutting 400hz, slight boosts at various points in the upper freqs), gaining better snap and punch, but unfortunately it proved impossible to deal with the lower bass honk without losing the sub-bass.
So overall - The DT150s are not in fact the ruler-flat neutral monitor I was expecting/hoping for. Without eq, the drivers are pronouncedly uneven, with this dark, lower-bass colouration that veils lots of detail and energy elsewhere. A shame, as minor eq boosts reveal the phones have nice quality up top, but it just wasn't possible for me to attain an evenly balanced sound.
Going back to the DT990s (my Belluccis!) was a real pleasure!
DT770/80s are now on their way
!
Looks, construction, comfort
Pics are available on Beyer's site, but basically, the DT150 is no Monica Bellucci! They look like a cubist prop from the original Dr Who tv show. But hey, it's what inside that counts
Isolation and leakage
Very good; they block out all the fan noise from my PC and gave me the same "I'm in another world even with no music playing" feeling of the DT880s. But being of course, a fully closed phone, the leakage is much superior to that of the semi-closed flagship model. Again, tick this checkbox as an important criterion for the workplace.
Sound quality
Test equipment - as per my sig. Played a variety of acoustic, jazz, pop, rock.
The good: neutral/smooth midband, pleasing and even presentation of vocals, genuinely powerful lower-bass
The bad: a big intractable bloom at around 400hz - has a fatal side-effect of squashing dyanmics and detail in the upper-mids and treble. Did my very best to ameliorate this using the E-Mu DSP (cutting 400hz, slight boosts at various points in the upper freqs), gaining better snap and punch, but unfortunately it proved impossible to deal with the lower bass honk without losing the sub-bass.
So overall - The DT150s are not in fact the ruler-flat neutral monitor I was expecting/hoping for. Without eq, the drivers are pronouncedly uneven, with this dark, lower-bass colouration that veils lots of detail and energy elsewhere. A shame, as minor eq boosts reveal the phones have nice quality up top, but it just wasn't possible for me to attain an evenly balanced sound.
Going back to the DT990s (my Belluccis!) was a real pleasure!
DT770/80s are now on their way
