Beyerdynamic DT 150: Bloody Brilliant!
Aug 5, 2015 at 8:30 PM Post #1,411 of 2,575
  I disagree, IMO the dt 150 is on the level of mid fi's best (which is already high praise considering it's price), and I think we all agree it's not the end all be all in sq. So regardless of how well optimized the dac and amp setup is, there will still be some shortcomings, Hence modding.

True, there are some flagships that need modding. Both the T1 and HD 800 for example need extra dampening to sound their best, Beyer is releasing a version 2 of the T1 to improve it's dampening and add replaceable cables. I think dampening is what the DT 150 would benefit the most from personally as the DT 150 has a bit of a reverb issue. I've tried the headphone on many systems and always felt that was an issue with it.
 
Aug 6, 2015 at 5:04 AM Post #1,412 of 2,575
Not having done much modding or pad rolling myself, I can't really comment, but I can say that I went from the HRT HD (with AQVOX linear usb power supply) to the Audio-gd DAC-19 upgraded this year, and wow, the differences are quite important. In fact, the 'metallic treble' that you describe Kman is really a problem with a lot of DACs, even the Burr Brown based ones. While the HRT is punchy, musical, and has a good soundstage and depth, especially for its price, I think it's major shortcoming is in the upper mids and treble ranges, where it tends to sound hard. 
 
The DAC-19 is an R2R not Sigma-Delta dac, and so it has much less noise in the chip itself, which means less digital filtering is necessary, and hence the acoustic sounds are much more realistic, and you especially notice it in the highs. They're not rolled off, and actually feel more 'present' in some ways, while of course being very non-fatiguing. 
 
As others have mentioned, the dt150s have the potential to sound sooooooo analogue, it's really uncanny. The DAC-19 really takes them to another level, though you may lose a tiny bit of the edgy punch that some people really like with techno-based genres. For me the realism is worth it, and I don't feel that there is a lack of timing. In fact, I've been listening to a lot of world percussion music and it's unreal how many layers of drums and percussion instruments you can get with these phones and a good recording.
 
Aug 6, 2015 at 12:48 PM Post #1,413 of 2,575
Not having done much modding or pad rolling myself, I can't really comment, but I can say that I went from the HRT HD (with AQVOX linear usb power supply) to the Audio-gd DAC-19 upgraded this year, and wow, the differences are quite important. In fact, the 'metallic treble' that you describe Kman is really a problem with a lot of DACs, even the Burr Brown based ones. While the HRT is punchy, musical, and has a good soundstage and depth, especially for its price, I think it's major shortcoming is in the upper mids and treble ranges, where it tends to sound hard. 

The DAC-19 is an R2R not Sigma-Delta dac, and so it has much less noise in the chip itself, which means less digital filtering is necessary, and hence the acoustic sounds are much more realistic, and you especially notice it in the highs. They're not rolled off, and actually feel more 'present' in some ways, while of course being very non-fatiguing. 

As others have mentioned, the dt150s have the potential to sound sooooooo analogue, it's really uncanny. The DAC-19 really takes them to another level, though you may lose a tiny bit of the edgy punch that some people really like with techno-based genres. For me the realism is worth it, and I don't feel that there is a lack of timing. In fact, I've been listening to a lot of world percussion music and it's unreal how many layers of drums and percussion instruments you can get with these phones and a good recording.


I'm not surprised the dac sounds a lot better, R2R DACs tend to be pricey but are worth it. I only bought the HRT HD because I thought it was one of the best I tried around its price range and didn't have the funds for a higher end DAC. An nicer dac is on the short list of audio upgrades I have. I do have a turntable at least, just need to pick up some more vinyl.
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 7:06 AM Post #1,420 of 2,575
Hi all! One month ago I got a pair of brand-new DT 150. However, the right channel have rattle sound when played with 80Hz sound.
I sent the headphone to the dealer in my region for checking. but the dealer claimed the headphone is in PERFECT CONDITION and refused to change any of the parts.
The 80Hz rattle sound still annoys me. What a bad experience.
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 7:28 AM Post #1,421 of 2,575
  Hi all! One month ago I got a pair of brand-new DT 150. However, the right channel have rattle sound when played with 80Hz sound.
I sent the headphone to the dealer in my region for checking. but the dealer claimed the headphone is in PERFECT CONDITION and refused to change any of the parts.
The 80Hz rattle sound still annoys me. What a bad experience.

Very common Beyer Driver excursion issue, remember that all drivers are hand assembled and sometimes chances are the glue doesn't squeeze from the nozzle enough, this can cause uneven spots and the diaphragm rattles, it will hit peak excursion (Max SPL) but with a rattle noise. 
This is camo on a coupler hence it passes QC with no problems.
Just copy what I said and forward it to your local Beyerdynamic office, tell them to run test tones from the range and go below. Most dealers are stupid, they don't have the scientific knowledge, I suggest you directly contact Beyer, Beyer service is spot on. 
Also, don't bother opening it up and looking for hair, you will be wasting your time. 
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 8:44 AM Post #1,422 of 2,575
  Very common Beyer Driver excursion issue, remember that all drivers are hand assembled and sometimes chances are the glue doesn't squeeze from the nozzle enough, this can cause uneven spots and the diaphragm rattles, it will hit peak excursion (Max SPL) but with a rattle noise. 
This is camo on a coupler hence it passes QC with no problems.
Just copy what I said and forward it to your local Beyerdynamic office, tell them to run test tones from the range and go below. Most dealers are stupid, they don't have the scientific knowledge, I suggest you directly contact Beyer, Beyer service is spot on. 
Also, don't bother opening it up and looking for hair, you will be wasting your time. 

 
Thank for your information. I agree that some dealers have very little scientific knowledge, such as mixing up "imbalance of two channels" with "distortion". However, contacting the dealer again probably provides me another bad experience ONLY. I have expressed my serious disappointment towards the repairing services in my last visit to the dealer. Not sure they will contact me again or not.
 
DT150 is indeed a pair of good series headphone. But the driver problems keep me away from supporting this brand.
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 9:05 AM Post #1,423 of 2,575
 
DT150 is indeed a pair of good series headphone. But the driver problems keep me away from supporting this brand.

From time to time every brand has problems with their headphones, be it Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Audeze, HiFiMAN, etc. If turning each of them down every time something goes wrong eventually there will be none left. Every single  one of them has warranty for their products. Contact them and they will exchange your headphones. You don't even have to go anywhere. They use courier services or post for exchange matters. It's not a big deal.
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 9:07 AM Post #1,424 of 2,575
   
Thank for your information. I agree that some dealers have very little scientific knowledge, such as mixing up "imbalance of two channels" with "distortion". However, contacting the dealer again probably provides me another bad experience ONLY. I have expressed my serious disappointment towards the repairing services in my last visit to the dealer. Not sure they will contact me again or not.
 
DT150 is indeed a pair of good series headphone. But the driver problems keep me away from supporting this brand.

I understand. 

Look at it from a different perspective, Beyer is one of the only headphone manufacturer on this planet that hand assembles transducers, since this issue as I stated is not detected on a coupler it can pass the assembly line into packaging scot-free. 
To understand this issue you have to understand how it works, Beyer glues Voice Coils to Diaphragms then they glue that to the Magnet (Unlike the HD800 which goes through a slightly different process), during this process a lot of things can happen, I don't blame the people who assemble cause it's not their fault, Beyer introduced hand assembly for the DT48 which had variable excursion in respect to proper Voice-Coil gluing, this means that you can alter your excursion with the change in magnetic field which was possible since the Magnet was threaded and not glued. 

Even if the QC was improved, the testers would have to test at different ranges, sweeping through SPL, that can take 30-40mins per system, with those numbers a manufacturer will not survive. 
To further understand this issue, I had done a test with 5 T1's some months ago, I'll have to look for my paper but from what I can remember, Sample 3's "Right" System hit excursion at a crazy 400Hz at a relatively low SPL, exact number is in my paper.
Out of those 5 samples, at least 6 Systems (System = 1 Driver) had an issue, some might not be as noticeable as they hit at very low frequencies where the headphone rolls-off and to hear that you will have to increase your SPL, in normal listening they are not apparent because of the roll-off.
My personal T1's right driver hit's at 250Hz, again...I don't remember at what SPL.  

So in short, if you have a problem, replace as soon as possible and hope your next sample is free from issues. 
 
Aug 9, 2015 at 10:02 AM Post #1,425 of 2,575
  From time to time every brand has problems with their headphones, be it Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Audeze, HiFiMAN, etc. If turning each of them down every time something goes wrong eventually there will be none left. Every single  one of them has warranty for their products. Contact them and they will exchange your headphones. You don't even have to go anywhere. They use courier services or post for exchange matters. It's not a big deal.

 
Instead of the DT150, I actually own a pair of DT770 Pro (32 Ohm) which is also bought this year. Both headphones did provide me great experience right out of the box, but both of them fair to pass the usual tests with the rattle sound such as this one. http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php
 
At first I believed it was due to a lack of burn-in, but both headphone did not get better after using for a month. So I decided to take it to the dealer for a check. The dealer replied me that both headphones are in PERFECT CONDITION and just call me to take it back. The DT770 Pro continued to produce rattle sound so I returned to the dealer a month later. They finally recognized the right driver had problem and claimed to change BOTH of the drivers for me (to avoid imbalanced sound). When I took the headphone back, an officer told me that ONLY the defected (right) driver has been changed, which is not the same as what I was informed. However, the annoying rattle sound appeared on the left driver this time. Since I did not want to have a fifth visit to the dealer, I took it back and wished that one day all the rattle sound would go away. 
 
I do suffer from the rattle sound from my pair of SONY Z7, Z1000 also. But, after replacement, I find the problem completely solved but not partly.
 
DT150 is really a pair of good headphone which I can use to enjoy a whole afternoon, but this successive unhappy experience and dealer services make me stopping considering headphones from this brand. (I know that Massdrop have a good deal of DT1350 and I was considering that). Sorry for the long story.
 
 
  I understand. 

Look at it from a different perspective, Beyer is one of the only headphone manufacturer on this planet that hand assembles transducers, since this issue as I stated is not detected on a coupler it can pass the assembly line into packaging scot-free. 
To understand this issue you have to understand how it works, Beyer glues Voice Coils to Diaphragms then they glue that to the Magnet (Unlike the HD800), during this process a lot of things can happen, I don't blame the people who assemble cause it's not their fault, Beyer introduced hand assembly for the DT48 which had variable excursion in respect to proper Voice-Coil gluing, this means that you can alter your excursion with the change in magnetic field which was possible since the Magnet was threaded and not glued. 

Even if the QC was improved, the testers would have to test at different ranges, sweeping through SPL, that can take 30-40mins per system, with those numbers a manufacturer will not survive. 
To further understand this issue, I had done a test with 5 T1's some months ago, I'll have to look for my paper but from what I can remember, Sample 3's "Right" System hit excursion at a crazy 400Hz at a relatively low SPL, exact number is in my paper.
Out of those 5 samples, at least 6 Systems (System = 1 Driver) had an issue, some might not be as noticeable as they hit at very low frequencies where the headphone rolls-off and to hear that you will have to increase your SPL, in normal listening they are not apparent because of the roll-off.
My personal T1's right driver hit's at 250Hz, again...I don't remember at what SPL.  

So in short, if you have a problem, replace as soon as possible and hope your next sample is free from issues. 

 
Thank you for your detail explanation! I do hope we can enjoy our headphones which have no such problems
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