[kman1211]

One thing I dislike about the DT150 is that the headband is really narrow and thus really bad about making hotspots on the top of my head and getting very uncomfortable pretty quickly and needing almost constant readjustment. But the other day I realized that the $25 price tag on Dekoni nuggets is for a pack of four, not just two like the Amazon product page lead me to believe. $25 for two nuggets seemed insane so I never considered them before, but $25 for four is much more reasonable, so I picked up a pack for my DT150. And I can confirm, the nuggets completely transform the comfort of this headphone. Can wear this headphone without issue for hours and hours now.

Added bonus, I assume it's just an issue with my particular DT150, but the cups are very loose on the yokes and always slide down to full extension. That used to be too much extension and they wouldn't sit right on my ears. Previously I had gaffer tape wrapped around the bottom inch or so of each yoke so the cups could only slide down to the beginning of the tape rather than the end of the yoke. It was a fine solution for me, but adding the Dekoni nuggets to the headband added an inch or so to where it sits, which means now with the tape removed again and the cups at full extension, it fits perfectly.

So yeah, the Dekoni nugs are a huge comfort upgrade for this headphone. If you have comfort issues like I did, I very much recommend them.

Using a DT 100/480 headband cover will work too as it’s much thicker (likely due to the weight of these headphones). Also you can just slide one earcup up and one down if yokes are loose and it works fine. I have this issue on my DT 480 of sliders not staying in place which is basically twice the weight of the DT 150. They weigh around 500g whereas the DT 150 weighs 250g.

 

[dstarr3]

Some earpad input to add to the pile:

When I bought my used DT150, the stock earpads were shot, so I replaced them with the pads @Baycode linked a couple pages ago,
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000911586243.html

I don't really have a point of reference since I never heard the stock pads, but I can at least say I do love this headphone with these pads. Punchy, well-extended bass, leans a little warm, no harshness in the highs at all, not fatiguing to listen to in any way. My only complaint is that they don't isolate as well as I'd hoped since this is pretty much my dedicated office headphone.

It occurred to me that I have the Brainwavz XL Hybrid pads handy, so I gave those a test drive this morning. Isolation improved, Brainwavz Hybrid pads are generally very good for that. Bass was still punchy as ever. But the pads totally trashed the highs for me. Sibilant, grainy, and fatiguing. Swapped back to the previously linked pads and everything was back to normal and lovely.

So yeah, Brainwavz XL Hybrid. I don't recommend them for this headphone.

 

[dstarr3]

I successfully recabled/dual-3.5mm modded my DT150 this week!





I've found that my preferred way to recable headphones is to convert them to the Hifiman style of connections whenever possible. Which is to say, a 3.5mm connector at each cup, tip is positive, ring is unused, sleeve is negative. Reasons being, Hifiman-style cables are already plentiful and inexpensive and available in any kind of termination you could want, be it SE or balanced, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 1/4", XLR, etc etc. No custom cables required, they're already easy to source, you can pay as much or as little as you want. Plus, if I want to connect it to a balanced amp one day and a single-ended amp the next, it's as easy as using the right cable.

So I went to my parts bin, found the 3.5mm connectors I wanted to use, broke out the calipers and made some measurements, and designed and 3D printed some parts to attach to the cups in place of the L/R plates, which are conveniently covering some driver connection terminals.



Some rewiring was still required, so the stock connector will no longer work, and I had to replace the L/R plate screws with longer ones, but at the end of the day, I'm super-pleased with how this turned out and I'm very glad to be able to plug these into my balanced Singxer amp. It has an SE output, but its balanced output is really where the magic happens, so it's great to be able to use it with this headphone now. It sounds just phenomenal.

 

[Setmagic]

I successfully recabled/dual-3.5mm modded my DT150 this week!





I've found that my preferred way to recable headphones is to convert them to the Hifiman style of connections whenever possible. Which is to say, a 3.5mm connector at each cup, tip is positive, ring is unused, sleeve is negative. Reasons being, Hifiman-style cables are already plentiful and inexpensive and available in any kind of termination you could want, be it SE or balanced, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 1/4", XLR, etc etc. No custom cables required, they're already easy to source, you can pay as much or as little as you want. Plus, if I want to connect it to a balanced amp one day and a single-ended amp the next, it's as easy as using the right cable.

So I went to my parts bin, found the 3.5mm connectors I wanted to use, broke out the calipers and made some measurements, and designed and 3D printed some parts to attach to the cups in place of the L/R plates, which are conveniently covering some driver connection terminals.



Some rewiring was still required, so the stock connector will no longer work, and I had to replace the L/R plate screws with longer ones, but at the end of the day, I'm super-pleased with how this turned out and I'm very glad to be able to plug these into my balanced Singxer amp. It has an SE output, but its balanced output is really where the magic happens, so it's great to be able to use it with this headphone now. It sounds just phenomenal.

Looks like professional upgrade component. ^^

 

[dstarr3]

I've been getting requests from some users for the STL files so they can 3D print their own and perform this mod themselves, so I've posted the file on Thingiverse for those with printers to download and use.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5205308

The description includes a link to the connectors I used and some brief instructions. If you're handy with a soldering iron and have access to a 3D printer, it's not too difficult a mod to perform. I'd love to make an instructional video for YouTube, but I've clearly already modded mine. I'm not going to buy another DT150 just to make an extremely niche YouTube video, lol.

 

[dstarr3]

I took my DT150 back to work where I have a Fiio K5 Pro on my desk. I'm really very impressed by the synergy happening here. I need to set the amp to high-gain for these to get the best results, but holy cow are the results good. Volume is at 10 o'clock and absolutely rocking my socks off. Sounds perfectly energetic and fast, not sleepy or sluggish at all.

This little $150 DAC/amp is a real wolf in sheep's clothing. The thing is always surprising me. And the synergy here with the DT150 is especially noteworthy.

 

[wrill]

this is my first/maybe my only head-fi post, but I just wanted to say thanks to this 15(!) year old thread for helping me find these headphones!

I work in audio post, out of a modest, shared studio space and a lot of times I'm working on a pair of sennheiser HD6XX out of necessity. I wanted a closed back headphone with more passive isolation that matched them for when I'm on the go. After scrolling way back in this thread (there's stuff like people posting about finding out about susan boyle on youtube in 2009, it's like an internet time capsule) I decided to grab a pair from thomann... after using them for a week, I'm not disappointed.

It's kind of shocking hearing the refined, detailed sound that comes out of these vs their old school look, but that's part of the charm. The comparisons to 650s make a lot of sense, although there's definitely more hi-mid energy. The sound sig is not identical, but it's pretty close to begin with, and with a little EQ the two sound pretty close. Only thing is the stereo spread, which feels about 2x as wide as the sennheisers. I like this for listening purposes, but use Realphones HRTF to get this under control a little bit for editing purposes. I'm not the first person to have said this here, but so far, I'm enjoying their sound more than my 6xx. It may be a little less detailed overall but the transients feel really nice. Volume is a little quieter than the 6xx. I can drive both pretty equally with a macbook and they sound decent. I'm not really in the audiophile world, so I can't really comment on how they scale. They sound better out of a topping dx3 pro+, but not earth shatteringly so. Passive isolation is not great, but it's good, and a clear step up from open backs. They're also insanely light, and I find them to be pretty comfortable. The only thing that kills me is that the cable is on the right side.

I tried stock pads, DT100 velours, and Shure 1840s, and I like the Shures the most. The stock pads sound pretty good, but they have too much ambient reflection for me, which feels like it's distracting, and not super analytical. Both of the velours sound much dryer, and I'm trying to avoid excess buildup of bass frequencies, so they're a better fit for my purposes. I think the DT100s might sound the tiniest bit better actually, a little more transient energy, but the shures are much more comfortable and sound more like the 6XX, which is what I'm going for anyway. I've rolled up some extra speaker padding foam and tucked it under the back side of each of the shure pads to angle them a bit... seems to work fine!

Anyhow, I don't usually post reviews or whatnot but it's just very satisfying to find a bit of old, anachronistic tech that works wonderfully and is cheap to boot. Hopefully this thread helps some other people save on buying super expensive gear -- you might not need it, try these first

cheers!

 

[ithehappy]

So, if anyone is looking for a headphone which is a neutral/flat variant of a DT 770, retaining all the good things of the 770, like soundstage and details and so on, but cutting back on the booming bass and ear piercing treble/highs, could this work, the DT 150? I have spent countless hours reading and watching reviews trying to find a flat variant of the 770 but ended nowhere, nobody even mentioned the DT 150 or DT 250, suddenly I find this thread and I wonder....

 

[TROiDEN]

So, if anyone is looking for a headphone which is a neutral/flat variant of a DT 770, retaining all the good things of the 770, like soundstage and details and so on, but cutting back on the booming bass and ear piercing treble/highs, could this work, the DT 150? I have spent countless hours reading and watching reviews trying to find a flat variant of the 770 but ended nowhere, nobody even mentioned the DT 150 or DT 250, suddenly I find this thread and I wonder....

Basically yes, but highs are still relatively loud, a bit less than on DT770.

 

[dstarr3]

So, if anyone is looking for a headphone which is a neutral/flat variant of a DT 770, retaining all the good things of the 770, like soundstage and details and so on, but cutting back on the booming bass and ear piercing treble/highs, could this work, the DT 150? I have spent countless hours reading and watching reviews trying to find a flat variant of the 770 but ended nowhere, nobody even mentioned the DT 150 or DT 250, suddenly I find this thread and I wonder....

It definitely doesn't have the treble problems the 770 has. I owned a 770 for a while and I honestly thought it was unlistenably bright and harsh up top without EQ or modification. DT150, on the other hand, the highs are very well balanced. Not harsh, not excessive. Never had the desire once to mod or EQ it. Sounds great right off the rack. In fact, this is why it's my at-the-office headphone. I can't install any EQ software on my work computer, so I need to use headphones there that sound good without EQ, as well as offering good isolation. And the DT150 does that for me.

In terms of bass, I can be a real bass-head sometimes, and sometimes I find myself wishing the DT150 had, y'know, 3-5db more bass, somewhere in that range. So since I'm a bass-head and the headphone leaves me occasionally wanting more bass, if I had to guess, that means it's a pretty balanced amount of bass.

But yeah, I like to think of the DT150 as being basically a 770 that had all its major flaws removed.

The only problem is that replacement earpads that both fit properly and also don't negatively impact the tonality can be hard to find. If you buy these new, not a problem. If you buy these second-hand, you might need to do some research further back in this thread and see what earpads people are recommending and why.

 

[ballard3]

DT100 velour earpads fit properly and impact stock sound very positively.

 

[vmiguel]

DT100 velour earpads fit properly and impact stock sound very positively.

+1

And if the treble still bothers you, swap the filter in front of the driver for a paper tissue ou better yet, some thin felt.

 

[ithehappy]

Thank you all. Then I am finalising my purchase decision and getting the DT 150. However, it's 250 ohms for crying out loud. So I definitely need an amp right? I have never used an AMP with my desktop, as it kills the simulated 7.1 surround sound provided by Realtek HD audio manager, which I find significantly better for watching movies and I will not consider going back to standard 2-channel stereo. Am I making myself understood here? Lol I am not sure.

Another thing, which store is selling the DT 150 at present, brand new I mean? Please give a link or two. I mean in US. I will have to have it brought over to me by some courier forwarding service or something, as the third world I live in I will never be able to purchase a headphone like that as their profit margins are lower for these old products.

 

[vmiguel]

Yes, an amp will be almost mandatory.

Regarding the simulated 7.1, what output connector does it have? If it's just two channels, if you connect a regular 3,5mm or 6,3mm heaphone to it, an amp will not kill it, as it is a "normal" stereo signal, only processed to simulate the surround.

 

[SHAMuuu]

I successfully recabled/dual-3.5mm modded my DT150 this week!





I've found that my preferred way to recable headphones is to convert them to the Hifiman style of connections whenever possible. Which is to say, a 3.5mm connector at each cup, tip is positive, ring is unused, sleeve is negative. Reasons being, Hifiman-style cables are already plentiful and inexpensive and available in any kind of termination you could want, be it SE or balanced, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 1/4", XLR, etc etc. No custom cables required, they're already easy to source, you can pay as much or as little as you want. Plus, if I want to connect it to a balanced amp one day and a single-ended amp the next, it's as easy as using the right cable.

So I went to my parts bin, found the 3.5mm connectors I wanted to use, broke out the calipers and made some measurements, and designed and 3D printed some parts to attach to the cups in place of the L/R plates, which are conveniently covering some driver connection terminals.



Some rewiring was still required, so the stock connector will no longer work, and I had to replace the L/R plate screws with longer ones, but at the end of the day, I'm super-pleased with how this turned out and I'm very glad to be able to plug these into my balanced Singxer amp. It has an SE output, but its balanced output is really where the magic happens, so it's great to be able to use it with this headphone now. It sounds just phenomenal.

Excellent work man. Thanks for sharing. This is beautiful. The dt150/480 are diamonds in the rough. Very underrated beasts.