[TwoEars]

This content has moved. Look here for modding the DT1770: http://www.head-fi.org/t/796360/beyerdynamic-dt-1770-mod-thread

 

[Daegalus]

I know someone asked a few posts up about the X2 vs the DT1770, but I was more wanting to know how good of a compliment the DT1770 is to the X2 for on-the-go/office stuff.
 
I love my X2, the sound signature is perfect and its always a pleasure to listen to, but I don't get a lot of time at home to enjoy them, and have been searching for a Closed headphone that has similar characteristics to the X2, or as close as possible. I know I won't be getting the soundstage of the X2, since its a closed headphone, but is the DT1770 adequate enough to give me a similar sound to the X2 from an iPhone, direct laptop, or through a Creative Soundblaster E3?
 
Any info would help.

 

[foreverzer0]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Quote:

  Right, I promised mods and reports so here we go.
 
Right away when I got the DT1770's I noticed that these cans had potential, the midrange was nice and smooth, treble was extended and smooth, soundstage was very good and precise for closed cans, timbre was good, bass was deep and with layering. But I also noticed that these cans had a few problems. The problems were these:
 
1) For me the midrange lacked intimacy, air and ease compared to my HD650 and HD800. The DT1770 sounded good... but something was wrong. The sound was a little bit "slow" or "mellow". I didn't automatically want to grab the DT1770's over my HD650's. For a lack of a better word the DT1770's lacked absolute transparency and musicality. Female vocals didn't really grab me.
 
2) The midrange was great, but the bass was overpowering and bleeding into the midrange. In stock form these are not neutral cans, not by a longshot. I would not recommend these stock for mixing. Not as bad as some other high-end closed cans on the market but still...  EQ'ing will be needed. More on that later.
 
First off before I did anything else I put the DT1770's on an accelerated burn-in schedule. 30 hours of Rammstein on loud volume. There is not a can in the world which isn't at least 90% burned in after that, but the sound didn't really change much. I had hoped that the midrange would open up but it didn't, more drastic measures were needed. I started by taking off the headphone cushions and then also the thick foam pads on either side of the headphone. This was a big improvement in the midrange, definitely clearer and more easy going. But now something else was bothering me, when playing tracks with a lot of bass I could hear small crackling sounds. It sounded like something was moving about. Almost as if the white textile mebrane which had been behind the thick foam piece was now moving about, and maybe it was. So I listened for an hour or so more and then I decided to go all in.
 
In the end these were all the things which came out of the DT1770's and which were obstructing the sound:
 

 
One thick foam piece, one thin textile mebrane, another thin membrane. I suppose it's all there to tune the sound but you gotta remember that whenever you tune sound using foam and membranes you also take away alot of details, directness and ease in the music. In the extreme case scenario imagine listening to a pair of headphones through a pillow, how good does that sound? Ideally you want as little as possible between your ears and the headphone drivers. The more direct path the better, the rest is EQ if needed. And here is the end result:
 

 
Looks pretty good. And here is HD650 for comparision. Also with visible driver:
 

 
This here opened up the midrange of the DT1770 something astronomical. Problem solved. Now let's deal with bloated bass. This might change but right now I settled on a -3.5 dB bass EQ from zero to about 200 Hz, like this. Then I also EQ'ed down the treble about 3 dB to compensate for removing all those treble reducing foams and mebranes. Like this:
 

 
And the result? To my ears these headphones are now so much better it's not even funny. Before the midrange was failing to engage but now female vocals are sending shivers down my spine and making my hairs stand on end. The treble is more extended and much clearer but stops shy of being harsh to my ears, even without treble EQ it's still more forgiving than a stock HD800. The bass is clearer and better layered, and after EQ'ing it down it no longer bleeds into the midrange. The bass is there, it's good but it's no longer trying to take center stage. Not all headphones respond well to removing bass, we got lucky in that the DT1770 has no problems with this.
 
Before my mods I was on the fence about keeping these, I was worried that since they failed to engage me they would just be collecting dust. But now with the mods I'm definitely keeping them. The sound can be summed up like this:
 
Bass: Much better and more layered then HD600/650. Not quite as deep, tight or layered as the HD800, but still very good (yes - the HD800 has world class bass, just give it a +3db bass boost).
Midrange: As good as HD600/650, and I'm not saying that lightly.
Treble: Clearer, airier than HD600/650. But not harsh or metallic in the way that a stock HD800 can be. A few dB down to compensate for lack of foam and other things does the trick.
Soundstage: Absolutely fantastic for closed cans, more precise than HD600/650. Not as big as HD800 but for closed cans very, very good.
Musicality/intimacy: The mods completely changed this for me. Before it felt lacking but now I wonder if it isn't as good as the HD600/650.
 
Yupp. In their current form these are keepers, they're not going anywhere.
 
If you only listen to classical or midrange focused music, and have no problems with open cans, I think you should still listen to and consider the HD600/650, and probably the new Hifiman 400S as well. But if you specifically want a closed set of cans, with a neutral reference type sound, that can play a bit of everything these are you babies right here, look no further.
 
I'm still waiting for mini-xlr connectors so that I can make my own cable. I don't expect the cable to make a big difference, but with a new cable I will be able to connect the DT1770's to my tube amp and that could be interesting.
 

 
I wish I could hear it. Not sure I'm willing to mod mine and void warranties. While I'm all for improvement, it's also a bit hard to imagine with all the engineers over at Beyer, they wouldn't be able to do this from stock. Actually, they put the extra foam and other things in there - for what reason if it reduces the overall sound quality?

 

[TwoEars]

This content has moved. Look here for modding the DT1770: http://www.head-fi.org/t/796360/beyerdynamic-dt-1770-mod-thread

 

[Allanmarcus]

I wish I could hear it. Not sure I'm willing to mod mine and void warranties. While I'm all for improvement, it's also a bit hard to imagine with all the engineers over at Beyer, they wouldn't be able to do this from stock. Actually, they put the extra foam and other things in there - for what reason if it reduces the overall sound quality?

 
beyer probably add the white felt-like piece to attenuate the highs. Many people don't like the beyer signature high ("ear piercing" is commonly used to describe it). The Ether C even comes with a "tuning kit" that consists of felt like this to attenuate highs, if the user wants to use it. 

 

[plakat]

While I understand the interest in tinkering I think its a bit farfetched to say that more or less Beyerdynamic were incompetent, putting things in there that simply make it less good. I'm sure those parts are there on purpose. Removing them does change the sound, no question about that. But it simply is not as Beyerdynamic intended it to sound. And I do not question their ability to have an opinion about the sound signature...
 
Leaving the driver open is not a good idea in my opinion, regardless of sound changes: the driver will collect dust, hair and other particles...

 

[rasmushorn]

It looks like the good old "APureSound-mod" for HD650. I did that with my HD650 when I had them and removing the foam did exactly what you describe with the mids to the HD650. It did not remove anything but only added some midrange and opened the sound a lot. I can imagine this will be something I will try some day, down the road, when I get the DT-1770.

   
I understand completely. But if you want to try it you can start with just removing the big foam piece, that mod is 100% reversible and probably gives 90% of the sound improvement anyway
 
If so start with removing the cushions, then pull up on the exposed plastic lip with your fingernails. It should come loose. Pull up on the inner plastic lip here:
 

 
Then you can remove the big foam piece, mount it back together, and see how you like.
 
I'm not saying the sound change is for everyone, probably not for bassheads. But for people who like HD600/650/800 and neutrality I think it's worth trying.

 

[foreverzer0]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

   
I understand completely. But if you want to try it you can start with just removing the big foam piece, that mod is 100% reversible and probably gives 90% of the sound improvement anyway
 
If so start with removing the cushions, then pull up on the exposed plastic lip with your fingernails. It should come loose. Pull up on the inner plastic lip here:
 

 
Then you can remove the big foam piece, mount it back together, and see how you like.
 
I'm not saying the sound change is for everyone, probably not for bassheads. But for people who like HD600/650/800 and neutrality I think it's worth trying.
 

 
Can you show a closer picture of the exposed plastic lip or even a video? I see the two plates where the pad band folds into, and I tried pulling that a bit but it didn't budge. I don't want to break anything lol.

 

[redeyeguy]

Just got a pair, I just had to go back and buy it after hearing it. It's so much better than the Custom One Pro, not even in the same league. COP is like a fart-canon version of the DT770 with rolled off highs and no soundstage for me.  Custom Studio is very spacious sounding, very open, nice imaging, nice frontal projection, and on the 2nd setting on the bass port, it's very neutral sounding. I don't find the highs harsh at all, it's actually quite smooth and dark sounding compared to DT880's and T1's. In the store the 2nd setting on the bass port made them sound very similar to DT1770's, but again, that was out of a non-ideal source, so it's hard to judge. What I like the most about Custom Studio is how clean they sound and how good they sound on low volumes. Most headphones require high volume to sound dynamic and punchy, these sound punchy and exciting at low volumes, the bass has that "in your chest" tight thump to it, especially with all ports opened

Reading through this thread makes me both very happy to own a set of Custom Studios as well as intrigued by the general variety yet certain degree of continuity. In spite of different sound signatures, Beyers seem to carry same build styles while each model seeming to me like one big upgrade to the next.

Trying out different Beyers to me sounds like dating really hot triplets and seeing which one performs the best.

Sorry for the inappropriate analogy guys...

 

[TwoEars]

This content has moved. Look here for modding the DT1770: http://www.head-fi.org/t/796360/beyerdynamic-dt-1770-mod-thread

 

[Wilashort]

Completely agreed with the last paragraph
Quote:

  While I understand the interest in tinkering I think its a bit farfetched to say that more or less Beyerdynamic were incompetent, putting things in there that simply make it less good. I'm sure those parts are there on purpose. Removing them does change the sound, no question about that. But it simply is not as Beyerdynamic intended it to sound. And I do not question their ability to have an opinion about the sound signature...
 
Leaving the driver open is not a good idea in my opinion, regardless of sound changes: the driver will collect dust, hair and other particles...

 

[Beagle]

I can't understand people wanting to turn every headphone into something that sounds like another headphone. Why not just buy that headphone instead?

 

[john57]

"take away everything which isn't 100% needed"
 
The above statement does not make much sense to me.

 

[TwoEars]

Skepticism is alive and well I see.

 
It's simple really. Beyerdynamics can't sell a headphone that needs digital EQ'ing out of the box. But I'm fine with digital EQ'ing. So I'm replacing Beyer's "foam & membrane EQ'ing" for "digital EQ'ing" and gain a more direct and musical sound in the process. Do you really believe that EQ'ing is more "correct" because Beyer is doing it with foam and membranes rather than me doing it with ones and zeros? No I say.
 
And leaving the driver open is fine. Perfectly fine. Speakers are open and my HD650's has been running like this for the past 8 years, still like new. Just don't poke it with pencils. In any case all this is voluntary of course. No one has to modify their headphone if they don't want to. I'm simply sharing something which I did and which I liked.
 
I also want to clarify that the DT1770 is GREAT in stock form. You don't have to modify it to enjoy it, even in stock form it has very nice midrange, bass and soundstage. I just think I've found a way to make my pair slightly better for my tastes. And I underline that, my tastes.
 
In any case - I don't want to completely derail this thread so I think I'll refrain from posting more about my mods here. If anyone has question feel free to PM me about exactly what EQ I'm using now and what not.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Skepticism is alive and well I see.

It's simple really. Beyerdynamics can't sell a headphone that needs digital EQ'ing out of the box. But I'm fine with digital EQ'ing. So I'm replacing Beyer's "foam & membrane EQ'ing" for "digital EQ'ing" and gain a more direct and musical sound in the process. Do you really believe that EQ'ing is more "correct" because Beyer is doing it with foam and membranes rather than me doing it with ones and zeros? No I say.

And leaving the driver open is fine. Perfectly fine. Speakers are open and my HD650's has been running like this for the past 8 years, still like new. Just don't poke it with pencils. In any case all this is voluntary of course. No one has to modify their headphone if they don't want to. I'm simply sharing something which I did and which I liked.

I also want to clarify that the DT1770 is GREAT in stock form. You don't have to modify it to enjoy it, even in stock form it has very nice midrange, bass and soundstage. I just think I've found a way to make my pair slightly better for my tastes. And I underline that, my tastes.

In any case - I don't want to completely derail this thread so I think I'll refrain from posting more about my mods here. If anyone has question feel free to PM me about exactly what EQ I'm using now and what not.

The advantage of modding to obtain desired sound over EQ is two fold. 1) a mod may produce more desired sound that EQ cannot, say by reducing vibrations. 2) not all music programs have EQ available.

Please start a new thread for modding the 1770 and please keep posting there. Many of us appreciate your efforts.