Day three with these phones (my initial thoughts appear about 7 posts before this one, for those who missed it).. and I'm enjoying the DT 770 AE more and more. How much? I haven't
touched my HD600 since the AE arrived
.
As far as burn in.. these have changed a fair bit from how they sounded ootb (out of the box).. to how they sound now (approx 10-15 hours logged). They went from.. crisp/somewhat bright.. to warm, a bit thick, and slow.. to quite balanced now. Bass has tightened up considerably. OOTB, the loose nature of the bass occupied a wider band of bass frequencies... which gave the bass sort of a 'fat' quality. Now, that looseness occupies a much tighter, narrow scope of frequencies.. so that's good news. It still isn't the fastest bass out there.. but at the price point, I wou;dn't consider it a weakness.
The midrange is really quite special. It possesses excellent depth and offers a terrific blend of neutrality/transparency and a hint of color. The coloration feels quite sophisticated too in that it isn't that outright, "cheap" sense of warmth that many monitoring phones love to feature; i.e. the kind that makes its presence known
no matter what kind of music you play. It's much more nuanced here. I'd best describe it as delicate, "ethereal" warmth that accentuates instead of veils... it isn't ever present and feels quite dependent on the quality of the recording. I very much enjoy how vocals sound in these phones.. male vocals have nice weight and that tinge of warmth gives a touch of that analog sound. Same goes for female vocals.. airy, smooth, detailed. There's such a terrific, engaging musicality to the midrange (that suits my tastes, anyway).. it's probably why I haven't gone running back to the HD600.
What keeps the midrange from sounding excessively subdued and laid back is the crisp, airy treble. There's some sizzle in the 3-6K range that was a bit hot/sibilant in the first few hours.. but has since relaxed. Treble presence blends & balances quite well with the midrange. It doesn't sound brashly boosted at all.. it's what I'd describe as typical Beyer treble (based on what I've read).. crisp, airy, accurate. It gives the soundstage a nice sense of openness and vocals the necessary air. Speaking of the soundstage... the AE possesses one of the most impressive soundstage I've heard from a closed phone.. let alone one in this price bracket. It makes for a very non-fatiguing, "live" listening experience. I don't get the "wall of sound" feel that permeates many closed phones/monitors.
The AE seems quite sensitive to recording quality, too. The revealing nature of my DAC and amp (ODAC & O2) is, to a degree, responsible for this sensitivity.. but the phones themselves (noticeably) "show off" with well recorded material (improved soundstage, dynamics, clarity, and tonal accuracy are all
easily distinguishable).