[DaftZomb]

This seems to be the general consensus from reviews all over the net, aside from amazon which I've found greatly differ from better sources. Anyway, while i have any but audiophile grade ears, I don't find these phones to be too dark or overly bassy. Bump in the lows? Yeah, but it's nice. Also the highs are much more extended and shimmering unlike my HD 280 pros.
 
My dilemma here is I've ordered some dt 880s because of the 770 supposedly not have much soundstage, being bass heavy and not very accurate. I find them to have excellent separation of instruments sounds. They each have there own space and vocals seem to float on top of the mix. My 280s sound obnoxious and lifeless in comparison, and that's saying something as I'm a guy who can't tell the difference between a 256kbps mp3 and flac, at least not with the sennies....I've also just picked up a pair of used grado sr60s, older version not the 60i. They sound nice, the midrange is there but a lot more pleasant than the sennies. The 770s still own them all in terms of pleasantness and, no kidding here, clarity.
 
So until next week when the 880s arrive I'm hoping to get your thoughts on the matter. like I said I'm no audiophile, and any help from you folks would be much appreciated.

 

[joelpearce]

Bassy? Absolutely.
 
Dark?  Doesn't sound like Beyerdynamic to me.
 
The DT880 is a completely diferent animal.  They do have a wonderful, wide soundstage, but tey are actually a bit lean on the bass end (balanced at any rate) and are even a bit airy.
 
While others may disagree, I would consider the 990, not the 880 the open equivalent of the 770.

 

[DaftZomb]

Cool. I know it's kind of ridiculous to be talking about this when I can find out in a week, but I've got headphone-itis it seems. The 770's are wonderfully open sounding to my ears. A quick comparison to the sr60s and it was no contest, if soundstage is what i'm thinking it is, the 60 had very little. I like the amount of bass the 770s have but I'm thinking a clean, lean bass of the 880s will be just as nice. The wide sound stage is what I'm most looking forward too. I'm more than happy with what the 770s are doing at the moment. And this is the third day of having them, maybe 15 hours of play time on them. If the improvement from break is legit, I'm going to love them even more.
 
At any rate, I'll post back once the 880s arrive and share my thoughts if anyone is interested.

 

[AlfredWong]

You would find both 770 and 990 had been "enhanced" in some way than the more neutrally sounded 880. For the dark and bassy part I think it would be more under control after run in.

 

[Rawrbington]

what version of the 770 do you have?
 
also just to add to the discussion, i LOVE the 770s.
the pro 80s are the darkest of the beyers i've heard, but still have nice top end that doesn't make them really dark. just huge bass.
the 32 ohm variety was much more U shaped in its response.  more like the 990.

 

[Headzone]

Quote:

Cool. I know it's kind of ridiculous to be talking about this when I can find out in a week, but I've got headphone-itis it seems. The 770's are wonderfully open sounding to my ears. A quick comparison to the sr60s and it was no contest, if soundstage is what i'm thinking it is, the 60 had very little. I like the amount of bass the 770s have but I'm thinking a clean, lean bass of the 880s will be just as nice. The wide sound stage is what I'm most looking forward too. I'm more than happy with what the 770s are doing at the moment. And this is the third day of having them, maybe 15 hours of play time on them. If the improvement from break is legit, I'm going to love them even more.
 
At any rate, I'll post back once the 880s arrive and share my thoughts if anyone is interested.

Third day you're having them, and already upgrading to 880's

Nice progress.
 
I don't have my 770's anymore, but I remember that they were not actually that dark sounding, instead they sounded quite bright and even harsh in the treble. If you want a dark sound signature, try some Sennheisers, HD650 for example.
 

 

[Jeff Guidry]

The 770-80's aren't treble veiled, in fact with the right source material they can sound bright. It's just that their overall bass heavy signature it can tend to soften your perception of the top end.

 

[DaftZomb]

Quote:

Third day you're having them, and already upgrading to 880's

Nice progress.
 
I don't have my 770's anymore, but I remember that they were not actually that dark sounding, instead they sounded quite bright and even harsh in the treble. If you want a dark sound signature, try some Sennheisers, HD650 for example.
 

Tell me about it, I'm going to wind up spending a lot more on headphones and accessories than I ever would have thought. Had to buy an amp for them, so I did. Then I figured I needed a portable amp as well, so bought one. What have I got myself in to?! lol
 
I don't intend to keep both 70's and 80's (I really hope I don't anyway) but audition each of them for a while and keep which ever I like more. The 880s will arrive tomorrow and I'll post back with my initial thoughts.
 
Btw, with about 25 hours of playtime on the 770's I've noticed no improvement. I doubt I will at all though as I have a hard time noticing these things, the only way I could is a side by side test. Definitely don't want a darker sounding phone like the 650's. I LOVE the treble of the 770's, brass and cymbals sparkle unlike the comparatively lifeless senny hd280's. Even the open backed sr60's don't have the same treble goodness of the 770's.

 

[DaftZomb]

So they 880s arrived yesterday along with a fii0 e11, which some think is unworthy of the 880s but it works. I can't hear much of a difference in sound other than them being able to be pushed past listenable volumes. My iPad/iPhone had to be maxed out for a decent louder listening volume. Anyway, here are my thoughts-
 
Initial impression- Not good at all. The lack of bass and more present mids didn't make me too happy and the sound leakage is quite bad, definitely not public use cans. Still blow the veiled senn. HD280 out of the water, as the bass was about equal but the mids were much more pleasing and the high were tons more extended and clear. I also noticed that the ear cups are different than the 770s which are more stiff and noisy, as in a muffled crumpling of paper sound....eh, maybe not the best description but they make noise when compressed. The 880s feel like velour clouds pressed against my head, incredibly comfortable. They also seem to have a tad more clamping force though both cans are the pro models. The 770s are 80ohm by the way, 880s 250ohm. Oh, and the 880s also have a noticeably wider sound stage, I love it especially since I listen to a lot of jazz and acoustic music. The instruments are clear as day and each have their own space. Oh again! I almost forgot that with the 80s I can actually tell the difference between flac and a 256mbs mp3! I was happy about that, as I always though I just didn't have anything near decent, audiophile grade ears. I don't, but these cans help me out some
 
Which will I keep? Though I do like the smooth, pillowy sound of the 770s I think in the long run I'll more appreciate the precise, more neutral and balanced 880s especially since I do some music production and mixing. The cool soft case and already mentioned sound sig is more than worth the extra 10 bucks for the 880s. I do think I'll grab some 770s down the road sometime as for use when sound leakage is a problem, plus they don't look as dorky as the massive cans of the 880.
 
 
So that's that. This has turned into a bit of a review thread I guess so any other thoughts, reviews, questions ect. For those debating these cans would be cool. if burn is is real (I'm still skeptical) ill post back. I hope I'm proven wrong!

 

[LithoJazoSphere]

Quote:

Tell me about it, I'm going to wind up spending a lot more on headphones and accessories than I ever would have thought. Had to buy an amp for them, so I did. Then I figured I needed a portable amp as well, so bought one. What have I got myself in to?! lol

You've probably heard by now our motto: "Welcome to Head-Fi.  Sorry about your wallet." 

  I know it all too well, having purchased an SR-60i last summer, enjoying it, but wondering if I could do better.  Back then I really didn't want to go over $100, and now I find myself spending $400 on cans and not even blinking. 
 
The DT-770 is certainly not a dark can.  It's bassy, yet bright, a perfect prototype of the V-shaped frequency response.  Their soundstage is excellent, though it's really hard for closed-backs to compete with open cans for that feature. 

 

[K_19]

DT770's do have plenty of prominent lower bass, but I wouldn't say that makes them a dark can at all. They have a "dry" midrange which sits back and IMO the "darkness" people attribute to sound in headphones usually comes from warmer, thicker and forward lower midrange. That DT770's doesn't have.