[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do a search after "DT880 600", you get only 20 hits or so. If a 2000+ member from 2004 states the differences to be minor in direct comparison, that weights for me more than a "best can since invention of fire" statement by a relativly unexperienced user from 2007. It's all a question what is to be regarded as major and minor though. Being member of team earthed, I hear no differences between cables and only very little differences between amps of the same quality rank. Vice versa, sound differences between the 250 ohm and the 600 ohm versions will propably be "night and day" for team cable.

I understand, and I was skeptical too. But as an ex-owner of 250Ohm who did not like them enough to keep and adore 600Ohm version, all I can say you are missing a lot by discounting them. One more, from what I've read, difference might not be that drastic out of tube amps, but with my SS amps it was quite dramatic.

 

[nickchen]

Maybe true. But they would cost almost 50€ per system, and there's still that problem with the super fragile thin coil wire...

...and remember, I have the "better" elder version anyway,

the actual version also didn't impress me that much.

 

[QQQ]

Andrew_WOT, to me (to me!) you are developing case of strong 880\600 fanboyism. Beyers(each, any) are good cans, but that's just it. They're good only with certain music and even then there's a lot of shortcomings to speak of.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by QQQ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Andrew_WOT, to me (to me!) you are developing case of strong 880\600 fanboyism. Beyers(each, any) are good cans, but that's just it. They're good only with certain music and even then there's a lot of shortcomings to speak of.

Not sure I deserved fanboy label for that, Peter Pinna is a fanboy, I am far from that.

I have quite a few of other cans that I like and recommend, but this is DT880 thread and it just happened that IMO they deserved better attention as a lot of things I did not like about 250Ohm DT880 in my system has been magically fixed with 600 Ohm version.

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Peter Pinna is a fanboy, I am far from that.

Totally agreed, I like your posts..

But that guy made me severely consider the "add to ignore list" feature of the forum software...

 

[QQQ]

It's the guy who aggressively attacked everyone who claimed 880 has aggressive treble?

 

[coolcat]

I donn't like my too.

but I still have some hopes

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by QQQ /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's the guy who aggressively attacked everyone who claimed 880 has aggressive treble?

No. Keep that name in mind, and when you get into a thread he attends, say something critical about any Ultrasone, and you'll find out.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif No. Keep that name in mind, and when you get into a thread he attends, say something critical about any Ultrasone, and you'll find out.

I bet that guy has Ultrasone tattoo somewhere.

 

[Cerumenator]

If anyone's still interested, I've decided to send mine back.

They have improved a little, slightly deeper bass extension without distortion. But on most recordings it's like this: imagine a volume knob that goes from 0-10. At volume 4 or 5, if I take the 50Hz graphic eq knob up just one or two Db, I hear distortion in the bass on most recordings. Which is unpredictable, but seems to do better on CD's recorded prior to 2000 or so. (compression?)

Sure I could keep them and 'get used to them' but somewhere there's a line between burn in or whatever, and brain-washing yourself that your first impressions were 'wrong' somehow.

 

[PWilson]

While there's plenty of debate over how neutral the Beyers are and how deep they dig, they're a high quality set of headphones, and they won't distort easily. What you're talking about is distortion at the DAC level, or the amplifier level. The fact that it happens more on newer stuff says it's a DAC thing.

A better way to achieve what you tried to do is to increase the volume a little, then EQ everything higher than 50Hz down. This prevents the <50Hz signals from clipping.

Either way, you've decided they're not for you. I actually quite liked their presentation, albeit not as much as I like the 701's (yes, for rock and metal). I think that the flaws you speak of would have been corrected to a large degree with more amplification. But if you want something that will work out of your current setup and give you more of the sound you want, perhaps look at Grados or some of the other recommendations people have given.

 

[Aimless1]

I had a pair of hp that I hated from the first listen to the last. If you don't like the DT880 then you're wise to return them.

You originally mentioned the SR225 as your other choice, and for the music you've talked about it is a better choice IMHO. Not as detailed but a whole lot more fun than the DT880.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerumenator /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anyone's still interested, I've decided to send mine back. They have improved a little, slightly deeper bass extension without distortion. But on most recordings it's like this: imagine a volume knob that goes from 0-10. At volume 4 or 5, if I take the 50Hz graphic eq knob up just one or two Db, I hear distortion in the bass on most recordings. Which is unpredictable, but seems to do better on CD's recorded prior to 2000 or so. (compression?) Sure I could keep them and 'get used to them' but somewhere there's a line between burn in or whatever, and brain-washing yourself that your first impressions were 'wrong' somehow.

If you ever have occasion to audition a well burned in pair of the DT880/2003, you may be pleasantly surprised. To me, the 2003 version had a much more open and extended treble, and a much deeper, more articulate bass. To me Beyer, with the 2005 version, turned the DT880 into a "middle-of-the-road," and "try-to-please-the-mass-market" product.

 

[eruditass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerumenator /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anyone's still interested, I've decided to send mine back. They have improved a little, slightly deeper bass extension without distortion. But on most recordings it's like this: imagine a volume knob that goes from 0-10. At volume 4 or 5, if I take the 50Hz graphic eq knob up just one or two Db, I hear distortion in the bass on most recordings. Which is unpredictable, but seems to do better on CD's recorded prior to 2000 or so. (compression?) Sure I could keep them and 'get used to them' but somewhere there's a line between burn in or whatever, and brain-washing yourself that your first impressions were 'wrong' somehow.

you're using a digital eq and you're probably hitting the digital roof of that recording and the dt880s are letting you know. every recording has higher amplitude bass due to our hearing curve so you reach that digital clipping ceiling with lower frequencies, particularly any below 200 Hz.

In addition, most popular records, like say past 2000 or so, has a bit of the loudness war going on where there is dynamic compression and higher digital levels. Rip them to mp3 and run mp3gain or just do replay gain, and i am pretty sure you will be near clipping.

If you want to know how digital clipping works, songs in any format are a series of samples. The DAC takes these samples and recreates a ton of sine waves. There is a max value, so when you EQ too much, a low frequency sine wave like 100 hz will clip and become a square wave. a square wave is a sine wave plus odd integer harmonics which sound the worse to a human ear and give us that nasty distortion.

lower the gain of your albums and i doubt you will hear any clipping, unless you have faulty dt880s. another method is to pre-cut your equalizer or use a analog eq. I hope you aren't using itunes or winamp's built in eq - they are prone to clipping as well, but i think precutting / reducing gain will help. you can improve winamps a bit in the decoder settings - disabling fast layer eq.

once you do this, use a later stage volume control to bring it back to the same volume as before and you wont hear any distortion.

 

[slowfreight]

I just got mine about a week ago. I'm running them out of a prelude and an MK V. They are a bit bright for me. Maybe a nice tube amp will help out, but I'll be returning them soon much like the OP. I think I'll try the DT990's next.