Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80ohms: How is the treble?
Mar 3, 2012 at 6:56 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18

cactus_farmer

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I've read some posts saying that the headphone is dark altogether with a recessed midrange and recessed treble, and others saying that it is 'V' shaped in frequency response with forward bass and forward treble...?
 
Can anyone clear it up for me?
 
For example, compared to the highs of the Audio Technica M50, or the Sony MDR-V6, is the DT770 Pro 80ohms still bright?
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 7:05 AM Post #2 of 18
DT770 Pro 80 ohm are among the most V-shaped frequency responses you'll find above $150 (Ultrasone PRO900 would be the other very obvious one), if any1 says something else he just hasn't listened to enough different headphones but also every frequency response graph tells the same story too. This is particularly why I don't like DT770 Pro because I don't like V-shape response as it makes it sound "thin"/hollow to me, lacking body when mids aren't pushed up-front.
 
VS M50 it's a bit brighter too from my memory, I've tested both but it's been a while since. M50 just has a spike around 9kHz or so while DT770 is bright like in the whole highs range.
 

 
Not sure which version above DT770 is but I've seen fairly similar graphs elsewhere too. In average we're talking about mids being pushed back by like 6~7dB or so compared to bass and upper-highs which is a lot and definitely audible.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 9:06 AM Post #3 of 18
Tastes will vary, and trying not to sound argumentative here, just because somebody doesn't have many different headphone experiences might not be the deciding factot in how well they detect pleasant versus unpleasant sound. It is quite conceivable that somebody could have years of experience with many different headphones and just have bad or sensitive hearing. I have been listening to Grados' for years, and yes without much doubt they are bright headphones, but they make it work well all things being considered, plus there are some rewards realised by such a sound signature. Back to the 770s, I own a pair and I do not find the treble fatiguing or overly bright. For certain it is prominant, but so is treble in live music. For me the real test is it pleasant and musical in it's presentation? Does the treble make you want to stop listening or does it sound right to you?
 
I think the trouble with graphs are they only present the least relevant information, they omit how an individual's brain will ultimately experience the sound which is the only measure that matters. Yes I realise there is a great deal of similarity between people, we're more similar than we are different, but a vast amount of ancedotal evidence suggests that even small personal differences can result in big perceptual differences in everything, not just sound perception. All I can say is that I listened to some very well recorded, very demanding music with plenty of treble information on the 770s and I do not find the treble to be anything but very pleasing, engaging and musical. How can two people see things so differently? Nobody knows and nobody should act like they do, we all are different. If you vastly prefer warm, less forward headphones you might indeed find the treble energy less than ideal, who knows? I personally find the 770s to be far less forward in the treble than even my HF2s, but that is just a perception, I can't guarantee you that beyond a doubt you will agree with my view. I hope you have a chance to hear the 770s for yourself. 
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 9:17 AM Post #4 of 18
While I am not dismissing the results of frequency response analysis at all, I'm not an idiot and I realise physics exist, what I am saying is that this information alone is insufficient to draw conclusions from. I work with data in psychology and it is not at all uncommon to have extremely meticulous methodology in how you gather data and analyze it, only to find that regardless of what the information seems to suggest, the people that this data attempts to represent experiences differently than expected. A graph is a very, very, very humble tool when compared to our brain and it's shockingly sophisticated ability to perceive.
 
That said, frequency response analysis does matter, it just isn't the final word that is all I am saying, or trying to say.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 10:30 AM Post #6 of 18
For the past 10 minutes I've been listening to lots of different music with my DT770 Pro 80-Ohm.
and guess what, I like the sound. I like the Bass, I like the Treble and the vocals are just fine.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 10:53 AM Post #7 of 18
I think the highs are pretty mellow on them, there's much less high end energy than the V6's to me. Regarding the mids, I really don't get the claims that they have recessed mids. They have a little better mids than the V6's, and much better mids than the M50's. To my ears they sound about neutral, they have a slight bump to the upper-mids, but the lower-mids are well represented. This coming from a person who absolutely craves a good mid range.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 11:37 AM Post #8 of 18
I think what annoys most people is that dip between 3 and 4 kHz (the fact that it is combined with emphasized lower treble and bass makes it worse). Although it depends on how the headphone interacts with the outer ear, so it may not be equally bad for everyone.
 
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 1:01 PM Post #9 of 18
Mine don't sound overly bright to me. The mids are very recessed, though, certainly compared to my Stax 4170 system or my Koss Pro 4AA's.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 1:35 PM Post #10 of 18
Personally I really like the 770 pros. 
 
The treble is just right on them, nice and extended. I own srh440s and while the treble on those are extended, they tend to be slightly emphasized and border on sibilant .The 770pro has most of this good treble performance with no danger of becoming sibilant. The treble indeed has better performance here than on the 880 or 990 imo. 
 
I would say the mids are not as forward or detailed as the dt1350, but  manage very much to be spacious.
 
overall this headphone has a nice soundstage, due in part I guess to its huge earcup.
 
I have not heard a drastic difference between then 250 ohm and 80ohm.
 
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 3:47 PM Post #11 of 18


Quote:
I've read some posts saying that the headphone is dark altogether with a recessed midrange and recessed treble, and others saying that it is 'V' shaped in frequency response with forward bass and forward treble...?
 
Can anyone clear it up for me?
 
For example, compared to the highs of the Audio Technica M50, or the Sony MDR-V6, is the DT770 Pro 80ohms still bright?

 
Heya,
 
The DT770 is a bright headphone, but I don't find it sibilant. I use mine fairly often, and love it for acoustic, jazz, pop, etc. Lately I've been listening to the new Cranberries album (Roses) non-stop and I really enjoy how the Beyer's treble is with it, it adds that sparkle to the strums of their strings. The headphone is not dark at all, that's pure weirdness there whoever said that some where, all Beyers have a slight brightness to them pretty much. The mids are not recessed like some would have you think. The bass is slightly forward and the treble is slightly forward, so yes, the mids are technically recessed a touch, but it's not drastic. Vocals sound great with the DT770, I don't feel like I'm missing out on any of that. Rock/Metal sounds wonderful through the DT770--again, mids can't be that recessed if these genres are coming through sounding great. That's just my take on it. The DT770 has a sparkle to it, it's not overly bright, but it has a little fun edge which is great if you like things to have a touch of fun. The mids are fine, I have no issues with them, and instruments, vocals, etc, sound great straight out of the box. The bass is fantastic, it's not over powering, but it's not shy either. Sound stage is great for a closed headphone and the passive isolation is great. Good big deep cups with velour pads.
 

 
Very best,
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 4:05 PM Post #12 of 18


Quote:
Personally I really like the DT770 Pros. 
I have not heard a drastic difference between then 250 ohm and 80ohm.

Same here, hooked up to my Essence STX (3 LME49860NA), it's really hard to tell them apart.
 
 
 
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 5:09 PM Post #14 of 18
The mids sounded very recessed but very clear, many confuse clear vocals with forward midrange, vocals and instruments can be perfectly clear sounding which they are with DT770 but they still sound distant in relative to low and high frequencies which I found on DT770 Pro 80 ohm why I didn't like them very much. At least with my ears they have a V-shaped frequency response and I've been working with EQs for years and can often EQ very tiny amounts (1dB changes) so I've become used to listen for these kinds of small differences and to me it's easy to tell if midrange is recessed or not.
 
Then it's a whole different topic if YOU like this sound or not but the question was if the headphones are V-shaped or not which is true IMO and not what kind of you sound you personally prefer. V-shaped is no worse than flat response, there's nothing that's better than the other, you just have to follow your own preferences. I'm just saying this because I know some people that like V-shape response actually thinks it sounds flat only because they heard "audiophiles" were preaching how flat response is always best yaddayadda and therefore they may not be willing to admit they like a non-flat response. I'm not personally looking for a flat response either because I know that's not what I personally want to hear, I personally like a slightly "tilting" response from lows to highs for a warmer sound.
 
Mar 3, 2012 at 5:44 PM Post #15 of 18
I really don't feel like they are very V-shaped sounding. Not nearly to the degree of my old Ultrasone Proline 750's, or even the V6's, at least on my gear. It sounds like a very smooth transition from the mids to highs, with the only large bump in it's sound in the bass. In some ways they remind me a little of my K601's, but with more bass.
 
Not sure if there are different production runs of them, how much a factor burn-in plays, or how amping affects them, but I definitely don't feel like the highs are spiked at all.
 

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