[bollyraja]

Hi guys, i jus bought the custom DT770 600ohm version from the BEYERDYNAMIC manufacture website.

Got them delivered today. Now i have never used professional headphones, so i have only used some old panasonic DJ headphones for listening to mp3, playing games, music production on the PC. These seem to work fine until they broke down, so i needed professional, high quality headphones with great bass and clarity of sound.

Now i plugged these into my audigy card, and i noticed the sound to be low in volume even though i have maxed the output in the pc sound settings.

Also, while listening to mp3s, the bass and treble sound cracky and really awful and even worse if i turn the bass and treble up in the volume control panel in Winxp. I mainly use headphones for PC use.

A friend of mine told me that buying these type of headphones requires an amp to boost the volume. So do i need to buy an amp to get rid of the poor sound quality i got from just plugging the headphones into the pc ?

Why is the amp needed for these type of headphones. Im kinda a newbie i know, but any advice on what i should do, would be appreciated.

 

[3X0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bollyraja /img/forum/go_quote.gif A friend of mine told me that buying these type of headphones requires an amp to boost the volume. So do i need to buy an amp to get rid of the poor sound quality i got from just plugging the headphones into the pc ? Why is the amp needed for these type of headphones. Im kinda a newbie i know, but any advice on what i should do, would be appreciated.

Yes. High ohms/low sensitivity require amplification. Poor sound quality is either caused by deficiencies in your sound card, music files, or simply the sound card is pushing itself too hard (to the point where distortion and clipping may be introduced).

For your needs the 250 ohm may have been a better choice. The 600 ohm will sound great when amped, though.

 

[bollyraja]

Hey that makes sense, i was afraid the headphones might have been fault at one stage. So is it normal to hear a distorted sound while playing back mp3 of 320vbr quality ?

If buying an amp will solve the problem, which is the best suited for these headphones, and which soundcard for pc should i invest in, money is not an issue here...

 

[b0dhi]

The distortions would be due to clipping due to your EQ. The Meier CORDA HA-2 MkII SE drives the 250 ohm DT-770s very well, they should do well with the 600 ohm version as well.

If money is not an issue though, definitely go for a tube amp. Likewise, a Lynxtwo soundcard is pretty much the reference, but don't expect it to run games well. If you want gaming with high quality sound, an X-fi Elite, I hear, is the way to go.

 

[brn80]

Yeah you will most definitely need an amp; even the older model at 80 ohms needs amplification if you want to get that 'oomph'. Some of Jan Meier's amps are said to mate quite well with a lot of the Beyerdynamic line-up especially the DT770. Also, as someone mentioned, the 600ohm should be quite nice when given enough power to 'sing'.

 

[bollyraja]

What other types of amps are there ? And why is a tube amp better ?

 

[brn80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bollyraja /img/forum/go_quote.gif What other types of amps are there ? And why is a tube amp better ?

A search may yield better results, there are a multitude of amp options out there. I personally have a '05 DT770/250 and a DIY amp, the CK2III and I've found it drives the Beyers with sufficient authority. Some DIY'ers on the board can probably make one for you, you'll have to get in touch with them to see if they'll ship out to the UK. I know member MisterX makes them, so you could PM him and find out.

Regarding tube amps, I wouldn't necessarily say it's better; since it is subjective if you like that kind of sound, namely a warm sound sig. overall. But I guess you would have to hear it for yourself.

This might be informative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_audio_amplifier

 

[bollyraja]

Good stuff, so what should make more of a difference first ? Should i purchase the amp first , or a new soundcard ?

 

[brn80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bollyraja /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good stuff, so what should make more of a difference first ? Should i purchase the amp first , or a new soundcard ?

A headphone amp most definitely for those 600 ohm beauties

If your sound card can output a digital signal, you could look into getting an external DAC to output that signal into. But quite a few people have stated that the Audigy internally resamples, thereby garbling up the signal anyways. Like someone mentioned, if you game, the X-Fi Elite Pro is the creme de la creme if you want a trade off between gaming and listening to music. If not, some reasonably price sound cards include the E-Mu line-up (1212m, 0404) and the ESI Juli@; the Computers as a source forum may yield you better results in that regard.

 

[bollyraja]

ATM i just have the Audigy 1 Platinum series, which are quite old now.

But i was looking for the meier amps but cannot find any in the UK for purchase.

Is there any other alternative amps that may work great with my dt770 premium model ( i think its 2005 model too)

 

[brn80]

Jan Meier is based in Germany, you can check out the amps at his website; the prices, I believe, do include shipping as well.

http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/index.htm

As far as sourcing locally around there, I'm not sure, maybe some other Londoners may be of more help.

 

[b0dhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bollyraja /img/forum/go_quote.gif What other types of amps are there ? And why is a tube amp better ?

Tube amps aren't necessarily better. Since you said money is not an issue (you could easily pay over $5000 for a system if you hang around here long saying stuff like that ) I suggested a tube amp because they mate particularly well with the DT-770/990 hphones, especially the 600ohm ones. Keep in mind though that tubes add a certain "warmth" to the sound which you may or may not like.

 

[bollyraja]

Hmm, ok i have had a rethink about the spending spree, so these meier amps seem tiny bit pricey.

Whats the best amp i can get for these cans around £200 max ($400) ?

 

[plainsong]

I'd bet money the Corda Aria could do it - and that also has a usb dac, so there's your better sound card right there. Ok, so it doesn't sample 24bit because it's usb - but - and here's the thing that's sad but true - you don't need that.

It's 440 and that price includes shipping. I think it's a no-brainer, personally. I can't believe you got 600ohm cans to plug into a soundcard.

 

[bollyraja]

Okay so do i still need that audigy card, if i had a Corda Aria ? Does it act as a soundcard or something.

Also, is that 440 in dollars.