[cube]

I have bought a pair of DT880 and they sound really bad, how long is the burn in period before I can really hear how they should sound?

They sound muddy and not as open as I expected, the bass is lacking and voices are not sounding real.

Almost no 3D sound at all and details are not just there, they sound worse than my Philips that cost almost 1/5 of the price for DT880.

Some kind of manufacture faliure? are the + and - twisted=wrong fase?

Or is it just the burn in I have to wait for?

Need your help badly!!!

 

[Schalldampfer]

Haven't had a Beyer, but I think it would help if you could post the rest of your system.

 

[achristilaw]

Yup! Knowing what system would be a plus. They have a medium sensitivity and a 250 ohm impedance. Not impossible or unreasonable for any worthy amp. To answer your question. About 200+ hours.
They have a natural ease that is quite seductive. Providing good source and material are used.
At first the sound was constricted. With no low frequency extention. They down right complained when Low notes were present. Be patient. Things will open up.

 

[luckybaer]

Post your listening rig. Please.

I am a happy owner of the DT880. I received them for my birthday, which was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I'd say I've had them running on average 4-6 hours a day which would equate to 80-120 hours of usage.

When I first listened to them via my Micro Stack combo and various CDs, I did notice them being very bright up top - to the point of fatigue. I don't notice that as much anymore - either my ears have adjusted, or something has happened.

You will not get teeth-rattling bass with the DT880. Of my three big cans (DT770/80, K601 and the DT880), the DT880 has the least "impactful" bass. The bass is there, and it is deep and natural. It doesn't sound like there is a dance club in my head and it doesn't sound like there is a sub-woofer strapped to my head.

I am totally surprised that you define them as "muddy" and that the voices "are not sounding real" and that "details are not there." Even out of the box I was stunned by the detail and clarity of these cans. In fact, they are sometimes TOO good as they make "hotly mastered" CDs almost intolerable to listen to because they reveal so much clipping (which makes stuff sound like there is a constant gargling buzz around the edges).

Once you post your specs I think the members here will be able to help you a bit more.

 

[Ghost Hog]

my buddy in college used a DT880 extensively...and i got more than a few occasions to hear those headphones. OUCH! that's all i can say. i envision razors man, just razors...but the lack of bass or exaggerated top end and recessed mid-range are part of the signature of the beyerdynamic DT880. songs mastered with the DT880 are almost always "bold" sounding, details galore and fatigue ensues. if you must go with the DT880, i suggest easing them with a tube amp, as tube gives the overall sound a much rounded feel or use EQ. alas, it's all subjective. "listen to your ears"

-- that's a paradox.

 

[aphex944]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Hog /img/forum/go_quote.gif but the lack of bass or exaggerated top end and recessed mid-range are part of the signature of the beyerdynamic DT880. songs mastered with the DT880 are almost always "bold" sounding, details galore and fatigue ensues. if you must go with the DT880, i suggest easing them with a tube amp, as tube gives the overall sound a much rounded feel or use EQ. alas, it's all subjective. "listen to your ears" -- that's a paradox.

I strongly disagree here. None of the attributes you listed are part of the DT 880 signature. If this were true, "songs mastered with the DT 880" would sound honky, way too bassy, and with rolled off highs since the headphones would supposedly be exaggerating these areas. They may have a lack of bass compared to headphones with a bloated bass response like the MDR-V6 or DT 770/990, but their frequency response is pretty flat through the entire bass region(actually it has a slight hump!).

The DT 880 is regularly considered one of the best dynamic headphones available, especially for the price. Sounds like it may just be revealing unpleasant aspects of whatever system you were listening on, which they excel at.

 

[Ghost Hog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aphex944 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The DT 880 is regularly considered one of the best dynamic headphones available, especially for the price. Sounds like it may just be revealing unpleasant aspects of whatever system you were listening on, which they excel at.

yeah, but don't forget many other headphones in the market are also considered the best. you back DT880 and you got all the right to do that, all i'm saying is what some peeps (not only myself) perceive about the DT880. lets face facts, DT880 is a bright sounding can--yes? no matter what crock of beef pork chicken lamb chops you throw at it, it is a bright sounding headphone!

secondly, here's where you might learn something new. mastering from bright sounding headphones results in bright mixes; mastering from dark sounding cans results in dark sounding mixes. most peeps might think the opposite but it's not true. your ears get accustomed to the sound and try to reproduce similarities. why do you think pros strive for total neutrality in the sound? peeps who like listening to "exciting" or "fun" headphones will want that same quality in their own music: example grado vs. sennheiser scenario. grados are for rock or music that benefits from a hotter brighter more exciting top end, sennhesier for classical darker and lay back. so naturally each different style of music is mastered with their respective family of headphones. yer logic is twisted. gets yer facts straight and put aside yer assumptions.

 

[luckybaer]

They definitely point out weaknesses in the system, that's for sure. They ABSOLUTELY make "hot mastered" CDs sound like crapola. That isn't the DT880's fault - blame the "loudness war" in the music industry.

The can is fairly neutral IMHO, but in those moments where it strays off the neutral path it can seem bright. Higher-pitched electric guitar wailing (Pearl Jam's "Go") and stuff with lots and lots of cymbal clashes (again, I'm thinking of Pearl Jam's "Go") sounded very bright to me when I first started using the DT880. I will need to try and listen to this kind of stuff again now that I've put some hours on them.

I can certainly understand how this brightness effect can be intensified to the ears listeners who are accustomed to darker headphones or headphones that emphasize bass at the expense of other parts of the spectrum.

 

[moj0]

mm is that true about mastering with bright headphones (and vice-versa)?

 

[luckybaer]

OK. I went back and listened to "Go" by Pearl Jam which I have in Apple Lossless via iTunes. It isn't as bright as I remembered (pretty bright, because I had to turn down the volume and I actually made note of it in my comparsion of my headphones), but I'll need to listen to it on CD and via Winamp and through my MicroStack in order to recreate my original listening set-up. Right now I was using the Hornet in place of the Micro Amp.

I love this hobby!

 

[kingsqueak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moj0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif mm is that true about mastering with bright headphones (and vice-versa)?

If the engineer has no experience, yes.

Mastering engineers are the top of the food chain for the major labels generally, they make more money than any other engineer in the process. They generally get points on an album's sales, sometimes nearly what the artist themselves will get.

The industry drives them to do horrible things to the overall product, but it's not because they don't know what they're doing. They do it because that is what the market pressure is demanding they do.

Mastering on headphones like the DT880s would indicate almost no experience at all in mastering. Mastering is done using nearfield monitors and comparing the results on multiple sources before they are printed. Having a flat response, reference source is nearly a religion for mastering engineers.

They aren't going to do the bulk of their work on one source only and print it, it doesn't happen.

As a matter of fact, one of the reasons the new mainstream CDs all sound so lousy is that they are mastered to sound 'good' on low-end portable speakers, boom boxes, car stereos etc. They are compressed all to hell and have exaggerated top end to overcome lousy sources, making the tracks stand out against anything that wasn't mastered that way on cheap equipment.

 

[E.B.M.Head]

I definitely wouldn't call the bass of the DT 990 bloated. Bloated is a term for single noted bass that overwelms everything else. The DT 990 surely has an emphasis on bass and trebble, but it's a high qualtity bass. You can clearly distinguish one note from another. If you like it's sounds signature or not, putting it in the same league with cheap crap headphones with this term is a shameless exaggeration.

 

[Yen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Hog /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah, but don't forget many other headphones in the market are also considered the best. you back DT880 and you got all the right to do that, all i'm saying is what some peeps (not only myself) perceive about the DT880. lets face facts, DT880 is a bright sounding can--yes? no matter what crock of beef pork chicken lamb chops you throw at it, it is a bright sounding headphone!

Depends so much on the other devices also. E.g. my stock DT770 is definately less boomy and more clear by changing the tube and opamp in my SOHA. In fact, the sound changed so much that I stopped EQing the mid-range of these bassmonsters...

I am pretty sure that DT880 combined with a warm sounding tubeamp will not sound too bright. I will test it next week when my '03s arrive.

 

[Ghost Hog]

if this is a concern for peeps wanting to try their hands at mastering their own music or other people's music...don't master with bright or dark sounding headphones. that just defeats the whole process of mastering. stay as neutral as possible--but of course all you audiophiles know that. but what is neutral? some peeps will disagree with me when i say this but *almost* all the headphones named on this forum are somehow colored. some are colored benefitially some are not. you like the sound NOT because it is neutral, i dare say most peeps don't know what neutral sounds like. take it from me, neutrality sounds like the void from which nothing enters or leaves (excuse my poetry). there is almost no life to pure neutral sounds. also, your ears don't quite hear neutrally either, so using headphones is just not the correct way to listen for neutrality. consider the reflections and reverberations of sounds bouncing off the walls or other objects of resistance in the immediate vicinity where the source of sound is 1st produced before entering your ears...to sum it up we spend alot of time listening to second hand sounds. what is neutral? this topic can get real philosophical so i won't bore you. suffice to say, if you want to master songs you will most likely master them according to your taste. even in the pro level, the best paid engineers have a specific taste that most people seem to like, hence, they are the best. they are not really neutral tho, neither do they hear nuetrally.

so yes bright headphones tend to product bright mixes and vice versa with darker sounding headphones. it is only natural. you go for what sounds best to you. a gentleman where post the opposite notion saying that bright headphones should make mixes sound dark. wrong! this idea is flawed because you don't go for something just so you can produce the exact opposite. see what i'm saying? if your taste is on the more detailed, more critical, more hotter sound, then you want your headphones to produce that sound and ultimately you want your music to have that sound too. so what do you do? buy dark sounding headphones? hells no!

i hope this may clarify my point.

 

[aphex944]

Quote:

Originally Posted by E.B.M.Head /img/forum/go_quote.gif I definitely wouldn't call the bass of the DT 990 bloated. Bloated is a term for single noted bass that overwelms everything else. The DT 990 surely has an emphasis on bass and trebble, but it's a high qualtity bass. You can clearly distinguish one note from another. If you like it's sounds signature or not, putting it in the same league with cheap crap headphones with this term is a shameless exaggeration.

Bloated was the wrong word-- how about exaggerated. I absolutely love my DT 990s(check my review in the review section of this forum), and I agree wholeheartedly with your description of their bass. It's definitely the most musical and fun bass I've experienced in a headphone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Hog yer logic is twisted. gets yer facts straight and put aside yer assumptions.

Let me gets my facts straights. If you're listening to a brighter headphone(which yes, as you pointed out the DT 880 is a brighter-than-neutral headphone) any intelligent person with a decent ear will NOT mix it brighter. If the goal is neutrality, you must take into consideration the medium which is reproducing the audio. I KNOW the DT 880 frequency response curve, and I know how it reproduces audio. I'm not going to sit there and EQ up the high frequencies on a DT 880. Just as I would not crank up the bass on a DT 770 or 990.