[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman I prefer the HD650 to the DT880, but by a small margin. I think the DT880 are the best value in high-fidelity headphones at this time. Neilpeart has a point. I haven't compared the two side by side, but long-term psychological 'burn-in' in my opinion has more of an effect than physical burn-in. Trawl through the forums and Tuberoller aside, I think you'll probably notice the 'OMGthesephonesarethebestintheworld' comes mainly from people for whom the HD650 is their most major headphone acquisition (and therefore the most frequently used) so far. Unfortunately the psychological conditioning isn't something you can't A-B since your relative listening leanings will be biased towards either phone depending on which you're accustomed to, and that's why I like to keep listening notes and hang onto stuff for quite a long time... and that's why meet impressions are relative at best, and invalid from an ownership point of view.

I have had the rare pleasure of actually hearing the sennheisers pop open!
I was listening to a record when al of a sudden the phones popped open and everything sounded much, much better with an improved soundstage wich became much wider and deeper. so, i know it is NOT a psychological condition but a physical state of the equipment/driver. It took quite a long time though to pop open/burn in.

so, it really seems that burning in new sennheiser phones is critical.

 

[Solude]

Pretty much sums up what I thought about the 880 vs. 600 a year back. I had the 600 first, then an amp for it and still really hated it. But I've always had my speaker rig in the same room for reference of the 'goal'. The beauty of 2 rigs is NO mind burnin. The Senn sounded true since my mind never got a chance to mold to it. After 2 months the Senn still sucked compared to my speaker rig and out it went.

 

[sacd lover]

I haven't tried any Grados with my Ear++, but I don't think it necessarily "prefers" low-impedance phones. After all, it was voiced using the HD600. Maybe it just works better with Grados than many other amps?

I dont think the Ear+ prefers low impedence headphones either. That was my point. The poster I responded to has obviously read the Ear+ is best with low impedence phones and probably wondered about using it to compare to high impedence headphones. I blurred my point though by mentioning it sounded paticularly good with the low impedence sr-225. The 650 sounded as good as usual.

But the 225 had a synergy with the Ear+ that elevated its performance over what I usually hear with my gilmore v1/ sr-225. I like the Ear+ and I think it will drive any impedence headphone well. Sorry I wasnt clear.

 

[Geek]

The DT880 is one of the few headphones that I think directly competes with the HD650 in terms of sound quality; it's got a significantly higher amount of treble energy and a more forward upper midrange, but keeps the same kind of neutrality in the lower mids and bass as the HD650. I thought the DT880s were pretty awesome for that reason.

I still prefer the HD650, I think the highs are a little bit better sounding, and the 650s (and DT880) both benefit from a lot of burn in. Plus I'm sensitive to lots of highs so thats something to think about too.

Great review though.

Cheers,
Geek

 

[saint.panda]

It's great to have such a nice comparison at hand which I'm sure will be very benificial to a lot of guys out there.
Personally I'd still prefer the HD650 simply because it is more involving. The Beyer 880 is a very relaxing and refined headphone and I cannot understand the often used statement that the Beyer 880 are like Hd650 on coffeine. In fact, I rather believe in the opposite.
The Beyer 880 has better highs and maybe a slightly more natural bass and I've never heard a piano being as well reproduced as on the dt880. Yet, the HD650 conveys more details although the general sound signature is darker. Also, the bass on the hd650 is slower but has more slam.
When comparing these two headphones I used a prehead and a reaga 2k.
Nonetheless, compared to a HD600 the dt880 still wins hands down imo.
To sum it up, I'd choose the hd650 over the dt880 on any day, except for extreme-soundstage-requiring classical music. But considering the price difference between the hd650 and dt880, the Dt880 really represents a true price-performance bargain.

 

[JensL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda It's great to have such a nice comparison at hand which I'm sure will be very benificial to a lot of guys out there. Personally I'd still prefer the HD650 simply because it is more involving. The Beyer 880 is a very relaxing and refined headphone and I cannot understand the often used statement that the Beyer 880 are like Hd650 on coffeine. In fact, I rather believe in the opposite. The Beyer 880 has better highs and maybe a slightly more natural bass and I've never heard a piano being as well reproduced as on the dt880. Yet, the HD650 conveys more details although the general sound signature is darker. Also, the bass on the hd650 is slower but has more slam. When comparing these two headphones I used a prehead and a reaga 2k. Nonetheless, compared to a HD600 the dt880 still wins hands down imo. To sum it up, I'd choose the hd650 over the dt880 on any day, except for extreme-soundstage-requiring classical music. But considering the price difference between the hd650 and dt880, the Dt880 really represents a true price-performance bargain.

Interesting comments, and I agree with just about everything, except that I prefer the DT880 over the HD650 (on my system).

I don't understand that anyone can say that the DT880 is the HD650 on caffein. For me, the DT880 is more relaxed and refined, not what I associate with caffein...

But don't think that the DT880 makes high-energy music sound relaxed and boring, it just presents it so effortlessly that can be a little strange for some. Only the raw, angry sound of RATM sounded more "correct" on the HD650. But something like Dream Theater, with lots of details, sounds better on the DT880, in my opinion.

I think your system would suit the HD650 better than the DT880, as the Beyer needs some warmth, which I think my MAD tube amp supplies. I guess system matching is damned important with these phones. If you already got a cold, analytical system, the DT880 wouldn't fit in too good.

Something I have been wanting to try for a while, is to play with an EQ and the DT880 a little. Giving it the same midbass hump as the HD650 would be mighty interesting...

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JensL I think your system would suit the HD650 better than the DT880, as the Beyer needs some warmth, which I think my MAD tube amp supplies. I guess system matching is damned important with these phones. If you already got a cold, analytical system, the DT880 wouldn't fit in too good. Something I have been wanting to try for a while, is to play with an EQ and the DT880 a little. Giving it the same midbass hump as the HD650 would be mighty interesting...

Very true. The Beyer 880 sounded best out of the RKV MKII and less good out of the solid state prehead.

Imo the Beyer 880 lacks in midrange - it does have a very musical midrange and more refined than the hd650 but just not present enough. I'm sure doing some digital eq-ing would help a lot.

Edit: The Beyer dt880 just has a really airy sound, maybe too airy for my taste whereas the HD650 just had more body and more to grasp

 

[JensL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Very true. The Beyer 880 sounded best out of the RKV MKII and less good out of the solid state prehead. Imo the Beyer 880 lacks in midrange - it does have a very musical midrange and more refined than the hd650 but just not present enough. I'm sure doing some digital eq-ing would help a lot.

Exactly! That's why I think my MAD Ear++ is a really good match for the DT880 (and DT770), as it seems to lift the midrange up a little and more into focus. Hey, maybe the MAD really like Beyers?

 

[bigears]

JensL, hi

Any chance you can ask your friend the Sennheiser hd650 again, and do another comparation with your Beyer DT880 in the same setup?

Just to take away teh burn in effect out of the view?

I liked very much your review

 

[JensL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigears Any chance you can ask your friend the Sennheiser hd650 again, and do another comparation with your Beyer DT880 in the same setup? Just to take away teh burn in effect out of the view?

Hmm....I'll check.
Apparently the HD650's are getting heavy use, almost glued to his head, so I'm guessing it won't be easy to borrow them.

I'll try, though.
It would be interesting to hear if there are any changes.

 

[isp]

I'm glad this thread was revived.

Some time has passed and I'm sure more people can give their input and experience...

Since I'm probably going to have to decide between these two shortly, I'm reading up all I can.

 

[KarmAbe]

hi
considering the mention that the 880 have a great soundstage for highs and classical music...
Would that soundstage be good for computer gaming? FPS?
and do these phones come with a mini DSP?

cya!
KarmAbe

 

[JensL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarmAbe hi considering the mention that the 880 have a great soundstage for highs and classical music... Would that soundstage be good for computer gaming? FPS? and do these phones come with a mini DSP? cya! KarmAbe

Yeah, the DT880 works fine for gaming. The soundstage and detailed highs makes it easy to pinpoint footsteps etc.
Personally I use my DT770 more, but that's only because it's closed (that, and the brutal bass).

For classical music, the DT880 is magnificent.

I'm not sure what you mean with a mini DSP. Are you thinking about simulated surround? Anyway, the DT880 is just a "plain" headphone, no DSP'ing here.

However, both the DT770 and DT880 really need amping to sound their best, and the WILL reveal a bad source or any electronic noise in your PC..

 

[ken36]

Excellent thread. Informative.

 

[Jigglybootch]

I got the opportunity to hear the HD650 (thanks to my friend) and honestly, I liked the DT880 more. To me, the HD650 imposed too much of its sound signature on the music. Sure, the extra body and slam sounded great for certain songs, but I prefer the way the DT880 sort of just gets out of the way and plays back the music. I felt its presentation was more neutral and that it reproduced whatever it was given, while the HD650 seemed to add a little bit extra, and I didn't like that so much.