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I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am very confused to as to why the 80 pros are cheaper. If someone could detail any difference between the two that would be greatly appreciated. Also if i do get these headphones will i need an amp to go with it? if so please recommend me one as my knowledge of amps is even more laughable than my knowledge of headphones.
also i do like a strong bass with some impact but i don't want a bass that drowns out the other sounds. will the 80 pros do that?
thanks in advance.
Heya,
The DT770 Pro 80's have more bass in the category you've listed. They don't drown out the other sounds unless you use an equalizer and enhance the bass further that way; you will see a drop of other frequencies doing that. Even with a flat/neutral EQ, the bass is very solid, tight, doesn't waffle. The sound stage is pretty wide for a closed can because of the size of the cups. If you look at the technical data on BD's website, the headphones you mentioned have the same frequency response and sound pressure. Then you have flavors of impedance. They're not a terribly sensitive set of headphones through the whole line (compared to something like AKG's) so they're not hard to drive even at low impedance levels, like the 32ohm or 80ohm.
The Pro 80's do not need an amp for general use. I will say that you will get more out of them with even minor amping though. I have these headphones and when I play them straight from my Sansa Fuze and Asus Transformer, yes, they sound great and the bass is powerful. But when I plug them into my portable amp, the Vivid V1 Tech, the sound goes to another level, more full, richer (to me anyways). I can tell the difference between amped and not. Let's just put it that way. For a pair of $200 headphones, if you're willing to spend that, you should likely be ready to put another $100 towards an amp likely. That's not to say that all headphones benefit from an amp. Many don't. But in my experience, even low/mid impedance headphones tend to gain something with an amp. But it's up to your ears. Amps can reveal imperfections or push your headphones to new heights. You've just got to listen for yourself.
If you got the Pro 80's, I'd suggest the Little Dot MK1 or FiiO E9 for non-portable. For portable, the FiiO E7 or uDac2, etc. Mentioned these as they're obtainable from Amazon (except the Little Dot).
If you're willing to go an extra mile, you could push for the Beyer 990's 600ohm flavor and something like the Little Dot MKIII or IV SE. Open air, great sound stage, powerful good bass.
Very best,
