[Ub3rMario]

Hello all! I plan to buy a 600 ohm dt880 soon and will be needing an amp. At first I considered just buying a little dot, but I started reading into DIY amps and hear they're often preferred to amps built from big companies.

Anyway, I have searched through several threads but can't really figure out which build would work best and be the best bargain. I'm somewhat experienced with DIY but i've only made an alien DAC & cmoy amp. However, i'm definitely willing to take my time and read a lot if that's what it takes to make a great amp with my own hands.

SO, what would be a good choice for $200 or less? M^3 maybe? I like SS but people say tubes are necessary for the 600 ohm dt880. Thoughts/suggestions immensely appreciated!

 

[00940]

Higher impedances cans of average sensitivity require greater voltage swings, hence the recommendations for tube amps. A M³ with opa604 and a 40V power supply would probably do fine though.

 

[Ub3rMario]

by "do fine" do you mean barely be able to power the cans or definitely will power them just fine?

 

[nullstring]

Not that I have an experience with either headphones, but I would point you in the direction of the bijou or the EHHA..

 

[00940]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ub3rMario /img/forum/go_quote.gif by "do fine" do you mean barely be able to power the cans or definitely will power them just fine?

I meant that the M3 definitely will power them just fine. You'll be able to achieve 118db before clipping if my quick calculations are right.

Disclaimer: This doesn't mean that other headphones amps won't sound "better" and I have no experience with the DT880-600.

 

[linuxworks]

I guess I'm not a big believer in 'voltage swing'.

I've run things on 9v and had good results. 12v works great and 24v is more than enough for me.

don't believe the hype that anyone NEEDS tubes. please!

 

[00940]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've run things on 9v and had good results. 12v works great and 24v is more than enough for me.

And what were the impedance and sensitivity of those "things" ?

 

[linuxworks]

hd650's

I just don't get this 'gotta be BIG' attitude. I get lots of drive from a pimeta, pimeta2, PPAv1 (yes, that old op-amp and chip buffer thing) and recently my new m3 amp. running from 12v (on a sigma11) or 24v (on a yjps) I just don't hear any diff. they all sound good with 12 or 24v with my 'hard to drive' (so called) senn phones.

 

[fishski13]

as a general rule, i prefer my M3/sigma11(24V) with the dt990/600 over my Bijou. with the Bijou, there's a bit too much mid-bass - but maybe that's how the dt990 are "supposed" to sound. with my HD650, i much prefer the Bijou. how they sound with the dt880/600? i'll be buying a pair in a few weeks.

measurements and specs are useful up to a certain point. let your ears decide.

 

[nullstring]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishski13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif as a general rule, i prefer my M3/sigma11(24V) with the dt990/600 over my Bijou. with the Bijou, there's a bit too much mid-bass - but maybe that's how the dt990 are "supposed" to sound. with my HD650, i much prefer the Bijou. how they sound with the dt880/600? i'll be buying a pair in a few weeks. measurements and specs are useful up to a certain point. let your ears decide.

I'll be looking forward to your results

 

[amb]

Those 600 ohm Beyers do benefit from extra voltage swing headroom. The Sennheisers are significantly "louder" at the same voltage than those Beyers. Guess why M³ (and PPA) has a default gain of 11? It's because Morsel (who was in both design teams) has the Beyer DT990 600 ohm headphone as her primary headphones.

 

[fishski13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those 600 ohm Beyers do benefit from extra voltage swing headroom. The Sennheisers are significantly "louder" at the same voltage than those Beyers. Guess why M³ (and PPA) has a default gain of 11? It's because Morsel (who was in both design teams) has the Beyer DT990 600 ohm headphone as her primary headphones.

ahhhh...well that's a woman with excellent tastes. the M3/dt990/600ohm is a phenominal pairing.

 

[sanderx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ub3rMario /img/forum/go_quote.gif by "do fine" do you mean barely be able to power the cans or definitely will power them just fine?

Dt880 @ 600 ohms have a max power handling capability of 200mW. 200mW into 600Ohms is 11Vrms or ~ 16Vpp. The headphones would at that point be producing ~ 120 dB of sound, which is probably considerably more than what you want. For 110dB max output you need 4Vrms and 5.6Vpp. There are two issues here - first, you need sufficent voltage capability to drive the peaks and second, you need enough gain. For 110dB max level, high gain (11 say) cmoy-s with dual 9v batteries will get you there. For 200mW, you will need the 604-s @ 40V. For inbetween values you will have to interpolate. Note that Beyer's own A1 headphone amplifier will deliver a max of 100mW, or a max level of 116dB.

Now, can you define "drives properly"?

Edit: corrected calculation mistakes

 

[00940]

sanderx: just a minor correction. The m³ with opa604@40v will give roughly 22Vp-p (7.77Vrms). So you won't even go above the max power handling.

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you want to go tubes, go tubes. A couple that can be built affordably are the Kurt Strain OTL and dsavitsk's L'espressivo.