[M-X]

Hi all,

some of you guys may remember a thread a couple of weeks back where the merits of MS-1s were put against the DT531 and that i decided to get the latter...well i thought that was going to be easy didn't I...

What a story it has been - and now finally i am sitting here with a brand spanking new pair. How u ask? The story is long and emotional, involving lots of cursing and tears, but equally a truly amazing net experience and the end result has been a sweet pair of cans (and definitely my 1 and only pair from now till...umm

After trawling through websites offering them for sale but really not having them at all, I was offered a pair by fellow head-fier cosmopragma. But then DHL go and lose the parcel... It got on a plane in Germany then disappeared into thin air, never landing on British shores. But cosmopragma was amazing - gave me an instant refund (full details in his feedback). He really is one awesome guy and I have no regrets whatsoever trading on this site either, in fact i love this place way too much now, its eating up all my time...

So back to square one, dark thoughts entering my mind, such as switching allegiance to Team-Allessandro, thinking i'd never ever get these cans, and that DHL lost probably the last pair ever to go on sale ever...

but then i spend 2hours on google, digging deeper and deeper, until hello! what's this...DT531s in UK for £72.50! Sweet! Order them up, box arrives smashed to pieces by Interlink delivery man

Oh no here we go again, this can't be happening! Do i sign, do i send them back...had to give it a try and phew there ok, there tough little buggers it seems, after clearly spending the night sitting underneath a widescreen TV. Do people have no respect...these are the Groovalisers, the holy grail of discontinued, FOTM cans!

And the moral of the story - none really, except i have a renewed faith in humanity (thanks cosmo), have found a new hobby, and oh spent a lot of money (oh didn't tell you about the new SACD/DVD-A player did i? Amp next though...)

So here i am enjoying all my Red House Painters CDs likenever before. I'm no audiophile, but I know what sounds good, and these not-even-broken-in Beyers sound awesome (so good all the music on my ipod now warrants a re-encode - doh there goes my weekend!)


I may give the cans an indepth review when they're broken in, but probably already enough DT531 love on this site!

Cheers guys for the advice,

M-X

 

[pbirkett]

I'm glad you like em. I've dedicated my time to making the DT531's the best cans they can be, for a relatively small budget. I can say for sure that if you have a PC, then the EMU 0404 is a part of the jigsaw. I will hopefully get time to spend with the Headsave Classic tonight. That will be less than £80 for each component for a wonderful sound IMO.

I think I will have the DT531's until they die!!

 

[3lusiv3]

DT 531's are great. Enjoy!

 

[plainsong]

I just sent the HD595's to do the dt531's job: making less-than-stellar recordings sound fun and musical. Never send the HD595's to do the dt531's job.

 

[DaKi][er]

Got my dt531's grooving away at the moment, great for loud late night sessions

Bit hard to think if I could upgrade from these, if I could be truly happy with something else more serious (er4 are pretty serious for portable use, I guess)

ohh and you have to amp yours, M-X , they certainly do welcome it

 

[M-X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett I'm glad you like em. I've dedicated my time to making the DT531's the best cans they can be, for a relatively small budget. I can say for sure that if you have a PC, then the EMU 0404 is a part of the jigsaw.

At the mo my main rig is:

Digigram Pocket VX pcmcia soundcard (2xXLR leads > Cmoy > 531s). Its a good soundcard, cost me nearly £500 new (hehe - i've spent plenty of cash on recording equip in my time).

So the weakest link is clearly the amp i need a new one prob, tho the cmoy sounds pretty good.

Much more alarmingly is the quality of my aac's - currently 160k they sound awful! Gonna listen mostly straight from CDs for meantime.

Cheers

M-X

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M-X I may give the cans an indepth review when they're broken in, but probably already enough DT531 love on this site!

Surely no shortage of love given the price you got them !

Seems like the negative views on 531 was caused by high hopes of those who read the praise and thought that these phones would be hd650's killer ... while imho it's all came down to relative price / performance.

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nak Man Surely no shortage of love given the price you got them ! Seems like the negative views on 531 was caused by high hopes of those who read the praise and thought that these phones would be hd650's killer ... while imho it's all came down to relative price / performance.

They arent HD650 killers. They dont even really give the same type of sound as far as I can tell. Judged purely on an audiophile basis the 531's might come out quite badly, but maybe not. They just have a sound like nothing I've heard before - I wont say better than anything else, because thats certainly a matter of opinion, but it is *unique*.

M-X, it sounds like an interesting soundcard you have there

 

[M-X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett They just have a sound like nothing I've heard before

Yeah i'm finding that already. Before I've had Senn HD25SPs (boomy and very low of detail), D66 Eggos (nice portable cans but really not enough of a jump from MX400s to warrant hassle of carrying them everywhere - and i think i looked like a fool wearing them) and my original 1980s now-back-from-the dead (2nd re build) V6s which are great for recording purposes, like doing vocals, but
so uncomfortable for long periods [standard pads] and don't make casual listening a particularly enjoyable experience imho.

Currently listening to Massive Attack on the 531s and loving the bass which surprised me having read some reviews.
Also rather than having the sound right on my ears like V6s, i sense a larger space with nice instrument separation, tho not too much, bit more like a good pair of speakers (weird comparison?).

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett M-X, it sounds like an interesting soundcard you have there

Yeah it pretty nice, and very clean sounding - it was an essential purchase for my Dell laptop with pitiful onboard audio There are a few reviews online, like this one - http://www.industryclick.com/magazin...&magazineid=33

Bit oldschool now maybe, but very reliable and solid drivers.


Anyway back on topic, the Beyers - loving them, been listening all day, these are definite keepers.

How long for burn in on these babies?

M-X

 

[pbirkett]

Yep M-X, I think you've hit the nail on the head when you say they are somewhat like listening to a nice pair of speakers. What impression did you have of the bass based on reviews? I've always thought they have a nice bassier than neutral balance, and that bass is quite fast / agile. I dont even find them that lacking in extension TBH.

As for burn in, I'm not sure how long I would say, as I thought they were very enjoyable straight out the box, but they do seem to improve with age.

 

[cosmopragma]

Finally some dreams come true ....

 

[M-X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmopragma Finally some dreams come true ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett What impression did you have of the bass based on reviews?

I got the impression they might be a little lacking in extension; wasn't worried enough to not get them tho - with hip hop which i have a lot of, i prefer to listen with the mids turned up on my mixer anyway for better vocals; i like my bass deep but to the point that it wipes out the rest of the track (what put me off the 770s from reading reviews).

M-X

[NOTE I edited my first post to say that unfortunately the place i sourced the 'phones have run out- they were the last pair. Makes me feel even luckier to have got them (and not sen them back), but sorry to everyone who hoped of getting a pair from them...]

 

[shw24]

M-X, may I know where do you get DT531 for that price?

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shw24 M-X, may I know where do you get DT531 for that price?

If you can't get them brand new, sometimes they show up on ebay in good shape. This one says more than 1 pair available. Check it out.

 

[M-X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shw24 M-X, may I know where do you get DT531 for that price?

Yeah i got them at a place called Audio Venue, www.audiovenue.com ; but as i said above i emailed them today to check for you guys and they have no stock left, i basically got the last pair unfortunately

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nak Man If you can't get them brand new, sometimes they show up on ebay in good shape. This one says more than 1 pair available. Check it out.

I emailed that guy last week and he doesn't have any either

I kid not it took a solid week to hunt a pair down...i suspect they're some lying around in smaller shops. Westenddj (dot com) in London show them on their site for £110, tho no idea if they have any (plus that is a very cheeky sum to ask - rrp was £105 in UK)


Good luck, they are definitely worth the hassle hunting down, even second hand as they seem pretty robust...

M-X