[fewtch]

My first thought after putting it on my head was "Yes! Well balanced." They are indeed a little dark in the highs as some people have said, but the bass doesn't overwhelm the mids (in fact the mids are excellent). These things kill the K240S.

My second thought is that I think I've found my rock headphones. These are obviously all-rounders that were designed to be all-rounders, for use in upscale studios and such. Even being closed they are not without a decent soundstage, and because they're closed they have enough "slam" in the bass for metal/rock.

IMO if Beyer could sell these for under $100 they would have a pair of giant killers on their hands. As it is, at the current price they are only just worth the price. And they do in fact sound a bit like closed HD600s, like some people have said. I can hear the resonances caused by the closed backs, but it's a rather pleasing sound actually.

Definite keepers, although the coiled cord is *very* annoying. Glad I have the extension cable from the DT880 lying around. Also, I don't know how I'm gonna store them since they don't fit into the box with the cable inserted in the headphones, and I don't want to be constantly inserting/removing the cord in case the jack is subject to wear and tear (and they have to be stored somewhere away from the cat's claws and teeth). Any suggestions on this?

Edit -- been listening more, and there's just a big grin on my face

. It's definitely a case of like at first listen. Serious toe tappers, without becoming offensive in the bass region.

 

[XXhalberstramXX]

wow, thats almost perfectly exaclty how i feel about the dt 990 pros I just got. Except I like the coiled cable. Makes moving from one desk to another to grab a paper or book very easy.

 

[lini]

fewtch: Any reason why you chose the /80 over the /250?

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: And just for the record - to my ears, the K240S totally kills the DT250/80 (and the anemic DT880 just as well...

).

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini fewtch: Any reason why you chose the /80 over the /250? Greetings from Hannover! Manfred / lini P.S.: And just for the record - to my ears, the K240S totally kills the DT250/80 (and the anemic DT880 just as well... ).

Yes... I received the DT250-80 as a trade for another piece of gear.

Fair enough that you like the K240S better, we do all hear differently and appreciate different things in the music as well. There are individual variations between headphones as well, so maybe the one you had wasn't coloring the entire spectrum with bass, the way mine did. If it did, then well... fair enough, you like crappy sound.

 

[jpelg]

Any comparisons amped vs. unamped?

I'm still looking for a good portable closed can to use w/o an amp. I was thinking to go back to the Sony V6's w/Beyer pads, but I just recall those highs being too much. They Beyer DT250 sounds like a winner.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg Any comparisons amped vs. unamped? I'm still looking for a good portable closed can to use w/o an amp. I was thinking to go back to the Sony V6's w/Beyer pads, but I just recall those highs being too much. They Beyer DT250 sounds like a winner.

I haven't tried listening unamped, but will give it a shot sometime soon and post impressions here. Any preference as to what I should listen to... a PCDP, soundcard, etc? I don't own an iPod.

P.S. these things have a decent level of isolation as well, although nothing spectacular... might be excellent headphones for listening to an unsilenced PC. Mine is fairly loud and about 1.5 ft away from my left ear, and I can barely hear the fans while wearing these headphones.

 

[Rickio]

cool i been looking at these but a few other threads were distracting my decision on these. The K81DJ and Goldring DR150...

hmmm wondering about all those right now

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickio cool i been looking at these but a few other threads were distracting my decision on these. The K81DJ and Goldring DR150... hmmm wondering about all those right now

I heard the K81DJ has more pronounced bass, but it's just hearsay. If they do, IMO it limits their musical range and makes them less than great all-rounders like the DT250. These have a relatively neutral bass which makes them good for all genres, but retain the punch/slam for rock.

BTW I haven't tried them unamped yet, but they need a fairly low setting on my amp and there's no reason why they wouldn't be fairly easy to drive. The only thing is that IMO they're a bit overpriced (at least in terms of SQ... durability-wise they're obviously excellent). Maybe I'm just spoiled by heavy discounting on the K240S and other studio cans. At least these I can actually imagine being used by professional studios, the K240S felt more to me like toys.

 

[PaulRivers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini ... P.S.: And just for the record - to my ears, the K240S totally kills the DT250/80 (and the anemic DT880 just as well... ).

For the record, I just have to say that I found the 240s's to be much more pleasant sounding as well. I own the 250-80's (at the moment) and tried the 240s's out for 2 hours - no amp on either, straight from an iPod.

 

[saint.panda]

Glad you like the DT 250-80. It really is an extremely well-balanced headphone. However, as lini already hinted at, you should also try the DT 250-250 sometime. It is a technically more sophisticated headphone while keeping the same sound signature and balance virtues of the DT 250-80.

 

[AlienPyro]

I'd like to hear some impressions on the DT 250-80 straight from a portable or otherwise unamped.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Glad you like the DT 250-80. It really is an extremely well-balanced headphone. However, as lini already hinted at, you should also try the DT 250-250 sometime. It is a technically more sophisticated headphone while keeping the same sound signature and balance virtues of the DT 250-80.

I probably won't get the chance, as I received these headphones as a trade and frankly wouldn't spend $200 on a pair of sealed studio cans (if I had the money itching to be spent I'd save a bit more and pick up a pair of K701s instead). And it's unlikely anyone would want to trade the 250 ohm version for these, if what you say is true

.

P.S. if you're referring mainly to more air/sparkle in the treble, I already have two extremely airy cans (DT880 and K501) and am OK with a darker sounding headphone. Or 'refinement' -- again, I got that already and don't really need it for rock music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlienPyro I'd like to hear some impressions on the DT 250-80 straight from a portable or otherwise unamped.

I'll post some eventually... should I find a fairly weak portable source, or are you more interested in a powerful vintage Discman sort of thing?
Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulRivers For the record, I just have to say that I found the 240s's to be much more pleasant sounding as well. I own the 250-80's (at the moment) and tried the 240s's out for 2 hours - no amp on either, straight from an iPod.

Fair enough that you guys prefer the K240S. For me, I listened to them briefly and then sent them back... it was instant dislike with those, and instant like with the DT250. In fact the DT250 is everything I was hoping the K240S would be, but wasn't (to my ears). Kind of strange how lini talks about them being dark in the treble, but to me it was the K240S that was unpleasantly dark sounding and severely boosted in the bass (not to mention uncomfortably sweaty to wear).

 

[fewtch]

OK, I tried them briefly plugged directly into my Philips Expanium 3361/17, which is a modern "weak" portable. Sorry to say, they didn't get very loud even at maximum volume and sounded rather anemic. They would probably fare better with a vintage discman, but it seems to me these cans really need to be amped for good performance (hope nobody is disappointed, but this seems to square with other reviews/comments I've read).

 

[PaulRivers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Fair enough that you guys prefer the K240S... ... OK, I tried them briefly plugged directly into my Philips Expanium 3361/17, which is a modern "weak" portable. Sorry to say, they didn't get very loud even at maximum volume and sounded rather anemic. They would probably fare better with a vintage discman, but it seems to me these cans really need to be amped for good performance (hope nobody is disappointed, but this seems to square with other reviews/comments I've read).

Yeah, it sound like either I need an amp, or we just prefer a different sound. I certainly wouldn't say that the 240s's have more detail than the 250-80's. But I enjoyed the 240s's sound a lot better.

I just couldn't pass up saying something after you wrote "These things kill the K240S".

Personally, the problem I have with the 250-80's is something about their overall sound. I just find their sound...laid back. I feel a little..."detached" from the music. With the 240s's, the music just felt more emotional to me, and drew me back into enjoying the music. With my 250-80's, the detail is there, but I feel like I have to "try" to listen to my music. With the 240's, it just hits me.

So in summary...either an amp would make a real difference (I'm using my video iPod), or we apparently just have a different preference in the kind of sound we like.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch P.S. if you're referring mainly to more air/sparkle in the treble, I already have two extremely airy cans (DT880 and K501) and am OK with a darker sounding headphone. Or 'refinement' -- again, I got that already and don't really need it for rock music.

Yeah, it's mainly refinement and more air in the treble. The other noticeable improvement is that whereas the DT 250-80 has a hump in the bass and a somewhat honky midrange, the DT 250-250's bass is more linear and the midrange more even-handed. On the other hand, the balance invariance might lend the Dt 250-80 a somewhat fun-sounding character perhaps. In any case, the difference is smaller than the descriptions might suggest and I like to compare both the DT 250-80 and -250 to a well-balanced green tea. From a sound signature perspective, the HD 600/650 could then be seen as tea with milk added.