Steve999
smooth, DARK
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2002
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I received my DT880s this evening!!! I have only listened for about 1 1/2 hours so I don't want to pretend I am an expert on the sound or that I am immune to simple infatuation with my new toy.
Anyway, initial impressions are extremely favorable, though I don't know what I could say about them that hasn't been said already.
I got the old version in the aluminum box from B&H photo, in perfect new condition. I got the straight cord. The 15 fooot extension cord that comes with it is a nice touch. On the box there are some stickers in some other language (German?) saying stuff like "AUDIO test sieger / test in AUDIO 2003" and "AUDIO goldnes ohr 2003 / 1. Platz in der Kategorie Kopfhorer."
If I remember right, these came out in about 2003.
Anyway, I'd be interested in how these were designed... if it was computer aided or just by ear or what, because it's a pretty marvelous piece of work! It would be hard to believe this could have been done without some hi-tech types of tools, etc.
Comfort is great. You do get a small amount of isolation compared to, say, a Senn HD580 or a Grado SR60.
The DT880s are a pretty good but not perfect fit for lying down in bed, which is actually very important to me.
Obvious traits of the sound are very very deep bass extension, great midrange clarity yet with warmer mids than most phones that have this kind of clarity, and a good deal of treble content. They strike me as being as advertised -- very euphonic, yet very accurate (the two don't always go together!).
I've been comparing them to my Grado SR60s, Senn HD580s, Sony V6s, Sony HD280s, Sony CD580s, and Sony CD780s. First impressions are that the DT880s have the best bass extension and the best clarity and are most pleasing to the ear of any of the above.
With the DT880s, I have a very easy time imagining that THIS is pretty colse to what the recording engineer had in mind when he made the recording. Or imagining THIS is pretty close to what that person's voice sounds like.
If one prefers emphasized mid-bass or rolled off highs, or thinks of that kind of sound as accurate, then I'd say steer clear. One benefit of only a moderate amount of mid-bass, however, is that you hear the low bass with great clarity (which I find to be just plain fun) and the bass sounds overall are very natural and do not color the lower midrange sounds (such as male voices). The treble may be just a bit tipped up, or it may be quite accurate, I don't know which way to call it. I do get a little sibilance from some vocals, but it may well be that's just the way the recording was done, with the singer right up on the mike. Other recordings sound just right. Drum cymbals, triangles, and those types of things sound very, very realistic -- the timbre sounds very natural. So I'm tempted to think there's a lot of accuracy involved. [Edit: long-term impression is that the mids and bass are near-perfect and that the highs are moderately in excess of neutral).
Oh well, it's time to go back to the phones!!!!
I'll post more later as the days go on and I get more used to these, if I can think of anything more to add. A lot of what has been said about these is pretty good though. It's hard to know what to add. Acoustic instruments do sound as natural as I can remember hearing them from a hi-fi setup.
Well, enough already!!! Hope this made a good read for somebody. It's very exciting for me.
Anyway, initial impressions are extremely favorable, though I don't know what I could say about them that hasn't been said already.
I got the old version in the aluminum box from B&H photo, in perfect new condition. I got the straight cord. The 15 fooot extension cord that comes with it is a nice touch. On the box there are some stickers in some other language (German?) saying stuff like "AUDIO test sieger / test in AUDIO 2003" and "AUDIO goldnes ohr 2003 / 1. Platz in der Kategorie Kopfhorer."
If I remember right, these came out in about 2003.
Anyway, I'd be interested in how these were designed... if it was computer aided or just by ear or what, because it's a pretty marvelous piece of work! It would be hard to believe this could have been done without some hi-tech types of tools, etc.
Comfort is great. You do get a small amount of isolation compared to, say, a Senn HD580 or a Grado SR60.
The DT880s are a pretty good but not perfect fit for lying down in bed, which is actually very important to me.
Obvious traits of the sound are very very deep bass extension, great midrange clarity yet with warmer mids than most phones that have this kind of clarity, and a good deal of treble content. They strike me as being as advertised -- very euphonic, yet very accurate (the two don't always go together!).
I've been comparing them to my Grado SR60s, Senn HD580s, Sony V6s, Sony HD280s, Sony CD580s, and Sony CD780s. First impressions are that the DT880s have the best bass extension and the best clarity and are most pleasing to the ear of any of the above.
With the DT880s, I have a very easy time imagining that THIS is pretty colse to what the recording engineer had in mind when he made the recording. Or imagining THIS is pretty close to what that person's voice sounds like.
If one prefers emphasized mid-bass or rolled off highs, or thinks of that kind of sound as accurate, then I'd say steer clear. One benefit of only a moderate amount of mid-bass, however, is that you hear the low bass with great clarity (which I find to be just plain fun) and the bass sounds overall are very natural and do not color the lower midrange sounds (such as male voices). The treble may be just a bit tipped up, or it may be quite accurate, I don't know which way to call it. I do get a little sibilance from some vocals, but it may well be that's just the way the recording was done, with the singer right up on the mike. Other recordings sound just right. Drum cymbals, triangles, and those types of things sound very, very realistic -- the timbre sounds very natural. So I'm tempted to think there's a lot of accuracy involved. [Edit: long-term impression is that the mids and bass are near-perfect and that the highs are moderately in excess of neutral).
Oh well, it's time to go back to the phones!!!!
I'll post more later as the days go on and I get more used to these, if I can think of anything more to add. A lot of what has been said about these is pretty good though. It's hard to know what to add. Acoustic instruments do sound as natural as I can remember hearing them from a hi-fi setup.
Well, enough already!!! Hope this made a good read for somebody. It's very exciting for me.
