[gavinfabl]

Below is the specs for the amp

Headphone Impedance (Ohms) Cute Beyond Output (mW)
AKG 240DF 600 60
Sennheiser HD600 300 120
AKG 501/401 120 300
AKG K270S 75 480
Grado SR60/80 32 320


I would say this amp is better designed to power 120 ohm headphones or below.

Compare this to the Little Dot MKIV

Power Output:
500 mW @ 300/600 ohm - so with 300ohm to 600 ohm headphones this amp drives headphones better
300 mW @ 120 ohm
100 mW @ 32 ohm - but doesn't work as well with the lower ohm headphones. But will still sound ok.


If you have lower ohm headphones, this is where you need the Little Dot 1+ Hybrid delivers as below.
Power Output:
150mW @ 300 ohms
300mW @ 120 ohms
800mW @ 32 ohms

I have heard that the amp is a good amp sound wise, but you might want to look at the ohm level of headphones you might like to use with it.

 

[lasttodie]

Thanks for helpfull answer, 

 .a friend of mine is probably going to sell his Little Dod mklll, so I'm going to try it with my DT 770 pro and see if I like it.

 

[gavinfabl]

The LD MKIII is excellent too. Puts out 350mW from 300-600 ohms so a good option.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Quote:

Hi I own a pair of DT 770 pro 80 ohm and I use a Argon HA-1( it's a renamed Firestone Cute Beyond).I plan to buy the DT 990 pro but I wonder has anyone tried the 990 with the Cute Beyond/Argon HA1? ( the Argon is made by Firestone for the Nordic market)
 

I didn't tryed but i don't think DT-990 Pro will sound bad on this amp , at least decent , no the best for a DT-990 Pro peraphs but decent souding . Currendly using a DT-880 600Ω on a C2.1 wich "only" output 165mw  for 600Ω , and it sound great , on par with my K702 if not better , 250Ω is the easiest to drive on beyer line .

 

[lasttodie]

Hi guys great answers and help (I love this forum)the Argon HA-1(Cute Beyond) is a good sounding little amp and they drive my BD 80 ohms pretty good but I'm missing some of the bass (I'm no basshead but I like good bass). and I know the LD MKlll absolutly helps with the extra punch. My friend with the LD MKlll owned the Argon I now got and he uses the Sennheiser HD595 and we did a comparison between the to amps and the LD helped a lot with the bass part for the Senn. But I'm not unhappy with the Argon ,but you know we always want it a little better no matter how good the setup sounds.HE HE 

 

[scruffsaudio]

Forgive me for being Daft... Beyer is confusing me again.... as far as 880s go, the 250 ohm is easiest to drive, correct? And the 600 ohm is toughest to drive? Trying to make sure I have this basic concept understood since I'm now eager to try the 600 ohm vers after the recent rave review on this thread.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Forgive me for being Daft... Beyer is confusing me again.... as far as 880s go, the 250 ohm is easiest to drive, correct? And the 600 ohm is toughest to drive? Trying to make sure I have this basic concept understood since I'm now eager to try the 600 ohm vers after the recent rave review on this thread.

It depends on what you are using as the source. Some will work better with the lower impedance ones (especially portable players and other battery powered devices), while others work well with high impedance and are worse with the 32 Ohm version. The 250 Ohm model is a reasonable compromise if you do not have a powerful amplifier, but are not trying to drive the headphones directly from something like an iPod either.
The 600 Ohm version is tough to drive in the sense that it needs the most voltage to reach the same level of loudness. Here is a table of the RMS voltage needed for 90 dB SPL with each impedance (multiply these by 10 for 110 dB):
  32 Ohm: 0.125V
  250 Ohm: 0.299V
  600 Ohm: 0.514V
For these, you probably want to use at least an FiiO E9 (if you prefer something cheap) or comparable/better spec amplifier, but some of the more expensive sound cards will also drive them at reasonable levels.
 

 

[gavinfabl]

The Fiio E9 can power the 600 ohm version but would benefit from more voltage which certain tube amps are great at providing.

However the E9 is pound for pound incredible value.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Zombie, I'm confused by your statement on the DT990 Pros. In terms of treble, are they smoother, or more grating than the 600 ohm? I'm trying to have one GOOD pair of bassy, velour padded headphones. I remember having no comfort issues with my DT770 Pro 80s, but all three Premium DTs I owned (880/32, 770/600, 990/600) used to bother me a little. If the DT990 Pros have less harshness in the treble, I may go this route. Can't beat the $175 they are going for right now. I'd prefer to buy a Pro over a Premium due to better clamp and comfort for me.. also the fact that it has even more bass than the Premiums intrigues me.

Also, did you or did you not hear the variant of DT770/600 with the sloppy, overblown bass? I know I was the first to bring that up here, so I was hoping someone else verified that they do exist.

Thanks for the help, friend.

 

[Zombie_X]

The Pro versions are a tad smoother because they have more bass than the other versions. The bass seems to hide more of treble than the 32Ohm or 600Ohm versions. The reason they have more bass is because their clamping force is much higher. Also they seem to have a tad bit more midrange and midbass because of the clamp. If you transplanted the Pro drivers into the premium shells they would sound the exact same as the premium 250Ohm. Actually they have the exact same drivers (Pro and Premium that is).
 
I heard the DT770 you mentioned and I did not like it. It's as there haven't been many cases of these around. The bass was very similar to the 80Ohm Pro model. I think it was just a bad batch of them.
 
Quote:

Zombie, I'm confused by your statement on the DT990 Pros. In terms of treble, are they smoother, or more grating than the 600 ohm? I'm trying to have one GOOD pair of bassy, velour padded headphones. I remember having no comfort issues with my DT770 Pro 80s, but all three Premium DTs I owned (880/32, 770/600, 990/600) used to bother me a little. If the DT990 Pros have less harshness in the treble, I may go this route. Can't beat the $175 they are going for right now. I'd prefer to buy a Pro over a Premium due to better clamp and comfort for me.. also the fact that it has even more bass than the Premiums intrigues me.

Also, did you or did you not hear the variant of DT770/600 with the sloppy, overblown bass? I know I was the first to bring that up here, so I was hoping someone else verified that they do exist.

Thanks for the help, friend.

 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Thanks for the help. Looks like the DT990 Pro would suit me fine. I loved the clamping force on the DT770 Pro 80s, as it was a better fit for me than the Premium Beyers. Hmm, now to commit to the purchase, lol.

edit: Commited. They'll be here Tuesday. I hope it's nearly as good as my Premium DT990 were.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Okay, just wanna chime in on first day impressions on the DT990 Pro.

Maaaan, these things are bassy. Noticeably more bassy than the DT990/600.

As of right now, it has so much bass, it's creeping up to DT770 Pro 80 type levels for me.

I'm not sure this is what I wanted. Also, the treble is DEFINITELY less peakier than the DT990/600 for me, most probably because the bass is making it tamer.

Damn, now I was wishing the T1 wasn't as expensive as it is. Right now, they sound like the perfect headphone for me.

Zombie, you definitely hit it on the head in your description. Thanks for the help. Now to see if I'm gonna keep them or not. I may just get a DT880 Pro and hope the bass satisfies. I think my taste changed a little since hearing the HE4. Can you describe how close the DT880 Pro sounds in the bass area? I loved the 32ohm DT880, and would like a little more bass than that has, but obviously not as much as the DT990. If it's not too much different, I'd rather not.

 

[Zombie_X]

The DT880 Pro is a tad smoother sounding in the treble and the mids seem to come through more. The bass is almost the same as the Premium DT880 but a tad bit more body and impact. Not DT990 bass or impact but more than a Premium DT880.
 
Quote:

Okay, just wanna chime in on first day impressions on the DT990 Pro.

Maaaan, these things are bassy. Noticeably more bassy than the DT990/600.

As of right now, it has so much bass, it's creeping up to DT770 Pro 80 type levels for me.

I'm not sure this is what I wanted. Also, the treble is DEFINITELY less peakier than the DT990/600 for me, most probably because the bass is making it tamer.

Damn, now I was wishing the T1 wasn't as expensive as it is. Right now, they sound like the perfect headphone for me.

Zombie, you definitely hit it on the head in your description. Thanks for the help. Now to see if I'm gonna keep them or not. I may just get a DT880 Pro and hope the bass satisfies. I think my taste changed a little since hearing the HE4. Can you describe how close the DT880 Pro sounds in the bass area? I loved the 32ohm DT880, and would like a little more bass than that has, but obviously not as much as the DT990. If it's not too much different, I'd rather not.

 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Thanks. I'm reading up and I still think it won't have enough bass to satisfy me, but it's good to understand their characteristic more. I guess I really do need to get the HE4 again, but I wouldn't dare get it without something like the Lyr, and I definitely can't afford them together.

 

[Zombie_X]

Need some help with that? Let me see what I can do for you.
 
Quote:

Thanks. I'm reading up and I still think it won't have enough bass to satisfy me, but it's good to understand their characteristic more. I guess I really do need to get the HE4 again, but I wouldn't dare get it without something like the Lyr, and I definitely can't afford them together.