BotanicalStig
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2013
- Posts
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Hi guys,
I've been wanting new headphones for a while now and had done a good bit of research here over the past few weeks. My price range topped out at around $200. I went to a guitar center to try out a few after coming up with a list of good candidates. DT770, AT M50's, and Senheiser HD 380's. Needless to say, the flat-ish 380 sounded best, to me. But after 10 minutes of listening at the store I hesitated to buy them as my head was already starting to hurt due to the massive amounts of pressure these things exert on my head... The DT770 felt so good, but sounded so bad (80 ohm). I wanted isolation for the times when I listen with people around, so I wasn't going to consider the open DT880 (which I can find used/refurb in my price range) and took home the 380's. But now that the area around my ears are sore after 3 days listening and can't stand them on my head longer than 15 minutes... I want to explore other options.
So I'm open to suggestions. The 770's felt great so I assume the 880's do too, will the sound match my expectations (250 ohm)? I don't want exaggerated bass- clear, even sound is what I want. I mainly listen to punk, alternative and art rock bands. I'm ok with open phones as I usually listen alone, and I can probably find some IEM's for travel etc. I'm fine with spending a little extra to get an amp as well (below $100) so keep that in mind. Let me know what you think, I only ask because I wont be able to try them out in person before hand...
Thanks,
I've been wanting new headphones for a while now and had done a good bit of research here over the past few weeks. My price range topped out at around $200. I went to a guitar center to try out a few after coming up with a list of good candidates. DT770, AT M50's, and Senheiser HD 380's. Needless to say, the flat-ish 380 sounded best, to me. But after 10 minutes of listening at the store I hesitated to buy them as my head was already starting to hurt due to the massive amounts of pressure these things exert on my head... The DT770 felt so good, but sounded so bad (80 ohm). I wanted isolation for the times when I listen with people around, so I wasn't going to consider the open DT880 (which I can find used/refurb in my price range) and took home the 380's. But now that the area around my ears are sore after 3 days listening and can't stand them on my head longer than 15 minutes... I want to explore other options.
So I'm open to suggestions. The 770's felt great so I assume the 880's do too, will the sound match my expectations (250 ohm)? I don't want exaggerated bass- clear, even sound is what I want. I mainly listen to punk, alternative and art rock bands. I'm ok with open phones as I usually listen alone, and I can probably find some IEM's for travel etc. I'm fine with spending a little extra to get an amp as well (below $100) so keep that in mind. Let me know what you think, I only ask because I wont be able to try them out in person before hand...
Thanks,
Maybe you should get the 990 Pros? They're (supposedly) more bassy than the 880s, but not as overpowering as the 770s (I can attest to that fact). They are open-backed, but the 880s are practically open so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch from the 880s. And, B&H has them for $180 
I also apologize that you had the experience you did with the DT 770s. They were my favorites for a long time. When people on the forums complained that the 770s were too dark, I often wondered how they could think that, but with further reading I learned that the lower-impedance ones were more bassy than the higher-impedance Beyers (I had the 250 Ohm version). While all of those (770, 880, 990) have a V-shaped sound signature, I found them very forgiving to all genres, and actually sounded really good with Alt rock 
The choice is up to you, read around, hope you find my $0.02 useful. Peace!