I have joined the rank of the Headphone Elite (DT880)

[sionghchan]

Well, I just got my new pair of Beyers DT880 yesterday from Headroom. Never thought a work day could be SO long ... but when you get a call from home that there is a 3.5 lb package from Headroom waiting for you at home, you just NEED to get home immediately and have a go at it.

So far, I have only managed to spend a couple of hours on it...and the soundstaging and resolution is impressive. However, I think, running it out of a PA2V2 isn't doing it real justice..

In anycase, just needed to share this good news with everyone here and I will post my impressions here later when I have had at least a week on it....though I don't think I can do a better job than warpdriver in his post about his DT880.

Now...*cracks my piggy bank* lets see what I can do about my amp!

 

[solvexyz]

maybe it is time for you to get a tube amp. By the way, I noticed you are from Canada as well. How long is the shipping, and how much you pay for the duty? If you mind share it.

 

[sionghchan]

MMmmmMMMMmmm...tube amp...*salivating*...

My wallet: "NOOOOOOOOOooooooo!!!!!"

In seriousness, this is a very little known fact, HEADPHONES are DUTY FREE coming into Canada. I.e. if you bought a headphone (regarless of the country of make, e.g. US for Grado, Germany for Beyers and lots of Senns are made in Ireland) and shipped it through USPS, you will be charged GST and PST of your declared value and a CAD$5 cross border admin fee.

That's it. Now, headphone amps are a different thing. There is a 4% Duty charge against it. However, if your amp were to be made in US, e.g. a Headroom Amp or a Gilmore or a Ray Samuels, these should all be Duty free because of our NAFTA agreements. But if you were to get a Meier Audio Corda, you will be charged 4% on top of GST, PST and the cross border admin fee.

Cheers!
SH




Quote:

Originally Posted by solvexyz maybe it is time for you to get a tube amp. By the way, I noticed you are from Canada as well. How long is the shipping, and how much you pay for the duty? If you mind share it.

 

[solvexyz]

Oh I see. Thanks for the response on the duty thing.

By the way, have you heard of Little Dot II Amp (it is a tube amp by the way). There is currently a group by here :http://ipodstudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1862
Pretty sure your walllet won't cry.

I currently trying to get some reviews on that, but it seems pretty new, so currently not many review on it.

 

[sionghchan]

Yups.. In fact, I was the one who pointed this out to La_Marquise and Smittysan89. Smittysan89 is now trying to get a LDII and La-Marquise is getting a LDIII.

Good as it is, I'm a little concerned with the tubes it is using, Chinese Millspec tubes. I.e. they will last 2000 to 3000 hours and then what? You can't get replacements here. People are still trying to get replacements.

I've thought it over and have decided for now, I'll stay with a solid state like M^3 or Rega Ear..

Are you getting a LDII?

Quote:

Originally Posted by solvexyz Oh I see. Thanks for the response on the duty thing. By the way, have you heard of Little Dot II Amp (it is a tube amp by the way). There is currently a group by here :http://ipodstudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1862 I currently trying to get some reviews on that, but it seems pretty new, so currently not many review on it.

 

[solvexyz]

LOL. My concern is exactly the same as you. By the way, I am a canalphone user, so I am not very in need of an amp for now. I am thinking a AE-1, but I won't make the purchase anytime soon.

 

[sionghchan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by solvexyz LOL. My concern is exactly the same as you. By the way, I am a canalphone user, so I am not very in need of an amp for now. I am thinking a AE-1, but I won't make the purchase anytime soon.

Ahh..very wise indeed. You should think about the Hornet as well...also, the SR71....once the Hornet is out..maybe SR71 might go down in price.

 

[Julz]

I run my DT880's through my OTL32 and man, those baby's sing... wonderful headphones and I think could be bang-for-buck the biggest bargain in 'phones right now, IMO.

Welcome to Team DT880 !

 

[phosfiend]

OMG, headphones are duty free coming into Canada? thats awesome news, for my ears, not my wallet.

 

[sionghchan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phosfiend OMG, headphones are duty free coming into Canada? thats awesome news, for my ears, not my wallet.

Yups...duty free. Check out:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/p...5-2/ch85ne.pdf

Look for Tarriff Item 8518.30.91 ... Headphone is duty free.

However, Tarriff Item 8518.40.90 ... Audio frequency electric amplifiers 6.5% duties.

Hope your ears have fun!

 

[renesis_au]

Add me to the team, just got my (used) pair this afternoon. Running from my soundcard (Audigy 2ZS) they sound great. They will definitely need an amp but I'm happy, now for that LD2....

 

[sionghchan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by renesis_au Add me to the team, just got my (used) pair this afternoon. Running from my soundcard (Audigy 2ZS) they sound great. They will definitely need an amp but I'm happy, now for that LD2....

Hey, welcome to the team! Aren't they a great pair of cans?

However, I can't imagine you running them without a pair of amp! I found them to be harder to drive even compared to the 300 ohm HD600 (even though DT880 is just 250 ohm). How are you coping in that area?

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phosfiend OMG, headphones are duty free coming into Canada? thats awesome news, for my ears, not my wallet.

Just to be clear...duty free, but not tax free. You still pay GST and PST if applicable.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sionghchan Well, I just got my new pair of Beyers DT880 yesterday from Headroom. Never thought a work day could be SO long ...

Welcome to Team Beyerdynamic!

I do recommend the Micro amp with the Beyers, it seems to be a really good combination, very dynamic and quick. It's a little larger than most other portables, and you need to use rechargeables if you buy the Desktop module, but otherwise, I think it easily compares to what I've heard in the SM3 and SR71 category. The crossfeed is making a lot of studio mixed music more tolerable.

 

[Loftprojection]

Don't be too afraid about replacement tubes, I have the Jasmine T200 tube amp that is similar to the Little Dot and I got some replacement tubes from thetubestore.com right here is Canada. Check out with them, I also thought that the preamp tube of my Jasmine were available only as Chinese tubes but the thetubestore sent me an equivalent that works perfectly and has an even better sound. There are also a lot of other tube amps that you can look at if your budget permits!

Considering what I know of the DT880 sound signature, they will greatly benefit from a tube amp that will bring out the mids and tame the highs a bit.

Just my opinion.