[mango salsa]

After being dead set on the AD700's for a long time, I realized I needed better sound isolation and bass for my next headphones, both of which seemed to be lacking with the AD700's, so I went ahead and purchased a set of the Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro 80's.

My question is after doing lots of reading here on head fi, is what amp should I use to get the full potential of these cans? I understand the DT770's need an amp to get their full potential. A little background info on my sources and preferences...

-I will be listening to mainly Trance (lots of female vocals)
-" " " " 320kb files from my laptop
-" " " " my regular soundcard that came with my laptop
-" " " " mostly winamp, but I downloaded FOOBAR 2000 and dont know how to really use it (ive only read that its superior to winamp, but dont know why)
-I have no amp but need your advice specific to my needs/preferences mentioned above.

I am coming from my very first headphones I purchased in 03, the Sony MDR-V600, which I hear from people on this forum is a POS and I agree especially with the ear pads that have disintegrated from so many years of use... So I'm assuming the DT770 even without amp should blow me away (or at least I hope they will...) but I want an amp to blow me away even further and deeper as really good trance music should. I am looking for the most out of what I have available to me, with amp or without...

With that said, I have only read that the Fiio E5 is a good and cheap amp. I dont know of any others to go with. Im completely lost when it comes to things like this. Im pretty much a bonafide noob here. All i know is that I have a deep appreciation for the music i listen to so please help me choose a cost effective yet quality amp for my setup so that I can fully enjoy my music. If there is anything else I have overlooked, please let me know and feel free to recommend anything else i might need for my setup. much thanks in advance.

 

[mcspectre]

I think these are considered bass monsters so i would be surprised if the Fiio did anything good for them besides maybe a volume boost. I know that my atrios plus the fiio wasnt the best combo cuz it made the bass a muddy, uncontrolled.

Are you looking for a portable amp or a home amp? Check out Rockhopper audio, got one of their mini3s and its rocking my world!

 

[mbd2884]

I'd try to find the most neutral sounding amp possible, any more treble or bass with the DT770 and you might hurt your ears.

Compass with neutral setting + Earth HDAM

Purity Audio KICAS (Not the Caliente version).

 

[mango salsa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcspectre /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you looking for a portable amp or a home amp? Check out Rockhopper audio, got one of their mini3s and its rocking my world!

I will be using the headphones/amp at home so portability is not an issue.

 

[boozcool]

I used to have a pair of DT770/80 Pros which I used with my KICAS Caliente and M^3 w/ STEPS. With the KICAS and DT770s, the bass response was awesome, but every other aspect was lacking. I found the Denon D2000s instead paired very well with the KICAS
The M^3, though, paired extremely well with the DT770s. Bass was huge, soundstage was larger, and the overall sound was significantly better than with the KICAS

 

[dBs]

Compass is going for a steal price right now and it has a DAC so you can bypass that audio card of yours. I have the 250 ohm version of the DT770s and my Compass will arrive soon. By the time the next set will be for sale my review should be out. I also listen extensively to trance so it will be your music with closeish phones (the 250 and 80 versions are different), which might give you a good impression of how the Compass fares with those cans and with that style of music.

 

[mango salsa]

I just received my new DT770 80's today and wow. these totally blow away my old Sony MDR-V600's. Im listening to some trance mixes on my ipod here at work right now, and even off the ipod, the sound is fantastic. Its very clear and the bass seems to be very good as well. I dont know if its fair to assert yet, but these cans are not the bass monsters everyone makes them out to be. I think they are just right. In fact, I wouldn't mind if there was a little more bass. of course, im only listening to trance right now so this probably won't apply to other genres of music. So far, I am thoroughly impressed by the sound of these headphones right out of the box. I can't wait to see what these will sound like after some burn in time.

 

[NoLimits3D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango salsa /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just received my new DT770 80's today and wow. these totally blow away my old Sony MDR-V600's. Im listening to some trance mixes on my ipod here at work right now, and even off the ipod, the sound is fantastic. Its very clear and the bass seems to be very good as well. I dont know if its fair to assert yet, but these cans are not the bass monsters everyone makes them out to be. I think they are just right. In fact, I wouldn't mind if there was a little more bass. of course, im only listening to trance right now so this probably won't apply to other genres of music. So far, I am thoroughly impressed by the sound of these headphones right out of the box. I can't wait to see what these will sound like after some burn in time.

It's your source. Trust me.

But I agree, the 770s can deliver timid bass if prompted.

 

[mango salsa]

I see. Im still at work so I haven't had a chance to try them out at home. But my home setup isnt really much of a setup at all. Its just my PC laptop which has a Realtek High Definition sound card. I have Foobar 2000, and will be listening to some 320kb mp3's. I also have a cord (please excuse my noobness here) that I run from my laptop headphone jack to the back of my old TEAC bookshelf speaker system receiver, and then I plug my headphones into the actual receiver, and not directly into the laptop jack. (the receiver has those presets like rock, vocal, pop, jazz etc.) I don't know if that helps or hurts any, but thats how I do it so...
I'm looking for some advice and suggestions on how to improve my setup without breaking the bank.

I've also been reading a lot here that the DT770 80s need some burn in time so I plan on doing that as well. But for the past few hours I've been listening to them, I am pretty impressed.

 

[mango salsa]

Okay so I've tried listening to the phones at home. I thought the sound quality was going to be better with listening from my laptop, but it isn't. I mean the details and vocals still sound great, but it didnt seem as full and bassy as it did with my ipod.

I also tried a few other setups. I plugged into my panasonic surround sound system in the living room that had an ipod connect and again, I wasn't getting the bassiness I was getting straight from my ipod. Then I tried plugging into an old integrated stereo amplifier, a Sansui A1200P from the 80's, which I hooked up to my laptop via coaxial cable and it wasn't much different from the sound I was getting straight from my laptop.

This is making me wonder whats going on here. Is this telling me that my ipod is the best source that I have? I know these headphones are capable of good bass, but I am simply not getting it from anywhere else other than my ipod. Everything else however sounds great. The vocals especially seem to be a strong point as I listen to my trance. I have about 8-9 hours of burn in on them already, hopefully some more burn in will help out. So as of now, I'm finding that my ipod is best. sad.

 

[fjrabon]

are you using your iPod's EQ settings?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango salsa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Okay so I've tried listening to the phones at home. I thought the sound quality was going to be better with listening from my laptop, but it isn't. I mean the details and vocals still sound great, but it didnt seem as full and bassy as it did with my ipod. I also tried a few other setups. I plugged into my panasonic surround sound system in the living room that had an ipod connect and again, I wasn't getting the bassiness I was getting straight from my ipod. Then I tried plugging into an old integrated stereo amplifier, a Sansui A1200P from the 80's, which I hooked up to my laptop via coaxial cable and it wasn't much different from the sound I was getting straight from my laptop. This is making me wonder whats going on here. Is this telling me that my ipod is the best source that I have? I know these headphones are capable of good bass, but I am simply not getting it from anywhere else other than my ipod. Everything else however sounds great. The vocals especially seem to be a strong point as I listen to my trance. I have about 8-9 hours of burn in on them already, hopefully some more burn in will help out. So as of now, I'm finding that my ipod is best. sad.

 

[mango salsa]

no, my eq settings on the ipod are off.

 

[mango salsa]

I didnt even think about using the eq settings on the ipod. since you mentioned it i tried it out and wow. i set it to the electronic setting and... wow... I just got more of what I was looking for. Now only if I could get that from my laptop.

yeah... the iPod plus the electronic eq setting have revealed a new level of awesomeness I didnt know existed with these headphones. They sound absolutely awesome right now with the trance im listening to.

 

[m0ofassa]

You'll want a warm amp, probably tube or a corda arietta. Currently pairing a little dot with them and it sounds good.
Sometimes female vocals are lacking so you might want to boost some mids
1.2 and 7 khz up by about .8 db (compared to the rest - i suggest you EQ the rest down) and ran 1.8-5 khz up by about 1.5 db compared to the rest.
you'll also probably want to invest in a noise sharpening device for those highs because theyre almost non-existent. (personally i'd recomend foo_delta rather than EQ because they lack a bit of sparkle as they are from the 770).
enjoy the good, but not great, phones.
wouldnt recomend using heavy EQ (or preset EQ at all. do it yourself). You can also get away with low bit rates with this can provided they dont peak or clip excessively. It'll show up in the bass, but the lackluster highs the can presents will let you ******** your way even through 128 kbps CBR mp3.
edit: oh and while im reading the rest of the thread, yeah they do come together a bit better with burnin

 

[mango salsa]

with burn in, should I not use any of the iPod eq settings and just leave it off? I've had them running continuously at the 'electronic' eq setting.