[Sanctuary]

 
Quote:

DT770 Pro 80


Comfort king. This is a heavy hitter. Very impressive for non-competitive gaming, especially if you wanna feel like you're in a movie theater. The bass is considerably super powered, and would make this a bad choice for competitive gaming. However, the soundstage depth and width is surprisingly large for a closed headphone. These also have the VERY best sense of distance when positioning sounds...PERIOD. Nothing has toppled this headphone when it comes to that. Not the AD700, K701, or HD598. Too bad it's too wild in bass for hardcore FPS gaming. The finer details are prety much sucked out because of the bass.

 
I've been looking at the DT990 premiums, but I may end up having to stick with a closed set--so I started reading more on the DT770 pro, especially due to the "sense of distance" comment.  However, I do not want bass that's so overpowering that it adds such a thick layer to everything else that the details become muddy.

This article refers to how the bass response drastically changes depending on the impedence of the source.  That with lower impedence, it sounds more "punchy" (good for music and details), but with higher impedence sources, it would become "boomy" (not good for clarity).
 
So what happens when you take a pair of 32 - 80 Ohm headphones, connect them to a "low impedence" (i.e. 80 or less) source and amp them?  Should this have any effect at all on the bass of the DT770?

 

[obazavil]

actually... DT990 doesn't leak that much... leaks more than a closed, but is ages behind what K702 leaks
 
Unless I'm listening to my music very loud, Noone complains here at the office

 

[lennyr]

Quote:

hmm..OK, so it seems that my only option is asus xonar u1 or u3 then..

I had the X-Fi Go! Pro, returned it, and got a Xonar U3.  Not only was the X-Fi's CMSS / THX-TSP inferior to Dolby Headphone in positioning and audio quality, the Creative card made my computer unstable.  I have been 100% happy with the U3.
 

 

[Sanctuary]

Quote:

actually... DT990 doesn't leak that much... leaks more than a closed, but is ages behind what K702 leaks
 
Unless I'm listening to my music very loud, Noone complains here at the office

Could you do me a small favor?  Put them on, and turn them up to the highest "comfortable" level you normally use them at, put them on a table or chair or whatever and cover up the actual inner ear heaphone area with a pillow or something and then leave the room with the door closed.  Can you hear the outer leakage from 5-8 feet away from the door, or through the wall in the room directly next to it?
 
Not only do I not want my neighbors complaining that they can hear something at 2:00 am, they are also at times exceedingly annoying, and I use headphones to escape their own noise.  I've never used open headphones, and really don't want to get some "good" sounding ones that still cause me to be assaulted by outside noise.

 

[obazavil]

Quote:

Could you do me a small favor?  Put them on, and turn them up to the highest "comfortable" level you normally use them at, put them on a table or chair or whatever and cover up the actual inner ear heaphone area with a pillow or something and then leave the room with the door closed.  Can you hear the outer leakage from 5-8 feet away from the door, or through the wall in the room directly next to it?
 
Not only do I not want my neighbors complaining that they can hear something at 2:00 am, they are also at times exceedingly annoying, and I use headphones to escape their own noise.  I've never used open headphones, and really don't want to get some "good" sounding ones that still cause me to be assaulted by outside noise.

I can do the test this weekend, sure... but if isolation is what you are looking, definitely a closed  can is a much better option.
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

I had the X-Fi Go! Pro, returned it, and got a Xonar U3.  Not only was the X-Fi's CMSS / THX-TSP inferior to Dolby Headphone in positioning and audio quality, the Creative card made my computer unstable.  I have been 100% happy with the U3.
 

Unfortunately, Creative was really off their game when they released both an updated X-Fi Go! Pro and X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. Both previous versions (non-Pro) outperformed them and had no issues at all. Tsk tsk, Creative

 

[matryx]

I picked up the Sennheiser HD558 recently on sale for $125. They are pretty good but I was wondering if I should get the DT770 Pro 80ohms instead for $200. I do some gaming but I watch a lot more movies so I was wondering if I should return these and get the DT770 Pro 80ohms. The DT770 I can't return since the store I'm getting them from don't allow that. 

 

[BournePerfect]

Sanctuary:
 
     I would HIGHLY recommend the Pro 900 for use with movies. I've used the Dt 990s, DT 880s, K702, D2000, HD595, and quite a few others...and I didn't like ANY of them for movies. The Pro 900 completely changed my view with this. To me they are as incredibly immersive as my $2000 5.1 speaker/sub system believe it or not, and to me they are worth buying for that alone. I used them both in stereo mode and DH mode for movies and actually preferred the stereo mode for the most part. For games, the DH works wonders though. Also, I only used them with the silver pads as it brought out the mids a lot more and tamed the bass quite a bit.
 
     I used to think headphones for movies was pretty pathetic until I used the Pro 900. I know others really like the D2000 and DT 900s-but to me the Pros are on a completely different level. I believe a lot of it is the fact that it has one of the most convincingly real soundstages/imaging of any headphone I've owned. My .02.
 
-Daniel
 
 

 

[JCDenton2052]

Great write up here, love it. I'm still undecided on what phones i want. I think i have whittled it down to just a few now those are:
 
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm
Beyerdynamic DT 990 Premium 250 Ohm
Sennheiser PC360 G4ME
M-Audio Q40
 
Im completely new to headphones so i was wondering if someone could decide for me. These four sound superb from what im reading and im leaning toward the DT 990 Premium's. Im stricly PC gaming only but i'm not a competitve FPS gamer, more casual. I love FPS', it's what got me into gaming/PC's back in 1991/2 so i will always play a decent FPS for the fun factor it gives. I will also be competing on BF3 when it is out as i haven't played an online FPS game since BF2. In recent times i have been playing more and more RPG's, games like ME, Witcher, TES etc so i mix it up a bit in games. I like bass but not too heavy, i prefer hearing everything with the added oompf of bass throw in. I prefer crystal clear sound over too much bass.
 
Music i do listen to but most of the time i just like to chill out on a game more than listen to music. It's more of 80% gaming 20% music so will the DT 990's be the perfect match for me?
 
I'm itching to buy some headphones, itching. Mainly because my speakers are too loud for neighbors and house mates late at night but i also want a good pair so i can mix it up a little between speakers and phones.
 
EDIT - Just to add i have a Asus Xonar Essence STX Soundcard with seperate Headphone Amp. The control panel of the card has the option for Dolby Headphone but im unsure on how well it performs.

 

[Scytus]

Wow this thread has grown, I remember seeing it when it just started.
 
I have been on my search for a good setup of gaming & music equipment for a while, though I've been focusing more on finishing up my computer build as of late. I'm essentially hoping for direction, as MLE, Shamrock & others seem to have far more experience than I in this area.
 
I would first like to ask though, if it's possible to use a sound card as both a DAC and gateway to Dolby Headphone? This is the setup I envision using:

If that is possible, I need advice on this setup to work together (For PC Gaming):

1. Headphones
2. Amp
3. Soundcard

 
Headphone
    I have tried Ultrasone Pro 550's, Pro 900's, HFI-580's, Sony XB500, LCD-2's, Beyerdynamic T1's, and Sennheiser HD600/650. Out of all of these headphones, I absolutely loved the positioning, separation, massive sound-stage, and tonality (as in, while extremely clear & detailed, I didn't perceive it as analytical/cold, resulting in music being engaging rather than boring) of the Beyer T1's, and really disliked the HD600/650. Also, I don't think I want to own completely open cans; if I had a choice, it would be the semi-open design of the T1, as it didn't seem to leak as much as the open cans did.
 
My two gripes with the T1? the bass, while extremely clean, was almost non-existent... also the **** set of headphones cost 1.2k, insane. So as far as headphone goes, I'm essentially looking for a non-fully-open (or closed, if sound-stage is hardly sacrificed) set of cans that share the qualities of T1 (especially for that beautiful sound-stage), with more bass impact (I will be using these for both SP and MP games, I like the theatrical bass/rumble), and at a lower price-point.
 
EDIT: At first I thought the DT990's were the perfect match, then I read of the sharp treble, sibilance & anemic bass, which had me looking elsewhere.
 
Amp
   I really have to do some more research when it comes to amps, but I've been considering either the Matrix M-Stage or Lovely Cube.
 
Soundcard
  I'd need the soundcard to have a PCIe interface, accept input from an amp, and would (naturally) want it to have Dolby Headphone capabilities. I need advice on this area as I have no idea what the difference is on the 8+ Xonar varieties. That, and there are also creative/other brand cards that I thought I should possibly look into.
 
 
 
I hope the combination you guys recommend would culminate into a great gaming/everyday-use audio setup C:

 

[Sanctuary]

Quote:

Sanctuary:
 
     I would HIGHLY recommend the Pro 900 for use with movies. I've used the Dt 990s, DT 880s, K702, D2000, HD595, and quite a few others...and I didn't like ANY of them for movies. The Pro 900 completely changed my view with this. To me they are as incredibly immersive as my $2000 5.1 speaker/sub system believe it or not, and to me they are worth buying for that alone. I used them both in stereo mode and DH mode for movies and actually preferred the stereo mode for the most part. For games, the DH works wonders though. Also, I only used them with the silver pads as it brought out the mids a lot more and tamed the bass quite a bit.

 
 

 
I'm wondering if maybe DH did not sound so hot to you because of the way those headphones are designed to change the sound stage already through "S-Logic Natural Surround Sound".  DH does not play nice with headphones that have angled drivers or fiddle around with the acoustics too much.  The drivers on those headphones are off-centered and it's doing it's own surround thing--which is why it probably sounds as good as it does in stereo--so it actually probably sounds awful in DH mode.
 
I do like the way those headphones look very durable though and easy to get replacement parts for.  The reviews I've read on them say that the bass is incredible, but it doesn't cloud the details--but of course it could be too much for some.
 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

 
I'm wondering if maybe DH did not sound so hot to you because of the way those headphones are designed to change the sound stage already through "S-Logic Natural Surround Sound".  DH does not play nice with headphones that have angled drivers or fiddle around with the acoustics too much.  The drivers on those headphones are off-centered and it's doing it's own surround thing--which is why it probably sounds as good as it does in stereo--so it actually probably sounds awful in DH mode.
 
I do like the way those headphones look very durable though and easy to get replacement parts for.  The reviews I've read on them say that the bass is incredible, but it doesn't cloud the details--but of course it could be too much for some.
 

 

Angled driver headphones usually play quite nice with DH.  For example the  AD700, K70x, and Senn HD5xx and PC360 all have angled drivers, and are notorious for performing well with DH.  Not to mention the HD800 and T1 both have angled drivers and are great according to the reports of people who've tried them.
 
Now, the S-logic I'm not so sure about.  I think thats taking it a step further and trying to make an almost DSP sounding effect that could clash with the DH DSP.
 
I think dolby headphone works good with headphones that have a lot of sound separation and left-right soundstage (which I think angled drivers might help with).  DH then spreads the left-right around in 360 degress creating a big sounding soundstage and you still keep the separation. 
 
I've owned the MDR F1's before and they had less left-right soundstage and separation and instead had a 3d-ish cross-feed sound out of the box in stereo.  Slapping DH on them didn't work out as well as I hoped, as it just sounded like running a DH signal through a pair of speakers and I couldn't position stuff very well (think ->Dolby pro logic)
 
 

 

[matryx]

How hard is it to drive the Pro 900s. Anywhere I can get them for a decent price in Canada?

 

[MohawkUS]

Slogic + Dolby is the best combination I've heard for gaming. They completment each other nicely.

 

[Sanctuary]

Quote:

Slogic + Dolby is the best combination I've heard for gaming. They completment each other nicely.

So now we have one poster who did not particularly care for that combination, and one who thinks it sounds good together.  The problem I have is that S-Logic is a different take on Silent Cinema/Pro Logic/Dolby Headphone, but it's not using any kind of algorithm, just the design of the headphones.  It could just be amplifying the effect of Dolby Headphone, but I could also see it making it a huge, jumbled, sphere of reverb too, like you're in a cave watching a movie or playing a game.

Not having heard it myself though, I can't really do anything other than speculate.