[blinkstar]

I just got a pair of DT 880s (250 ohm) and I love them. But I don't have a very decent amp and the bass is a little anemic. I'm wondering if there are any physical mods I could perform on the 880s to boost the bass (I did the tac mod on my old Sen 280 pros, for instance, and the bass improved dramatically).
 
All suggestions appreciated!

 

[Zombie_X]

Yes, you can boost the bass by drilling a 1/4" whole in the ear cup. This makes a bass port and give the bass more body.

 

[blinkstar]

Thanks for responding!
 
Has anyone done this before? Have you done this before? I can't find another reference to it anywhere else.

 

[Zombie_X]

I have done it before yes, and it does increase both the bass quantity and punch.

 

[Riku540]

Quote:

I don't have a very decent amp and the bass is a little anemic.

Well... that alone could greatly improve things honestly. Especially if you have 250 ohms.
 
And Zombie... you're totally joking right? >.>

 

[Zombie_X]

I am not joking at all. It's been a while since I did this, but what I did was use two left cups and made a friends DT880 dual entry. I left the ports on top open (for routing a wire to the right driver) on both cups and the bass was increased. If I covered the wholes up, the bass became lessened.

 

[Riku540]

Interesting... I would still recommend an amp before drilling any holes into someones headphones though.

 

[Zombie_X]

Yes, indeed I would go with the amp route as well. I would only try the holes as a last resort.

 

[blinkstar]

Riku--thanks for weighing in!
 
I am somewhat hesitant to drill holes in my new headphones, it's true. I wonder if there are any reversible mods I might try--such as adding material to the inside of the phones?
 
I agree with both of you that a better amp would be the best route ... it is just a question of money right now. I would like to eventually get another 5.1 desktop amp/receiver that would drive the 880s better ...
 
I'll probably end up getting an older model off craigslist ... something with a little more power than my current receiver. Although I'm thinking this question might be better off in another thread, I'll just ask it here anyway ... what specs do you think I should look for in a desktop/full-sized receiver to drive my 880s reasonably well?

 

[Riku540]

Well what's your budget? Source?
 
I know I've been pushing this a lot lately but I recently got the FiiO E7/E9 combo at Micca Store which is $200 discounted. You get both a DAC (which is also a portable amp) and a desktop amp. They can handle 600 ohms easy no problems, and honestly incredible value for the money. The bass on my DT 880's really goes up in authority, and has a lot more... attitude to it.
 
Can't think of a better solution for the price.

 

[JerseyD]

       Blinkstar said: " I would like to eventually get another 5.1 desktop amp/receiver that would drive the 880s better ...I'll probably end up getting an older model off craigslist ... something with a little more power than my current receiver ."..."
 
Your use of the word "reciever" worries me.  If you are using the headphone jack of a stereo/home theater reciever to listen to your DT880's, getting a different, more powerful reciever may not change anything for your headphone listening.  Without opening a can of worms, I'll just say that the headphone output of different av recievers varies wildly and often has nothing to do with how powerful the reciever is.  Some models use op-amps to power the headphone jack, others use resistors off the main amp, and some may have built-in headphone amps separate from the main amp which is built to power speakers.  Do your research before choosing, or go for a dedicated headphone amp.
 
Also, you say you "just got" your 880's.  You may also notice an improvement in the bass with more break-in time.  If you have not listened for many hours, let them play a while.  Should get better with time!

 

[blinkstar]

Quote:

Well what's your budget? Source?
 
I know I've been pushing this a lot lately but I recently got the FiiO E7/E9 combo at Micca Store which is $200 discounted. You get both a DAC (which is also a portable amp) and a desktop amp. They can handle 600 ohms easy no problems, and honestly incredible value for the money. The bass on my DT 880's really goes up in authority, and has a lot more... attitude to it.
 
Can't think of a better solution for the price.

Budget, around $200. Source is my Xfi soundcard, which I currently have connected to an old Denon 1400 receiver. I'll look into that combo you mentioned--thanks for the suggestion!
 

 

[blinkstar]

 
Quote:

       Blinkstar said: " I would like to eventually get another 5.1 desktop amp/receiver that would drive the 880s better ...I'll probably end up getting an older model off craigslist ... something with a little more power than my current receiver ."..."
 
Your use of the word "reciever" worries me.  If you are using the headphone jack of a stereo/home theater reciever to listen to your DT880's, getting a different, more powerful reciever may not change anything for your headphone listening.  Without opening a can of worms, I'll just say that the headphone output of different av recievers varies wildly and often has nothing to do with how powerful the reciever is.  Some models use op-amps to power the headphone jack, others use resistors off the main amp, and some may have built-in headphone amps separate from the main amp which is built to power speakers.  Do your research before choosing, or go for a dedicated headphone amp.
 
Also, you say you "just got" your 880's.  You may also notice an improvement in the bass with more break-in time.  If you have not listened for many hours, let them play a while.  Should get better with time!

Thanks for responding! I should have been more clear. I did just get the 880s, but they are not new--I traded my k702s to another headfi member for the 880s. I asked and he thought they had been broken in--he had put 100+ hours on them.
 
I am indeed using the headphone jack of a 5.1 home theater receiver--I have a 5.1 speaker setup and I want to be able to switch back and forth between my 880s and my speakers. So, even though I understand that a dedicated headphone amp might best, I want to go with another 5.1 amp/receiver ... Another option is to buy one of those converters that would let me run headphones from the speaker outs on my receiver which should provide enough power ....

 

[Riku540]

While I don't know all the science and stuff behind it, no receiver can substitute for a dedicated headphone amp.
 
If you do go with the E7/E9 combo, you won't be listening from your soundcard in the first place. The DAC will bypass your soundcard and decode the audio itself.
 
And since switching between speakers and headphones is a concern, all you have to do is switch between the DAC and your soundcard in the sound options menu.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Drilling holes, etc. is not always the right way to go. Acoustics are tricky and it's like squeezing a balloon. Maybe you'll make it thicker somewhere else, but it'll change another part when you do it.

My take is, and always will be, that if a stock headphone isn't to your tastes, don't buy it. Instead, buy the headphones that do sound good to you stock. Why buy something you don't like and try to change it? Maybe return the DT880 and get a DT770 or Denon or whatever that has a lot of bass.