My (First) Experiences With My Beyerdynamic DT 831

[madman2003]

I've had these for 2 days, they were a (selfbought) graduation gift. (headphones are too personal to be bought by others)

I'm making this post, because most posts about the 831 are not very positive and i'd hate for someone to exclude them as a possible choice before even hearing them.

Background: Never had any decent headphones, have listened to my father's MB Quartz 250's on several occasions. Both on my own reciever and on my father's. (My father has a Denon DRA-275RD and an AIWA XD-DV375 DVD player, connected in an analogue fashion)

My Equipment: Yamaha RX-V430RDS
Cyberhome CH-505 (connected digitally, coaxial)
Beyerdynamic DT-831 (ofcource

)

Music i've listened to so far(and remember)(usually a few songs)(and like): (not in any particular order)

Alanis Morisette, Bryan Adams, Eva Cassidy, Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson, Sting, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, The Corrs, Seal, Elvis Costello, Laura Pausini, Blof (dutch music), Roger Waters(Wall Live In Berlin), Mark Knopfler, Melissa Etheridge, Eros Ramazotti, Anouk, Anastacia, Sheryl Crow

And Linkin Park (not really my kind of music, actually my sisters, used as example of "louder music")

My Experiences: (forgive me if i use certain terms incorrectly)

soundstage is not restictive (as far as i can tell)
sound is very clear, very detailed
neutral sound (i don't mean this in a bad way)
good bass, but not one that is in front of everything and overshadows the rest
excellent stereo image (although there will always be better

)
confortable headphones, they fit me well (i have a large head)
headphone cord can be annoying if your not if front of the headphone connector or within a meter (it's a streching cord if you know what i mean)

I've listened to a mix of studio music, live, acoustic and unplugged.

"Verdict":

Very nice headphones for the music i listen, can be a bit bright for some songs if the volume is too high, but most songs sound very nice. Extremely detailed, like i said, bass is present but doesn't overshadow voice or other instruments. Unforgiving when it comes to white noise or other flaws. (on live cd's) Probably not the best choice for those with a preference for dead metal(should be the loudest kind of metal, not my thing, so i could be wrong) or something alike.

I will update this probably, when i can tell you more.

 

[Imyourzero]

Just curious, what made you choose the DT 831? They don't get much attention around here, so it's nice to see someone deviating from the usual Senns and Grados.

 

[joelongwood]

Congratulations on your graduation, and on your new headphones.
The DT-831s are my go-to full sized closed can. I found them a bit too bright and bass light for my tastes, but this improved quite a bit when I got the 120 ohm adapter from Meier Audio.......apparently these cans were designed with that impedance in mind. The high end is tamer, and, as a result, the bass is more prominent. To my ears, the DT-831s are better balanced using the adapter. If you're bothered by excessive brightness, you might want to give it a try.

 

[Bill Ward]

Nice writeup. Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions. Incidentally, if the DT831 parallels the Beyers I've owned, the brightness will tone down some with breakin. They retain the forward sound but balance out a little.

Congratulations on your graduation.

 

[Carbonman]

I bought a pair of DT831s about 1 1/2 years ago as my first (recent) seriously high-end headphones. (My first really good cans were 2000 ohm Senn HD414s, 35 years ago.) I subsequently bought a pair of HD600s, then a pair of DT880s. The DT880s are my favorites for most listening, but when I want to listen to music while my wife is watching TV, the DT831s are my first choice. Strangely, they seem to become more balanced with the passage of time. If you have an amp with bass boost, you have an awesome set of cans. Even without, they sound great. They may sound bright with some music, but they are never harsh.

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood Congratulations on your graduation, and on your new headphones. The DT-831s are my go-to full sized closed can. I found them a bit too bright and bass light for my tastes, but this improved quite a bit when I got the 120 ohm adapter from Meier Audio.......apparently these cans were designed with that impedance in mind. The high end is tamer, and, as a result, the bass is more prominent. To my ears, the DT-831s are better balanced using the adapter. If you're bothered by excessive brightness, you might want to give it a try.

I may try this, I bought some dt-431s recently and they sound bright and bass light as you've said. Not bright in the midrange like my sr-325is, but with the lower treble around 12khz accentuated and no bass except a bit of mid bass.

 

[Nandro]

How do the 831's compare to the 931's? I have the 931's coming from a fellow HF'ier but dont see very much about them either. Are they somewhat similar?

 

[tone]

the dt831 phones were my first good set of headphones. awesome choice!

These phones are excellent at work since they don't leak sound and the brightness can be cured with the "bass boost" button or any other eq that ups the bass (haven't tried the resistor trick yet). the bass is good (when boosted), with good soundstage and excellent detail. its just an awesome work phone for me even without a proper portable amp and running straight out of a portable cd player. a proper portable amp would no doubt make the bass tighter+better.

for me it was a much better phone than the grado sr80 or sr225 which leaks way too much sound and don't sound nearly as nice. horns, strings and female vocals are definetly the dt831 phone's strong points.

 

[madman2003]

I chose my headphones in a audio(and video) speciality shop, the only one in the area that i know of. I looked around to see what i could afford, checked the box to look for the impedance of the headphones(i wasn't looking for low impedance headphones, i also checked if the headphones were really closed) and then i listened to them. I liked the sound, but only after getting a bit distrurbed over some obvious white noise which turned out to be on the cd

. The price was good(112 euro), it was already on sale and there was a discount because the shop was celebrating it's 60th birthday. (i didn't know that in advance) So i bought them.

I will look into the adapter option, the only issue i still have that some music needs to be quieter than other music. So far i have encountered no music that sounds bad at the sound level it sounds best at.

I'm very happy with my headphones, they're very detailed, i have heard a flaw or two on cd's that i hadn't heard before. The bass (IMHO) is very much present, but not the kind boombox/subwoofer bass if you know what i mean.(it's almost subtle) I don't have much to compare to, but i don't feel like i'm missing out on something.

 

[madman2003]

I made a DIY cable(120 Ohm), it is (quite) a difference. The edge of top is gone, no lack of detail as far as i can tell (only an hour of listening), the subtle bass(not the obvious bass) is much better. Sound sounds warmer, so maybe the mids are better too.

Difference is not that big(as with all improvements like this one), but definately worth the effort. Takes a while for the differences to sink in.

My not so pretty DIY cable. (will make it look better if all goes well)