[wazza21]

I need some help
Iv been looking for a pair of head phones for a while. After some time of research Iv come to the conclusion between two head phones. The audio technica ath m50 and the beyerdynamic dt770 pro(80ohm).
I primarily be going to be using the headphone on my desktop pc and on occasion on my ipod touch I listen to ALOT of dancehall (fast jamacian music) and reggae and occasionally other genre like funky house, chill out.deep house, dub. Iv noticed in a few thread that the  dt-770 are better than the m50. Im gearing more towards the beyer BUT will the dt-770 be good to the type of I listen to?? Im also considering buying the fiio e7 as i read some where its a  very good desktop amp or is there an alternative amp with that price bracket. My concern is will that that be sufficient  to drive the beyer to a good standard.?? Regards to the headphones. I only have two criterias  which is the headphone sound amazing and be comfortable. i dont really care about looks.
Regards
Wazza

 

[Doc-holliday]

Hello there. I tried these today.

In terms of comfort... The beyers feel absolutely dreamy bro. Like none other ive personally tried.

In terms of your needs. They are both great sounding. Both are bassy cans I feel like the m50 is much more detailed and i kinda got a bit of a cave like effect from the 770s. But the 770s has smoother highs and cleaner tighter midbass i thought. What i really loved in today's audition was the 880 and i plan to get a pair.

But the two cans u ask about r both great. Its really a matter of what u like. I personally chose the m50 over the 770 The m50 is more versatile i think. Sounds a bit V shaped imo. And its nice that it is lower impeadance so u can run it without an amp if you want.

 

[theeyealtering]

I agree with Doc. Probably can't go wrong with either. It's down to taste. From my memory, the M50 had that typical Audio Technica sparkly top-end but plenty of bass. The DT770 was similar but less so, sounded more like a Beyerdynamic... That's probably not helpful... But both are on the bassier side of neutral (as opposed to the DT880 which is neutral). I found them both fairly comfortable.

The E7 isn't bad, like any Fiio it's decent enough for the price. It should drive both those headphones well enough.
But I'd choose the E10 if you are only using as a desktop amp... It sounds little better (clearer) than the E7 and it's cheaper, it just doesn't have a battery.

 

[wazza21]

Thanks guys for that, im gearing more towards the beyer dt770, iv read in may forum that the audio teachnica are great but the beyer are even better. thanks for the information regarding the fiio e7. im now actually considering in getting the fiio e17. I understand its fairly new model and its an improvement over the e7. Regard to the e10, its actually more expensive here in the uk its £61.90 ($97 usd) and the e7 is £47 ($73usd) but like i mentioned earlier im now considering the e17. I seem to keep changing my mind lol 

 

[novusordo76]

I don't have much confidence in the E7 alone as to gain. If you are using it with E9 you are good but by itself it won't let you crank your sound up to 11 so to speak, the power wasn't satisfying even with 32ohm cans or IEMs. Take a look at E7/E9 then the Audinst MX-1 and even Nuforce uDAC2, that's pretty much your $100-$200 dac/amps.

 

[PurpleAngel]

You can't use the E7, E10 & E17's DAC feature with portable apple products (like the iPod).
I would say to get an Asus Xonar DG sound card (decent DAC) for your PC and the Fiio E11 (with a Fiio L cable).
you can plug the E11 in the Xonar DG sound card and use the L cable to connect the E11 to the iPod's LOD port.
 
Some places sell the E11 with a spare battery and simple AC powered battery recharger.
The Beyer DT770 Pro 80-Ohm and ATH-M50 can work directly plugged into the Xonar DG (while your E11 recharges connected to the PCs USB port).

 

[Doc-holliday]

I primarily be going to be using the headphone on my desktop pc and on occasion on my ipod touch

OP may be long gone now but forgot to mention... You should know that there is a BIG difference in isolation between the two. You said you will be using them at your desk so the dt770 that you are leaning toward may be fine for you. But the other thing these don't have in common is the amount of bleed and isolation.... people will be able to hear what you are listening to fairly easily at medium and high volumes with the 770 while the m50 doesn't bleed much and isolates much better. Conversely, I think the 770 had a wider sound stage as a result.

Again, its a matter of preference. Good luck.

 

[wazza21]

Thanks for that. I would go for the sound card route but i also use a laptops, thats why going for the fiio seems like a good idea as its portable. You mentioned, the e7, the e10 and e17, the DAC functioned can not be used with the ipod is there any alternative that can utilise the DAC function on ipods or is that impossible? One of the feature that attracted me to the e17 is that it has optical in which quite a usefull feature as i can use it with my ps3, but now im just confused as i read in this forum, the guys described  the E17 as 'It isn’t the best sound of the batch but it has the SQ to get the job done' website below
 
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/620775/the-sub-200-portable-amps-shootout-11-8-amps-compared
 
But now im just confused. Now im thinking just get e7 as it quite cheap and cheerful then buy some thing more decent in the future like the iBasso T5

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks for that. I would go for the sound card route but i also use a laptops, that's why going for the Fiio seems like a good idea as its portable. You mentioned, the E7, the E10 and E17, the DAC functioned can not be used with the iPod is there any alternative that can utilise the DAC function on iPods or is that impossible? One of the feature that attracted me to the e17 is that it has optical in which quite a usefull feature as i can use it with my ps3, but now I'm just confused as i read in this forum, the guys described  the E17 as 'It isn’t the best sound of the batch but it has the SQ to get the job done' website below
 
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/620775/the-sub-200-portable-amps-shootout-11-8-amps-compared
 
But now I'm just confused. Now I'm thinking just get e7 as it quite cheap and cheerful then buy some thing more decent in the future like the iBasso T5

The HRT iStreamer ($150) is the cheapest device that can get a digital audio signal from a portable apple product (iPods, iPhones, etc)
The HRT iStreamer is not that big, but it's not really something you would use walking around.
And you would need to hook a headphone amplifier to the HRT iStreamer.
 
I believe the E17 uses the WM8740 DAC chip which is a fairly decent DAC.
The E17 could only process 2-channel stereo audio from a PS3, but not surround sound.

 

[Doc-holliday]

Thanks for that. I would go for the sound card route but i also use a laptops, thats why going for the fiio seems like a good idea as its portable. You mentioned, the e7, the e10 and e17, the DAC functioned can not be used with the ipod is there any alternative that can utilise the DAC function on ipods or is that impossible? One of the feature that attracted me to the e17 is that it has optical in which quite a usefull feature as i can use it with my ps3, but now im just confused as i read in this forum, the guys described  the E17 as 'It isn’t the best sound of the batch but it has the SQ to get the job done' website below


 http://www.head-fi.org/t/620775/the-sub-200-portable-amps-shootout-11-8-amps-compared

But now im just confused. Now im thinking just get e7 as it quite cheap and cheerful then buy some thing more decent in the future like the iBasso T5

He's saying get the e11. U use the ipod's "line out" with the fiio L connector.

Then u can get the e10 for ur computer. Then u have one setup for each. And u wont need a sound card either.

Getting both will be cheaper than getting one e17. E17 has higher bitrate and other improvements on the other hand.

 

[wazza21]

That makes a alot of sense. I was having a look at the prices for the e10 and e11. The things is, purchasing them both actually turns out a bit more expensive rather than buying the e17. the e10 cost £61.98 and the e11 cost £49.90 which equals to £111.98. The e17 cost £99.97. So in this instance it would just make sense to go for the e17? By the way you mentioned earlier bout the m50 dont bleed and have better isolation. What do you mean by isolation?

 

[Doc-holliday]

That makes a alot of sense. I was having a look at the prices for the e10 and e11. The things is, purchasing them both actually turns out a bit more expensive rather than buying the e17. the e10 cost £61.98 and the e11 cost £49.90 which equals to £111.98. The e17 cost £99.97. So in this instance it would just make sense to go for the e17? By the way you mentioned earlier bout the m50 dont bleed and have better isolation. What do you mean by isolation?

Meaning the noises around u cant be heard and thereby disturb your music enjoyment. Like "noise cancelling" but without the batteries.... This is desireable on public transport for example.

You could go either way. The advantage to getting the two is you can have a portable rig in your bag and one set-up on your desk. Just convience The drawback is the e17 does have a higher bitrate than the e10 but other than that.... If u want simple and easy controls go with the e11 e10. If u like the digital readout and buttons get the e17

Either way i think you will be okay.

 

[theeyealtering]

The drawback is the e17 does have a higher bitrate than the e10 but other than that....

Even there, it's not really an advantage unless you want to play 192/24 files...
And to be honest, even on higher end stuff the difference between 96/24 and 192/24 is barely (if at all) audible. I've had a couple of Fiios and I don't think they are anywhere near good enough to warrant such high-res files.

 

[Doc-holliday]

Even there, it's not really an advantage unless you want to play 192/24 files...
And to be honest, even on higher end stuff the difference between 96/24 and 192/24 is barely (if at all) audible. I've had a couple of Fiios and I don't think they are anywhere near good enough to warrant such high-res files.

Hes right and a good point. Anyway let us know what u do and how it works out for ya Wazza..... Good luck.

 

[wazza21]

Will do, thanks for your inputs guys. Will get back to you guys once iv decided what to do thanks alot guy really appreciate the advise