[Axcelon]

Right now my DT880 600 Ohm'ers sound best driven by the wonderfully overpowered Presonus Firebox, which is sold as a recording interface.

I have hooked it up to my Predator and D10, and I notice a clear difference.

I am wondering if they need to be broken in with the 600 Ohm load?

My thinking is that break in really occurs in a manner specific to the load being driven. An amp well broken in using low impedance headphones might not really be optimally conditioned to drive high impedance headphones. Especially the Predator, as it is well known for extensive break in with many phases.

I'm testing this theory right now. The Predator will break in with the DT880 600 Ohm's (which are also breaking in, so the test is really of those two events at the same time--as opposed to a broken in pair of 880 600's). This cfg will run continuously all week.

Has anyone else experienced similar phenomena?

I am considering the RSA SR-71A for portable high impedance headphone use. Does anyone have any suggestions for additional portable means of driving the DT880 600's?

 

[shigzeo]

The difference always needs a couple of provisos. One: amps will have different sound signatures; some will be cold, some warm, and others just rubbish.

I have the DT880 and when I plug them to a sterile (neutral) home amp with loads of power and a portable amp with a similar voice, volume match them and then listen, there is little to no difference. The DT880 600Ω is a pretty easy to drive headphone.

That said, certain amps have different voices, so the Woo 3 sounds quite a bit different from the D4, Voyager and even my old Meier and it isn't about power, it's about voice.

My DJ1Pro on the other hand, have a lot more respect for high powered amps than they do for portables.