warpdriver
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Apr 29, 2005
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[size=medium]Review: Beyerdynamic DT880 - Headroom Micro Amp combination
[/size]
This is my review of my new Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones, matched with my new HeadRoom Micro portable headphone amplifier. As I don’t have as much experience in the top end of audiophile headphone reproduction, I will try to correlate the review with my existing equipment up to this point and less formal experience listening to other headphones and headphone amps. I do have experience with audiophile equipment in general with my uncle having been a big proponent of electrostatic speakers, vinyl, and I myself having spent much time with Marantz SE, Linn, Meitner, Oracle, Revolver, Bryston, Totem, Martin Logan equipment. My current sources are my Panasonic DVD-Audio player, iPod with line out, and mid level Marantz CD player.
I can remember the first time, as a youngster, I listened to the original Sony Walkman and how the sound quality blew me away, and since then I knew that headphone listening was in my future in a big way. Over the last year, I’ve made a serious attempt at finding the sweet spot in headphone listening. With headphones, it’s so easy to experiment, and upgrading equipment is relatively affordable compared to upgrading home audio equipment. Thanks to the iPod and a job that I can listen to music all day, I rediscovered the joys of music listening well after my university days.
The Beyerdynamic DT880 is the company’s top consumer headphone. The company is a powerhouse in the sound devices, producing transducers in the professional, presentation and consumer spaces. I owned a few in-ear monitors, and a set of SR225’s to satisfy my need for a lively set of headphones for listening to rock/trance/pop, but I didn’t have a good reference level headphone, one that would not add nor subtract too much for acoustic, piano and vocals where low fidelity can take you out of the picture.
I chose the DT880 along with a new Headroom Micro amp as my main home rig based on recommendation from forum posts and Headroom’s information online selection guides. The Micro amp is a new model in Headroom’s line of portable amps. After reading all the reviews I could, I thought this would hit the sweet spot for a reference quality transportable setup. I would mainly use this setup at home, so I chose the optional (free upgrade) Desktop electronics module which halves the amp’s battery life to about 10 estimated hours but promises better sound. I will do my reviewing of the headphone with this amp, but I will also compare the amp to a cheaper Headroom Airhead.
As I was already accustomed to the fun but colored sound of Grado’s, I am also used to a slightly brighter presentation, so the DT880 seemed like the ideal candidate as it also was claimed to have a lively sound but of still reference quality caliber.
First the headphone:
[size=medium]The Basics[/size]
The DT880 is a semi-opened dynamic headphone designed to be used in a home environment. Sound leakage is high, so don't really expect any improvement in isolation from surrounding noise. It has a higher impedance load of 250 ohms which pushes the limits of some portables to drive comfortably, and as such should be used with a more powerful headphone jack such as those on your home audio components. But of course, to get the most of the headphone, you should be using a high quality external amp such as the Micro or better. The headphone looks like a set for serious listening enjoyment, with thick soft large velour ear pads that surround the entire ear, a thick padded headband cushion which can be easily removed. Metal arms hold the earpieces and the cord is on one side, but this all comes together at a reasonably light 270 grams. The headphone construction is modular in that most parts are replaceable and serviceable thus confirming this is a long term investment, not a throwaway product. It comes now with a straight 3 metre cord as opposed to a coiled one, terminating to a 1/8” mini-plug with a screw-on ¼” plug adapter. As a nice bonus they include a 15 foot ¼” plug extension cable.
The headphone comes with a large solid aluminum box with fitted foam bed for storage. The whole product is just one of pure quality and no-nonsense design. Nothing trendy, nothing garish, these are headphones for the long haul. There is very little in these headphones that say “low budget” or “fad”.
[size=medium]Comfort[/size]
These headphones are superbly comfortable. As I wear a hat size of around 7-5/8, I have a big head, and these headphones clamp my head comfortably with a firm but still comfortable force. You can always bend the headband a bit if your head is similarly large but want a bit more relief. The soft velour ear pads are pillowy soft, and breathe a bit better than most “pleather” type ear cups found on many other headphones. Coming from the itchy Grado pads, this was a definite and welcome relief. These are a set of headphones that you almost want to wear. I can imagine sipping some wine, sitting my Lazy Boy chair, listening to the Beyers for hours.
[size=medium]Sound[/size]
Quite a few Beyerdynamic headphone models are on the bright side, that is, they emphasize some of the high frequencies. Coming from my SR225, I was prepared for any brightness, as quite a few Grado headphones tend to have a very edgy treble that forms part of signature Grado impact. Brightness is not really an issue with me usually, if I were to choose a side of the fence to stand on, I do prefer a brighter presentation over a duller one. The first impressions of the DT880 are that, yes, it does lean toward a brighter, more sparkly sound. The high frequency transients are very well defined, and the headphone is well equipped to handle the quick response that the Micro amp is capable of. Comparing it to my Grado SR225, the Grado has more sheen to the high frequencies. The Beyer is applying a slight exaggeration to higher highs which forms a sharpening effect around the treble transients, sort of like what the edge enhancement feature does in Photoshop. However, the interesting thing is that due to the speed of the headphone in reproducing the treble notes, you are hearing the real details, just “italicized” a bit. The detail level is right up there with other high resolution headphones, and I would say that the Beyer bests my SR225 in resolution in the upper mids and treble. Snare drums convey a more convincing metallic sound than my SR225’s, more separated, and the shimmering clang in tambourines is rendered with speed and definition. While the headphones does lean toward brightness, at the same time, it does a good job of conveying the excitement, and impact of high frequency instruments without sounding harsh. Upper midrange and treble notes are conveyed with a sense of airiness that makes it really easy to separate them from the sea of sounds in the rest of the spectrum, while being very “black between the notes” in its rendition.
Now, let’s talk about the midrange. The midrange is very much intact, with a very solid rendition for both male and female voices. Listening to Amanda McBroom’s beautiful voice, she sounds completely natural which the weight of her voice still carrying energy through her versatile vocal range. Karen Carpenter's voice sounds tremendously fluid. Of all the headphones I’ve heard, the female voice is rendered with both the weight and angelic airiness that makes me love listening to female vocals so much. Male voices are not left out, there are no obvious deficiencies in the tonal control of the male vocals in this headphone. Males voice do not have the same heft as the Sennheiser HD650's, but their pitch and definition is convincing. However, going to back to the direct-mike recordings of Ella Fitzerald or Amanda McBroom, the headphone does pick up a very slight edginess in the sustained higher notes compared to a Sennheiser HD600 which is its only flaw that I can describe. But I do think overall, these headphones make a wonderful set for vocal recordings.
What’s also nice about the DT880 is how well the bass integrates with the mids. I never get the impression that there are any irregularities in the mids nor bass. Now, the bass is a completely different animal from the Grado SR225 way of seeing things. The bass is extremely linear right out to the lowest depths of notes, and there is no undue emphasis right down to below audibility. This may cause some people to exclaim that this flat bass sounds a bit unbalanced in the context of the slightly bright presentation, but I feel the headphone is still very balanced. I consider the bass to be more natural sounding than my Grado’s. Listening to drum solos, the drums may be a bit weak on overall impact and intensity, but they seem to have more foundation, the right amount of decay and the right amount of tightness. My Grado’s, on the other hand, seem to be almost overly quick in this manner, lending to a wall of bass sounds with every bass note. Headroom says the SR225 has “eye-blinking impact”, and this tightness and acceleration in the bass is what I think does it. The DT880 however seems to relay the same drum notes with a finesse that makes them sound a bit more natural to me. On the Sheffield Drum and Track record, the drum solos are a torture test for most speakers, but the Beyer didn't embarrass itself...the tightness was well moderated and the rapid/deep bass notes stayed intact without becoming overly wooly or flabby.
One other thing worth mentioning is the way the Beyers tend to bring it all together in a coherent but still natural manner. While I do not usually pay too much attention to sound staging realism, the Beyers do convey the space around each performer with some degree of accuracy. The soundstage is evenly well spaced widthwise but a bit slightly skewed from front to back, with a moderate distance between you and the performers, like you sitting a few rows back in the nightclub.
So, in summary, a very balanced headphone to my ears, a great set of headphones for vocals, detailed listening that has a slightly livelier but still extremely smooth/natural presentation. You would not mistake this headphone with any of the warmer/darker sounding Sennheiser family, and times it can sound a wee-bit clinical. It’s definitely not my first choice for dance/trance or rocking-out, but it won’t murder the performance if you choose to use it for that. I was listening to my 880's and for some trance mixes came on, and I was still bobbing my head to the rhythm. I would say it’s a great headphone for listening to Broadway soundtracks, Big Band, string, Jazz, or choral music, with good separation of vocals, and reasonably deep soundstage for naturally stereo miked live recordings. Despite its slightly analytical spectral signature, it’s extremely musical and highly refined. These are reference quality cans, and I think I have reached a plateau in my headphone journey and can stop worrying about the equipment for a while (famous last words I know!). The upgrade bugmobile is stored away in the garage.
[size=medium]The Headroom Micro Amp[/size]
The Micro amp is a very nice addition to the Headroom line, a true value. It was designed to compete very well with the darlings of portable amp category including the often mention Ray Samuel Emmeline SR-71 and Xin SuperMacro 3. I chose the Desktop Module which is a no-charge option. It uses a circuit based around a Burr Brown 2134 op amp, which was designed for utmost audio fidelity in mind, which is a more power hungry configuration that cuts battery life to around 10 hours from the standard Mobile module. That’s fine by me because it’s my home amp first, but still portable as I need it to be. It comes with a beefy wall-wart external power supply but no audio connecting cables. You’ll need to buy at least a RCA-to-miniplug cable or miniplug-miniplug cable (to connect to your MP3 player). Headroom claims this amp has nothing to apologize for in terms of sound quality in its price range, portable or not.
The amp is part of their Mobile line which consists of other companion components including an external and very versatile DAC which can stack on top of the Micro with the slots in the bezel. As well, there are future components like a stackable switching unit and integrated MP3 device stand for the stack of components. The Micro amp itself has a very useful gain switch to provide a better volume range match for all your headphones, and a cross feed filter switch which manipulates the signal to more naturally represent the inherent spatial cues you would hear for music played back by speakers. The amp takes two 9V batteries for portable use that can be replaced by loosening the two thumbscrews and removing the rear bezel. The case is a solid aluminum shell, looks tough and durable, and the whole unit feels solid and is well finished.
Well how does it sound? In short, it’s wonderful. For every headphone I tried, it provides excellent dynamics over non-amped portable sources. It’s dark between the notes, and wonderfully quick in the high end, enough that I could easily distinguish the speed/ attack/decay of my Etymotic ER4S, Grado SR225, and my new Beyer DT880’s in the first few seconds of listening. Detail recovery is likewise excellent, completely bringing my ER4S to even newer heights of speed. Certainly compared to my previous Airhead, this one is a huge improvement in transparency, and has no vices that I could detect whether plugging in high impedance Beyers or my 16 ohm ear buds. I did feel that the amp does have slight warming effect to the upper midrange especially compared to my home amp’s headphone out, it also seemed to add finesse to my ER4S’s, and while they still sound a bit lean as their signature sound, it also seemed to clean up the ‘noise/edginess’ that some people may have perceived. “Fluid” is a word that comes to mind. As I love female vocals, I thought that my best source material with female vocals sounded as natural as I have ever heard it. The crossfeed function, unquestionably, works effectively with very good transparency. The effect is subtle enough that I would not be afraid to leave it on for most listening. If I am not mistaken it does seem to affect the speed of higher frequency transients, but I will have to experiment a bit more with turning it on and off. It’s a far better implementation than the one used in the Airhead, which noticeably affects detail and spectral balance. I am still in the process of joining the Crossfeed train. So far, the train is on schedule. I have heard some friend’s SR-71, Rega Ear, and Go-Vibe2 portable amps, and to be honest, I do think this amp delivers spades of bang for the buck in terms of sound quality, and product design. It’s possible that something like a SR-71 may just edge out this one in transparency as some people have stated, but I certainly could not detect any flaws in listening to my favorite familiar reference tracks (all of which I have in-depth experienced on other true audiophile equipment) with my trusty SR225 and ER4S which are usually pretty revealing of the reproduction chain. I think the extra versatility of this product line is well worth it, even some more minimalist amps which promise pure sound quality over features such as Crossfeed.
So kudos to Headroom for this marvelous amp, a job well done. The whole Micro stack line is really a well thought out solution for those who want the best portable listening experience possible. I may consider buying a DAC if I decide that I want to use my computer more as a source, but I think the Micro amp itself should be at the top of your list for a portable unit that holds its own against other $300 amps of any type.
[/size]
This is my review of my new Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones, matched with my new HeadRoom Micro portable headphone amplifier. As I don’t have as much experience in the top end of audiophile headphone reproduction, I will try to correlate the review with my existing equipment up to this point and less formal experience listening to other headphones and headphone amps. I do have experience with audiophile equipment in general with my uncle having been a big proponent of electrostatic speakers, vinyl, and I myself having spent much time with Marantz SE, Linn, Meitner, Oracle, Revolver, Bryston, Totem, Martin Logan equipment. My current sources are my Panasonic DVD-Audio player, iPod with line out, and mid level Marantz CD player.
I can remember the first time, as a youngster, I listened to the original Sony Walkman and how the sound quality blew me away, and since then I knew that headphone listening was in my future in a big way. Over the last year, I’ve made a serious attempt at finding the sweet spot in headphone listening. With headphones, it’s so easy to experiment, and upgrading equipment is relatively affordable compared to upgrading home audio equipment. Thanks to the iPod and a job that I can listen to music all day, I rediscovered the joys of music listening well after my university days.
The Beyerdynamic DT880 is the company’s top consumer headphone. The company is a powerhouse in the sound devices, producing transducers in the professional, presentation and consumer spaces. I owned a few in-ear monitors, and a set of SR225’s to satisfy my need for a lively set of headphones for listening to rock/trance/pop, but I didn’t have a good reference level headphone, one that would not add nor subtract too much for acoustic, piano and vocals where low fidelity can take you out of the picture.
I chose the DT880 along with a new Headroom Micro amp as my main home rig based on recommendation from forum posts and Headroom’s information online selection guides. The Micro amp is a new model in Headroom’s line of portable amps. After reading all the reviews I could, I thought this would hit the sweet spot for a reference quality transportable setup. I would mainly use this setup at home, so I chose the optional (free upgrade) Desktop electronics module which halves the amp’s battery life to about 10 estimated hours but promises better sound. I will do my reviewing of the headphone with this amp, but I will also compare the amp to a cheaper Headroom Airhead.
As I was already accustomed to the fun but colored sound of Grado’s, I am also used to a slightly brighter presentation, so the DT880 seemed like the ideal candidate as it also was claimed to have a lively sound but of still reference quality caliber.
First the headphone:
[size=medium]The Basics[/size]
The DT880 is a semi-opened dynamic headphone designed to be used in a home environment. Sound leakage is high, so don't really expect any improvement in isolation from surrounding noise. It has a higher impedance load of 250 ohms which pushes the limits of some portables to drive comfortably, and as such should be used with a more powerful headphone jack such as those on your home audio components. But of course, to get the most of the headphone, you should be using a high quality external amp such as the Micro or better. The headphone looks like a set for serious listening enjoyment, with thick soft large velour ear pads that surround the entire ear, a thick padded headband cushion which can be easily removed. Metal arms hold the earpieces and the cord is on one side, but this all comes together at a reasonably light 270 grams. The headphone construction is modular in that most parts are replaceable and serviceable thus confirming this is a long term investment, not a throwaway product. It comes now with a straight 3 metre cord as opposed to a coiled one, terminating to a 1/8” mini-plug with a screw-on ¼” plug adapter. As a nice bonus they include a 15 foot ¼” plug extension cable.
The headphone comes with a large solid aluminum box with fitted foam bed for storage. The whole product is just one of pure quality and no-nonsense design. Nothing trendy, nothing garish, these are headphones for the long haul. There is very little in these headphones that say “low budget” or “fad”.
[size=medium]Comfort[/size]
These headphones are superbly comfortable. As I wear a hat size of around 7-5/8, I have a big head, and these headphones clamp my head comfortably with a firm but still comfortable force. You can always bend the headband a bit if your head is similarly large but want a bit more relief. The soft velour ear pads are pillowy soft, and breathe a bit better than most “pleather” type ear cups found on many other headphones. Coming from the itchy Grado pads, this was a definite and welcome relief. These are a set of headphones that you almost want to wear. I can imagine sipping some wine, sitting my Lazy Boy chair, listening to the Beyers for hours.
[size=medium]Sound[/size]
Quite a few Beyerdynamic headphone models are on the bright side, that is, they emphasize some of the high frequencies. Coming from my SR225, I was prepared for any brightness, as quite a few Grado headphones tend to have a very edgy treble that forms part of signature Grado impact. Brightness is not really an issue with me usually, if I were to choose a side of the fence to stand on, I do prefer a brighter presentation over a duller one. The first impressions of the DT880 are that, yes, it does lean toward a brighter, more sparkly sound. The high frequency transients are very well defined, and the headphone is well equipped to handle the quick response that the Micro amp is capable of. Comparing it to my Grado SR225, the Grado has more sheen to the high frequencies. The Beyer is applying a slight exaggeration to higher highs which forms a sharpening effect around the treble transients, sort of like what the edge enhancement feature does in Photoshop. However, the interesting thing is that due to the speed of the headphone in reproducing the treble notes, you are hearing the real details, just “italicized” a bit. The detail level is right up there with other high resolution headphones, and I would say that the Beyer bests my SR225 in resolution in the upper mids and treble. Snare drums convey a more convincing metallic sound than my SR225’s, more separated, and the shimmering clang in tambourines is rendered with speed and definition. While the headphones does lean toward brightness, at the same time, it does a good job of conveying the excitement, and impact of high frequency instruments without sounding harsh. Upper midrange and treble notes are conveyed with a sense of airiness that makes it really easy to separate them from the sea of sounds in the rest of the spectrum, while being very “black between the notes” in its rendition.
Now, let’s talk about the midrange. The midrange is very much intact, with a very solid rendition for both male and female voices. Listening to Amanda McBroom’s beautiful voice, she sounds completely natural which the weight of her voice still carrying energy through her versatile vocal range. Karen Carpenter's voice sounds tremendously fluid. Of all the headphones I’ve heard, the female voice is rendered with both the weight and angelic airiness that makes me love listening to female vocals so much. Male voices are not left out, there are no obvious deficiencies in the tonal control of the male vocals in this headphone. Males voice do not have the same heft as the Sennheiser HD650's, but their pitch and definition is convincing. However, going to back to the direct-mike recordings of Ella Fitzerald or Amanda McBroom, the headphone does pick up a very slight edginess in the sustained higher notes compared to a Sennheiser HD600 which is its only flaw that I can describe. But I do think overall, these headphones make a wonderful set for vocal recordings.
What’s also nice about the DT880 is how well the bass integrates with the mids. I never get the impression that there are any irregularities in the mids nor bass. Now, the bass is a completely different animal from the Grado SR225 way of seeing things. The bass is extremely linear right out to the lowest depths of notes, and there is no undue emphasis right down to below audibility. This may cause some people to exclaim that this flat bass sounds a bit unbalanced in the context of the slightly bright presentation, but I feel the headphone is still very balanced. I consider the bass to be more natural sounding than my Grado’s. Listening to drum solos, the drums may be a bit weak on overall impact and intensity, but they seem to have more foundation, the right amount of decay and the right amount of tightness. My Grado’s, on the other hand, seem to be almost overly quick in this manner, lending to a wall of bass sounds with every bass note. Headroom says the SR225 has “eye-blinking impact”, and this tightness and acceleration in the bass is what I think does it. The DT880 however seems to relay the same drum notes with a finesse that makes them sound a bit more natural to me. On the Sheffield Drum and Track record, the drum solos are a torture test for most speakers, but the Beyer didn't embarrass itself...the tightness was well moderated and the rapid/deep bass notes stayed intact without becoming overly wooly or flabby.
One other thing worth mentioning is the way the Beyers tend to bring it all together in a coherent but still natural manner. While I do not usually pay too much attention to sound staging realism, the Beyers do convey the space around each performer with some degree of accuracy. The soundstage is evenly well spaced widthwise but a bit slightly skewed from front to back, with a moderate distance between you and the performers, like you sitting a few rows back in the nightclub.
So, in summary, a very balanced headphone to my ears, a great set of headphones for vocals, detailed listening that has a slightly livelier but still extremely smooth/natural presentation. You would not mistake this headphone with any of the warmer/darker sounding Sennheiser family, and times it can sound a wee-bit clinical. It’s definitely not my first choice for dance/trance or rocking-out, but it won’t murder the performance if you choose to use it for that. I was listening to my 880's and for some trance mixes came on, and I was still bobbing my head to the rhythm. I would say it’s a great headphone for listening to Broadway soundtracks, Big Band, string, Jazz, or choral music, with good separation of vocals, and reasonably deep soundstage for naturally stereo miked live recordings. Despite its slightly analytical spectral signature, it’s extremely musical and highly refined. These are reference quality cans, and I think I have reached a plateau in my headphone journey and can stop worrying about the equipment for a while (famous last words I know!). The upgrade bugmobile is stored away in the garage.
[size=medium]The Headroom Micro Amp[/size]
The Micro amp is a very nice addition to the Headroom line, a true value. It was designed to compete very well with the darlings of portable amp category including the often mention Ray Samuel Emmeline SR-71 and Xin SuperMacro 3. I chose the Desktop Module which is a no-charge option. It uses a circuit based around a Burr Brown 2134 op amp, which was designed for utmost audio fidelity in mind, which is a more power hungry configuration that cuts battery life to around 10 hours from the standard Mobile module. That’s fine by me because it’s my home amp first, but still portable as I need it to be. It comes with a beefy wall-wart external power supply but no audio connecting cables. You’ll need to buy at least a RCA-to-miniplug cable or miniplug-miniplug cable (to connect to your MP3 player). Headroom claims this amp has nothing to apologize for in terms of sound quality in its price range, portable or not.
The amp is part of their Mobile line which consists of other companion components including an external and very versatile DAC which can stack on top of the Micro with the slots in the bezel. As well, there are future components like a stackable switching unit and integrated MP3 device stand for the stack of components. The Micro amp itself has a very useful gain switch to provide a better volume range match for all your headphones, and a cross feed filter switch which manipulates the signal to more naturally represent the inherent spatial cues you would hear for music played back by speakers. The amp takes two 9V batteries for portable use that can be replaced by loosening the two thumbscrews and removing the rear bezel. The case is a solid aluminum shell, looks tough and durable, and the whole unit feels solid and is well finished.
Well how does it sound? In short, it’s wonderful. For every headphone I tried, it provides excellent dynamics over non-amped portable sources. It’s dark between the notes, and wonderfully quick in the high end, enough that I could easily distinguish the speed/ attack/decay of my Etymotic ER4S, Grado SR225, and my new Beyer DT880’s in the first few seconds of listening. Detail recovery is likewise excellent, completely bringing my ER4S to even newer heights of speed. Certainly compared to my previous Airhead, this one is a huge improvement in transparency, and has no vices that I could detect whether plugging in high impedance Beyers or my 16 ohm ear buds. I did feel that the amp does have slight warming effect to the upper midrange especially compared to my home amp’s headphone out, it also seemed to add finesse to my ER4S’s, and while they still sound a bit lean as their signature sound, it also seemed to clean up the ‘noise/edginess’ that some people may have perceived. “Fluid” is a word that comes to mind. As I love female vocals, I thought that my best source material with female vocals sounded as natural as I have ever heard it. The crossfeed function, unquestionably, works effectively with very good transparency. The effect is subtle enough that I would not be afraid to leave it on for most listening. If I am not mistaken it does seem to affect the speed of higher frequency transients, but I will have to experiment a bit more with turning it on and off. It’s a far better implementation than the one used in the Airhead, which noticeably affects detail and spectral balance. I am still in the process of joining the Crossfeed train. So far, the train is on schedule. I have heard some friend’s SR-71, Rega Ear, and Go-Vibe2 portable amps, and to be honest, I do think this amp delivers spades of bang for the buck in terms of sound quality, and product design. It’s possible that something like a SR-71 may just edge out this one in transparency as some people have stated, but I certainly could not detect any flaws in listening to my favorite familiar reference tracks (all of which I have in-depth experienced on other true audiophile equipment) with my trusty SR225 and ER4S which are usually pretty revealing of the reproduction chain. I think the extra versatility of this product line is well worth it, even some more minimalist amps which promise pure sound quality over features such as Crossfeed.
So kudos to Headroom for this marvelous amp, a job well done. The whole Micro stack line is really a well thought out solution for those who want the best portable listening experience possible. I may consider buying a DAC if I decide that I want to use my computer more as a source, but I think the Micro amp itself should be at the top of your list for a portable unit that holds its own against other $300 amps of any type.
