[thecansmancan]

Quote:

 
Yes they do IMO, and no they aren't (similar sounding).
 
 
Just my impressions ......
DT880 is a little dryer sounding, extends further (bass and treble), and handles faster music a little quicker.  The bass especially is quicker (less mid-bass anyway), and they are a little brighter sounding.
 
HD600 is a little lusher sounding,  They handle most music very well, but can sound a little congested with really fast music.  They have more mid-bass, which can sound a little 'thumpy'.  Although not as bright, they still have good detail.
 
The two things the HD600 have (again just IMO) over the DT880 is better timbre and a more believable sound stage & imaging.
 
I have both - and still use both regularly (along with my 325i and K701)

Interesting. And how do your 325i and k701 play into the lot? 

 

[anoxy]

HD600 congested? With what music specifically?

 

[Brooko]

Interesting. And how do your 325i and k701 play into the lot? 

325i for bluesy rock & classic rock. there is just something about them that is wonderful with that genre - although again, I also use them for other genres as well.

The K701 when I'm gaming, or in the mood for classical. Also use them for folk and acoustic.

I love each of their sound signatures - just depends on what mood I'm in.

 

[Brooko]

HD600 congested? With what music specifically?

Some of the hard-rock I listen to when the mood takes me (eg Seether). I just find the Beyers (and the Grados) are better ..... quicker I guess. It's personal preference - and I should add that the comment on congestion is in direct contrast/comparison to the Beyers. If I only had the HD600, I'd be fine with it.

 

[anoxy]

Ah, well that explains it. I don't listen to hard rock much. Is smashing pumpkins and pearl jam considered hard rock? 

 

[Brooko]

I listen to a lot of Pearl Jam - and I'd consider them more 'classic rock' - although technically they'd be classified more as alternative rock, or grunge. They're very good on the HD600 - but again, I'd more often reach for the Beyers or Grados when listening to Vedder (again personal preference).

 

[Eisenhower]

Other headphones with more treble may initially sound better than the HD600 for rock, after 4 hours of listening to music you'll be reaching for the HD600's.
at least this is my experience, and one of the reasons I've had my HD600 for 6 years

 

[mrAdrian]

Quote:

Other headphones with more treble may initially sound better than the HD600 for rock, after 4 hours of listening to music you'll be reaching for the HD600's.
at least this is my experience, and one of the reasons I've had my HD600 for 6 years

 
But a rock concert often ends in 3~4hrs too and they sound equally harsh as my grado's
 
Btw Brooko I like your headphone collection. I like 'collecting' different sound signatures too. The old 'trio' is haunting me to sell the dt1350 and get a real beyerdynamic, the dt880 lol!
 
p.s. just checked we share roughly the same SS+tube dac/amp stage as well!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

But a rock concert often ends in 3~4hrs too and they sound equally harsh as my grado's
 

 
To put it in perspective, the venues are usually less than ideal and not necessarily what the engineers and bands would have been listening to when they approved the album to be released.

 

[mrAdrian]

Quote:

 
To put it in perspective, the venues are usually less than ideal and not necessarily what the engineers and bands would have been listening to when they approved the album to be released.

 
Well sound preference is very subjective, and I believe their 'harshness' is what makes them sound so special with rock/metal etc. If you look up grado lovers' comments you often see terms like 'lively' and 'energetic' appear, so yes they are fatiguing but they my cup of tea
 
But I do agree that the HD580/600 is far easier on the ears especially for long listening sessions.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

 
Well sound preference is very subjective, and I believe their 'harshness' is what makes them sound so special with rock/metal etc. If you look up grado lovers' comments you often see terms like 'lively' and 'energetic' appear, so yes they are fatiguing but they my cup of tea

 
The better ones do translate emotion very well - RS1 among the ones the I've listened to - such as vocalization details as well as being able to convey the drummer's attacking his instrument. However on some of them, like the SR60 and SR125, there were times that on some tracks you'd have to ask if Mighty mo Rogers' drummer is really as angry as Dave Grohl when he was in Nirvana, except of course the "raw" quality of his vocals there tends to gloss over that (I didn't notice it either until I was testing an SR80 vs the HD600 on the same amp). I wouldn't call it as "harshness" outright though; more like forward, given the RS1 doesn't sound harsh and can do all these without being fatiguing.
 
That said though it doesn't necessarily mean the HD600 can't convey the same qualities. While I don't think it's completely neutral I doubt it's that far off from that, more so since I got to try an HD650 on brand new pads recently vs my HD600 (plus some pad-swapping when the distributor rep wasn't looking, but I didn't have the heart to actually keep the new pads) and the abnormal warmth, pronounced lower midrange bloom and slower decay are mostly from the pads' age. What sucks is I only had the current pads on for about 18 months. It's still comfortable but the SQ difference is hard to ignore.

On a related note, Accudio's custom EQ curves (based on selected headphone graphs) to flatten headphone response though is amazing - it makes my squished pads bearable and with the new pads almost like the HD800. Almost. For one, the HD800 barely benefit from my amp's crossfeed, but the HD600 still gets a lot out of it (must be the angled drivers, I dunno).

 

[Manyom7]

What would be the cheapest acceptable amp for the hd600s?

 

[Eisenhower]

Well sound preference is very subjective, and I believe their 'harshness' is what makes them sound so special with rock/metal etc. If you look up grado lovers' comments you often see terms like 'lively' and 'energetic' appear, so yes they are fatiguing but they my cup of tea

But I do agree that the HD580/600 is far easier on the ears especially for long listening sessions.

There is most definitely a trade off between lively and energetic, and laid back and non-fatiguing.
That being said, the HD600's aren't bad for rock/metal, they are just maybe a little boring for some people.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

What would be the cheapest acceptable amp for the hd600s?

 
I had a 9V CMOY before, considering it was running off a single 9v battery but it colored the sound too much for my tastes - too much  bloom on the midrange and upper bass. If you're into (stereotypical) tubes that might not be a bad thing.
 
I recently got to try a "Super CMOY" with three Nokia batts inside (I dunno how they're wired though, like in series or parallel in a 3-channel with active ground, etc) and it was close to the 2Move but a bit gutsier, maybe warmer. Apart from these I'd take a used PB-1 Toucan, but a used NFB-12 is a better buy if you need a DAC more than a battery.

 

[Eisenhower]

Quote:

What would be the cheapest acceptable amp for the hd600s?

 
Many built-in headphone amps are acceptable (like the iPod touch, for example).
I broke the headphone jack on my iPod touch, and now am using the FiiO E5, which has been pretty fantastic so far. I can't say if it is any better
than the iPod touch's headphone jack though.
 
The hd600 is pretty easy to power. You don't need a fancy amp.