Soundproofing DT880 headphones from the outside noise?

[Vapaaherra]

I have some neighbors who sometimes like to talk loud, their dog barks, children giggling and jumping or bass sounds come through the walls. This is not a problem when I'm listening music with moderate volume, but some games, movies or music are quiet enough so that I can still hear the noise. I don't want to raise the volume with these because it would be awfully loud then.
 
DT880 sound is nice so I wouldn't want to ruin it by removing the speakers and put them inside ear mufflers or something. I was thinking some kind of sound muffling fabric like a wearable hood or something which blocks enough noise, but these headphones still could fit inside and soundproofing wouldn't alter its sound because they are semi-open phones. Any ideas?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Switch over to closed headphones.

 

[labrat]

 
Something like this?
You can stitch the holes over the ears, put your headphones on, and put this over your head!
You can look out in the front!

 

[serman005]

Look at it as an opportunity to add to your headphone collection. Having a closed headphone might be fun for you. Check out the K553 Pro or SoundMAGIC HP150 and see what you think. Maybe one would work for you. I'd recommend the HD598CS but it does not isolate well enough for your purposes, IMO.

 

[liquidzoo]

Generally (though not always) the drivers in open headphones are engineered in such a way that covering them removes a lot of the sound.

I don't know if this is the case for the DT880s, but I do know that my Grados suffer greatly if I cover the open grilles.

Listen to some music with them and cover the grille on the back with your hands. Does it change the sound? My guess is probably, but I'm not sure.

I would say that if your budget allows, add some closed headphones to your arsenal. Would be good for those times when you want the close intimate sound without the background noise bleeding in.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
DT880 sound is nice so I wouldn't want to ruin it by removing the speakers and put them inside ear mufflers or something. I was thinking some kind of sound muffling fabric like a wearable hood or something which blocks enough noise, but these headphones still could fit inside and soundproofing wouldn't alter its sound because they are semi-open phones. Any ideas?

 

When it's summer here it's hell if I don't run A/C (with a fan pushing the air all over the room - 1.5hp A/C rating doesn't solve how my room has it in a corner) but it's noisy if I set it and the fan to full power. What I do is set the A/C thermostat to high, fan on low (quiet mode), and then have the fan on low but pointed straight at me once I sit down.

 

What I do then is wear my denim jacket like a hood. The room is cold enough then that it doesn't make the heat unbearable, but it does block the wind rush going up against the open back earcups of my HD600.

 

Sadly, that's all it can block out - the whooshing air against the grill. It's more like using a Silverstone FT03 (which has no waffle grill over the exhaust fan, or since it has the motherboard rotated, convection works just as well as a low speed exhaust fan).

 

Maybe you can take acoustic absorption foam and make a hood shaped along the lines of an Asian hooded raincoat and wrap around earpieces (set tighter) of an O-Yoroi helmet.

Something like this...

 

...and this. Bonus points if you play Shogun II : Total War. I once wore a rented Centurion helmet (from a local...errr, I can't talk about such stuff here, but 'tis the season for it - next week actually) for a Rome II game with my brother. He facepalmed when our cameras came on.

 

Or you know, just get an IEM. But then you'd look more like Big Bang on stage than somebody who changed his name from Matsudaira Takechiyo to Tokugawa Ieyasu when playing Shogun II, so if the latter's important, then I guess the acoustic foam hood might be an option.

 

If you have any deer antler trophies or get one in a garage sale, you could stick them on the head gear somehow and go all Honda Tadakatsu about it. He was so bad ass that Hideyoshi decreed that he forebade his musketeers from shooting him, because it wasn't a worthy death for someone who took a 500 man garrison out of a castle challenging him to cross a river. By sheer guts he managed to make sure that his master Ieyasu's rear was secure.

 

[atarione]

you should get some closed cans.. I have the DT770 Pro 80 in addition to my DT880.250's .. the dt770's isolate pretty well.. the DT880's are designed to be semi open headphones i don't see the point of trying to turn them into closed headphones.. the results are not going to be optimal.
 
I also own the ATH-M50X's which I use when going to the coffee shop to read.. the M50's do a good job of keeping outside noise out.. but are less comfortable than the DT770's
 
when my wife is home I frequently have to use the DT770's instead of my DT880's as she will say she can hear my music / games leaking sound out from the DT880's .. one night she came into my office from the bedroom grumping about it????  ...still don't see how she could have hear my dt880's from another room but she insisted she could and so... I put on the DT770's instead..

 

[Vapaaherra]

I prefer to have as similar sound as possible compared to DT880, but same time want highest possible sound isolation, so DT770 Pro is my best bet without spending several hundred euros/dollars? Should I go for 250 Ohm because my DT880 are 250 Ohm too, so the volume level should remain same or close? How about a headphone switcher box, so I don't have to plug and unplug many times between two headphones? Switcher box affects sound quality? I have Asus Xonar Essence STX amplifier.
 
Maybe in the future I could spend more for high sound isolation headphones, so is there any neutral closed headphones which can outperform DT880 in neutrality and offer more sound isolation than DT770 Pro?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  When my wife is home I frequently have to use the DT770's instead of my DT880's as she will say she can hear my music / games leaking sound out from the DT880's .. one night she came into my office from the bedroom grumping about it????  ...still don't see how she could have hear my dt880's from another room but she insisted she could and so... I put on the DT770's instead..

 
Maybe the headphone audio is not really what she is grumpy about

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I prefer to have as similar sound as possible compared to DT880, but same time want highest possible sound isolation, so DT770 Pro is my best bet without spending several hundred euros/dollars? Should I go for 250 Ohm because my DT880 are 250 Ohm too, so the volume level should remain same or close? How about a headphone switcher box, so I don't have to plug and unplug many times between two headphones? Switcher box affects sound quality? I have Asus Xonar Essence STX amplifier.
 
Maybe in the future I could spend more for high sound isolation headphones, so is there any neutral closed headphones which can outperform DT880 in neutrality and offer more sound isolation than DT770 Pro?

 
Not sure about being able to find headphones that offer more isolation then the DT770.
 
Beyerdynamic T70 (buy used)
AKG (Massdrop) K553 Pro
Soundmagic HP150