maniacal71
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Some artifacts of interest
The Beyerdynamic DT48 Arrives...
- Thread starter adanac061
- Start date
maniacal71
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The important ones in my Harem ;p
I thank all of you guys for the precious info you provided me.
I am afraid my post was confusing, I already bought these DT48 cans some days ago, they arrrived this week. I must say they sound excellent, much better than I ever expected. Will try my best to open and clean them up. I just checked Nessum Dorma with my cans
maniacal71 - beautiful cans you got there
I am afraid my post was confusing, I already bought these DT48 cans some days ago, they arrrived this week. I must say they sound excellent, much better than I ever expected. Will try my best to open and clean them up. I just checked Nessum Dorma with my cans
maniacal71 - beautiful cans you got there
I miss selling my DT48 already
Aizura
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Let me tell you my experience with these headphones.
As soon as I read about the discontinuation of the DT48, I contacted Beyerdynamic to ask whether they still had a brand new pair for sale. They only had the 200 ohm E-version still in stock, which they could sell to me for 400 euros. I took the plunge, figuring I could always easily sell them again, especially now that they are out of production.
My expectations weren’t that high to be honest, seeing as there is lots of controversy around these cans and not many people seem to know them or are interested in them.
But boy, was I impressed. These DT48E are an amazing piece of machinery and easily qualify for most underappreciated headphones of all time. Why these are not more popular is totally beyond me. They honestly sound like a TOTL headphone to me, above the likes of K701, HD600, Pro 900. I would put them on the same level as the HD800, with the HD800 having the edge in soundstage/imaging and the DT48 having the edge in resolution and timbre.
I'm kind of angry at myself for not discovering these gems earlier. It is no surprise to me that these have been in production for so long and it's a shame that Beyer stopped producing them. These DT48E pick up even more detail than my Etymotic ER4S, which I didn’t even think was possible. The DT48E picks up absolutely every nuance in the recording, to the point where it becomes surreal. You can often times even hear the size of the recording room, the amount of detail these resolve is astounding. You can hear the color of the singer’s underwear.
I was afraid they would sound a bit artificial and shrill, because of the aluminium diaphragms, but they sound like the most natural thing I've ever heard. They sound more natural than both the HD600 and HD800 to me, as in having a more realistic tonality. And on top of that the DT48 are closed and offer superb isolation!
If you listen to some binaural recordings of nature sounds, DT48 absolutely blows your mind with the realism, just indistinguishable from real life. Vocals sound so real that you totally forget you are wearing headphones, despite the vice grip on your head. Vocals really have that depth and texture to them, nothing that I've heard touches it when it comes to realism of voices. The HD800 comes very close, but the large soundstage makes the vocals too distant and slightly thin sounding, whereas on the DT48, the vocals have more weight and texture to them and it’s very intimate, like the singer is sitting on your lap. They do this even better than my RS1’s.
I can briefly describe the sound of these DT48E as an HD800, but with a little less sub bass and very small soundstage width (but quite deep actually). I didn’t compare the DT48E to the HD800 directly, but I have owned 2 pairs of HD800 for almost 3 years and I seem to be hearing more details on the DT48. That probably has a lot do to with the isolation and the intimate sound that the DT48 have, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the DT48 actually have faster drivers than the HD800. The DT48 diaphragms are quite small in diameter and pure aluminium, which probably makes them extremely stiff, probably stiffer than HD800’s big plastic diaphragms. The 400 euros I paid for them turned out to be a steal and I already know that I will never sell them.
Sound aside, the build quality of these things is something you only understand once you hold them in your hands. These literally make my other headphones feel like cheap plastic toys, even the HD25-1 II. I was always quite impressed by the build of those cans, and ofcourse they are well built. But the DT48 is just an entirely different level. Everything is made from either stainless steel or aluminium. I feel these could survive almost anything.
I can see why Beyer stopped production of these gems though, as they are made of expensive materials and everything is very precisely built. I imagine it would be one of the most expensive headphones to manufacture.
Seeing how many FOTM headphones have been released in recent years, sales of the DT48 probably dropped too much for it to be cost effective to continue their production. If they would have increased the price further, even less people would buy them.
IMO Beyer should just release them again, call them DT49, T10 or whatever and sell them for 1000 euro. They would compete very favourably with the other flagships. But the consumer probably wouldn’t want it once they see it’s the same as the DT48 that was released in 1937, as they have been sucked into believing newer headphones are better than older ones.
The DT48 was a reality check for me that the headphone market is mostly just a big marketing show and that the best things have already been made in the past. I found my endgame headphones.
As soon as I read about the discontinuation of the DT48, I contacted Beyerdynamic to ask whether they still had a brand new pair for sale. They only had the 200 ohm E-version still in stock, which they could sell to me for 400 euros. I took the plunge, figuring I could always easily sell them again, especially now that they are out of production.
My expectations weren’t that high to be honest, seeing as there is lots of controversy around these cans and not many people seem to know them or are interested in them.
But boy, was I impressed. These DT48E are an amazing piece of machinery and easily qualify for most underappreciated headphones of all time. Why these are not more popular is totally beyond me. They honestly sound like a TOTL headphone to me, above the likes of K701, HD600, Pro 900. I would put them on the same level as the HD800, with the HD800 having the edge in soundstage/imaging and the DT48 having the edge in resolution and timbre.
I'm kind of angry at myself for not discovering these gems earlier. It is no surprise to me that these have been in production for so long and it's a shame that Beyer stopped producing them. These DT48E pick up even more detail than my Etymotic ER4S, which I didn’t even think was possible. The DT48E picks up absolutely every nuance in the recording, to the point where it becomes surreal. You can often times even hear the size of the recording room, the amount of detail these resolve is astounding. You can hear the color of the singer’s underwear.
I was afraid they would sound a bit artificial and shrill, because of the aluminium diaphragms, but they sound like the most natural thing I've ever heard. They sound more natural than both the HD600 and HD800 to me, as in having a more realistic tonality. And on top of that the DT48 are closed and offer superb isolation!
If you listen to some binaural recordings of nature sounds, DT48 absolutely blows your mind with the realism, just indistinguishable from real life. Vocals sound so real that you totally forget you are wearing headphones, despite the vice grip on your head. Vocals really have that depth and texture to them, nothing that I've heard touches it when it comes to realism of voices. The HD800 comes very close, but the large soundstage makes the vocals too distant and slightly thin sounding, whereas on the DT48, the vocals have more weight and texture to them and it’s very intimate, like the singer is sitting on your lap. They do this even better than my RS1’s.
I can briefly describe the sound of these DT48E as an HD800, but with a little less sub bass and very small soundstage width (but quite deep actually). I didn’t compare the DT48E to the HD800 directly, but I have owned 2 pairs of HD800 for almost 3 years and I seem to be hearing more details on the DT48. That probably has a lot do to with the isolation and the intimate sound that the DT48 have, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the DT48 actually have faster drivers than the HD800. The DT48 diaphragms are quite small in diameter and pure aluminium, which probably makes them extremely stiff, probably stiffer than HD800’s big plastic diaphragms. The 400 euros I paid for them turned out to be a steal and I already know that I will never sell them.
Sound aside, the build quality of these things is something you only understand once you hold them in your hands. These literally make my other headphones feel like cheap plastic toys, even the HD25-1 II. I was always quite impressed by the build of those cans, and ofcourse they are well built. But the DT48 is just an entirely different level. Everything is made from either stainless steel or aluminium. I feel these could survive almost anything.
I can see why Beyer stopped production of these gems though, as they are made of expensive materials and everything is very precisely built. I imagine it would be one of the most expensive headphones to manufacture.
Seeing how many FOTM headphones have been released in recent years, sales of the DT48 probably dropped too much for it to be cost effective to continue their production. If they would have increased the price further, even less people would buy them.
IMO Beyer should just release them again, call them DT49, T10 or whatever and sell them for 1000 euro. They would compete very favourably with the other flagships. But the consumer probably wouldn’t want it once they see it’s the same as the DT48 that was released in 1937, as they have been sucked into believing newer headphones are better than older ones.
The DT48 was a reality check for me that the headphone market is mostly just a big marketing show and that the best things have already been made in the past. I found my endgame headphones.
The stuff you say here I (and we) can second. Also the build quality is the most professional feeling you will ever see in a headphone. They are like a tool meant to be used.
Talking about aluminium diaphragms, is there a reason why most studio monitors use aluminium diaphragms in their tweeters?
Yup, they have a better midrange than my Stax Lambdas...
You have to be kidding me....they didn't let me buy that last 48E-200.
Congratulations man !
Aizura
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I bought it almost 8 months ago though, at that time they only had 9 left in stock. I bet they're all gone now
You should keep your eyes out for a used DT48. They can't break anyway and there are some good deals to be found.
I bought it almost 8 months ago though, at that time they only had 9 left in stock. I bet they're all gone now
You should keep your eyes out for a used DT48. They can't break anyway and there are some good deals to be found.
One last hope is a Ebay seller who has 4 NOS 25Ohms.
I have sent him my best price as well as waiting on his end to get some pictures and validate the authenticity...I hope this ends my quest too.
Head-Fi'ers watching..please don't go to Ebay and buy all of them and leave me with nothing
ydolm
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One last hope is a Ebay seller who has 4 NOS 25Ohms.
I have sent him my best price as well as waiting on his end to get some pictures and validate the authenticity...I hope this ends my quest too.
Head-Fi'ers watching..please don't go to Ebay and buy all of them and leave me with nothing
There are at least 2 pairs of 200ohm DT48E for sale in a shop near my mom's house. The price is ~350 euros IIRC, they're brand new of course.
Excellent.
350 is a bit too much when I convert it to my currency...if this doesn't work out for me ...I'll PM you, thanks !
ydolm
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You're welcome
.I'll try to find that shop online and post a link here, I can't remember its name though, so it may take a while...
Fresh NOS
Figuring out transaction with the seller....not letting this slide from my hands.
EDIT - Transaction done...NOS DT48s are mine !
Figuring out transaction with the seller....not letting this slide from my hands.
EDIT - Transaction done...NOS DT48s are mine !
ydolm
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If anyone's looking for those, I found that shop on Allegro (Polish ebay) - http://allegro.pl/beyerdynamic-dt48e-dt48-e-dt-48-200ohm-warszawa-i4628281588.html
They actually cost ~290E + shipping. No idea if those guys speak english though.
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