[Max Choiral]

Has anybody ever compared T1 & DT48?

 

[Henery]

With quick and simple google search,i found this http://dt48a.blogspot.fi/2011/04/t1-vs-dt48a.html I have heard T1 only two times at audioshow at Helsinki,but i still remember its soundstage. It was strecthed as described in that link. I didn´t have DT 48 at that time so i can´t make comparisons.

 

[Max Choiral]

  With quick and simple google search,i found this http://dt48a.blogspot.fi/2011/04/t1-vs-dt48a.html I have heard T1 only two times at audioshow at Helsinki,but i still remember its soundstage. It was strecthed as described in that link. I didn´t have DT 48 at that time so i can´t make comparisons.

Thanks

Still waiting for a chance to try DT48. It's regretful I didn't try it when it was still in production

 

[Henery]

Recently i stumbled upon to this thread about using viscoelastic material called ´sorbothane´ to damp earcup etc. resonances: http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-and-other-phones-with-sorbothane I ordered 12"x12" 1/8 thick 50 durometer matt of sorbothane and glued small strips to sides of DT 48 earcups. It really improved sound.It´s more dynamic and accurate. I´m still not sure if resolution has been increased or not. Maybe it´s just increased dynamics. Bass is now sick, it just kicks and never gives up. Best of all is that listening fatigue has been reduced. These differences are somewhat subtle.I didn´t notice them immediately. I have to experiment with this material more thoroughly. Oh, and here´s sorbothane manufacturers site http://www.isolateit.com/vibration-isolating-sheets-pads-6.html Go ahead and try yourself.

 

[coolcat37]

  Recently i stumbled upon to this thread about using viscoelastic material called ´sorbothane´ to damp earcup etc. resonances: http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-and-other-phones-with-sorbothane I ordered 12"x12" 1/8 thick 50 durometer matt of sorbothane and glued small strips to sides of DT 48 earcups. It really improved sound.It´s more dynamic and accurate. I´m still not sure if resolution has been increased or not. Maybe it´s just increased dynamics. Bass is now sick, it just kicks and never gives up. Best of all is that listening fatigue has been reduced. These differences are somewhat subtle.I didn´t notice them immediately. I have to experiment with this material more thoroughly. Oh, and here´s sorbothane manufacturers site http://www.isolateit.com/vibration-isolating-sheets-pads-6.html Go ahead and try yourself.

Nice. Any pictures to share?

 

[Henery]

No need for pictures.Just think about 7x4 mm 1/8" inch thick (8 per cup) pieces of black rubber glued on sides of earcups.
 
After some more listening of DT 48 with this mod applied,i can say that resolution is better (layer of very fine details is revelealed) and soundstage is more accurate.I can now hear so much deeper into music.

 

[coolcat37]

No need for pictures.Just think about 7x4 mm 1/8" inch thick (8 per cup) pieces of black rubber glued on sides of earcups.


 


After some more listening of DT 48 with this mod applied,i can say that resolution is better (layer of very fine details is revelealed) and soundstage is more accurate.I can now hear so much deeper into music.

 


Which glue did you use?

Only the side of the earcups right, not the entirety of the cups?

 

[Henery]

I used just an ordinary glue stick,like this one: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/factory-wholesale-glue-sticks_1621643733.html?spm=a2700.7724838.35.1.7KzzKY
 
Yes,only the side of earcups.The thing with sorbothane is that smaller pieces work better than bigger ones.

 

[rhizomatik]

For my first post in the forums i just wanted to give a shout out to this thread.
Discovered the DT48 through reading about it here, and I love them. Happened to buy a few (too many) pairs recently.
 
I do professional mixing and mastering and use headphones quite a bit.
The DT48 fits in perfectly between my T1 and HD650, specifically as reference for mid details and EQ work.
Also they're just wonderful for listening to well produced 80s pop, it just sounds right (when the music is produced without too much bass).
 
For me the best part about the DT48 is the absence of distortion, which makes them very easy to work on for hours.

 

[Henery]

Three things about DT 48:
 
1) Few days ago i had and "accident" with my DT 48 E.You see,i was fiddling with EQ while listening music with Galaxy S2 using Maven Player app.Suddenly the app glitched and rammed up bass frequencies to max (from 60 hz and below) and freezed for few seconds.When the app finally responded,i stopped playback and resetted eq settings.When i started to listen again,i noticed that the amount of bass had noticeably increased and treble got more laidback.I was first like "there goes resolution" but as i listened for two more days i noticed this wasn´t the case.Thats why i called this "accident".I actually find the whole sound cleaner.Subbass is now more physical and given DT 48´s refusal to distort,seems to be tight too.
 
2) I have also noticed that the AudioQuest Nighthwak´s sound has gotten quite polarized opinions just like DT 48.I would like to see them compared.
 
3) I have read people describing DT 48 having no distortion,but when measured,they clearly have some THD: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicDT48S5Ohm.pdf and http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicDT48.pdf. Few days a go i read comments on Innerfidelity and someone linked this:http://www.gedlee.com/downloads/AES06Gedlee_ll.pdf. Maybe that AES paper sheds somelight for this subject.

 

[Henery]

Ok,so i got AQ Nighthawk on last weeks friday and have done some comparison to DT 48.NH has 50 mm drivers,so it obviously has more present subbass and thus is more suitable to action movies/games.NH is noticeably brighter(sometimes little bit fatiguing).Drivers are also further away.Comfort is MUCH,MUCH better on NH.Overall the sound is usually opposite to DT 48.More often i feel that DT 48 has more effortless midrange and i can hear deeper into soundstage.Imaging also is little more accurate.I like both even though they are opposite to each other.Quite surprised how DT 48 with it´s 80 year old technology can keep up.Stay tuned because i will do more thorough comparisons and post here later.I will also post images of my DT 48 mods.

 

[EYEdROP]

 I went to a local head-fi meet last week where the head-fier "cskippy" measured my 2008 DT-48E 25 ohm with stock pads. He recommended using "carpet or rug liner" over the drivers to try to tame the peak at 9Khz. I asked him what he would do with a parametric EQ and he said to cut 9Khz 5db with a Q factor of ~2.0. 
 
:

 

[kman1211]

Ok,so i got AQ Nighthawk on last weeks friday and have done some comparison to DT 48.NH has 50 mm drivers,so it obviously has more present subbass and thus is more suitable to action movies/games.NH is noticeably brighter(sometimes little bit fatiguing).Drivers are also further away.Comfort is MUCH,MUCH better on NH.Overall the sound is usually opposite to DT 48.More often i feel that DT 48 has more effortless midrange and i can hear deeper into soundstage.Imaging also is little more accurate.I like both even though they are opposite to each other.Quite surprised how DT 48 with it´s 80 year old technology can keep up.Stay tuned because i will do more thorough comparisons and post here later.I will also post images of my DT 48 mods.

I have the Nighthawks and have a DT 480 coming in, was going to get the DT 48 but opted for the DT 480 since I found a good condition pair and I found them much cheaper than a good condition DT 48. Curious if I will like them much or not. The Nighthawks are my darkest headphones currently but do have excellent extension both ways and can seem a bit bright or dark on some systems. One controversial headphone though, same with the DT 48.

 

[Henery]

 
Here you can see my DT 48 E mods.That big piece of felt (front side) is there to tame reflections and it works extremely well.Blue tack area also helps significantly with direct reflections.I did also put some felt strips on the perimeter between inner and outer earpads.You can see little bit of it sticking out on left side of earpad.Those mods + sorbothane pieces enhance resolution,dynamics,imagng accuracy and smoothness while simultaneously reduce listening fatigue.

 

[Henery]

Not exactly about DT 48,but close: i now have DT 480.Unfortunately it has old style 5 pin mini xlr type plug for which i couldn´t find adapter,so i had to order DT 100 compliant plug with 3,5mm with 6,3mm screwable adapter.When that arrives,i will compare it to DT 48 E and Nighthawk.Stay tuned.