[Brooko]

  Thanks for the info.  I should have made sure to mention that I won't normally be using them with my phone, it was just the only source available to test with due to the epic failure of the Guitar Center guy to operate his display equipment and I figured at the very least I'd get some idea of the Beyer sound and differences between a couple of their models.  The easier drivability in general including portable amps is something that does seem to be a big plus for sure though and it sounds like for example those two Schiit products I mentioned would not really be a good match for the 600 ohm version.  The Vali only has a 6.5 ohm output impedance which would mean a really high damping factor and even more on the Magni.

 
The damping factor you want is at least 1:8.  If you have more it doesn't matter - you just don't want (rule of thumb) less.
 
The thing to be aware of is that the DT880 600ohm requires higher voltage rather than current.  They are not low sensitivity but they are high impedance.  This is why OTL tube amps with high voltage output seem to suit higher impedance cans.
 
When you get something like an AKG K701 (low to average impedance - 62ohm - but also low sensitivity), they require higher current rather than voltage.
 
Anyway - the Vali (hybrid) and Magni (SS) would probably drive the 600ohm OK - but if you were aiming for those as your amps - I'd personally stick with the 250 ohm.

 

[Makiah S]

The difference is negligible. I believe someone out there has tried abing the 250 and the 600 and the only time differences can be slightly heard is when they fed it an OTL amp. If you never intend to get anything like that, I'd go with the 250. It's more versatile since it can run from portable sources a lot better than the 600s can.

TL;DR - 600 ONLY if you plan to get a OTL tube amp and if you don't plan to move around else get 250.

OH BOI, I made a statement like that but with Balanced Solid States... THE FLAK YOU DESERVE TO GET
 
no just kidding, only get the 600 ohm if your going with OTL Tubes or Balanced Solid State [or OTL Tubes] 
 
also... man the DT 880 can REALLY KICK some freaking dub step... SHEESH, listening to Bad Man by Sub Scape... NO EQ and man... I'm really diggin the speed and visceral nature of this dt 880 bass :O... it's not the HE 400 but it's darn close enough for half the price... oh and those upper mids on the dt 880
 
Ehm that said the NFb 10ES2 is a very nice solid state for your DT 880 
 
so let me share this story with you all, I used to own an Xb 700 and a Fiio E11... I used to crank that E11 in high gain to about 50% with the E11 bass boost on lvl 2... and with around +30 dbs of SUB bass... there was still about half of my Dub Stepo Collection [320k mp3 or Lossless] that I couldn't get into, it lacked the depth and tight control of the dt 880... my xb 700 did
 
now that said I REALLY hope the D2k can bring the same TIGHT bass but with a touch more of it to the equation, getting my D2k Mark L Modded, Drivers and LawTon pads, not to mention it's balanced and has wood cups
 
MY POINT, for $250 the DT 880 does everything I ask of it! I have to spend around $500 on closed cans, actually about $650 for my HEaviliy Modded D2k, just to get the level of performance I expect out of my closed cans that I get with the DT 880, my W1000x which I modded and out L3000 pads on... was about $525 when I was done with the mods and pads... and it is IMO on PAR with the dt 880, but only after like $150 and some work :/
 
so I like my Beyer... I finally took her out in public today! Although I need to wash the ePads... they are pretty grimmey... 
 
so any tips for Velour ePad washing 

 

[knightboy140]

  ^ Don't know why it has to be a Schiit amp, but yes a good amp would be nice.

LOL. I think he mentioned Schiit amps in his post. But yes any good amp would be nice to have

 

[MrEleventy]

OH BOI, I made a statement like that but with Balanced Solid States... THE FLAK YOU DESERVE TO GET

no just kidding, only get the 600 ohm if your going with OTL Tubes or Balanced Solid State [or OTL Tubes] 

also... man the DT 880 can REALLY KICK some freaking dub step... SHEESH, listening to Bad Man by Sub Scape... NO EQ and man... I'm really diggin the speed and visceral nature of this dt 880 bass :O... it's not the HE 400 but it's darn close enough for half the price... oh and those upper mids on the dt 880

Ehm that said the NFb 10ES2 is a very nice solid state for your DT 880 

I brought up the OTL because someone on chang* supposedly did a ABing of the 2 and they only noticed a slight difference when they swapped the amp to a OTL tube. I haven't seen a comparison where they've balanced both and AB'd. So there. Also, I don't see how you can rec the balance SS since you've never compared the two. Just memories of previous ownership via SE. UNBALANCED BIAS POV!!!! NO SPIN ZONE!

 

[Brooko]

I brought up the OTL because someone on chang* supposedly did a ABing of the 2 and they only noticed a slight difference when they swapped the amp to a OTL tube. I haven't seen a comparison where they've balanced both and AB'd. So there. Also, I don't see how you can rec the balance SS since you've never compared the two. Just memories of previous ownership via SE. UNBALANCED BIAS POV!!!! NO SPIN ZONE!

 
Agree 

 
And with proper volume matching would help too ......

 

[MrEleventy]

Brooko: I got a nfb 12 incoming, I was wondering which filter setting you prefer on your 880s. I'm going to try them all of course but just curious.

 

[flyinion]

Thanks guys.  I did get a reply in a previous post I had in the help section trying to narrow down headphones from someone who said they really noticed a difference between the 250 and 600 ohm models, but I don't know maybe it was their equipment or a faulty unit or something.  I definitely don't have a ton of money to drop on an amp or amp & dac which is why I was wanting to find something that can actually be driven by my soundcard's headphone amp for now otherwise if I need to buy an amp right away I would be in the price range of a Magni or Vali at most for a bit.  It sounds like I shouldn't bother with the 600 though unless I can get an amp with a high enough power output as well at the same time.  So if I'm going with the 250's, any final input on the Pro vs. Premium version?

 

[Makiah S]

I brought up the OTL because someone on chang* supposedly did a ABing of the 2 and they only noticed a slight difference when they swapped the amp to a OTL tube. I haven't seen a comparison where they've balanced both and AB'd. So there. Also, I don't see how you can rec the balance SS since you've never compared the two. Just memories of previous ownership via SE. UNBALANCED BIAS POV!!!! NO SPIN ZONE!

well you know what for $600 it's a dang nice amp and 
 

 
better yet there's a meet in April, some one is bringing a Violetric. I'll do some serious comparisions then 

 

[MrEleventy]

If you're tight budget wise, just go for the cheaper unless the difference in price is small. Then go by what you like looks wise. Same drivers, different packaging.

 

[MrEleventy]

well you know what for $600 it's a dang nice amp and 




better yet there's a meet in April, some one is bringing a Violetric. I'll do some serious comparisions then 

Please do. Had my eye on their cheaper sibling, Lake People G103/109 but never sprung for it.

 

[flyinion]

If you're tight budget wise, just go for the cheaper unless the difference in price is small. Then go by what you like looks wise. Same drivers, different packaging.

Yeah the Pro 250 is like 70 bucks cheaper than the Premium right now.  I wasn't sure about the headband differences.  I know I can bend the Pro a bit if needed but wasn't sure if that was really a good solution.  Though I guess for $70 it probably is lol.  I guess I'll skip the 600 ohm version.  I heard back from my soundcard mfr. HT Omega and they said they did test with a number of AKG 600 ohm headphones and said it handled the load just fine, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean it's driving them to their full potential vs. a lower impedance model I'm guessing.

 

[Makiah S]

Please do. Had my eye on their cheaper sibling, Lake People G103/109 but never sprung for it.

Ahh you know I will , the Schiit Vali and all it's SE goodness sounds super duper epic! Again the only reason I went balanced was for power... NEED MORE POWER, not really
 
but I'd love to hear some of the higher end SE SS! and I will be soon  

 

[Brooko]

Brooko: I got a nfb 12 incoming, I was wondering which filter setting you prefer on your 880s. I'm going to try them all of course but just curious.

 
I'd have to check - mine's the jumpered version, and it's been wll over 2 yeard since I last changed the setting.  I'm pretty sure the one I'm using is:
4X oversampling , Minimum phase 'soft-knee' filter (MPSKF)
 
At the time - it's the one I thought 'sounded best to me'
 
Problem is that with the jumpers, it's impossible to do fast abx switching - so testing was both sighted, and unfortunately time affected (therefore not accurate).  Basically it covers 24/96 and sounded good to me - so that's what I went with.  If you get the switched version it would be nice to hear if you notice any differences - especially if you can abx.  I suspect any changes will be extremely subtle ......

 

[flyinion]

Ok I just heard back from my soundcard mfr.  Apparently PCI sound cards are able to get 12v from the connector (I didn't realize this) and he confirmed that the card does use 12v for its op-amps and the TPA6120A2 headphone amp.  TI has the following info for the amp...........
 

80 mW into 600 ohm From a ±12-V Supply at 0.00014% THD + N

 
What do you guys think?  Would that drive the 600 ohm version well enough until I had money for a proper amp down the road?  Or would I be better off and happier just grabbing the 250 ohm version?  I'm assuming the 250 would still benefit from a better amp down the road but maybe at that point the differences are so small it doesn't matter?  I guess I'm probably just getting stuck in the "am I buying the right one" and "bigger (in this case ohms) is better right?" loops of thinking and someone probably just needs to smack me upside the head lol.

 

[MrEleventy]

*slaaaaap* There. tbh, it's not enough. the dt880/600 can handle 100mW, might be "good" enough volume wise but I think the nagging will get to you and your wallet. Just my .02, ultimately it's up to you. your money and all.