[truly194]

Anyone tried emu 0404 USB with dt 880 250 ohm? Is it too aggresive in highs?

 

[rovopio]

Anyone tried emu 0404 USB with dt 880 250 ohm? Is it too aggresive in highs?

 


if you really dislike the dt880 high, you can either equalize or change headphone.

There's nothing an amps can do to change headphone sound signature to something else entirely. You won't change your dt880 highs to hd650 highs with the help of any amps.

 

[truly194]

I'm still wondering if this is not source issue - so i think about buying emu soundcard.
 
Now i have very dark sounding dt 880 - straight from my smsl sd793 dac rca. It is too dark, but i discover new headphones with this connection. Music is so real, i'm so exciting...
 
And changing headphones is not consider - many reasons for dt 880 are the best for me...

 

[Koolpep]

thnx but some guys told me its bad to connected amp+x5!!(bad distortion)
I really confused?

Nope whoever said that is doing something wrong or has a faulty unit. My X5 sounds brilliant connected to a JDS LABS C5D or the Cayin C5. I can only vouch for these two though...

 

[rovopio]

I'm still wondering if this is not source issue - so i think about buying emu soundcard.


 


Now i have very dark sounding dt 880 - straight from my smsl sd793 dac rca. It is too dark, but i discover new headphones with this connection. Music is so real, i'm so exciting...


 


And changing headphones is not consider - many reasons for dt 880 are the best for me...

 


it's not source issue. dt880 has a peak on 6khz-9khz frequencies. That's just the way it is.
But amps will not make the peak on high frequency completely disappear like changing to a different headphone.

You can equalize them if you prefer to stay with the dt880.

i don't know anything about smsl sd793 dac, so i can't comment on it.

 

[pp312]

   i'm so exciting...
 

 
 
Oh I don't know. I think that's a matter of opinion.

 

[truly194]

 

it's not source issue. dt880 has a peak on 6khz-9khz frequencies. That's just the way it is.
But amps will not make the peak on high frequency completely disappear like changing to a different headphone.
 

 
Yes, but choosing good source, which has synergy with beyers can help to make this peak more enjoyable.
 
BTW sorry for english

 

[Argyris]

   
Yes, but choosing good source, which has synergy with beyers can help to make this peak more enjoyable.
 

 
I keep reading that. I don't think people quite know what they're saying when they say it. The DT880's treble has a peak, meaning a rise and subsequent fall in amplitude over a narrow frequency bandwidth. To "synergize" with it would mean that the amp has a dip in the same area to compensate. That's just not how amps, or any upstream equipment, for that matter, work. And even if such a source existed out there, I wouldn't want to buy something that has a thin, deep notch centered at a specific treble frequency. What if I wanted to use it for multiple headphones, or replace my DT880 with something else sometime down the road? The amp/DAC/whatever would be rendered useless. Expanding on that logic, no manufacturer would make a source device with such specific tuning because the market for it would be tiny.
 
If anything, a source will be tilted either warm or cool in a continuous, gentle rise or fall of at the most a dB or two. Most quoted specs I've seen suggest the deviation is usually much smaller, on the order of half a dB or less. Tubes add additional harmonics and have an effect on the time domain, and some more "characteristic-sounding" tube amp designs are rolled off at the top or bloomy in the bass (this can also happen with poor impedance matching/damping). More carefully-designed modern ones aren't either of these things.
 
Regardless, all of these are comparatively minuscule differences when considering the overall signature of the headphone. If you're experiencing extreme irritation from the DT880's treble as you've described, there's no amp or DAC or any other piece of gear short of a programmable hardware parametric EQ that's going to significantly change that. The best source selection can do is push a headphone that's right at the boundaries of one's preference into listenable territory.
 
Now I want to make something clear. I'm not beating up on you (or anybody else, for that matter) with all this. I'm trying to save you (and perhaps others who come across this later on reading through the thread) a lot of time, disappointment, and money swapping sources and hoping for a miracle. Stories of radical transformations abound on Head-Fi, because people who spend $$$($...) on new gear have a strong motivation to believe that it has made a difference. Many newcomers to the hobby see these stories and just repeat them because they keep seeing it.
 
Spending a little time working through the logic reveals it just can't be true. There isn't some magical, undefinable quality that can make a particular source eliminate highly specific flaws. Things that headphones do wrong can almost always be precisely defined. Prominent sibilance, as in your case, is caused by a treble peak centered exactly where the DT880 has its peak. It has nothing to do with file format, digital conversion, the amp, the DAC, the cable, or anything else like that that frequently gets thrown around on Head-Fi, and none of these things will make a dramatic difference (see first two paragraphs). It's just how the DT880 is. Even as a happy DT880 owner for over four years, I still have to admit that on certain recordings the sibilance can be bothersome. I put up with it because the good qualities far outweigh the negatives for me. Every person is different, and if you find that the sibilance is too much for you, that's a perfectly valid conclusion.
 
So I apologize for the mini rant here, but I wanted to take the time to put down some thoughts I've wanted to articulate for quite a while.

 

[Rem0o]

^ What he said.

 

[Me x3]

I agree with most of this.
 
It's complex to analyze if the treble peak present in both raw and compensated measurements, should be there or not since there's no ideal (reference) frequency response when it come to headphones (up to date).
Different compensation curves could show no peaks on DT880's response (or even higher peaks), this is up to the theory behind the compensation applied.
 
In my experience (subjective), DT880s present the upper treble very well with the vast majority of top quality recordings I've tried (lets say 85% of them).
 
With regular recordings (mostly soft rock, rock, metal, alternative, mainstream, ... ) DT880's performance is not that great. It can sound bright, unforgiving, cold, lifeless, or simply ok depending on the recording (let's say 60% of these recordings don't make justice to the headphone)
 
My advice to someone who want to keep the Beyer DT880 but think it's too bright, is to pick the very best recordings out there.
Try something like "A Kiss in the Dark" album by Alexis Cole (Chesky). You can find samples here:
http://www.hdtracks.com/alexis-cole-a-kiss-in-the-dark
 
Some great recordings aren't cheap, but you know: a chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

Most (quality) high fidelity equipment need great recordings to shine.
 
For those who want to keep listening to those albums that sound cold or overly bright through DT880s, finding a clean (software/plugin) parametric EQ will save you a lot of money.
 
At the end of the day, you can always sell your DTs and get a darker headphone (HD650, Fidelio X1/X2)
 
Best Luck!

 

[truly194]

Everything would be okay if i wouldn't connect dt 880 straight to my dac - as i said earlier -  and in this connection they are very well, sometimes even too dark. This case make me believing that there is equipment which makes dt 880 useful for me. 
 
I don't want change headphones, because as i said, i didn't hear so real headphones so far. Maybe stax - but not at this price point.
 
"Every person is different" - very good sentence. I'm different, I'm not You. And i want this specific dac or amp, which allow me to get so much fun with music as i want. I need equipment which has a few dB less then normally in this high frequency. I don't want to change headphones etc. I want to plug it and hearing
 
So maybe Your'e wrong. I like "light" headphones - i don't like dark and warm headphones. So i'm asking - if anyone heard dt 880 with emu 0404?
 
EDIT:
 
@up - there is no option for other headphones - as i said, event hd600 are too dark for me. I choose listening on low volume on dt 880, then listening on level what i like on hd600.

 

[rovopio]

are you sure that smsl sd793 dac that you mentioned, has enough Power to drive 250 ohm dt880?
 
i kind of doubt it. Though since i never use them i can't exactly comment.

 

[truly194]

I'm not sure - but since i discover this connection i'm happy with it
 
But i'm looking for more - i want to check it.  
 
In music what i listening to in this connection everything is very nice, level of volume it's ok, bass doesn't go lost. There is many reality of many instruments (specially drums), very nice vocal. 
Even so i have basic multimeter - so if i can check if it has enough power - tell me how check it

 

[rovopio]

sorry, you have to ask other people here on your dac/amp power output calculation.
I don't understand the calculation enough to teach other people on it.
 
You can check out this website and calculate your dac/amp spec by yourself... http://www.apexhifi.com/specs.html

 

[Chris J]

For reference, 10 mW is approx. 103 dB SPL, which is fairly loud:

Because we love to "discuss" amp power,
I ran some numbers on the various impedances of DT880 to show current draw and voltage needed for various power levels. 

32 Ohm Versions   (note: Innerfidelity specs the efficiency as 0.47 mW = 90 dB SPL)
1 mW = 179 mV, 5.6 mA
5 mW = 400 mV, 12.5 mA
10 mW = 565 mV, 17.6 mA
25 mW = 935 mV, 27.9 mA
100 mW = 1.79 V, 55.9 mA

250 Ohm versions   (note: Innerfidelity specs the efficiency as 0.38 mW = 90 dB SPL)
1 mW = 500 mV, 2.0 mA
5 mW = 1.12 V, 4.4 mA
10 mW = 1.58 V, 6.3 mA
25 mW = 2.5 V, 10.0 mA
100 mW = 5.0 V, 20.0 mA

600 Ohm versions   (note: Innerfidelity specs the efficiency as 0.43 mW = 90 dB SPL)
1 mW = 775 mV, 1.29 mA
5 mW = 1.73 V, 2.89 mA
10 mW = 2.45 V, 4.0 mA
25 mW = 3.87 V, 6.5 mA
100 mW = 7.74 V, 12.9 mA