[gooeyrich]

Drop has the six hundred ohm black edition for sale from time to time, I would suggest going on the site and requesting a new drop.

 

[gooeyrich]

Since these are 600 ohm headphones, can you guys suggest a list of amps that have enough juice to synergize well with them? I'm considering these as my first can (along with K701/2 and Grado HF2). Figure it would be good info for the thread too.

Thanks!

Atom and magni should be sufficient.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I keep wondering weather to spend money on a decent amplifier or go back to using a lower impedance headphone. I hated the coiled cable on the DT880 250ohm and the cable itself developed a fault so I bought the 600 ohm. But I really don't think there is enough of a difference to make it worth being this hard to drive. Even at over double the price of my 32 ohm Audio Technica ATH-AD700s, the only area they are better than them is the bass. They are better on the whole, but only just and certainly not very good value wise compared.

I use the FiiO A3 with my DT880s and while it most of the time is loud enough, it sometimes distorts (especially if usign the bass boost which is nice some of the time). It also just doesn't go loud enough with certain types of music. I always like to be able to have a bass boost switch, but I only like it to boost the sub bass and nothing else. many amps seem to have one that goes well over 100HZ and messes up the lower mid range. I'm just not sure weather to go for some headphones that are easier to drive and stick with the amplifier I reallly like or get used to another amp. Though I would want it to have a battery and be portable as I don't just use my A3 on my desk.

 

[gooeyrich]

I keep wondering weather to spend money on a decent amplifier or go back to using a lower impedance headphone. I hated the coiled cable on the DT880 250ohm and the cable itself developed a fault so I bought the 600 ohm. But I really don't think there is enough of a difference to make it worth being this hard to drive. Even at over double the price of my 32 ohm Audio Technica ATH-AD700s, the only area they are better than them is the bass. They are better on the whole, but only just and certainly not very good value wise compared.

I use the FiiO A3 with my DT880s and while it most of the time is loud enough, it sometimes distorts (especially if usign the bass boost which is nice some of the time). It also just doesn't go loud enough with certain types of music. I always like to be able to have a bass boost switch, but I only like it to boost the sub bass and nothing else. many amps seem to have one that goes well over 100HZ and messes up the lower mid range. I'm just not sure weather to go for some headphones that are easier to drive and stick with the amplifier I reallly like or get used to another amp. Though I would want it to have a battery and be portable as I don't just use my A3 on my desk.

If you are using a weaker amp how do you known it isn’t preventing you from hearing bigger difference in sound quality?

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

If you are using a weaker amp how do you known it isn’t preventing you from hearing bigger difference in sound quality?

Well most of the time, it is loud enough as i stated. I also have an integrated amplifier which can go plenty loud enough but is not in the ideal location and I still couldn't really tell a difference worth the impedance difference. The main reason why i went for the premiums was for the straight cable. My ATH-AD700s may be different headphones, but in terms of sound quality, they really do sound comparable no matter what either are driven with. I never tried the 32 ohm DT880s, but I really couldn't tell any difference sound wise between the 250ohm and 600ohm that was worth the limited devices that can power them efficiently. That is why I'm a bit stuck on weather I spend a load on a better headphone amplifier, or get a new set of headphones with a lower impedance at some point.

 

[Sefelt103]

Beyerdynamic Europe has their DT 880 Black Special Edition on sale at the moment. Euro 140/£126, warmer DT 990 esque sound with the black coloured earpads and the option of not quite as stylish looking but more like the DT 880 with grey velour earpads. Alternatively you could buy a relatively inexpensive JDS Labs Objective O2 (or ODAC) with 2/6.5X gain, more than enough to power 100mW headphones.

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com/dt-880-black-special-edition-250-ohms.html

 

[gooeyrich]

Well most of the time, it is loud enough as i stated. I also have an integrated amplifier which can go plenty loud enough but is not in the ideal location and I still couldn't really tell a difference worth the impedance difference. The main reason why i went for the premiums was for the straight cable. My ATH-AD700s may be different headphones, but in terms of sound quality, they really do sound comparable no matter what either are driven with. I never tried the 32 ohm DT880s, but I really couldn't tell any difference sound wise between the 250ohm and 600ohm that was worth the limited devices that can power them efficiently. That is why I'm a bit stuck on weather I spend a load on a better headphone amplifier, or get a new set of headphones with a lower impedance at some point.

Well it seems you were saying two contradictory things earlier. You said you weren't sure if you should keep the 600 ohm version because you weren't sure if you should invest in the necessary equipment to maximize the sound, but at the same time you were saying you didn't feel it was necessary because the sound difference didn't seem as great, but how could you know that without doing the first thing(investing in better equipment to maximize the sound)?

Almost every reviewer I've seen who's tried both the 250 ohm and 600 ohm versions says the 600 ohm model is better, and if that isn't enough:

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

So it would seem you should make sure you can try the 600 ohm model on equipment which can adequately drive them before making a decision.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Well it seems you were saying two contradictory things earlier. You said you weren't sure if you should keep the 600 ohm version because you weren't sure if you should invest in the necessary equipment to maximize the sound, but at the same time you were saying you didn't feel it was necessary because the sound difference didn't seem as great, but how could you know that without doing the first thing(investing in better equipment to maximize the sound)?

Almost every reviewer I've seen who's tried both the 250 ohm and 600 ohm versions says the 600 ohm model is better, and if that isn't enough:

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019t/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

So it would seem you should make sure you can try the 600 ohm model on equipment which can adequately drive them before making a decision.

I did mention that i had an integrated amplifier (pioneer A-209R). Can hardly get close to half way on that so it is plenty loud enough to drive these. I should have mentioned that in my first post. The reason why I don't use it is because it is on the other side of my room. It also has several inputs and due to where those cables go, interference is noticeable when using headphones, but is fine for speakers. When I tried this amplifier direct with headphones and no other inputs, other than significantly more volume, I couldn't really tell a difference in sound quality. It isn't made for headphones, but certainly does as good or better job than many of FiiO's cheaper specific headphone amps which surprises me. This is what makes me unsure if I will notice enough of a difference if I went for a very powerful headphone amplifier to make the price worth it. I purchased the FiiO A5 some time ago and ended up returning it. It barely seemed to drive them better than the A3. That was nearly £100. I won't that draw any conclusions that I can't get them to sound better than they do, but there will become a point where the price is a bit much. But I would appreciate some advice on a few options for amplifiers to read in to as the A3 certainly isn't ideal with everything. If I could get a reasonably cheap but powerful amplifier (preferebly rechargable so it can easily used in different locations), that may be ideal.

 

[gooeyrich]

I did mention that i had an integrated amplifier (pioneer A-209R). Can hardly get close to half way on that so it is plenty loud enough to drive these. I should have mentioned that in my first post. The reason why I don't use it is because it is on the other side of my room. It also has several inputs and due to where those cables go, interference is noticeable when using headphones, but is fine for speakers. When I tried this amplifier direct with headphones and no other inputs, other than significantly more volume, I couldn't really tell a difference in sound quality. It isn't made for headphones, but certainly does as good or better job than many of FiiO's cheaper specific headphone amps which surprises me. This is what makes me unsure if I will notice enough of a difference if I went for a very powerful headphone amplifier to make the price worth it. I purchased the FiiO A5 some time ago and ended up returning it. It barely seemed to drive them better than the A3. That was nearly £100. I won't that draw any conclusions that I can't get them to sound better than they do, but there will become a point where the price is a bit much. But I would appreciate some advice on a few options for amplifiers to read in to as the A3 certainly isn't ideal with everything. If I could get a reasonably cheap but powerful amplifier (preferebly rechargable so it can easily used in different locations), that may be ideal.

JDS Atom and Schiit Magni should both be able to drive it.

 

[kman1211]

I thought so too until I saw this:


don't know where he got this from. I've searched online but not found anything.

Amazon.com and select the black color option and 600 Ohm on the DT 880 premium. Seems blacks aren’t really in stock right now. The 600 Ohm has been around as long as the 250 Ohm, the chrome one also came in 600 ohm. They’re harder to find overall and stock is less consistent though.

https://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic...ds=dt880+600&qid=1596325321&sr=8-4&th=1&psc=1

 

[mvule]

Interesting review.
Zeos seems to have provoked him!
That said it seems like a logical argument re output impedence.
If I'm not mistaken, Lake People/Violectric amps do rather well in this regard.

 

[Sefelt103]

I slightly regret getting the 600Ω version of the DT 880. From my perspective it would appear to have a few disadvantages:
1. It's less neutral and brighter (8kHz peak) than the 250Ω version.
2. It was more expensive than the 250Ω version
3. It had less availability and sourcing 600Ω drivers is more difficult than the 250Ω
4. It's harder to drive for a relatively small fidelity increase
The black special edition (600Ω) is rare and has a DT 990 sound and also has the 8kHz boost.

 

[gooeyrich]

I thought so too until I saw this:


don't know where he got this from. I've searched online but not found anything.

That whole review seems to revolve around a conclusion that higher amp output impedance is the key to driving them properly, but then I saw this exchange in the comments:

TheGoldenOne

1 month ago
I think there are a few things to address from this video so as not to (intentionally or not) mislead people. Firstly, ohms law, and how power scales with impedance does not seem to be mentioned AT ALL in this video. Take the emotiva BasX for example. It is 50w yes....at 8ohms. Meaning at 600ohms it can only provide 660mW of power. Also remember that power scales in a logarithmic manner, and so -8dB on that amp would keep you well below the 100mW max limit of the dt880. (or just don't run it high gain) at 32ohms or any normal headphone load, it only has twice the power of the 789 or Topping a90. If you are not on high gain, and are not running it absolute full tilt, you are fine, and your ears will be damaged long before the headphones are. Secondly, you seem to be inferring that a higher output impedance results in the headphones being driven better, which is demonstrably false. Higher output impedance can alter the tuning of a headphone, due to the fact that dynamic drivers do not have a flat impedance across the frequency range. However it DOES NOT result in more power being supplied to them. If a high output impedance amp results in a better sound, it is a result of personal preference of sound signature, NOT how well the headphones are being driven. This could of course explain why zeos liked them on the BasX, and its the reason why the HD800 are so amp picky for example. But to say that they are being driven better is equivalent to saying my car goes faster because it has racing stripes. I might enjoy driving it more, but it does not actually drive better

No Theme Reviews

1 month ago (edited)
When did I say that higher output impedance means the amp is providing more power? I never said that. Instead, what I said is that one might try to achieve the type of sound I heard from the A2/A20/iHa-6 if you used an amp that provides greater amplification but low output impedance. I strongly suggest you take a step back and listen to the words I actually used. The point of this video is not to go through logarithmic scales. Very few people 1) understand it, 2) want to hear it, and 3) will have the attention span to fully consider it. That's why I repeatedly told people in the video to check out Innerfidelity and NwAvGuy's posts. Instead, the point is to determine as quickly as possible what does and does not work--since that is entirely what the vast majority of people want to know. If you're concerned about ohms law and power scaling, this is the wrong channel for you. That's not what I focus on since it is a very niche field. No offense to you, but I have no doubt you're in the minority who wants such detailed analysis. I think eevblog is the place for such things. Or you can generate a discussion on ASR. It's unfortunate you think this content is lacking. But, frankly, the type of content you're demanding is not what I am prepared to offer. And despite your allegation that I'm misleading people, not only did I do the tests at my own expense, but I also directly asked Beyerdynamic repeatedly about the proper amp pairing. You should at the very least concede that measurements matter only when they actually matter. Theory can take you only so far until you put the headphones on your head and listen. So, while you may be correct in general, you're not necessarily correct in regard to the 880. Thanks for the feedback, though.

It really seems like nobody knows anything because everyone disagrees about everything. This article seems informative: https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

 

[gooeyrich]

So the Beyer amp discussed here:



Has a 100 ohm output resistance. I was reading this thread:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-amplifier-to-drive-600-ohm-headphones.6910/

Someone suggested using a 100 ohm resistance adapter. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

 

[gooeyrich]

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/understanding-impedance