The Beyerdynamic DT880 Discussion thread

[matty007]

The ATH-AD700 stopped being made years ago though. And that is a shame as it is about the only pair of headphones that I now have confidence will last me at least the same number of years I've had it already (nearly 10 years) They are touch even if they can get dents easily and the cable and connector is the best I've come across.

I am more or less wanting to go the same direction with my next pair, getting an easy to drive pair. My main area i like is certainly treble, but the AD700s are very lightweight in bass. Still enjoyable, but you can miss it at times.

If you can find a pair of Ultrasone Pro 2900's, they might be right up your alley. Quite well built, nice bass, and elevated treble. You won't get them new, but can often find them for about £150 on the bay. Honestly, it's difficult finding an open back that is well built, has comfort, has good bass and elevated treble for under £200 . There's honestly very few headphones that tick all those boxes.

Going with Philips again, you could try the SHP9500's. They tick almost every box, aside from the fact they have a rolled off bass response. Although, it's largely comparable to the 880's. £150

Other than that, and my previous suggestions, I am out of ideas. And I suspect others will be too haha.

 

[gooeyrich]

 

[gooeyrich]

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

If you can find a pair of Ultrasone Pro 2900's, they might be right up your alley. Quite well built, nice bass, and elevated treble. You won't get them new, but can often find them for about £150 on the bay. Honestly, it's difficult finding an open back that is well built, has comfort, has good bass and elevated treble for under £200 . There's honestly very few headphones that tick all those boxes.

Going with Philips again, you could try the SHP9500's. They tick almost every box, aside from the fact they have a rolled off bass response. Although, it's largely comparable to the 880's. £150

Other than that, and my previous suggestions, I am out of ideas. And I suspect others will be too haha.

The SHP9500s were a strong consideration before I bought my DT880s. What put me off was the fact people said the ear pads were not replaceable. They also look to be made out of a strange fabric with loads of holes in or something. Looks like loads of tiny fragments could get stuck in there and would be a nightmare to clean. Although a big con, it was the only thing that put me off them.

 

[gooeyrich]

Pretty good deals:

https://www.newegg.com/p/0TH-00JD-0...880-_-0TH-00JD-00112-_-Product&quicklink=true

https://www.newegg.com/p/0TH-00JD-002B9?Description=dt 990&cm_re=dt_990-_-9SIABMTB7M3536-_-Product

 

[SilverEars]

Ok, I'm listening to the DT880 (600 ohm version) again after long absence. Very first time I've listened to it was when I was first in this hobby. Back then, the big three were HD650, DT880, and the AKG K701.

Back then I found DT880 and K701 fairly bright, and DT880 to have the most bass out of the three. Well, my impression of the bass is different today. I find it fairly lean in the bass. I think it's due to the large room inside the cups/pads. Also, this circular design and the pads are a bit outdated now. The perfectly circular shape of the cups causes gap opens around the head due to not shaped to adhere well to our head contour. On the other hand, the oval shape design of the HD650 works much better in terms of seal, and reducing the room increased bass response. Headphone pads have evolved to angled, and at least with the HD650, the oval shapes still works.

I find DT880 not much different from others in terms of the Beyer house tuning that is to be expected. It's almost the polar opposite of HD6-- series, raised treble, lowered upper-mids, etc.. In some tracks it works, but then there are tracks that either brings out the treble to the point of too emphasized sibilence or sound recession in the mids area somewhere. For my taste anyway, it's just too deviated from what I call 'normal' response, and just like before when I compared the 'three,' I would still end up with the HD650.

I was recommended the Emotiva basX a-100 speaker taps to drive the DT880, and it does drive it better than anything I've tried. I think due to the fact that the DT880 is 600 ohms, isn't helping even from an amp that I have that I can drive the HE-6 fairly ok. Only the Emotiva basX, which is a speaker amp, can get it to put out decent amount of bass and dynamics. So yeah, the 600 ohms is an additional caveat, and I recommend going with lower ohm version. Something else I never understood is why Beyers do not sound right with BH Crack? Sennheiser 300 ohms sound their best with the Crack, but with Beyers, I prefer solid-state, and I have no idea why this is. If Crack requires high ohmage, the 600 ohms should work, but it doesn't (at least for me).

 

[SilverEars]

This is an interesting review, and I like to hear from different types of people what they think. She doesn't come off as a reviewer, but just somebody that wants to provide information, so I find the down to earth review interesting, and provides a different perspective. I found her statements about people that mix and their practicalities insightful.

 

[ev13wt]

(Reference) Changing earpads on Beyerdynamic 880 770 990 in under 30 seconds like so:

 

[kman1211]

Ok, I'm listening to the DT880 (600 ohm version) again after long absence. Very first time I've listened to it was when I was first in this hobby. Back then, the big three were HD650, DT880, and the AKG K701.

Back then I found DT880 and K701 fairly bright, and DT880 to have the most bass out of the three. Well, my impression of the bass is different today. I find it fairly lean in the bass. I think it's due to the large room inside the cups/pads. Also, this circular design and the pads are a bit outdated now. The perfectly circular shape of the cups causes gap opens around the head due to not shaped to adhere well to our head contour. On the other hand, the oval shape design of the HD650 works much better in terms of seal, and reducing the room increased bass response. Headphone pads have evolved to angled, and at least with the HD650, the oval shapes still works.

I find DT880 not much different from others in terms of the Beyer house tuning that is to be expected. It's almost the polar opposite of HD6-- series, raised treble, lowered upper-mids, etc.. In some tracks it works, but then there are tracks that either brings out the treble to the point of too emphasized sibilence or sound recession in the mids area somewhere. For my taste anyway, it's just too deviated from what I call 'normal' response, and just like before when I compared the 'three,' I would still end up with the HD650.

I was recommended the Emotiva basX a-100 speaker taps to drive the DT880, and it does drive it better than anything I've tried. I think due to the fact that the DT880 is 600 ohms, isn't helping even from an amp that I have that I can drive the HE-6 fairly ok. Only the Emotiva basX, which is a speaker amp, can get it to put out decent amount of bass and dynamics. So yeah, the 600 ohms is an additional caveat, and I recommend going with lower ohm version. Something else I never understood is why Beyers do not sound right with BH Crack? Sennheiser 300 ohms sound their best with the Crack, but with Beyers, I prefer solid-state, and I have no idea why this is. If Crack requires high ohmage, the 600 ohms should work, but it doesn't (at least for me).

Its because synergy is more complicated than simply impedance and even the impedance curve, the HD 600/650, R70x, and T1.2 all have high impedance with big impedance humps in the bass yet all behave very different in terms of amps in my experience. I tried the 32 Ohm T1.3 (it’s an unique sounding headphone that is love or hate) on high impedance amps and tube amps and it sounded fine possibly better than the T1.2 on them and I have no idea why.

Senns in my experience just like tubes, even some of the lower impedance ones, just does something to their mids. Beyers even the 600 Ohm ones just don’t seem to change much with tubes, maybe a little more roundness and presence in their mids but nothing major.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Ok, I'm listening to the DT880 (600 ohm version) again after long absence. Very first time I've listened to it was when I was first in this hobby. Back then, the big three were HD650, DT880, and the AKG K701.

Back then I found DT880 and K701 fairly bright, and DT880 to have the most bass out of the three. Well, my impression of the bass is different today. I find it fairly lean in the bass. I think it's due to the large room inside the cups/pads. Also, this circular design and the pads are a bit outdated now. The perfectly circular shape of the cups causes gap opens around the head due to not shaped to adhere well to our head contour. On the other hand, the oval shape design of the HD650 works much better in terms of seal, and reducing the room increased bass response. Headphone pads have evolved to angled, and at least with the HD650, the oval shapes still works.

I find DT880 not much different from others in terms of the Beyer house tuning that is to be expected. It's almost the polar opposite of HD6-- series, raised treble, lowered upper-mids, etc.. In some tracks it works, but then there are tracks that either brings out the treble to the point of too emphasized sibilence or sound recession in the mids area somewhere. For my taste anyway, it's just too deviated from what I call 'normal' response, and just like before when I compared the 'three,' I would still end up with the HD650.

I was recommended the Emotiva basX a-100 speaker taps to drive the DT880, and it does drive it better than anything I've tried. I think due to the fact that the DT880 is 600 ohms, isn't helping even from an amp that I have that I can drive the HE-6 fairly ok. Only the Emotiva basX, which is a speaker amp, can get it to put out decent amount of bass and dynamics. So yeah, the 600 ohms is an additional caveat, and I recommend going with lower ohm version. Something else I never understood is why Beyers do not sound right with BH Crack? Sennheiser 300 ohms sound their best with the Crack, but with Beyers, I prefer solid-state, and I have no idea why this is. If Crack requires high ohmage, the 600 ohms should work, but it doesn't (at least for me).

Not sure about rounded design now being dated. Sennheiser seems to be a brand that has steered away from them, but many others make round ones still. If they are made of the same material, especially on open backed headphones, I doubt it will make much difference at all. I've also found with all the open backed headphones I've used (ATH-AD700, DT 880 pro and premium and K702, the sound barely changes at all even if you lift the ear pads slightly away from your ears. from my impression, it is more closed back headphones that rely on a good seal with no leaks - as open backed headphones are open back anyway, so to me, not having a perfect fit makes little difference. With my K550s however, if you push a finger under the soft ear pad allowing air to get in, the bass more or less disappears indicating that in this instance, a good seal i vital.

Think we certainly have a slightly different view, but nothing wrong with that!

 

[TrollDragon]

This is an interesting review, and I like to hear from different types of people what they think. She doesn't come off as a reviewer, but just somebody that wants to provide information, so I find the down to earth review interesting, and provides a different perspective. I found her statements about people that mix and their practicalities insightful.

I found her video quite interesting as well, a nice change from typical headphone hype reviews.

 

[TrollDragon]

I was recommended the Emotiva basX a-100 speaker taps to drive the DT880, and it does drive it better than anything I've tried.

There is one of those on my must buy list, it will do a phenomenal job with the T50RPs as well.

 

[Shane D]

I finally got DT880's back today. The repair took TEN weeks, including shipping.

I plugged them in and they sounded good, if a bit bass light.
I made a little tweak and my chain now is:
Sony DAP (NW-ZX300) to SMSL SU-8 to Schiit Loki to Violectric V220 with gain set at +6Db’s. Volume between 11:00-12:00 depending on the music.
Sounds Wonderful!

Although honestly, they are a little bit of a comedown from the HD660's that I was using immediately before.

 

[kman1211]

I finally got DT880's back today. The repair took TEN weeks, including shipping.

I plugged them in and they sounded good, if a bit bass light.
I made a little tweak and my chain now is:
Sony DAP (NW-ZX300) to SMSL SU-8 to Schiit Loki to Violectric V220 with gain set at +6Db’s. Volume between 11:00-12:00 depending on the music.
Sounds Wonderful!

Although honestly, they are a little bit of a comedown from the HD660's that I was using immediately before.

10 weeks? That’s crazy, glad you got them back. My experience with Beyer repairs has been a week or less including shipping time but that was before all the COVID stuff. The HD 660 S is probably my favorite Sennheiser I’ve owned.

 

[Shane D]

10 weeks? That’s crazy, glad you got them back. My experience with Beyer repairs has been a week or less including shipping time but that was before all the COVID stuff. The HD 660 S is probably my favorite Sennheiser I’ve owned.

This was an oddball situation: I live in Canada and bought them from Thomann in Europe. Even with shipping and conversion 2 it was still a better deal than anywhere in Canada.

And whoever has problems with headphones? They work or they don't right? Little did I know...

Sent them back to Germany and Thomann paid most of the freight (and all of the return). Shipping back and forth took almost four weeks.
I figured they would just replace them as they were pretty new, but no. They sent them to their "service shop". That entailed six weeks.

And now here I am. Everybody lost on this one. They lost money on a cheap product and all the shipping. And I lost ten weeks of listening time. I will certainly re-think very long distance buys in the future.