[jonathan c]

I don't think anyone enjoys their drivers crackling and warbling

I do think listeners enjoy ‘graphers’ cackling and warbling …

 

[Opalius]

Head-Fi never fails to amuse...

Distortion in spades, yes please.

.... I'm in love... I'll take the distortion anyday ...

 

[Achlys]

.... I'm in love... I'll take the distortion anyday ...

Would you take DT880 600 Ω over STAX SR-Lambda Professional with ED-1 Monitor?

 

[Opalius]

That's much better than DT880 600 Ohm

... you know what, you are right, on paper it is better. But tale me this, have you ever sat down and did A/B between the DT880 600 ohm and the HD650???

Because I have

I'm sorry to say, but listening at +100 DB to really hear the distorsion just hurts my ears. Yes, it does have abit more, and if you reallllly listen, you can hear it abit. But by the gods the LOUNDNESS is just killing my ears at that point.

When taking the sound down to abit more "normal" leves, say 90 DB or even 95… You can’t hear a difference in distortion. What you hear the post at this point is the different sound signatures of the headphones, one being warm vailed in comparison to one that is bright and detailed. – it kinda depends on what you want.


Now if you don’t “like” the sound signature, then just buy something else. Personally I opted for the DT990 but I also own a HD650, - so take it from subjective experience

 

[Sefelt103]

Don't most dynamic driver headphones suffer from bass distortion to some lesser or greater extent. Planar magnetics are superior in this respect only they don't usually have what the DT 880 has a lot of ie. treble. I tried listening at high volumes to my DT 880 (600Ω) and could only hear distortion at very high volumes that I couldn't listen to for more than a minute on bass heavy tracks. At those levels the treble peak (at 8kHz) was also a source of discomfort (even with 1 ply of toilet paper over the drivers). But just listening to music loudly like I might do for a track I've grown to like a lot and there is no hint of distortion, the bass is more noticeable and the treble glare stands out. I wish I'd bought the 250Ω version, the FR seems less V shaped and the treble peaks don't appear to be as severe.

 

[Opalius]

Would you take DT880 600 Ω over STAX SR-Lambda Professional with ED-1 Monitor?

To be honist, I don’t know. I have not listened to them yet…. My dear old dad owns way to many headphones. Maybe he has one packed away someplace.... I should ask him

PS, that’s me trying his headphones…
PPS... he has about twice the number of headphones on this photo

 

[Sefelt103]

And most people like the sound

I would respectfully disagree with this assertion. Looking at Headfi vast numbers seem to enjoy fun (V shaped) sound signatures, amplifiers and headphones laced in colouration and harmonic distortion, that add liveliness and smoothness to their music. They would find any of the purer DT 880 models too true to source, boring, lacking in bass, lacking in any sort of fun, too neutral, too bright, making poorly mastered music unlistenable etc.

 

[Opalius]

.lacking in bass, lacking in any sort of fun, too neutral, too bright, making poorly mastered music unlistenable etc.

I would agree. Also why I got the DT990 insted, - they are more fun, but sadly, poorly mastered music also sounds like crap on them. Thats where the HD650 comes to the rescue

 

[Achlys]

To be honist, I don’t know. I have not listened to them yet…. My dear old dad owns way to many headphones. Maybe he has one packed away someplace.... I should ask him

PS, that’s me trying his headphones…
PPS... he has about twice the number of headphones on this photo

The thing is, you don't need to try headphones if you learn how to read frequency response and THD.

 

[Sefelt103]

@Opalius I like midrange too much to have ever been interested in Beyerdynamic's DT 770 and DT 990. Is it the PRO version or the Edition. I'm curious about impedance these days 250/600Ω ? Some say the treble on these is rather sharp.

 

[kman1211]

The thing is, you don't need to try headphones if you learn how to read frequency response and THD.

I’ve personally tried focusing on well measuring headphones and gear and ended up not being what I wanted even though I tried to convince myself it was. So I stopped following it and just went with what I enjoyed. If it makes you happy that’s good, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

 

[Achlys]

I’ve personally tried focusing on well measuring headphones and gear and ended up not being what I wanted even though I tried to convince myself it was. So I stopped following it and just went with what I enjoyed. If it makes you happy that’s good, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

Not well measuring enough if you didn't try STAX SR-Lambda Pro Classic with ED-1 Monitor

 

[dakanao]

The thing is, you don't need to try headphones if you learn how to read frequency response and THD.

And that’s exactly why you and the majority of ASR members have no clue on what the concept of good sound is, since y’all don’t listen and only read.

 

[Sefelt103]

The thing is, you don't need to try headphones if you learn how to read frequency response and THD.

There's a lot more to a headphone design than frequency response and THD, despite these aspects being significant pieces in the puzzle.

 

[Achlys]

There's a lot more to a headphone design than frequency response and THD, despite these aspects being significant pieces in the puzzle.

Besides comfort and efficiency, nope