[Brooko]

After comparing both - unless you already have a high Z out OTL amp, or are intending getting one, to my ears the differences are too small to recommend the 600ohm over the 250 ohm.  Like I said, the 250 ohm adds another level of versatility.

 

[TrollDragon]

That TI chip is the same one used in the FiiO E09K and it drives my 250 Ohm's very well.

So you can pop for the 600's and wait for a decent amp or just get the 250's and enjoy some music...

If you go back through this thread and the other beyer thread there was talk about making a sticky about the totally minute differences between the two ohm versions. That way new buyers could be pointed to it for the 600 has to be better quandary...

Just my 2 peso's, YMMV

 

[flyinion]

Ok thanks guys, that settles it.  I'm going with the 250's.  If I decide the highs are a bit bright I can always EQ it a hair.  I can save 600 ohm headphones and OTL amps until down the road when I've become a total junkie and have more money to spend 

 

[TrollDragon]

Congrats!
You have made an excellent choice good sir!

If you do want to EQ the DT880, you go back through this thread a little bit, there are a few programs and users settings that work quite well with Foobar2K. Also the settings could easily be applied to any other EQ.

Now for the Tubes!

 

[flyinion]

Congrats!
You have made an excellent choice good sir!

If you do want to EQ the DT880, you go back through this thread a little bit, there are a few programs and users settings that work quite well with Foobar2K. Also the settings could easily be applied to any other EQ.

Now for the Tubes!

Yeah, since I will be driving them with the headphone amp in my soundcard for now, my card has a built in 10 band EQ so I should be covered there.

 

[jay628]

  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 

I heard the D2k has good bass. Do you think the DT 880's bass paring with the NFb 10ES2 is better than D2k's? I have a 880 (250) and I am thinking of getting a D2k or Pro 900 mainly for their bass. I have been asking around here for a good amp to bring more warmth and better bass impact to my DT 880, but people have been saying different things so I still can't really decide

 

[MrEleventy]

What do you have for an amp? I'd try eqing first if your amp is up for it. Save yourself some cash. I only sprung for the m100s because it was at a bargain I couldn't pass up.

 

[jay628]

My current amp is Schiit Magni, I think it is too bright for the 880. I am thinking of tubes, probably the Vahalla but some say it is bright too even its a tube amp. I read that some good reviews on the WA3 but I want to make sure before I spend that much 

 

[TrollDragon]

If you are looking to get the bass of a D2K or Pro 900 out of the DT880's with a different amp it is just not going to happen. What you really need is different headphones...

When I want some bass slam I put on the Ultrasone's.

 

[jay628]

If you are looking to get the bass of a D2K or Pro 900 out of the DT880's with a different amp it is just not going to happen. What you really need is different headphones...

When I want some bass slam I put on the Ultrasone's.

Yea, thats what I am thinking. But I still prefer a warmer sound for my 880 tho. Is the Vahalla good enough or do I have to go Woo? I havent heard the Pro 900's bass yet but I can't wait to try lol

 

[00Dan]

Still having a minor issue with my DT880/600. The right driver has a faint, almost hiss like cracking sound when certain notes are played through it (I've had the most success reproducing this issue with piano tracks). Has anybody else experienced this or have any idea what it may be? It only occurs in the right driver. For reference purposes I'm running it off a Schiit Modi and Vali, with music streamed from MOG. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[wahsmoh]

  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

When you mentioned the upper mids of the DT880 I thought the same thing. The impact of a snare drum is just like :O so lush and crisp. I'm listening to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and I can hear John Bonham right next to me as if he was still alive

 

[genclaymore]

  Still having a minor issue with my DT880/600. The right driver has a faint, almost hiss like cracking sound when certain notes are played through it (I've had the most success reproducing this issue with piano tracks). Has anybody else experienced this or have any idea what it may be? It only occurs in the right driver. For reference purposes I'm running it off a Schiit Modi and Vali, with music streamed from MOG. Any help would be appreciated.

You try a  a mp3/flac off your local drive to see if it just the stream that doing that? I don't have your issue at all with my DT880 premium 600. Could be wrong if it isn't streaming maybe some hair got on the driver.

 

[Chris J]

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...........


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.

Yes, that's enough power to drive the 600 Ohm DTs to insane volumes.
The ugly truth is.........80 mW is LOUD!

Edit:
You'll get approx. twice as much power into your 250s.

 

[devhen]

  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.

 
That's not enough to adequately power the 600 ohm version. Don't get the 600 ohm version unless you're using a high output impedance amp like an OTL tube amp because you can get the 32 and 250 ohm versions a lot cheaper and you will have a lot more usable volume. The 600 ohm is not "better" overall, that is a myth. The 32 and 250 ohm versions are equally as good (based on what amp you're using, as I mentioned).
 
If it were me I would get the 32 or 250 ohm 880s, basically whatever I can find the best price on which is usually the 250 ohm Pro, and an O2. The magni is supposedly a bright amp and that usually doesn't match well with the 880s. The O2 is more neutral.
 
Down the road you can add a DAC, something like the Stoner Acoustics UD110 or HifiMeDiy Sabre DAC, which are both just $50. For now, if you've got a relatively new mid- or hi-end motherboard then your sound card will probably work pretty decently as a DAC. Make sure volume is maxed out in Windows and in the music program you're using. I'd also try ASIO and/or WASAPI to see if they provide an improvement. ASIO provides a slight but noticeable improvement on my MS2 and MS2+. I haven't tried using it with my motherboard's built-in sound card but I suspect you could gain a little sound quality there as well because the Windows sound mixer can degrade the signal and ASIO and WASAPI completely bypass it.
 
I just got my little brother that same setup for Xmas-- 32 ohm DT880 Premium and an O2 w/ rear power. Add one of the aforementioned DACs and you're probably coming pretty damn close to the sound quality of my setup (G109 & MS2+) which cost just under $800. A very good setup indeed, especially for the price, and potentially an end game setup if you can avoid the itch to buy other headphones and amps.
 
Oh, this is all assuming you're talking about a desktop setup. If you'll be using them for portable listening I recommend no higher than the 32 ohm version and you'll still need a portable amp to get the best out of them.
 
Links:
 
ASIO: http://www.asio4all.com
 
EDIT: Chris J and I will have to agree to disagree. I've used several amps and sources that supposedly had enough to power my 600 ohm 770s yet I couldn't get quietly recorded tracks to play anywhere near loud enough for my tastes.