[Makiah S]

Éee gads! I am going deaf! I have been charting the frequency response of my setup. This includes the DAC/amp, the headphones, and my ears. I find the frequency range to be much less than I expected, 35 Hz to 12,000 Hz! There Is a substantial rolloff at 12,000 Hz. This must be due to my ears. My ears appear to be that of a man who is ten years older than me! Also, at some frequencies my left ear cannot hear anywhere near as well as my right ear. Fortunately with my EQ software, I can specify a different EQ curve for each ear, the L and R channels. The resulting EQ curves should turn out to be interesting.

Bob Graham

That's no fun :O thank goodness for eq though >.> 

 

[kramer5150]

Éee gads! I am going deaf! I have been charting the frequency response of my setup. This includes the DAC/amp, the headphones, and my ears. I find the frequency range to be much less than I expected, 35 Hz to 12,000 Hz! There Is a substantial rolloff at 12,000 Hz. This must be due to my ears. My ears appear to be that of a man who is ten years older than me! Also, at some frequencies my left ear cannot hear anywhere near as well as my right ear. Fortunately with my EQ software, I can specify a different EQ curve for each ear, the L and R channels. The resulting EQ curves should turn out to be interesting.

Bob Graham

Thats actually "typical enough" across most populations to not really be a cause for concern/alarm.  My hearing has always rolled off above 10-12k, and I usually dial in a ~3db boost on the iTunes EQ at 32Hz.  The Q slope on the iTunes EQ is broad enough so it also boosts the under-tones lower than 32Hz.  Most dynamic cans roll off gradually below ~35Hz, and are accompanied by bass bloat from 35-100Hz.  So you're kind of fighting a battle on 2 fronts, our own hearing limitations and the headphone roll-off itself.

 

[pp312]

My ears appear to be that of a man who is ten years older than me!

 
Has he missed them yet? 

 

[kramer5150]

  Yes comparing the dt880 and hd800..I was surprised how dt880 well did...against the hd800 considering their price difference...and of course hd800 being the soundstage king aside from k1000...

 
Not saying one is equal to another... because, well they aren't.  Yet still the calibrated dummy at least measures a lot of spectral similarities.
 

 

[Argyris]

The two do seem to pursue a very similar overall balance. The HD800 must have been quite the shock for upgrading HD6x0 owners, far more so than it would have been for people who came to it from headphones like the DT880 or K70x.
 
I find the HD800's balance interesting in context with the usual Sennheiser signature, which seems almost universally to tilt in the opposite direction. I wonder if they felt pressure to release something "without the 'veil'" that kept coming up in HD6x0 discussions, or if they were perhaps trying to emulate the brighter signature associated with electrostats (e.g. Stax) so as to demonstrate that a dynamic-ish design like the HD800 could compete. This last possibility would be particularly interesting because Beyer, with the original (1980s era) DT880, was itself aiming for electrostat performance and tonality. The modern DT880's bright antics reportedly still place it in company with Stax, tonality-wise at least.

 

[TrollDragon]

That is twice now Rockwell's site has been linked... It's all going to hell.... Nooooooo

 

[Argyris]

I'm not a tremendous fan of him, to be honest. He seems to think rather a lot of himself, and he seems to think people should pay him $5 a pop to print out pages from his site. Yeah, not gonna happen. In fact, I don't believe there is any kind of restriction (at least in the US) on printing out anything on the Internet, so long as the individual doing so is not aiming to directly profit from it or reproduce it and claim it as his own work. And if there is such a restriction, it's probably trivially defeated by fair use claims.

 

[r010159]

I hope you guys do not mind. But here is the post of my second more precise attempt at finding an EQ curve that works with the DT880s. I found with my original EQ that even though I got rid of that high frequency sizzle, the timbre of some of the instruments were getting sliced off in the process.
 
I did not know what to do. So I did a frequency response analysis using a program called SineGen.  As you will see, it allowed me to be much more surgical with my EQ curve. ABing between the old and new allowed me to see how much a difference there is between the two, which is significant. Also I found out that my ears are getting old.
 
Please keep in mind that the white curve is a work in progress, and represents the net effect of dynamic EQing, which is different than a static EQ curve. And I boosted the bass frequencies a bit. The actual static EQ for the bass is significantly less than the curve indicates. I have the dynamics there turned up. And the extra emphasis at both ends is an attempt to allow for the rolloff my ears have in frequency response.
 
(It is interesting that my ears have a resonant frequency spike at about 2K. The smaller one is apparently due to the headphones.)
 
Bob Graham
 

 
PS: I will refrain from posting any future attempts. I may end up with the "long winded" poster award.

 

[Argyris]

The spike around 2-3 kHz is a natural part of human hearing and should be left alone. You'll find that most headphones will show a similar feature in raw measurement data, which is compensated for in most of the charts you'll find in order to make the traces easier to read and compare.

 

[r010159]

Oh. Everyone has that? So would the recording engineer then. I will take that blip off the chart......definitely makes a difference. Now it ceased being so odd.
 
Bob Graham

 

[Makiah S]

  The two do seem to pursue a very similar overall balance. The HD800 must have been quite the shock for upgrading HD6x0 owners, far more so than it would have been for people who came to it from headphones like the DT880 or K70x.
 
I find the HD800's balance interesting in context with the usual Sennheiser signature, which seems almost universally to tilt in the opposite direction. I wonder if they felt pressure to release something "without the 'veil'" that kept coming up in HD6x0 discussions, or if they were perhaps trying to emulate the brighter signature associated with electrostats (e.g. Stax) so as to demonstrate that a dynamic-ish design like the HD800 could compete. This last possibility would be particularly interesting because Beyer, with the original (1980s era) DT880, was itself aiming for electrostat performance and tonality. The modern DT880's bright antics reportedly still place it in company with Stax, tonality-wise at least.

 
 

  That is twice now Rockwell's site has been linked... It's all going to hell.... Nooooooo

 
 

  I hope you guys do not mind. But here is the post of my second more precise attempt at finding an EQ curve that works with the DT880s. I found with my original EQ that even though I got rid of that high frequency sizzle, the timbre of some of the instruments were getting sliced off in the process.
 
I did not know what to do. So I did a frequency response analysis using a program called SineGen.  As you will see, it allowed me to be much more surgical with my EQ curve. ABing between the old and new allowed me to see how much a difference there is between the two, which is significant. Also I found out that my ears are getting old.
 
Please keep in mind that the white curve is a work in progress, and represents the net effect of dynamic EQing, which is different than a static EQ curve. And I boosted the bass frequencies a bit. The actual static EQ for the bass is significantly less than the curve indicates. I have the dynamics there turned up. And the extra emphasis at both ends is an attempt to allow for the rolloff my ears have in frequency response.
 
(It is interesting that my ears have a resonant frequency spike at about 2K. The smaller one is apparently due to the headphones.)
 
Bob Graham
 

 
PS: I will refrain from posting any future attempts. I may end up with the "long winded" poster award.

Mice article no idea who that guy is, frankly and laws in the US are finnicky with things like that, although when you post something to the internet, it's assumed or implied that you understand that the internet is built around the concept of the "open exchange of information" or once it's on the net it's fair game... if you don't want people stealing your thoughts and writings keep em off the Net
 
That said, nice to hear the DT 880 600 ohm compares to a Stax Electro Stat... the HE 4 which is an upgraded DT 880 by all means should be closer to the E Stat 
 
back on topic though, I miss the beyer comfort :[, heck I've got a Beyerdynamic headband on my HE 4 :3, ofc the tough decision for me now is HE 6 or T1... when that time comes not sure what I'll do 

 

[Chris J]

The two do seem to pursue a very similar overall balance. The HD800 must have been quite the shock for upgrading HD6x0 owners, far more so than it would have been for people who came to it from headphones like the DT880 or K70x.

I find the HD800's balance interesting in context with the usual Sennheiser signature, which seems almost universally to tilt in the opposite direction. I wonder if they felt pressure to release something "without the 'veil'" that kept coming up in HD6x0 discussions, or if they were perhaps trying to emulate the brighter signature associated with electrostats (e.g. Stax) so as to demonstrate that a dynamic-ish design like the HD800 could compete. This last possibility would be particularly interesting because Beyer, with the original (1980s era) DT880, was itself aiming for electrostat performance and tonality. The modern DT880's bright antics reportedly still place it in company with Stax, tonality-wise at least.

Just my dumb opinion, but my DT880 sound nuthin' like my Stax SRS-2170 "ear speakers"

I have to call them "ear speakers" because Stax calls them "ear speakers" and I don't want no trouble! :rolleyes:

 

[Argyris]

I imagine there are different sounding Staxes, or else maybe the whole comparison really doesn't work. Ken's one guy, after all, and since electrostats were (and are) the premium technology, I suppose any decent design would in some manner try to reach that level of performance. In that light, Beyer saying what it did about the original DT880 might not be so notable. Plus, I suppose you can aim and still fail to hit your target. That's not a line to be taken out of context.

 

[Makiah S]

 since electrostats were (and are) the premium technology, I suppose any decent design would in some manner try to reach that level of performance

Good point 

 

[Neotriple]

Hey guys,
 
I've asked this before, but it's been about a year and a half since I got my DT880's. Unfortunately, I can't actually use them as I don't really have a DAC/Amplifier and they sound awful right now without one.
 
My main uses for this headphone are for production of music straight from my computer. Is there anybody that can recommend me a DAC that would be able to power the 250 ohm version? Right now, I have the Fiio E17 and it just...does not do its job.