[Deltron 3030]

Of those in the same league as the DT880, I've heard the Sennheiser HD600 compared here at home and that sounded great tone-wise but fell apart separating instruments in the complex Bach pieces and a K701 at a friend's house that was very nice with chamber and strings but sounded artificial and too spacey for my liking. Plus they were missing the bass that the Beyers have. It's really hard to describe just how much presence the Beyer bass can have. I was just listening to the Prelude and Fugue in G Major as I wrote that above post and at one point there was so much sub bass it felt like my headband was vibrating. Yet it never beats you over the head with a bass hump like the HD600s, or loses texture of detail. It's a sumptuous, finely textured bass and compliments organs very well.

Also, speaking of speed in classical... he's not quite Bach, but a composer I recently have been getting alot into is Vivaldi and his Mandolin Concertos are some of the fastest classical music I've heard, though probably closer to chamber music. Not complex, but really fast. The Beyers also handle those extremely well. and have made those mandolin concertos a favorite of mine.     

I think I'm going to have to purchase myself some beyerdynamics

Edit: just purchased along with e09k for $410.

 

[Strangelove424]

I think I'm going to have to purchase myself some beyerdynamics

Edit: just purchased along with e09k for $410.

Please send me a PM and let me know your impression of them after you get a good listen. I really think you'll enjoy them very much.   

 

[squareznboxez]

Currently tossing and turning between the DT880 600ohm, HD600 and HD650 - looking to pair with a Matrix Mini-I Pro
 
I've listened to a friends 880 600ohm on a Firestone stack (Beyond HD, Spitfire and Supplier HD) and it has been the best i've heard so far
 
Short of that I've tried the Matrix Mini-I Pro with a HE500 and they seem to power it plenty to provide the richness it's known for
 
The main review for the Mini-I Pro states that it pairs really well with the HD600 - but I can't help but wonder if the 880s would suit me better
 
I enjoy the low reaching bass presence of the 880s, is this something i'll miss in the HD600s?

 

[No_One411]

  To be perfectly fair, I have heard good pairs of the new Tesla models, and when they are good, they are... quite good. This DT880 600 that I have here still surprises me because it's not just smooth and resolving, but that it has a certain lushness to the sound as well. I don't think anyone can call this headphone "harsh" by any standard. Even the very rare sibilance it produces is a soft sound rather than a sharp piercing sound.
 
The whole presentation is softer and more polite than the usual Beyer sound... and it just makes me wonder how I have missed this... since I have owned and auditioned the DT880 600 quite a few times already, and it has never quite sounded like this. Even out of a good OTL amp, the DT880 didn't quite sound this lush. This is out of a solid-state amp, no less.
 
And since you know me, I think you'd see that when I say a headphone is "dark", it really is quite dark. My standard of neutrality is typically darker than most folks.

Is there that much variation between Tesla units? To be fair, all the Tesla model headphones that I've heard and liked have been modded. 
 
The DT880s are much smoother on the top end than the Tesla headphones from what I've heard. Now I really want to hear this pair of DT880s! Maybe this unit is special due to manufacturer variation?
 
How do they compare to the ES-10s, your reference? 

 

[audidym]

I just received my DT880 600 Ohms today and still waiting for Schiit Modi.
 
Can't believe how easy to drive beyers......With standalone  Fiio e07k, though I've to crank up the volume to 50 (60 Max) it still plenty enough for these 600 Ohms Beyer.    I ain't an audiophile nor my ears but i see an overall improvement(not exponential)  from my M50s.
 
Currently using DT880 with Fiio E07k/09k without touching the gain and it gets loud enough at 12 O clock.
 
One thing i noticed with my DT880 is when i try to twist the Earcups even slightly, it makes a scratching sound like it's gonna break. The noise comes from the left side aluminium strip that goes halfway inside the headband for adjustment.
 
It scratches the plastic headband while twisting the earcups or expand the headband.
 
I bought it from Beyerdynamic India and it took 3 week to reach us from Germany. Anyone faced such issue ?  This doesn't affect the sound or comfort though.

 

[sinnottj]

  I just received my DT880 600 Ohms today and still waiting for Schiit Modi.
 
Can't believe how easy to drive beyers......With standalone  Fiio e07k, though I've to crank up the volume to 50 (60 Max) it still plenty enough for these 600 Ohms Beyer.    I ain't an audiophile nor my ears but i see an overall improvement(not exponential)  from my M50s.
 
Currently using DT880 with Fiio E07k/09k without touching the gain and it gets loud enough at 12 O clock.
 
One thing i noticed with my DT880 is when i try to twist the Earcups even slightly, it makes a scratching sound like it's gonna break. The noise comes from the left side aluminium strip that goes halfway inside the headband for adjustment.
 
It scratches the plastic headband while twisting the earcups or expand the headband.
 
I bought it from Beyerdynamic India and it took 3 week to reach us from Germany. Anyone faced such issue ?  This doesn't affect the sound or comfort though.

I've owned 2 DT880s and both of the headbands made all sorts of scratching / creaking noises! I think it's just the design.

 

[audidym]

 
I've owned 2 DT880s and both of the headbands made all sorts of scratching / creaking noises! I think it's just the design.

hmm....thanks for the reassuring comment   Others, please provide your inputs on the scratching noise.

 

[Rem0o]

 
hmm....thanks for the reassuring comment   Others, please provide your inputs on the scratching noise.

Well yea it makes some kind of noise at the joint between the plastic and the metal part. Nothing to worry about.

 

[genclaymore]

 
hmm....thanks for the reassuring comment   Others, please provide your inputs on the scratching noise.

The DT880 premium 600 that I had didn't make scratching noises at all.Neither does the T90 that I own.

 

[MrEleventy]

I didn't get any squeaking from any of my Beyers (DT770 Prem & Pro, DT880 Prem, DT990 Prem, T1 x2, and T90)

 

[pp312]

Never had any noises from my 880 Pro. I used to get creaking noises from a HD650, which was the plastic parts of the yoke rubbing together; a touch of oil fixed that. Maybe you could try that here.

 

[Deltron 3030]

For anyone who is buying, razordogaudio offers he Beyerdynamics for $300 after an on site coupon code (coupon code shown at bottom all over site.) This is lower than Amazon and they are an authorized dealer so I thought it would be worth mentioning. Also if you see the very cheap open box deals on pro star audio and think scam they are authorized as well.

@stranglelove424 The headphones come on Saturday so you will hear about them then hopefully! Unfortunately the amp is expected to arrive next Tuesday but I doubt I'll be able to resist trying them with my fiio e11. Not like I listen on super high volume or anything

 

[Bill-P]

  Is there that much variation between Tesla units? To be fair, all the Tesla model headphones that I've heard and liked have been modded. 
 
The DT880s are much smoother on the top end than the Tesla headphones from what I've heard. Now I really want to hear this pair of DT880s! Maybe this unit is special due to manufacturer variation?
 
How do they compare to the ES-10s, your reference? 

 
Well, I can tell you that I have heard two T1s... side by side, and they both sound different. Remarkably so.
 
Anyway, this DT880 is quite special indeed. Compared to my ES10, it's much less aggressive, but the sound signature is actually pretty similar. It's just lacking the bass impact and body of the ES10 and HE-560. But given that the DT880 sounds very relaxed compared to the other 2 headphones, I guess I can forgive the less dynamic presentation. It actually works quite well for hot recordings.

 

[No_One411]

   
Well, I can tell you that I have heard two T1s... side by side, and they both sound different. Remarkably so.
 
Anyway, this DT880 is quite special indeed. Compared to my ES10, it's much less aggressive, but the sound signature is actually pretty similar. It's just lacking the bass impact and body of the ES10 and HE-560. But given that the DT880 sounds very relaxed compared to the other 2 headphones, I guess I can forgive the less dynamic presentation. It actually works quite well for hot recordings.

Hmmm, interesting. I heard the early release T1 and thought the highs were extremely piercing. Like, if I thought they were bad, Daniel must have thought someone was sticking knives in his ears. hahaha
 
I wouldn't say that the DT-800 are lacking in bass, there's just not the same slam and impact that you get with more dynamic sounding headphones. However, the bass that is there is very clean.
 
Still, your ES-10s from the last time I've heard them probably have some of the best bass I've heard from a portable headphone. The rest of the sound is really nice too. I'd almost say it sounds Stax-like, from my very bleak memories of listening to entry level Stax.  

 

[Bill-P]

Hmmm, interesting. I heard the early release T1 and thought the highs were extremely piercing. Like, if I thought they were bad, Daniel must have thought someone was sticking knives in his ears. hahaha

I wouldn't say that the DT-800 are lacking in bass, there's just not the same slam and impact that you get with more dynamic sounding headphones. However, the bass that is there is very clean.

Still, your ES-10s from the last time I've heard them probably have some of the best bass I've heard from a portable headphone. The rest of the sound is really nice too. I'd almost say it sounds Stax-like, from my very bleak memories of listening to entry level Stax.  

The best T1 that I heard sounded dark... with some sibilance spikes that were more or less the same as I could remember from my DT880/O2 combo... and it was extremely thick and warm, with a lot of sub bass rumble. Overall, I guess it could be considered an upgrade to my old DT880 600... all else considered. And yeah, Daniel would have cringed just looking at the headphone.

Anyway, this DT880's bass is not really a problem. My amp is already bringing it up to par with my ES10, and I could always implement an extra bass boost circuit to match the HE-560. The overall sound of this DT880 is very nice, though. I am actually enjoying it over my other headphones in some cases where the extra extended treble and upper midrange of them become a problem.

As for the ES10, I've since then improved it by quite a lot. It's interesting that you'd think they are Stax-like, since I guess speed and clarity were the focus of my earlier mods. Right now it's all about the overall dynamic. I just want it to sound balanced between relaxing and exciting.

Bass being that overblown is actually a necessity in mobile environment as bass often gets drowned out by other things. That's why I set out to create an amp in the first place. What I have ended up creating up until this point is simply amazing IMO. Hopefully you'll get to demo the pairing with the DT880 at the next meet, because I am thinking this may just be one of the best pairings for the DT880 yet... if the truth is really that my DT880 has only sounded this good due to the amp.