The Beyerdynamic DT880 Discussion thread
Mar 26, 2015 at 2:14 AM Post #8,897 of 12,546
Thanks man! I have the Valhalla 2! Will save up for the bifrost eventually!!
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For now I'll just put my iPhone volume at 100% and enjoy it.


Awesome. Enjoy the music!
 
Mar 26, 2015 at 8:45 AM Post #8,898 of 12,546
I don'n know if the internal amp in the iPhone 6 is any good, but I find the internal amp in my iPod to be weak. I find a significant difference between using the line out by fiio, vs. a 3.5 to 3.5 connection from the headphone out.

Since my wife is insisting on upgrading our phones, has anyone tried using Apple's adaptor converting the lighting connector to the older style.

The main issue with double amp is that if the first amp in the chain is muddy, or has some other issue when driving your headphones, a second amp is compromised
 
Mar 26, 2015 at 9:10 AM Post #8,899 of 12,546
I don'n know if the internal amp in the iPhone 6 is any good, but I find the internal amp in my iPod to be weak. I find a significant difference between using the line out by fiio, vs. a 3.5 to 3.5 connection from the headphone out.

Since my wife is insisting on upgrading our phones, has anyone tried using Apple's adaptor converting the lighting connector to the older style.

The main issue with double amp is that if the first amp in the chain is muddy, or has some other issue when driving your headphones, a second amp is compromised

 
The iPhone6 amp is excellent, the best yet is in the 6Plus.
 
$29 buys you the Lightning to USB kit and then you can attach for example the JDS Labs C5D as pictured:
 


And boom, you iPhone is now a transport for the C5D DAC/Amp and you can stream HiRes or just use your library with any player. Another good choice is the CEntrance Mini M8 or the CEntrance Hifi-Skÿn - won't get better than that to drive nearly everything. 
 
Check out the thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/733890/iphone-6-6-plus-audio-quality
 
It's surprisingly good.
 
Cheers,
K
 
Mar 29, 2015 at 10:50 AM Post #8,900 of 12,546
   
The iPhone6 amp is excellent, the best yet is in the 6Plus.
 
$29 buys you the Lightning to USB kit and then you can attach for example the JDS Labs C5D as pictured:
 


And boom, you iPhone is now a transport for the C5D DAC/Amp and you can stream HiRes or just use your library with any player. Another good choice is the CEntrance Mini M8 or the CEntrance Hifi-Skÿn - won't get better than that to drive nearly everything. 
 
Check out the thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/733890/iphone-6-6-plus-audio-quality
 
It's surprisingly good.
 
Cheers,
K

Hello Koolpep,
 
This solution looks almost like what I am looking for. I have an iPhone 5 that I would like to use as a transport to feed into a Monoprice desktop amp to utilize the USB DAC on the desktop amp. The input on the amp looks almost like a Thunderbolt connection. Is the cable going into the JDS Labs the same connection type?
 
thanks,
Paul
 
Mar 29, 2015 at 11:05 AM Post #8,901 of 12,546
   
The iPhone6 amp is excellent, the best yet is in the 6Plus.
 
$29 buys you the Lightning to USB kit and then you can attach for example the JDS Labs C5D as pictured:
 


And boom, you iPhone is now a transport for the C5D DAC/Amp and you can stream HiRes or just use your library with any player. Another good choice is the CEntrance Mini M8 or the CEntrance Hifi-Skÿn - won't get better than that to drive nearly everything. 
 
Check out the thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/733890/iphone-6-6-plus-audio-quality
 
It's surprisingly good.
 
Cheers,
K


I think I just answered my own question. after doing a google search it appears that the connection type is USB mini. It appears that I will need a different cable for use with the Monoprice amp.
 
Mar 30, 2015 at 11:31 AM Post #8,902 of 12,546
   
Hmmm.  At the tail end of my headphone swapping mania, before I found deep satisfaction with DT880/600 (it's been 3-4 years now), was Stax SR-303.  All my amps are "home" built and for the Stax, I built a few versions of Andrea Ciuffoli's Stax amp - reference his 6SL7-6BX7 design.  The sound was thrilling for a few days and I lost interest not long after - I found these headphones to be sterile and uninvolving - music lacking body and soul.  Same issue with SR-404.  I would only hope that the newer low Stax range is more enjoyable to listen to than the old.  And I'm not even going to get into the fact that after a year one of the channels failed and that fake leather makes my ear area sweat instantly.  It was one of those bad audio decisions for many reasons.  Anyway, listen and decide.  My mistake was assuming that "Stax is one league above any dynamic headphone anyways" and not doing any trial listening - I can understand others liking them - just not me.

 
My trial with Stax sound was a lot better than yours i think even if  i also ended not very convinced about it , my gone SR-507 was nice souding headphone and did a lot of things right (impression of effortless and transparency , airness ,  , but it didn't blown my mind away at all ... In Fact i prefered my HD600 , more natural sounding and more accurate in tonality , a more pleasent listening impression overall , and the confort departement ... the SR-507 was a no go for me .
 
  Stax is one league above any dynamic headphone anyways. But for their price the 880 sound really amazing. I was impressed by them when I first listened to one.

 
Nope . Some will disagree with this statement
wink.gif
 
 
Mar 30, 2015 at 6:22 PM Post #8,903 of 12,546
   
My trial with Stax sound was a lot better than yours i think even if  i also ended not very convinced about it , my gone SR-507 was nice souding headphone and did a lot of things right (impression of effortless and transparency , airness ,  , but it didn't blown my mind away at all ... In Fact i prefered my HD600 , more natural sounding and more accurate in tonality , a more pleasent listening impression overall , and the confort departement ... the SR-507 was a no go for me .
 

You struck a chord...  Outside of DT880, I have only one headphone that I really wish to hear specifically with my amp.  Not craving in any way but looking forward to time with the HD600 at some point.  300ohm would work quite nice and they are obviously loved by many.
 
Mar 30, 2015 at 6:59 PM Post #8,904 of 12,546
I heard the DT880 Pro 250ohm at CanJam paired with the O2+ODAC and I was impressed for the price. It was more musical than I thought, while the soundstage and imaging was nothing to write home about, it was still not anemic and managed to power the DT880 just fine at about 1-2 'oclock on the dial. I will be buying one as a semi-portable solution for vacations and such.
 
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:00 PM Post #8,905 of 12,546
So I just bought the DT880 edition 600 ohm version, so I guess I'm subscribing to this thread now.
 
I've been running them out of a cmoy, and that has been kinda satisfactory so far, but I'm gonna be looking for something better to plug these into. What are some amps that pair well with the 600 ohm dt880? 
 
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:19 PM Post #8,906 of 12,546
So I just bought the DT880 edition 600 ohm version, so I guess I'm subscribing to this thread now.

I've been running them out of a cmoy, and that has been kinda satisfactory so far, but I'm gonna be looking for something better to plug these into. What are some amps that pair well with the 600 ohm dt880? 

GoDAP portatube works good for the Beyer range, as well as FiiO amps. You have to listen to amps and equipment before buying, everyone hears things differently.
 
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:25 PM Post #8,907 of 12,546
So I just bought the DT880 edition 600 ohm version, so I guess I'm subscribing to this thread now.

I've been running them out of a cmoy, and that has been kinda satisfactory so far, but I'm gonna be looking for something better to plug these into. What are some amps that pair well with the 600 ohm dt880? 

I have heard people say the Valhalla 2, makes for a good pairing. I use the lyr2, to drive my dt 880 600 ohm cans to good effect.
 
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:36 PM Post #8,908 of 12,546
OTL amps shine with DT 880 600.

Valhalla 2
Bottlehead Crack
Little Dot 3 or 4
La Figaro 336/339
Dark Voice 336/337
are some solid choices
 
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:39 PM Post #8,909 of 12,546
I have heard people say the Valhalla 2, makes for a good pairing. I use the lyr2, to drive my dt 880 600 ohm cans to good effect.

Yeah, from what I've read so far, I pretty much owe these headphones some tubes.
 
I'm probably not buying anything just yet, I'll probably buy used whenever I do buy. I just wanted to get familiar with some of the amps that people have had good experiences with.
 
The Valhala seems well priced, but this quote from Schiit's website makes me wonder whether its missing the point of a tube amp:
"If you’re expecting syrupy, tubby, euphonically colored tube sound, you’re in for a shock. Valhalla 2 is exceptionally accurate, neutral, and resolving, without being strident or etched."
 
 I mean, I'm supposed to want the tube-ey-ness of a tube amp, right? I think I want something colored, something dark. idk. I read somewhere that any "accurate" amp is just gonna make the dt880 seem more bright.
 
How does the little dot compare to the valhala?
 
Apr 8, 2015 at 12:30 AM Post #8,910 of 12,546
I have heard people say the Valhalla 2, makes for a good pairing. I use the lyr2, to drive my dt 880 600 ohm cans to good effect.

Yeah, from what I've read so far, I pretty much owe these headphones some tubes.

I'm probably not buying anything just yet, I'll probably buy used whenever I do buy. I just wanted to get familiar with some of the amps that people have had good experiences with.

The Valhala seems well priced, but this quote from Schiit's website makes me wonder whether its missing the point of a tube amp:
[COLOR=8F8F8F]"If you’re expecting syrupy, tubby, euphonically colored tube sound, you’re in for a shock. Valhalla 2 is exceptionally accurate, neutral, and resolving, without being strident or etched."[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8F8F8F] [/COLOR]
 I mean, I'm supposed to want the tube-ey-ness of a tube amp, right? I think I want something colored, something dark. idk. I read somewhere that any "accurate" amp is just gonna make the dt880 seem more bright.

How does the little dot compare to the valhala?

Solid state amps make Beyers more accurate, while tubes make them warmer and fun sounding. Pair the T1 with a solid state and a tube amp, and damn it's good.
 

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