[Draulius]

I'm considering whether or not I should give these headphones another try. I'm someone who uses headphones for gaming and movies when not listening to music. During the time I had these headphones I felt like they lacked enough soundstage depth, meaning it was difficult to tell how far away a sound was. The imaging was decent but it sounded like all sounds were a similar distance. Can anyone else relate to this?

 

[pp312]

Here's a bit of a weird thing. Though I love my DT880 Pro the treble does get a bit tiring on certain recordings, and though I've tried various amps (yes, including one tube) none has really addressed the problem. So I thought I might try what I've tried with a couple of other headphones: cut a couple of circles of light cloth (in this case a cleaning rag) and place one in each ear cup. I expected a slight reduction in treble, as you would. What I got was a whole new headphone.
 
As I say, this is weird. I'm not sure the treble is even reduced, but the whole sound is like I've moved up a full notch to one of the flagship phones. Everything is better. There's still plenty of treble, but somehow it's no longer bothersome. There's noticeably more bass and lower midrange, but above all everything just sounds more realistic (I listen to mostly classical/orchestral). I've been listening to several recordings whose sound I normally can't stand (wiry treble, muddled soundstage etc) and suddenly they sounds perfectly acceptable, if not great. As I say, this is the sort of improvement I'd have expected moving up to the T90 or evenT1, and I can't explain it. Any effect of putting damping in the ear cups should only be on the treble--yes? This is an overall improvement, and not subtle. I've owned headphones since 1970, and done a lot of experiments, but this one has me bamboozled.
 
You might be wondering about the composition of this magic rag. In a previous incarnation it was just a flannalette sheet; that's all I can tell you. And no, this isn't a leg-pull. The improvement is startling and real. I'm convinced that if Beyer were to cut up a few hundred flannalette sheets they could make a fortune marketing a 'vastly improved' Mk 2 DT880.

 

[Rhamnetin]

  I'm considering whether or not I should give these headphones another try. I'm someone who uses headphones for gaming and movies when not listening to music. During the time I had these headphones I felt like they lacked enough soundstage depth, meaning it was difficult to tell how far away a sound was. The imaging was decent but it sounded like all sounds were a similar distance. Can anyone else relate to this?

 
The imaging isn't great, although it's not a problem outside of certain types of music like large orchestral works or anything with lots of acoustic instruments.  I wonder if the AKG K7xx is a better option.  I'll have the K7xx soon, since I joined the current drop, so I'll test it side by side with my DT 880 Pro.  In December and early January I'll A/B test them with a much better DAC and amp (Parasound ZDac v.2).

 

[pp312]

 
The imaging isn't great, although it's not a problem outside of certain types of music like large orchestral works or anything with lots of acoustic instruments.

 
I find nothing wrong with the imaging in large orchestral works, front to back or side to side. I can place instruments quite precisely. I wonder if you could be more specific.

 

[Rhamnetin]

   
I find nothing wrong with the imaging in large orchestral works, front to back or side to side. I can place instruments quite precisely. I wonder if you could be more specific.

 
It may just be my amp/DAC combo that's not up to the task.  I don't think it's me in particular, since I've heard much better imaging on other headphones.  I'm not able to place instruments with great precision left to right.  Imaging isn't bad by any means, there's just room for improvement.  I found the T1 to be much better at imaging, but that's not exactly surprising.
 
In two months I'll have a much better DAC and amp.  I do expect improvements.

 

[bar1]

  Here's a bit of a weird thing. Though I love my DT880 Pro the treble does get a bit tiring on certain recordings, and though I've tried various amps (yes, including one tube) none has really addressed the problem. So I thought I might try what I've tried with a couple of other headphones: cut a couple of circles of light cloth (in this case a cleaning rag) and place one in each ear cup. I expected a slight reduction in treble, as you would. What I got was a whole new headphone.

 
If you get replacement pads from Beyerdynamic you also get a new foam filter. I put the new foam filter on top of the old one.
Treble has improved a lot with this mod and I can't hear any negative side effect to other parts of the frequency spectrum.

 

[pp312]

 

  Here's a bit of a weird thing. Though I love my DT880 Pro the treble does get a bit tiring on certain recordings, and though I've tried various amps (yes, including one tube) none has really addressed the problem. So I thought I might try what I've tried with a couple of other headphones: cut a couple of circles of light cloth (in this case a cleaning rag) and place one in each ear cup. I expected a slight reduction in treble, as you would. What I got was a whole new headphone.

 
If you get replacement pads from Beyerdynamic you also get a new foam filter. I put the new foam filter on top of the old one.
Treble has improved a lot with this mod and I can't hear any negative side effect to other parts of the frequency spectrum.

 
Yes, I have an unopened pair of new pads, and I would expect a diminution (love that word) of treble from the foam filter. However, what I described is not just that. I spent much of last evening playing familiar material just to confirm that I'm not hallucinating, and indeed the improvement is real and nothing to do with a reduction in treble; rather we're talking very noticeable improvements in every area with the treble pretty much at the same level but far less annoying. I'm mystified, but can't deny the evidence of my own ears. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that the flannalette has damped some resonance in the cups that was muddling the sound, but that's probably grasping at straws.
 
The real proof of the pudding here is a huge reduction in listening fatigue, a sure sign of a real improvement rather than a merely imaginary one (and let's face it, we're all prone to those). In any case I've put aside thoughts of a new T1 or T90 or whatever. As the 880 is now, it will do these aging ears probably until I'm beyond hearing anything at all.

 

[Vanquished]

What is the exact pads model, there are many options in amazon? A link, please

 

[pp312]

Is this question for me? If so I'm not sure I understand.

 

[Vanquished]

For bar1 or for you is the question. In amazon have pads from 4 to 60GBP, is this foam filler included in all pads despite the price?

 

[pp312]

The foam filter is included with all genuine Beyerdynamic pads. Not with the cheap $10 Chinese pads (I bought a pair of those and they don't work, just in case you were wondering).

 

[Vanquished]

OK, thank you.

 

[music4cities]

Loving mine after six months. First time I ever have found that overall tonal balance right when using a laptop (with external amp) without any eq. Yes they will reveal sibilence and/or shortcomings in recording/mastering or compression in the higher frequencies, and that can be "annoying". But I'm not going to literally cover that up with extra foam.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Owning the DT 880 for a few months (a nice headphone in its own right) just makes me want to get a T1.  But it's like you guys told me when I first joined, "Sorry about your wallet."

 

[CADCAM]

I purchased the 600 Ohm DT880's from an experienced fellow member who told me if I ever had the itch to upgrade call him and he'd try to talk me out of it. I've took that advise at face value and enjoy the DT880's very much...no itch yet.