[thehexagonal]

This is the exact opposite of my DT 880 (600Ω). It is if anything bass light at normal volumes but with elevated treble from 5-10kHz (spike at 8kHz) that makes most music sound bright and some instruments metallic. This is with 1 ply of toilet paper over the drivers. So the only possibilities I can think of are:
1. they're new and still need running in before their FR settles
2. they're defective or fakes
3. the earpads are not the silver ones but black that make them more like DT 990s
4. you're not adjusted to their FR because of listening to other IEMs or earphones

I don't know much about the sound signature of the 600ohm version. To follow up on your points:

1. Maybe. How long should I give them? What sort of tracks would suit this wear in time?
2. I bought them at a reputable London store, so I doubt they may be fake. Are there fake DT880s?
3. They are the silver velour they came with.
4. My initial and only suspect besides 1. is this...I may have just gotten used to the signature of the other 'phones and that's that.

 

[Nouvraught]

Is it just down to earpad wear? Maybe I fit the silver ones I have on my 1770s....

You have to be very specific about the version of dt880 you have. Black edition dt880 has a bass boost like dt990 has. They have bass boosting pads. Silver dt880 pads dont boost the bass. Dt1990 come with 2 sets of pads one analytical one balanced. Balanced pads boost the bass. Dt880 black edition come with balanced pads. Silver dt880 come with analytical aka no bass boost.

 

[Sefelt103]

dt880 are pretty lame. they lose bass over time as the pads wear. they have a hilarious 6khz peak tonality that you have to listen to all day every day. they have a treble roll off. dt990 after a few months smooth out in the treble with no peaks to speak of. you get much better bass and treble extension on dt990. why anyone wants the dt880 is beyond me.

The DT 990s have elevated bass and a lot of high frequency treble making them very 'V' shaped. The DT 880s are neutral-bright but the midrange is less recessed unlike the DT 990s. They're not as much 'fun' though even though they are now not my favourites.

 

[thehexagonal]

You have to be very specific about the version of dt880 you have. Black edition dt880 has a bass boost like dt990 has. They have bass boosting pads. Silver dt880 pads dont boost the bass.

880 Pro 250 ohm, silver/grey one. Perforated back, not he cheese grater blades back

 

[Sefelt103]

I don't know much about the sound signature of the 600ohm version. To follow up on your points:

1. Maybe. How long should I give them? What sort of tracks would suit this wear in time?
2. I bought them at a reputable London store, so I doubt they may be fake. Are there fake DT880s?
3. They are the silver velour they came with.
4. My initial and only suspect besides 1. is this...I may have just gotten used to the signature of the other 'phones and that's that.

When I got my open box DT 880s I had a really weird period of 'burn in'. I was convinced they were defective and that one driver was more 'closed in' than the other. The soundstage seemed unbalanced and then one day all these things vanished. I would give them at least a few weeks (1 hour/day listening) or 50 hours continuous play if you have decided you want to keep them. Some people think one should spend hundreds of hours burning them in and others a few hours or nothing. The 250Ω is not as bright as the 600Ω. There is of course the dreaded unit variation, so perhaps yours are a little dark. One thing I found unusual about the DT 880 was their sensitivity to positioning. That might change the sound slightly. Then there's ear shape and canal diameter and all these other human parameters of the ear that may alter our perception of the sound. With my headphones when I go over from Sennheiser HD580 or especially the HD650 to the DT 880s they sound terribly thin and trebly for a few hours. Going back to the Sennheisers is a bit like your initial description, dull, distorted bass and rough sounding initially.

 

[thehexagonal]

When I got my open box DT 880s I had a really weird period of 'burn in'. I was convinced they were defective and that one driver was more 'closed in' than the other. The soundstage seemed unbalanced and then one day all these things vanished. I would give them at least a few weeks (1 hour/day listening) or 50 hours continuous play if you have decided you want to keep them. Some people think one should spend hundreds of hours burning them in and others a few hours or nothing. The 250Ω is not as bright as the 600Ω. There is of course the dreaded unit variation, so perhaps yours are a little dark. One thing I found unusual about the DT 880 was their sensitivity to positioning. That might change the sound slightly. Then there's ear shape and canal diameter and all these other human parameters of the ear that may alter our perception of the sound. With my headphones when I go over from Sennheiser HD580 or especially the HD650 to the DT 880s they sound terribly thin and trebly for a few hours. Going back to the Sennheisers is a bit like your initial description, dull, distorted bass and rough sounding initially.

Thanks for the detailed replies

I shall give them the hours of burn in. I don't think they have even 10hrs of play time thanks to my initial disappointment in them.

I shall report back in a couple of weeks.

 

[Nouvraught]

If i ever buy another pair of headphones its gojng to be another dt990 pro 250 ohm. Very happy with their dynamic fun sound after a few months of use when the treble cools down lol.

 

[Sefelt103]

If i ever buy another pair of headphones its gojng to be another dt990 pro 250 ohm. Very happy with their dynamic fun sound after a few months of use when the treble cools down lol.

Does the treble ever 'cool down' on Beyerdynamic headphones ? I've had my DT 880 for several years and it still is very bright and would be more bright if I removed the 1 ply of toilet paper. I wonder if the treble would reduce after more years of use or due to some change in the driver membrane (or environmental factors). Are you certain this treble reduction is not simply your mind suppressing excess bass and treble in its fine adjustment to the headphone ? Or do you think this is mainly due to the earpads wearing in/compression.

 

[Nouvraught]

Does the treble ever 'cool down' on Beyerdynamic headphones ? I've had my DT 880 for several years and it still is very bright and would be more bright if I removed the 1 ply of toilet paper. I wonder if the treble would reduce after more years of use or due to some change in the driver membrane (or environmental factors). Are you certain this treble reduction is not simply your mind suppressing excess bass and treble in its fine adjustment to the headphone ?

yes they smooth out completely in the treble. dt770 are a lot worse.

 

[Sefelt103]

Yes bass thins out over a few months period of time. 5-6khz also droops down a little. so they thin out over time i herd hd800s do this too but i havent seen pad wear comparisons of it.

I should use my DT 880 with worn earpads then. I haven't noticed much of an increase in bass with new earpads previously on the 600Ω model nor much of a reduction in treble with worn ones. Is this the 32Ω, 250Ω or 600Ω version ? In the past my experience with earpads on Sennheiser HD580 was the bass reduced as the earpads became worn and thinner. New earpads meant the bass became more prominent. I thought the high frequencies would not be affected but this would appear to be wrong. Then I read somewhere that as the earpads wear because the driver becomes closer to your ear this increases bass. And sure enough if I press on the earcups while I'm listening the bass does seem to increase.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Is it just down to earpad wear? Maybe I fit the silver ones I have on my 1770s....

ear pad wear if anything should decrease bass. Basically, the more holes / wear you have on the inside of the pads, the less bass there will be. Basically because there is more soft materiel that absorbs the impact. I replaced the original pads with some softer pads that had less of the holes on the inside. This resulted in more punch to the bass, which most of us would agree is not a strong point of these headphones. The bass isn't exactly really lacking, but there is a very strong treble spike around 8 - 9 khz. This to my ears makes the mid range sound very bright and sometimes so clear to the point is sounds harsh So I do find it surprising that you are almost in the opposite situation. I also added a couple of extra foam disks to make the treble a bit less harsh.

Unless there is some issue with yours, or your other headphones have a serious midrange / treble spike with hardly any bass at all (all pretty unlikely), it is pretty hard to tell what your issue is. The dt880s are certainly not flat sounding headphones. They are very bright and have decent bass for open backed headphones, but certainly not an excessive amount.

My Audio Technica ATH-AD700s have quite a lot less bass than these and their treble spike probably is to a similar extent, but higher up in the frequency range where it should be, if they have a treble spike. But my ad700s are known to be a treble head headphone, and have very little bass indeed.

 

[thehexagonal]

Reporting back.

My 880s now have about 50hrs of burn in. I used a "burn in" playlist from Spotify that included Snoop Dog, white noise and others. I also used Die Antwoord. First at mid volume and then louder than I would listen to. I took them apart thinking I may have some fake drivers. They are legit.

Mmmmmm. They are still bass-y. At least to me.

Again, my context is ER4SR and 1770 as my most used phones. And, again, these are the DT 880 Pro 250ohm grey with the dotted hole back.

There is a sound signature. I think they are somewhat "slow" because I feel many sounds remain a short amount of time in the air, unlike the 1770. I imagine this is part of why the new Tesla headphones are also popular.

So, I decided to commit what some here would say is heresy: I applied some EQ with EqualizerAPO and came up with a setting I feel mantains their character albeit taking away the overwhelming, lingering boom, which is what bothered me the most.

I reduced the 63-500hz area in a curve with the lowest point at 160hz (4db)

There is also a small reduction in volume between 7-10khz.

Now they sound they can reveal a lot of what's happening in the music. I can hear the mids a lot better. There is no echo-ing wave that remains.

What say ye, wise men of the DT 880 thread?

 

[Sefelt103]

Well, are you getting a good seal on your Etymotic ER4SR ? If not they won't sound great without the bass and your brain will be continually trying to compensate for this. Assuming you are using the IEMs on the go in noisy environments this will also have an effect. Returning home to a relatively quiet environment any over the ear headphone will sound bassy because your brain has been compensating for the bass light nature of this IEM device. Then suddenly it has a change of environment, a change to open or closed backs that are sending soundwaves via the structure of the ear rather than inside the ear canal. Perhaps as an experiment you could listen solely to your Beyerdynamic DT1770 for a couple of hours a day for a week in quiet conditions, then try the DT 880. It should sound rather anemic and bright. Obviously bass level/EQ will have a major effect depending on the recording.

 

[thehexagonal]

Well, are you getting a good seal on your Etymotic ER4SR ? If not they won't sound great without the bass and your brain will be continually trying to compensate for this. Assuming you are using the IEMs on the go in noisy environments this will also have an effect. Returning home to a relatively quiet environment any over the ear headphone will sound bassy because your brain has been compensating for the bass light nature of this IEM device. Then suddenly it has a change of environment, a change to open or closed backs that are sending soundwaves via the structure of the ear rather than inside the ear canal. Perhaps as an experiment you could listen solely to your Beyerdynamic DT1770 for a couple of hours a day for a week in quiet conditions, then try the DT 880. It should sound rather anemic and bright. Obviously bass level/EQ will have a major effect depending on the recording.

Yes. I use the foam pads with the ER4SR and the seal is perfect. I use them, along with the 1770, at my home and not only outdoors. I don't have a noisy home. I use the 1770 with the silver velour pads as I dislike them with the leather pads.

I have been doing some more research and it looks as if maybe...just maybe, its the A20 amp from Beyer. It may not be a good fit for 250ohm phones.

The A20 specs say 170mW at 250Ohm with output impedance of 100Ohm

I will later on try directly connected to the UA S10 interface which specs say output power 200 mW (40 ohms) and 65 mW (300 ohms) with 30Ohm output impedance for the phone jacks.

Maybe there is something there...

I am also looking at getting the 600Ohm version of the 880 as I read (and hear on a YT channel called No Theme Reviews) would be a better match for the A20 amp.

 

[Stevko]

A20 and 1770 should work great