[6Channel]

Anyone else running DT880 600 ohms on an S.M.S.L. SP200? I am and I like them better than my HD600s on the same amp. They are very natural sounding.

wej5541, FWIW I bought a new 200 about a year ago based on a flurry of online reviews, and had high hopes. I'm attaching a clip from an Amazon reviewer who, within his diatribe, cleanly reflects my prime impression of the 200 into which I plugged: I think I gave it a generous 20 minutes, sampling familiar cuts from my familiar library, and packed it back up for return. I'll go so far as say I'd abandon HP listening if it was the only amp available. I'll keep any further over-a-beer comments off this great headphone board for fear of "starting something".

 

[In1unison]

Beyerdynamic DT 880, 250 Ohms that I recently purchased are a real revelation for me. Nicely balanced throughout the frequency range, they are a pleasure to listen to for hours on end. Have not noticed treble peaks at all. Mainly using Valhalla2 with National PCC88/ 7DJ8. Closely matching Arya for soundstage in that setup. 20-year-old design and $169 headphone has no right to be this good

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I got the 600 ohm version and yeah, the Valhalla 2 is an awfully nice pairing.

 

[jonathan c]

If you can, get the DT880 detachable cable modification from Custom Cans UK (@jfunk : proprietor). Then with a Lavricables silver h/p cable, the DT880 sonically soars!

 

[jonathan c]

DT880 (600 ohms) & Lavricables Grand Silver HPC:

 

[cavan83]

For me, these headphones (DT880 Pro 250 ohm) got so much better after EQ'ing.

Low shelf, 80hz Q1 +4db
Peak, 210hz Q2 -2db
Peak, 2000hz, Q1 +2db
Peak, 4300hz, Q4 +3db
Peak, 5700hz, Q5, -6db
Peak, 8300hz, Q5, -6db

After this, the sound is much more balanced and all the sizzle and grain stuff is gone. I actually enjoy the headphones for now, but it still doesn't remove the fact that the driver is very old and in the technical level, it's just ok. It's quite slow driver, not so much punch and slam, but for the price and after these eq settings, I can highly recommended these headphones.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

If you can, get the DT880 detachable cable modification from Custom Cans UK (@jfunk : proprietor). Then with a Lavricables silver h/p cable, the DT880 sonically soars!

Customcans was my goto shop before Brexit. Now it's prohibitively annoying/expensive to order from them. Jason is an amazing guy and his cables are great and also best values. It's a damn shame.

Anyway, I'll eventually do my own balanced mod on these.

 

[musickid]

Do the lavricables affect or tame the treble in any way?

 

[jonathan c]

With the Lavricables Grand Silver feeding the DT-880, treble range is extended and made smoother. This without loss of detail. If anything, real detail retrieval is improved and ‘etch’ - that artificial outlining - is reduced.

 

[musickid]

How do you rationalise a cable which costs more than the headphone? Or another way of putting it do you think the lavricable dt880 combo actually performs better than some high end expensive headphones?

 

[jonathan c]

How do you rationalise a cable which costs more than the headphone? Or another way of putting it do you think the lavricable dt880 combo actually performs better than some high end expensive headphones?

A person makes a rationalisation based on what is deemed important. In this case, Lavricables & DT-880, for me the barometer is resulting sound quality. There are diminishing marginal returns, but positive returns (improvements) nonetheless. And yes, I prefer the DT-880 (600 ohm) + Lavricables to ‘some high end expensive headphones’ - especially when driven by the OTL Woo WA2.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

DT880 (600 ohms) & Lavricables Grand Silver HPC:

How do you rationalise a cable which costs more than the headphone? Or another way of putting it do you think the lavricable dt880 combo actually performs better than some high end expensive headphones?

I don't know what sort of price this cable was, but I do assume that it likely was around double or more than the headphones, which I certainly can't see the point of, but it is a personal choice.

What however baffles me is how a cable of this cost can be worth it when it only goes into one side. It's still got to go through the stock wire to the other driver, which is thin and cheap cable. Statistically speaking, if doing measurements now compared to before, these headphones will now be more unbalanced than with the stock cable if this premium cable makes such an improvement. To make the most of an upgrade like this at this cost, I would have thought that it would make much more sense to have it going directly to each driver to make it completely balanced (personal view again).

I made the cable myself for my AKG K550s. The parts were around £20 in total and also will likely be a "marginal" improvement over the stock DT880 cable.

I manufacturer many full size XLR cables in my workplace now and some 6.3mm jacks too. I personally am starting to become unconvinced about how these other cables that nearly cost £1000 can be worth it. Seeing the description on lavricables site stating that your devices should have 150 hours of burn-in time before serious listening baffles me. I would say the products shouldn't come out of the factory if you must leave noise playing all day and night for nearly a week before you can do archive serious listening..... I just hope they don't mean it helps the cables improve too!


Sorry for the rant!

 

[TrollDragon]

Cable more expensive than the headphone you say... Q Audio French Silk.

 

[jonathan c]

I don't know what sort of price this cable was, but I do assume that it likely was around double or more than the headphones, which I certainly can't see the point of, but it is a personal choice.

What however baffles me is how a cable of this cost can be worth it when it only goes into one side. It's still got to go through the stock wire to the other driver, which is thin and cheap cable. Statistically speaking, if doing measurements now compared to before, these headphones will now be more unbalanced than with the stock cable if this premium cable makes such an improvement. To make the most of an upgrade like this at this cost, I would have thought that it would make much more sense to have it going directly to each driver to make it completely balanced (personal view again).

I made the cable myself for my AKG K550s. The parts were around £20 in total and also will likely be a "marginal" improvement over the stock DT880 cable.



I manufacturer many full size XLR cables in my workplace now and some 6.3mm jacks too. I personally am starting to become unconvinced about how these other cables that nearly cost £1000 can be worth it. Seeing the description on lavricables site stating that your devices should have 150 hours of burn-in time before serious listening baffles me. I would say the products shouldn't come out of the factory if you must leave noise playing all day and night for nearly a week before you can do archive serious listening..... I just hope they don't mean it helps the cables improve too!


Sorry for the rant!

The inside cable was changed.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

The inside cable was changed.

OK, that is a bit more understandable, it just looks the same in the image.

However, I personally see a major upgrade (price wise) as only being truly worth it if the headphones are made properly balanced. I see the end situation as something similar to having an amplifier and speakers with a huge upgrade on their cables, only to add a short extension on the left channel of different cable. Audibly, it would make very little difference, but would make such an upgrade less worth it.


All this said, I myself prefer headphones to just have the cables in the left side but then I can't justify a major upgrade, even with a replacement wire between the drivers.