[duetta]

[size=medium]About 100 hours now into my DT-880 audition, and my sense of the phones has become considerable clearer.[/size]
 
[size=medium]They are, on balance, fine phones for enjoying orchestral recordings, especially minimally miked studio jobs or downloadable radio broadcasts (from groups like Yahoo's Concert Archive & Opera Share or Google's Symphony Share).  They offer a generally neutral, revealing window into these kinds of recordings - while as I noted earlier in the thread, also tending to brutally expose badly miked jobs.[/size]
 
[size=medium]I haven't played a lot of rock through them yet - but my impression is that they're less than ‘fun’ with this kind of repertoire when compared to their DT-990 siblings.  I still have a pair of 600 ohm 990 from the early 90s, and these unmistakably convey a greater degree of "thump" (which I find compliments many rock & roll / pop recordings).  For instance, the 880s revealed acoustic details on Billy Joel's Piano Man CD that I had never heard before - but without any sense of rhythmic authority or pacing.  Listening to the album completely through first via 880s, and then through my vintage 990s, was a night-day experience.  My trusty 990s are going nowhere…[/size]

 

[irishsammy]

Quote:

@irishsammy, does the A1 use IC opamps at the output?  If so, which does it use and can you swap to another opmap if desired?  Just curious.

It's all tube in the headphone section and mine uses two matched 6AK5's.  The speaker output is tube-buffered SS but there are no opamps or other SS components in the headphone circuit. 
 

 

[captouch]

Quote:

It's all tube in the headphone section and mine uses two matched 6AK5's.  The speaker output is tube-buffered SS but there are no opamps or other SS components in the headphone circuit. 
 

I see - cool, thanks for the response.  I find mine sound good on my Bottlehead Crack OTL tube amp - for similar reasons of smoothing the edges a bit.  Sound good (but less warm/relaxed) on my hybrid Hifiman EF5 (tube input, SS output), but less laid back.  
 
Never tried them on a full SS amp though - I guess that would remove the warmth altogether and might be too much.  
 

 

[irishsammy]

It's funny.  I had another loaner pair of 880/250 ohmers a few months ago when I was still using my Burson HA-160 and did a shoot-out (which should be in the headphone forum somewhere) with Denon D2K's, the 880/250's, and my LCD-2's  and the three contenders were surprisingly close. 
 
With the beyers, the Burson never got out of hand as far as the higher frequencies went but as I remember it, they were definitely the crispest sounding of the three.  I think the Burson is one of the warmer SS amps out there, though.  Tubes are still preferable sound-wise for me personally. 

 

[knowhatimean]

Well, I've just ordered a set(why do we call them "a pair" ? they would be headphone w/o L&R ear cups.) of 880/600 ohm 'phones to add to my other phones. I had set of 880/250 ohm that I thought made the Denon D5000s I used at one time appear to be very overpriced as the treble response was'nt nearly as transparent sounding as any pair of good open back design I,ve had. Initially, you think that the Denons don't add any "sound signature"(for lack of a better term to use) to the upper frequency response until you do direct comparisons of the same tracks played back through an open back phone. I can't remember what became of my 880/250s. Some time ago I had gotten a set of Hifiman HE-4 planar phones that marked the end using the D5000s the treble coloration became extremely obvious & I claimed that I would'nt be using dynamic driver headphones anymore. In the interim I added a Schiit Lyr headphone to my system. The Lyr did "flesh out" a bit more middle frequency respones through the HE-4s . Not due to dissatisfaction with HE-4s but because I had seen some recommendations of how well the AKG 702s mated w/ the Lyr I added set of these to my system. It is a close call in transparency between the 702s & the HE-4s with the 702s having the edge in midrange detail response. (I was ready to spend the $900 for the HE-500, but decided the money could be better spent by splitting the added expense between adding a JPS labs AC-X powercord for my Oppo 95 player & a pair of Nirvana SL interconnects to run between my player & the Lyr & getting the AKG 702s. Actually this adds up to more than the $900 , but who's counting, right!!). I am a big fan of SACDs, but you know what?, with my current setup it beomes very difficult to detect the differences between much of my CD collection & listening to SACDs. About a month or so there was a much larger gap in playback sound . So now I'll see what the Beyer 880/600s bring to the table. It's all about "flavors" I suppose & it's nice to have a choice of flavors. I've never been a fan of one size fits all (then why is it these things fit awkwardly quite often. Who was the person they measured for this one size & does he have a circus side show job when they're not measuring him for stuff?makes you wonder)

 

[rawrster]

I think you will find the DT880 to be similar to the HE4 in terms of flavor. I can't justify having both since they have such similar sound signatures. 

 

[knowhatimean]

Well, I'm guessing that the HE-4s are just a bit more reticent in the portrayal of midrange response & also a bit less efficient than the Beyer 880/600 ohms are. I have to put the volume of the Lyr up a bit to get some more midrange energy from HE-4 at the expense of the overall level of volume on some of the smaller orhestral music I listen to. Like I said , we'll see ! I'll let you know what I think. I can easily "justify" similar qualities if one set of the "cans" is more ideal for different recordings than my other "cans". As I've mentioned before I'm not looking for a "One size fits all" solution for my headphone listening. I've gone to a good bit of effort & expense to bring my source material playback level to a pretty high level . If it turns out that two set of the phones turn out to perform exactly the same in all parameters one of the headphones will go, but I think that scenario will turn out to be highly unlilkely. I'll mark(a colored sticky circle) on my CD cases which phones I prefered . Thanks for your input though,that is always appreciated.

 

[fatal_crest]

Quote:

I don't believe that there are any actual measurements anywhere suggesting that one cable or another will actually change the frequency balance of you headphones (i.e. reducing sibilance).  That said - among aftermarket cable advocates, copper is generally believed to be "warmer" sounding.
 

 
 
Quote:

Love the name 'skeptic' - haha, and yes, Skeptic is correct - measurements on cable effect on FR have shown absolutely miniscule if not no difference in output for the headphones. It may be worth investing in a decent EQ or taming that treble with a VST plugin for Foobar (perhaps just for those recordings) - you will be a lot happier and less poor!
 

thanks for the comment . i think it is worth investing on a new pair headphone or amp than recable my dt880 then . but i still hate the spiral cable (like the telephone's cable), make it look very cheap (i have the pro version)

 

[rawrster]

I'm curious but has anyone tried the leather pads that they sell at headphone solutions or B&H?
 
http://www.headphonesolutions.com/berepaleed.html
 
or
 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/614417-REG/Beyerdynamic_904783_EDT_770S_Soft_Ear.html

 

[knowhatimean]

I don't know if these earpads would offer any any advantage,as they don't appear to be any thicker than the stock velour pads. I've had very good luck w/ the JMoney pads(I mention this because one of the posters here did'nt like a pair he got from them & it seems any time someone else mentions them he chimes in about it) that I've gotten from Headphones.com(HeadRoom) for another set of phones & just ordered another pair of them for the Beyer 880s I'm letting "burn in" right now.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

I'm curious but has anyone tried the leather pads that they sell at headphone solutions or B&H?
 
http://www.headphonesolutions.com/berepaleed.html
 
or
 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/614417-REG/Beyerdynamic_904783_EDT_770S_Soft_Ear.html

I got mine at SoundApproach.com
 
http://soundapproach.com/accessories-c-70_170_175.html
 
I now have the black earpads that come with the T1 with my DT880/600

 

[nikp]

These headphones truly remind me a lot of the times listening to a live band behind the mixing desk (with much more detail than the headphones provided there). There's nothing more pleasing than listening to a live performance.

 

[bixby]

Quote:

Well, I've just ordered a set(why do we call them "a pair" ? they would be headphone w/o L&R ear cups.) 

why do we call them "a pair of pants, a pair of underwear, pair of overalls or a pair of glasses"?
 
makes you wonder, huh.
 
 

 

[LizardKing1]

I don't own these, but they are definitely the next thing I'm getting after the O2 amp (no point in getting a 600ohm-can without a decent amp). The DT990 is more of a v-shaped signature headphone, right?

 

[Anathallo]

Very much so, but I still like how the mids sound on the 990.  Not forward at all, though.
 
Quote:

I don't own these, but they are definitely the next thing I'm getting after the O2 amp (no point in getting a 600ohm-can without a decent amp). The DT990 is more of a v-shaped signature headphone, right?