[Chris J]

The 600 ohm Beyers are really designed to be used with desktop headphone amplifiers which can output at least 3 Vrms or more.
I would go with an amp which can output 8 Vrms to avoid any clipping when listening to music recorded with 16 dB of headroom.
8 Vrms should reproduce peaks has high as 116 dB SPL, assuming Beyer's sensitivity numbers are accurate!    i.e. 96 dB = 1 mW

 

[Sonic Defender]

All I can say Specialone is that I felt the Novo sounded very good and unstrained with my 880s which are the 600 ohm version. Never having heard the 250 ohm version all I can go on is that there appears a consensus here that the 600 ohm model is more refined to a small degree and offers better detail. If that is the case then the 600 ohm version is a good bet. I would say go for the 600 ohm as it will scale well for you i.e. you get the upgrade bug like many of us and desire to move up the food chain in amplifiers for instance. From what I can tell, many of the better received/reviewed amp in this community seem to have design goals that target the higher impedance headphones. I'm no expert by any means, but that is what I can contribute. Hopefully other more experienced members will add to this discussion. You can't go wrong with the 600 ohm set unless you are trying to run them as a portable, or with an amplifier that isn't designed for high impedance headphones. Even then, I think the impedance mismatching isn't always as huge an issue as it seems. I ran my 28ohm HF2s off of my Valhalla and I actually really liked the combination. Eventually the 880s won out and I sold my HF2, but they still were very musical with the Valhalla so use your ears first I say. Good luck.

 

[Specialone]

Thanks,
I appreciate your point of view.
I asked myself if whit this small amp, 250 ohm  was better.Anyway,I buy the version to 600 ohms.
maybe, in the future, I will buy an amp more appropriate. Thanks again.

 

[Zombie_X]

SD,
 
What do you think of your Auditor paired with the DT880's?
 
Quote:

All I can say Specialone is that I felt the Novo sounded very good and unstrained with my 880s which are the 600 ohm version. Never having heard the 250 ohm version all I can go on is that there appears a consensus here that the 600 ohm model is more refined to a small degree and offers better detail. If that is the case then the 600 ohm version is a good bet. I would say go for the 600 ohm as it will scale well for you i.e. you get the upgrade bug like many of us and desire to move up the food chain in amplifiers for instance. From what I can tell, many of the better received/reviewed amp in this community seem to have design goals that target the higher impedance headphones. I'm no expert by any means, but that is what I can contribute. Hopefully other more experienced members will add to this discussion. You can't go wrong with the 600 ohm set unless you are trying to run them as a portable, or with an amplifier that isn't designed for high impedance headphones. Even then, I think the impedance mismatching isn't always as huge an issue as it seems. I ran my 28ohm HF2s off of my Valhalla and I actually really liked the combination. Eventually the 880s won out and I sold my HF2, but they still were very musical with the Valhalla so use your ears first I say. Good luck.

 

[Laecs]

Quote:

What is your source? I would be shocked if the 880 600ohm unamped would work that well. I tried my 880 with a FiiO E11 amp and that wasn't able to drive them to any real listening level. I do tend to listen to music loud, not very loud mind you. If you aren't going to amp them I personally doubt the 600 ohm would be good for you unless you really like quite listening, and even then I would think the headphones would be starved for signal and thus be a little lean and lackluster. Just a thought.

So with just an essence ST an no amp, it wouldn't be worth getting 600ohm version. Will probably end up going 250ohm version then since it'll run better, not sure if i have enough money for an amp as well at the moment although i've been looking at the little dot II since it's not too expensive, would that be enough to run a 600ohm version? Thanks for the help also.

 

[skyline315]

Quote:

So with just an essence ST an no amp, it wouldn't be worth getting 600ohm version. Will probably end up going 250ohm version then since it'll run better, not sure if i have enough money for an amp as well at the moment although i've been looking at the little dot II since it's not too expensive, would that be enough to run a 600ohm version? Thanks for the help also.

 
Don't stress over it too much.  The 250 ohm is a fantastic headphone.  I run mine out of a $180 entry level dac/amp and it sounds great.  
 
Whatever gear you end up with, don't forget to just listen and enjoy it.  People around here seem to forget about that part from time to time.

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

 
Don't stress over it too much.  The 250 ohm is a fantastic headphone.  I run mine out of a $180 entry level dac/amp and it sounds great.  
 
Whatever gear you end up with, don't forget to just listen and enjoy it.  People around here seem to forget about that part from time to time.

 
Good post.  I currently own the DT880 600ohm, and used to own the DT880 250ohm.  The only reason I went for the 600ohm was for curiousity, and because I finally had an amp that would drive it both at home (NFB-12 / LD MK IV) and also portably (Arrow).
 
There really doesn't seem to be that much difference to the two.  Both are really great headphones IMO.  If I was to pinpoint any difference - the 600 might have a very slightly smoother treble.  But the difference would be very slight (and my auditory memory is not that good - just going from my notes).
 
The 250's are a good middle choice between portability and desktop use, and should keep you happy for some time.  Just enjoy the music and don't look back!
 
(BTW - I really would not recommend the 600ohm without a decently powerful amp.  You'll get limited volume from most sources, but if not driven properly the bass especially suffers - becomes hollow and loses any impact).

 

[Sonic Defender]

Hi Zombie X, my Auditor hasn't arrived yet! SPL US was waiting for their inventory and as of today still hasn't received it. I am so bummed as I sold my Valhalla and I have been without any dedicated headphone amp for about two weeks! Sucks to be me. I should have the Auditor here by thursday, but who knows at this point?

 

[Zombie_X]

Yo,
 
That sucks man. From what I've heard, the silver versions of the Auditor and Phonitor are being discontinued. That's what a SPL rep told me a few months back, so hopefully you didn't buy a silver one.
 
Quote:

Hi Zombie X, my Auditor hasn't arrived yet! SPL US was waiting for their inventory and as of today still hasn't received it. I am so bummed as I sold my Valhalla and I have been without any dedicated headphone amp for about two weeks! Sucks to be me. I should have the Auditor here by thursday, but who knows at this point?

 

[Sonic Defender]

So funny, I did order silver, but after a week of waiting I was told there wasn't silver and I would have to take a black unit, which I did. All my other components are silver of course. I am getting a decent price because of all the delays so that helps for sure.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Glad to hear you made a choice Specialone, and really there was no bad choice between the 250 or 600 version. However, even if the difference is quite small why not get that tiny bit of extra performance that the 600 ohm version is considered to have? It can't hurt and your Novo can do a good job. When I had the Novo here, I was comparing it against the Valhalla and my integrated amp and I found myself liking the Novo. I thought the Novo sounded quite good with the 880s so for what that is worth my personal belief is your Novo will give you very good performance. Anyway, it is your ears that matter so please let us know what you think once you have heard the combination yourself. Enjoy.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

(BTW - I really would not recommend the 600ohm without a decently powerful amp.  You'll get limited volume from most sources, but if not driven properly the bass especially suffers - becomes hollow and loses any impact).

 
Voltage!
Voltage!
Voltage!
The 600 ohm phones need an amp that outputs a reasonable amount of Voltage. They won't draw a lot of current.
Another nice thing about 600 ohm cans is that they are fairly insensitive to amplifier output impedance.
Therefore you can easily use them with the cheaper OTL tube amps like the Litttle Dots, cheaper Dark Voices and La Figaros.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

So with just an essence ST an no amp, it wouldn't be worth getting 600ohm version.

 
The amplifier on the Essence ST/STX can output about 7 Volts (RMS), and it can drive 600 Ohm headphones fine. I use it with the 250 Ohm version, and never need to set the highest gain (that would increase the output by 6 dB, while the 600 Ohm driver only needs 4-5 dB more voltage). It also has at least twice as high power output into 600 Ohms as the FiiO E11 does into 250, for comparison.

 

[Ultrazino]

Quote:

You might want to try the HD600 to gain those edges, but DT880's soundstage is noticeably bigger so it's a trade off.

 
Sounds good, but I don't even find the soundstage that big. Also, the HD 600 is extremely ugly! No chance, haha.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by gonkulator /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
What do you prefer that has more edges?

 
T1! Philips Fidelio L1
 
Quote:

If you want a more edgy presentation, get the DT990. It's brighter and punchier than the DT880.

 
I already had the DT-990/600 and I didn't like it at all. I actually transformed it to a DT-880 via equalizer, haha.
 
The DT-880 lacks punch (that even the DT-990 doesn't have). The bass just lacks body, although it's overly voluminous. If I compare to the tightness of the Fidelio L1, drums just feel and sound numb.
The strengths of the Beyerdynamic are the upper mids. Female vocals just sound free and spacious, also with great timbre. Classical also profits from this presentation.
But overall, mids are laid back and bass too loose. With some rougher albums (old Metal, Garage Rock) the Beyer-Peak is horrible.
 
It's definitely a natural headphone meant for natural music (Classical, Jazz). It doesn't like synthesizers, beats or anything else modern. That is my impression. I also felt the same with DT-990 - I much prefer the 880!
Not a bad backup 'phone by any means.

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

The DT-880 lacks punch (that even the DT-990 doesn't have). The bass just lacks body, although it's overly voluminous.

 
unless you provide some information on your amp (if any), that statement is not verifiable. do a little search here and you'll see it contradicted