[Chris J]

Sorry if this has already been covered in the prior 100+ pages, but can the 600 ohm version be driven satisfactorily by a typical AVR (I have a Marantz slimline receiver) or if I am going to use that would I be better off buying the 250 ohm version.

Sorry about this, cos you may not like this answer.
The answer is, It Depends.

It depends on how the AVR is actually driving the 'phones.
Does the AVR have a dedicated headphone amp?
Then the answer is probably not. The headphone jack is probably more suited to driving low impedance 'phones.

Or does the AVR just use the speaker power amp and hang some resistors of the output of this amp? Then in this case the headphone jack will have enough voltage to drive 250 and 600 ohm 'phones quite easily.

 

[tigersinacage]

Realise this is the 600ohm thread, but thought someone might have a solution to this.. Just got the Beyer DT880's (250ohm) and a Fiio E17 amp.
 
To get to a pretty loud and full (but not ear blasting) level, the Fiio has to be turned up to around 55 on 12db, but around there it starts to peak and distort slightly. When it is set to 6db, it has to be on max, which is 60. Which is a pretty nice level, quite loud. Just seems very strange that it has to be on max volume to achieve that level.
 
Does that sound right to you, or is the E17 just not powerful enough to drive the 250ohm DT880's? I'm trying to work out if there is a defect with something, or that's just how loud they go.
 
This is running through USB-DAC to my Macbook (96khz - 24bit) with volume max on the laptop. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[carlchip78]

My experience with DT880's is that they can be difficult to drive properly. I have an E17 that I use with some of my headphones, but I wouldn't even try to power my DT880's with it. Maybe you could try the FiiO E9 as a desktop solution. As a DAC/amp, the Audio GD NFB 16 looks good to me. I haven't tried the NFB16, but I have some of their other amps and they work very nicely with the Beyer's. Eventually you might like to try a tube amp, they play very nicely with 880's.

 

[tigersinacage]

Quote:

My experience with DT880's is that they can be difficult to drive properly. I have an E17 that I use with some of my headphones, but I wouldn't even try to power my DT880's with it. Maybe you could try the FiiO E9 as a desktop solution. As a DAC/amp, the Audio GD NFB 16 looks good to me. I haven't tried the NFB16, but I have some of their other amps and they work very nicely with the Beyer's. Eventually you might like to try a tube amp, they play very nicely with 880's.

 
How about the Little Dot MK3?
 

 

[Zombie_X]

Yo,
 
The MKIII is a great amp for the money and it's powerful. I believe it's a better option to spend some extra money and get with the Crack or WA3. Both are much better than the Little-Dot amps.
 
Quote:

 
How about the Little Dot MK3?
 

 

[carlchip78]

Yo,

The MKIII is a great amp for the money and it's powerful. I believe it's a better option to spend some extra money and get with the Crack or WA3. Both are much better than the Little-Dot amps.

Or even better, get the WA6- that way you can use it with both high and low impedance cans.
I'm biased though, I use my WA6 with a few different cans- the Beyer's really do sing with this amp though.

 

[tigersinacage]

Nice, I'll check those out. Thanks! This business is such a slippery slope.... I started off with a pair of ATH-M50's unamped just about a week ago. I've gone through a pair of those and some Ultrasone Pro 900's before finally settling with the Beyers.
 
EDIT - Just had a look, I think they are a little bit out of my price range unfortunately... Any other recommendations for the DT880's? Preferably something I can pick up in the UK with relative ease.

 

[kalston]

FiiO e9 drives these comfortably IMO. I don't even need to use the high gain with my dt880 600ohms. It's also cheap and shouldn't be hard to find. 

 

[skyline315]

Quote:

Nice, I'll check those out. Thanks! This business is such a slippery slope.... I started off with a pair of ATH-M50's unamped just about a week ago. I've gone through a pair of those and some Ultrasone Pro 900's before finally settling with the Beyers.
 
EDIT - Just had a look, I think they are a little bit out of my price range unfortunately... Any other recommendations for the DT880's? Preferably something I can pick up in the UK with relative ease.

 
I use the Audinst HUD-mx1 with my 250 ohm 880s and have been very pleased.  Just in case you're looking for a more affordable entry level option.

 

[schuh]

Or even better, get the WA6- that way you can use it with both high and low impedance cans.
I'm biased though, I use my WA6 with a few different cans- the Beyer's really do sing with this amp though.

I have a WA6 with some excellent tubes in it and I don't find it to be an amp with a lot of gain. I am interested in the DT880s, especially the 600 ohm version, but I am afraid the amp won't drive them well. Do you get enough volume and quality bass with the Woo/880 pairing?

 

[carlchip78]

I have a WA6 with some excellent tubes in it and I don't find it to be an amp with a lot of gain. I am interested in the DT880s, especially the 600 ohm version, but I am afraid the amp won't drive them well. Do you get enough volume and quality bass with the Woo/880 pairing?

Have you tried the 6GL7 tubes with adapters? They are higher gain driver tubes than the stock ones or any others that I've tried. My 600 ohm's sound fantastic with plenty of juice to spare.

 

[carlchip78]

Nice, I'll check those out. Thanks! This business is such a slippery slope.... I started off with a pair of ATH-M50's unamped just about a week ago. I've gone through a pair of those and some Ultrasone Pro 900's before finally settling with the Beyers.

EDIT - Just had a look, I think they are a little bit out of my price range unfortunately... Any other recommendations for the DT880's? Preferably something I can pick up in the UK with relative ease.

The E9 is probably the cheapest solution. Your E17 can also dock into the E9- that way you can use the E17's DAC and get enough power from the E9's amp. I had that combo for a little while, but then the upgrade bug bit...

 

[tigersinacage]

Quote:

The E9 is probably the cheapest solution. Your E17 can also dock into the E9- that way you can use the E17's DAC and get enough power from the E9's amp. I had that combo for a little while, but then the upgrade bug bit...

That looks pretty good actually. I know it's a completely different ball park, but I went from a solid state guitar amp, to an all tube Fender and the difference was outstanding. Rich, warm and full of tone. Is that what I should expect with a headphone tube amplifier? Or would I have to spend upwards of $500 to achieve that kind of difference in quality?
 
How about something like this: 
 

 
It only drives to 300ohm, would that be enough power for the 250ohm, or is more always better?
 
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/521305660-HiFiMAN-EF2-USB-Tube-Headphone-Amplifier-tube-Amplifier-wholesale-HIFI-Club-wholesalers.html

 

[schuh]

Have you tried the 6GL7 tubes with adapters? They are higher gain driver tubes than the stock ones or any others that I've tried. My 600 ohm's sound fantastic with plenty of juice to spare.

I have some fat bottle 6fd7s in there now, which are higher gain, but I don't like the way they drive my k702s. The amp sounds fantastic with my Grados. I'm looking for something to compliment them. I should probably consider the 250 ohm version, but they are more expensive right now.

 

[carlchip78]

The 6GL7's have higher gain than the fat bottles.. I have them too. My perfect combinations of tubes and cans are: 6SN7 for Grado's, 6GL7 for Beyer's and Senn's. + Mullard GZ32 rectifier.