[vik1980]

 further to my last post, they sound great through an amp with a guitar. 
to answer the chosen one, the fiio's drive them nicely. quite nicely.

 

[Chris J]

Hey guys, I got the HD600 and looking for something that sounds very different and someone suggested Beyerdynamic Dt880.  Just curious what's the difference between 250 ohm premium and 250 ohm pro?  The pros are $219 on Amazon now and premium is $350.  If I like all genres and want something very different than the HD600s but still just as good or better sound quality, is the Beyerdynamic Dt880 right for me?  Also can the fiio 17+e9 do the job of powering this baby?

The FiiO E09K + E17 will have absolutely no trouble driving 250 Ohm DT880.

 

[daleb]

Quote:

Do the DT 880 250ohms sound very different than the HD600s?

On the other hand, others say they are way different. The HD600s have a focus on the mids, while the DT880s have a focus on the bass and the treble.
I'd suggest reading brooko's comparisons between the hD600s, the DT880s, and the k701s:
 
 
Quote:

1. Bass = DT880 > HD600 >> K701
   DT880 is most accurate in the bass to me.  HD600 has plenty of it (for me), but more mid-bass which can sometimes exhibit a bit of bloom.
2. Mid-range = HD600 > K701 > DT880
   HD600 has most forward mid-range, but for me it is also most accurate and realistic.  Instruments really sound like they do in real life - especially stringed instruments.
3. Highs = DT880 > K701 > HD600
   DT880 really are detail monsters - definitely brightest of the 3.  Again - most realistic though would be HD600.  At times DT880 can be a little too etched.
4. Sound stage width = K701 > HD600/DT880
   No question - K701 definitely wider with more separation.  I really like them for classical and instrumental - but sometimes they suffer from not being totally realistic.  DT880 and HD600 are about right IMO.
5. Sound stage depth & imaging = HD600.
   Hard to classify the K701 and DT880.  The HD600 though is simply more holographic and gives more accurate spatial cues.
6. Speed = DT880/K701 > HD600
   Both DT880 and K701 seem to handle speed better than the HD600 - however for most of my music, speed is not a requisite so all of these cans are great.
7. Comfort = DT880 >HD600/K701
   DT880 in front but not by a lot.  HD600 is very comfortable in it's own right - but I rank it with my K701 because they are lighter clamp + I have removed the bumps, and added a layer of very soft lambskin leather (with foam padding under it).  My K701 are very comfortable after the mod.

 
Overall ranking - for me - HD600 = DT880 = K701
 
I know that's a cop-out, but I use all of them practically every day - just depends on what sort of mood I am in.  They are each excellent headphones.
 
If you have some harsh recordings that won't stand up to a headphone with a high level of detail - maybe the DT880 may not be ideal.  Their mid-range (while pretty well balanced) are not the focal point either  - so consider that if vocals are important.
 
Parting observation - DT880 are far and away most detailed.  HD600 are (for my ears) most realistic.  K701 is somewhere in between - albeit with less than ideal bass.

I'd say the 2 make great complementary headphones, but they aren't way off from each other - they both could be used for mastering music pretty well.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

On the other hand, others say they are way different. The HD600s have a focus on the mids, while the DT880s have a focus on the bass and the treble.
I'd suggest reading brooko's comparisons between the hD600s, the DT880s, and the k701s:
 
 
I'd say the 2 make great complementary headphones, but they aren't way off from each other - they both could be used for mastering music pretty well.

 
Oh no, not this again.....................there seems to be a brighter and a more neutral version of the DT880 out there.
 
You'll get a lot of folks who will say, no way, the DT880 is not brighter than the K70x and Q701s. And other who argue it the other way...

 

[daleb]

They're in now!

These are easily the most comfortable headphones ever.
 
I'll be testing them for a bit. For some reason when I got the box it had a small hole in the front :s
 
Edit: That's so strange... I find these really dark... And they don't have a soundstage for me!
 
And somehow, I find these absolutely amazing for electronic music... but not as good for vocals as I expected...

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

They're in now!

These are easily the most comfortable headphones ever.
 
I'll be testing them for a bit. For some reason when I got the box it had a small hole in the front :s
 
Edit: That's so strange... I find these really dark... And they don't have a soundstage for me!
 
And somehow, I find these absolutely amazing for electronic music... but not as good for vocals as I expected...

 
Yeah, they can tend to sound a touch dark when you use the lower end headphone amps and DACs.
I have a pile of lower end headphone amps and DACs, surprising how much more open they sound when you use a higher end amp + DAC.  Now all I have to do is buy a better amp and DAC for my DT880s!   

 

[daleb]

Uhh, is it normal if these have more bass then my HD280s? I'm almost positive that's not right. That CAN'T be right! Heck, the bass is more punchy and powerful then my HA-S500s, a headphone that is bought by bassheads...
Edit: Also, I think I like these more out of my headphone out then the E11...
Edit2: I can notice bitrate differences less with these then with my 280s. huh. All of the kirby music sounds absolutely awesome with these! (Am I spending too much on headphones to listen to retro game music? Naahhh.)

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

Uhh, is it normal if these have more bass then my HD280s? I'm almost positive that's not right. That CAN'T be right! Heck, the bass is more punchy and powerful then my HA-S500s, a headphone that is bought by bassheads...
Edit: Also, I think I like these more out of my headphone out then the E11...
Edit2: I can notice bitrate differences less with these then with my 280s. huh. All of the kirby music sounds absolutely awesome with these! (Am I spending too much on headphones to listen to retro game music? Naahhh.)

 
Hmm...as far as the bitrate thing, generally those artifacts occur in the upper end of the spectrum, and you've said you find the DT880 to be somewhat dark, so it could be that with less treble energy than you're used to, these artifacts aren't being emphasized as much.
 
I'm surprised at the bass, though. It could be that, in the absence of any large midbass bump or lower midrange coloration on the DT880, the sub bass isn't masked by anything so it stands out. I'm just guessing here, since while I've never felt the DT880 lacked bass in the way some descriptions read, I've only ever felt it sounded bassy after listening to the MEElec A161P, a distinctly mid-forward IEM.
 
Or, it could be context. You've said you EQ'ed some treble and upper mids into your HD280, so it could be the balance you're used to has even more upper end energy than the DT880, meaning that the latter's low end would sound proportionally stronger in comparison.

 

[daleb]

That would account for it if the 280s even had mid bass or lower mids... I think the reason they have more bass is that I'm turning it up to try to get the treble to acceptable levels. I went and checked the HA-S500s, and they have more treble. Or maybe I just don't like how fast they are, instruments decay way faster on this then the HD280s... Or maybe I just have a defective unit, because this isn't even close to neutral. How can these have less treble then the HD280s (without the EQ on either)? That makes me really sad :c
 
Edit: Right now, these sound exactly like the ATH-M50s, which I've never really liked, but with more bass... I don't know what that means. What makes them similar?

 

[TrollDragon]

I find that the DT880's have a great defined Bass that does indeed go quite low. They do not give me the same head rumble that my Ultrasone's do though, open vs closed has a good deal to do with it... The Sones will definately cause massive ear tickle on tracks that present it.
 
Infected Mushroom's
End of the Road from the Legend of the Black Shawarma sounds a quite lifeless on the DT880's, the bass is there but it has no thump... where your front row center on the Sones.

 
The same way with Puscifer's Indigo Children remix, it just does not have that same eyeball pulsing pressure in time to the music that the Sones will give you.

 
But I did not get the DT880's for Bass...
Classic Rock like Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Moody Blues and Zeppelin also Chet Baker, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Stan Getz and George Benson really sound amazing on these.

 

[TrollDragon]

Quote:

Edit: Right now, these sound exactly like the ATH-M50s, which I've never really liked, but with more bass... I don't know what that means. What makes them similar?

That means you spend way too much time listening to the headphones and not the music...

 

[daleb]

These output the same amount of bass on that song as my HD280s, which have a ton of bass to begin with. I don't really like Infected Mushroom, though, so I'm probably not going to be able to comment on what it should sound like out of headphones. Too minimalist for me
 
Quote:

That means you spend way too much time listening to the headphones and not the music...

 
I guess that's really cool about these. You can't hear them. The sound is coming from beside your ears but you can't tell that its a driver making the sound... It actually makes it harder to master though, I think. Or maybe that's just that mine aren't neutral in the slightest... I think I may need to go to that head-fi meetup tomorrow, actually...
 
I know that buying a better amp should fix the soundstage problem, but that wouldn't fix the lack of neutrality...

 

[TrollDragon]

Quote:

These output the same amount of bass on that song as my HD280s, which have a ton of bass to begin with.

I think I may need to go to that head-fi meetup tomorrow, actually...

I must hear a totally different bass... all is good...
 
Yes don't miss the opportunity to take in a meet, I'll never get to one as I live in the willy wags..

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

Edit: Right now, these sound exactly like the ATH-M50s, which I've never really liked, but with more bass... I don't know what that means. What makes them similar?

 
Weird. They sounded like the antidote to the M50 to me. I started my headphone journey with the M50 and returned them because they had too much mid and upper bass and lacked upper midrange energy to my ears. The DT880 was the third headphone I bought and after an hour with it I felt it was the first model I'd tried which I could definitely live with. Granted, I never heard them both at the same time, but I definitely had quite different impressions of each.
 
Interestingly, the way you're describing the DT880 is exactly what I thought about the M50, which makes this all the more curious.
 
I apologize if it sounds like I'm being defensive about the Beyers here. I definitely accept your experience and am not about to tell you you're wrong. I'm just surprised because I've read dozens of descriptions of the DT880's signature, most of which described it as airy, dry, and somewhat bright. Clearly you've read the same descriptions because you were expecting more top end than you're hearing. I can recall only one description of the DT880 as bassy, and that was somebody who felt that the 2005 refresh added extra mid bass over the 2003 version. As unlikely as it sounds, I wonder if there aren't some DT880s out there which ended up with radically different tuning somehow.
 
You might have said before, but if so I missed it. Where did you get it from?

 

[daleb]

Well I'm thinking that A) I'm not even close to properly amping them with my E11, and B) Mine are defective, because they are missing so much treble (actually much less treble then the M50s, but the entire spectrum is presented in a similar manner by completely lacking power).
 
I bought it straight from Amazon.com (they were both the seller and the shipper). I'm also fully aware I could be changing them how I sound in my mind by random worries and expectations fully. I wish I knew how to turn that off.