[TrollDragon]

No problem vacious my pleasure.

All I can think is that the driver coil itself is open and there is no fix for that except to buy a new one from beyer for around $60.

Since you get no continuity on the coil wires and they look connected to the tabs. What I would do is try moving the coil wires to see if they have any tension on them to make sure one is not broken away from tang it is soldered to. DO THIS WITH GREAT CARE as they are super fragile.
If they feel connected then what I would do is resolder the lower tang where they are connected, heat up the tang and pool some new solder on it, hopefully just a poor solder connection on one of the wires.

Barring that, I'd say the coil is open and you need a replacement.

Good Luck!

 

[FlySweep]

Being that these are semi-open, how much sound do they leak in ?  I know that's an extremely subjective assessment I'm asking for, but general impressions would be helpful.  I.e. would a TV at moderate/low volume in another room (30-40 feet away) be able to be heard if the headphones were worn (and no music was playing)?
 
I've never owned semi-closed/open full-sized phones, so it's tough for me to provide a point of reference.

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

Being that these are semi-open, how much sound do they leak in ?  I know that's an extremely subjective assessment I'm asking for, but general impressions would be helpful.  I.e. would a TV at moderate/low volume in another room (30-40 feet away) be able to be heard if the headphones were worn (and no music was playing)?
 
I've never owned semi-closed/open full-sized phones, so it's tough for me to provide a point of reference.

 
They're not as bad as some designs (e.g. Grados), where you literally have no attenuation whatsoever. Using your example, I would say you could probably hear the television without any music playing, but fainter than if you were listening without the headphones on. And once you started listening to something I don't think the TV would be loud enough to be heard. They certainly muffle stuff like birds and crickets and other noises that might be irritating during quiet passages.
 
On the other hand, if people are having a moderately loud conversation in the next room, you'll definitely hear them. And if there's an armchair activist bellowing about politics, you can put the most blasting, bombastic music on and you'll still hear the bloviating.
 
Overall the DT880 strikes a pretty good balance, IMO, between isolation and openness. Leakage out, however, is still quite substantial. If you like the My Little Pony theme song, for instance, everybody else in the general vicinity will know you like it, too.

 

[FlySweep]

Quote:

 
They're not as bad as some designs (e.g. Grados), where you literally have no attenuation whatsoever. Using your example, I would say you could probably hear the television without any music playing, but fainter than if you were listening without the headphones on. And once you started listening to something I don't think the TV would be loud enough to be heard. They certainly muffle stuff like birds and crickets and other noises that might be irritating during quiet passages.
 
On the other hand, if people are having a moderately loud conversation in the next room, you'll definitely hear them. And if there's an armchair activist bellowing about politics, you can put the most blasting, bombastic music on and you'll still hear the bloviating.
 
Overall the DT880 strikes a pretty good balance, IMO, between isolation and openness. Leakage out, however, is still quite substantial. If you like the My Little Pony theme song, for instance, everybody else in the general vicinity will know you like it, too.

 
Great.. I appreciate the help, Argyris.  In regards to comfort when worn, do your ears touch the inner baffle of the cups?

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

 
Great.. I appreciate the help, Argyris.  In regards to comfort when worn, do your ears touch the inner baffle of the cups?

 
The DT880 (though not the DT990, incidentally) has a soft dome of black foam over the driver baffle. It's there to protect the driver and also plays a role in the tuning. My ears do touch these, but I've never once felt discomfort. There's actually a faint impression of my left pinna in its respective cup, so the foam is plaint rather than resistive.
 
Of course YMMV, but I've only rarely read about these foam bits causing a comfort issue.

 

[iguanajm]

Quote:

Being that these are semi-open, how much sound do they leak in ?  I know that's an extremely subjective assessment I'm asking for, but general impressions would be helpful.  I.e. would a TV at moderate/low volume in another room (30-40 feet away) be able to be heard if the headphones were worn (and no music was playing)?
 
I've never owned semi-closed/open full-sized phones, so it's tough for me to provide a point of reference.

An interesting test that peaked my curiosity...
 
Here in Atlanta the cicada are in full force.  I can hear them from inside my house and decided to do a test.  My Senn Momentums pretty much completely block out the sound.  The Beyer DT880's on the other hand allow me to still hear their ever annoying chirping.  Another user here said "muffled."  To my ears, they were still chirping quite loudly.  A small decrease in volume.  Perhaps lower frequency stuff would be less so than higher freq noise like a cicada.  
 
Another test that I did was for sound leakage - outbound.  I'd say it's similar to having my iphone 5 playing music on the built in speaker at volume 1 or volume 2.  I REALLY wanted to use these in my office, but the office is just too quiet.  No way to put the My Little Pony album on shuffle during the work day.  
 
To answer your other question, I've only tried 4 sets of cans and the Beyer's are by far the most comfortable.  They offer a much larger and plush ear surround.

 

[Chris J]

They're not as bad as some designs (e.g. Grados), where you literally have no attenuation whatsoever. Using your example, I would say you could probably hear the television without any music playing, but fainter than if you were listening without the headphones on. And once you started listening to something I don't think the TV would be loud enough to be heard. They certainly muffle stuff like birds and crickets and other noises that might be irritating during quiet passages.

On the other hand, if people are having a moderately loud conversation in the next room, you'll definitely hear them. And if there's an armchair activist bellowing about politics, you can put the most blasting, bombastic music on and you'll still hear the bloviating.

Overall the DT880 strikes a pretty good balance, IMO, between isolation and openness. Leakage out, however, is still quite substantial. If you like the My Little Pony theme song, for instance, everybody else in the general vicinity will know you like it, too.

So you like the My Little Pony theme song!
Interesting.....

 

[FlySweep]

I took a look at the DT880/600's data sheet from InnerFidelity and compared it with the HD600.  The isolation measurements indicate it generally isolates slightly better than the HD600: distinguishably better above 1K.. and more evenly (but just as poorly) below 1K.
 
My wife watches the Bravo network and the like.. so what usually floats in my direction as far as noise goes is the incessant chatter of childish, petty "Southern California housewives" (though, it seems most of them are divorced or not married now, no?  Wait, don't answer that).  To put this in HeadFi terms, what I'm hearing is (cringeworthy) female cackling & howling (as well as the accompanying resonance) that typically occupies the mid to upper midrange.
 
Aside from room treatments (acoustic foam lining the family room walls.. or tossing myself in padded psych ward room cause them ladies are surely driving me crazy).. or completely eliminating the noise (see: taking the TV to the shooting range for target practice), the DT880 should do a decent enough job of hushing the mindless banter while leaking in just enough sound to keep me aware of any sudden "honeydo" requests.  It's decided then.. the DT880 will (hopefully) work to my advantage.
 
Well done, gentlemen.. well done.

 

[MrEleventy]

Do report back with impressions... I've been wondering how the DT880s would sound running off a Lake People/Vio SS amp as well as the Crack... and you have both! I have a feeling that my wallet is about to take an easy 1K smack...

 

[xkonfuzed]

As far as leakage goes with the DT880's, it's noticeabe. I usually have my volume up to average level, and when someone walks in past my room they usually hear it, then shout at me for turning the volume too high. And then goes me rumbling about how they are open back and they're supposed to do that (my family doesn't know open back headphones exist, they don't understand why someone would make a headphone that leaks). But most of the time it's alright, when the TV is on and there's noise going on they never notice it.

 

[Joshhh]

Wanted to quickly touch on the comfort of the DT880s. I currently use them with my gaming PC and have never felt discomfort... even after 5 or 6 hour sessions. Really quite remarkable in that aspect.

 

[MrEleventy]

Wanted to quickly touch on the comfort of the DT880s. I currently use them with my gaming PC and have never felt discomfort... even after 5 or 6 hour sessions. Really quite remarkable in that aspect.

+1, my primary set at work where I sit in front of a computer 8 hours a day. They rarely come off.

 

[shane55]

Quote:

I took a look at the DT880/600's data sheet from InnerFidelity and compared it with the HD600.  The isolation measurements indicate it generally isolates slightly better than the HD600: distinguishably better above 1K.. and more evenly (but just as poorly) below 1K.
 
My wife watches the Bravo network and the like.. so what usually floats in my direction as far as noise goes is the incessant chatter of childish, petty "Southern California housewives" (though, it seems most of them are divorced or not married now, no?  Wait, don't answer that).  To put this in HeadFi terms, what I'm hearing is (cringeworthy) female cackling & howling (as well as the accompanying resonance) that typically occupies the mid to upper midrange.
 
Aside from room treatments (acoustic foam lining the family room walls.. or tossing myself in padded psych ward room cause them ladies are surely driving me crazy).. or completely eliminating the noise (see: taking the TV to the shooting range for target practice), the DT880 should do a decent enough job of hushing the mindless banter while leaking in just enough sound to keep me aware of any sudden "honeydo" requests.  It's decided then.. the DT880 will (hopefully) work to my advantage.
 
Well done, gentlemen.. well done.

 
Having compared the two, I would agree with the measurements. But that's not to say the DT800 isolates well... at all. It's still open and allows the majority of external sound in. But I've never had my wife complain about sound going 'out' from the DT880.
If my listening environment isn't extremely quiet, I can't use these and go for either IEM's or a good closed-back can.

 

[vacious]

Quote:

No problem vacious my pleasure.

All I can think is that the driver coil itself is open and there is no fix for that except to buy a new one from beyer for around $60.

Since you get no continuity on the coil wires and they look connected to the tabs. What I would do is try moving the coil wires to see if they have any tension on them to make sure one is not broken away from tang it is soldered to. DO THIS WITH GREAT CARE as they are super fragile.
If they feel connected then what I would do is resolder the lower tang where they are connected, heat up the tang and pool some new solder on it, hopefully just a poor solder connection on one of the wires.

Barring that, I'd say the coil is open and you need a replacement.

Good Luck!

 
Thanks! The coil wires do look absolutely fine so i guess i need to sofurce a new driver.  Do you know where i can get one from? I live in The Netherlands but the driver only seems to be available on the German version of the Beyer site (shipping only to Germany).

 

[TrollDragon]

Quote:

 
Thanks! The coil wires do look absolutely fine so i guess i need to sofurce a new driver.  Do you know where i can get one from? I live in The Netherlands but the driver only seems to be available on the German version of the Beyer site (shipping only to Germany).

Thats too bad.
 
You should be able to contact either of these two distributors listed in the link below. They should be able to obtain a driver for you or point you to the right place to get one.
http://europe.beyerdynamic.com/distributors/worldwide.html?id=99&user_distributors_pi2%5Bcountry%5D%5B%5D=NLD&submit_ie=1&user_distributors_pi2%5Bsubmit%5D=Find
 
Good Luck!