iem222
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2010
- Posts
- 38
- Likes
- 11
Hey everyone, this is my first review on Head-Fi, so here goes...
DISCLAIMER - I have no affiliation whatsoever with Beyerdynamic, nor the eBay seller that sold me these headphones. I did not receive any sort of compensation for writing this review. In addition, the views and statements expressed in this review are solely my opinion and may or may not reflect your perception of these headphones.
About 4 days ago, I was cruising through some eBay ads and noticed some unusual Beyerdynamic headphones floating around. One of them was the DT-302, an on-ear, open back pair of headphones that came up with virtually no results from Google. They were priced at just under $10 USD ($12.99 with shipping) to I figured I couldn't go wrong. I ordered a pair and they arrived today an I am very impressed so far.
Here they exactly as they came out of the box:
OK, let's face it, these things aren't the most comfortable headphones. They have a strange slight twist inward towards the back of your skull (Not a lot, but noticeable when you put them on) on the phones and they sort of press in on your ears and the headband is not very flexible like my Grados, it is solid plastic. I might heat it up somehow and bend it but that's a whole different task. The ones I bought came without ear cushions (They had deteriorated to dust over the years) so I had to make my own out of 3 cheapo on-ear pads on top of each other until I find some proper cushions that will fit these. This helps alleviate the "Waffle Iron Effect".
The rig (My CMoy amp included) with my foam cushions. These things have a 600 Ohm resistance - An amp is necessary for proper sound. At least on my Sansa Fuze, not sure about other players, I could only barely hear the headphones at max volume without an amp, but with my CMoy amp I had ample volume.
Build Quality
The build quality on these headphones seems great, though I am not eager to test this because though they look solid, I'm not sure how they would withstand tall building drops, for instance.
To me it looks hard to fry these and they appear to be able to withstand normal wear and tear and small drops.
Now for the fun part.
NOTE - Results may vary - these headphones are not anything close to being new and yours may behave slightly different than mine.
Playlist for the Review:
NOTE: All music I tested these with is encoded in WMA format at 160kbps except for Wheels - 256kbps, All Ends Well - 320kbps, and Silence of Doom - 320kbps. All of this music was played with a flat EQ setting on my Sansa Fuze through my CMoy amp. If you are unfamiliar with any of these songs you can give them a listen at www.grooveshark.com
Artist - Song Title - Album - Notes on how it sounds on the Beyers
KT Tunstall - Hold On - Drastic Fantastic - Crisp, Every element well separated and distinguished, Not much bass on these phones (A relatively bassy song) but what is there is very tight and well timed. Song has very upfront vocals and the Beyers render them very well, even to the extent of rivaling my Soundmagic PL-50s and almost my Grado SR-60s.
Jack Johnson - Anything But The Truth - To The Sea - A beautiful slack-key-sounding song with Hawaiian roots from Jack's new album. Bass is exceptionally produced on this song with these headphones but a little muddier than on some of the other songs in this review. There are cricket and wind sounds in this song and they are much more recessed than on my Grados and Soundmagics but are traded in for more upfront vocals.
Jack Johnson - If I Had Eyes - Sleep Through the Static - Again every element has it's own groove. Jack's voice doesn't seem as well reproduced as KT Tunstall's in Hold On but very crisp nonetheless. These phones seem to have a sweet spot for female vocals in a primarily acoustic song.
Jesse Clegg - All Ends Well - When I Wake Up - This is a very high bitrate (320kbps) song by a virtually unknown in the States but a fantastic South African rock musician. While this sounded awesome on my Grados and my Soundmagics, this was a terrible flop on the Beyers. The high frequencies of the guitar on this sounded crunchy on these phones, almost like metal on metal grinding. A terrible and tiring noise. The phones also seemed to have some difficulty keeping up with this fast-paced song.
Foo Fighters - Wheels - Greatest Hits - Awesome. This sounded fantastic on the Beyers. If I listen very closely the dreaded crunch from last song is still present, but mostly unnoticeable. These headphones kept up with the pace of this song much better than on the previous one.
Keane - Bend and Break - Hopes and Fears - A great piano rock song with a fast pace. Kept up nicely, but left me wishing for a slightly more timely response. Vocals exceptionally clear and not harsh.
Regina Spektor - The Calculation - Far - This is where these headphones really shine. Every little detail in this song has it's own groove, and I even noticed a background drum pattern I hadn't ever noticed with my Grados OR my Soundmagics. This song paired with these headphones will suit the analytical listener.
Tori Amos - Winter - Crucify - Very nice. Clean, crisp, and not harsh highs.
Blues Traveler - Hook - Four - Exceptionally tight and crisp bass on this one. Drums sound right next to you with these phones - very well timed and realistic. Never even new there was a very subtle guitar pattern in the left ear of this song, and these headphones bring it out better than even my Grados or my Soundmagics. This is a fun, upbeat, and somewhat fast-paced song and these DT-302's keep up the certain fun vibe of this song.
Owl City - Vanilla Twilight - Ocean Eyes - Time for these headphones to get a real workout. This song has a ton of subtle details and layered tracks. Adam Young's voice is right at the forefront of this song on the Beyerdynamics, and is extremely well detailed and and it feels like he is singing right in front of me, as this song appears very forward, with a sound signature on this song very similar my Grado SR-60's. This song is reproduced fantastically and I might even go so far as saying I like how these phones render this song better that my Grados. Especially considering these headphones were manufactured in the 1970's and may not have been built to handle music this detailed, they perform exceptionally well.
Total Silence - Silence of Doom - The Silence Guy - Title says it all; It is nothing but 30 seconds of silence I made myself encoded at 320kbps MP3 (And anything with "of doom" sounds cooler). These headphones passed with flying colors - Not a peep at high volume. No hiss either.
Notes on Sound Quality (SQ) and Final Notes
These headphones sound comes close to my Grado SR-60's and my Soundmagic PL-50. They have a more Grado-like, forward sound signature. However, these have a certain set of quirks to them, such as the hard rock scraping/grinding noise. Grados and the Soundmagics are very refined and detailed, while the Beyerdynamics are sort of more rugged, if you will. Would I make them my only pair of headphones? Probably not. Are they nice? Absolutely. These are, in my opinion, an absolute steal at only $9.50 USD which is what I paid for them. You also need a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter for portable use unless your amp takes the larger plug. These headphones seem to be relatively rare too. If you are interested, do a search on eBay for the term "DT-302" without quotes. There is currently a handful for sale. Get them while they last!
If anyone has any further questions about these headphones, please feel free to post below or to PM me.
DISCLAIMER - I have no affiliation whatsoever with Beyerdynamic, nor the eBay seller that sold me these headphones. I did not receive any sort of compensation for writing this review. In addition, the views and statements expressed in this review are solely my opinion and may or may not reflect your perception of these headphones.
About 4 days ago, I was cruising through some eBay ads and noticed some unusual Beyerdynamic headphones floating around. One of them was the DT-302, an on-ear, open back pair of headphones that came up with virtually no results from Google. They were priced at just under $10 USD ($12.99 with shipping) to I figured I couldn't go wrong. I ordered a pair and they arrived today an I am very impressed so far.
Here they exactly as they came out of the box:
OK, let's face it, these things aren't the most comfortable headphones. They have a strange slight twist inward towards the back of your skull (Not a lot, but noticeable when you put them on) on the phones and they sort of press in on your ears and the headband is not very flexible like my Grados, it is solid plastic. I might heat it up somehow and bend it but that's a whole different task. The ones I bought came without ear cushions (They had deteriorated to dust over the years) so I had to make my own out of 3 cheapo on-ear pads on top of each other until I find some proper cushions that will fit these. This helps alleviate the "Waffle Iron Effect".
The rig (My CMoy amp included) with my foam cushions. These things have a 600 Ohm resistance - An amp is necessary for proper sound. At least on my Sansa Fuze, not sure about other players, I could only barely hear the headphones at max volume without an amp, but with my CMoy amp I had ample volume.
Build Quality
The build quality on these headphones seems great, though I am not eager to test this because though they look solid, I'm not sure how they would withstand tall building drops, for instance.
Now for the fun part.
NOTE - Results may vary - these headphones are not anything close to being new and yours may behave slightly different than mine.
Playlist for the Review:
NOTE: All music I tested these with is encoded in WMA format at 160kbps except for Wheels - 256kbps, All Ends Well - 320kbps, and Silence of Doom - 320kbps. All of this music was played with a flat EQ setting on my Sansa Fuze through my CMoy amp. If you are unfamiliar with any of these songs you can give them a listen at www.grooveshark.com
Artist - Song Title - Album - Notes on how it sounds on the Beyers
KT Tunstall - Hold On - Drastic Fantastic - Crisp, Every element well separated and distinguished, Not much bass on these phones (A relatively bassy song) but what is there is very tight and well timed. Song has very upfront vocals and the Beyers render them very well, even to the extent of rivaling my Soundmagic PL-50s and almost my Grado SR-60s.
Jack Johnson - Anything But The Truth - To The Sea - A beautiful slack-key-sounding song with Hawaiian roots from Jack's new album. Bass is exceptionally produced on this song with these headphones but a little muddier than on some of the other songs in this review. There are cricket and wind sounds in this song and they are much more recessed than on my Grados and Soundmagics but are traded in for more upfront vocals.
Jack Johnson - If I Had Eyes - Sleep Through the Static - Again every element has it's own groove. Jack's voice doesn't seem as well reproduced as KT Tunstall's in Hold On but very crisp nonetheless. These phones seem to have a sweet spot for female vocals in a primarily acoustic song.
Jesse Clegg - All Ends Well - When I Wake Up - This is a very high bitrate (320kbps) song by a virtually unknown in the States but a fantastic South African rock musician. While this sounded awesome on my Grados and my Soundmagics, this was a terrible flop on the Beyers. The high frequencies of the guitar on this sounded crunchy on these phones, almost like metal on metal grinding. A terrible and tiring noise. The phones also seemed to have some difficulty keeping up with this fast-paced song.
Foo Fighters - Wheels - Greatest Hits - Awesome. This sounded fantastic on the Beyers. If I listen very closely the dreaded crunch from last song is still present, but mostly unnoticeable. These headphones kept up with the pace of this song much better than on the previous one.
Keane - Bend and Break - Hopes and Fears - A great piano rock song with a fast pace. Kept up nicely, but left me wishing for a slightly more timely response. Vocals exceptionally clear and not harsh.
Regina Spektor - The Calculation - Far - This is where these headphones really shine. Every little detail in this song has it's own groove, and I even noticed a background drum pattern I hadn't ever noticed with my Grados OR my Soundmagics. This song paired with these headphones will suit the analytical listener.
Tori Amos - Winter - Crucify - Very nice. Clean, crisp, and not harsh highs.
Blues Traveler - Hook - Four - Exceptionally tight and crisp bass on this one. Drums sound right next to you with these phones - very well timed and realistic. Never even new there was a very subtle guitar pattern in the left ear of this song, and these headphones bring it out better than even my Grados or my Soundmagics. This is a fun, upbeat, and somewhat fast-paced song and these DT-302's keep up the certain fun vibe of this song.
Owl City - Vanilla Twilight - Ocean Eyes - Time for these headphones to get a real workout. This song has a ton of subtle details and layered tracks. Adam Young's voice is right at the forefront of this song on the Beyerdynamics, and is extremely well detailed and and it feels like he is singing right in front of me, as this song appears very forward, with a sound signature on this song very similar my Grado SR-60's. This song is reproduced fantastically and I might even go so far as saying I like how these phones render this song better that my Grados. Especially considering these headphones were manufactured in the 1970's and may not have been built to handle music this detailed, they perform exceptionally well.
Total Silence - Silence of Doom - The Silence Guy - Title says it all; It is nothing but 30 seconds of silence I made myself encoded at 320kbps MP3 (And anything with "of doom" sounds cooler). These headphones passed with flying colors - Not a peep at high volume. No hiss either.
Notes on Sound Quality (SQ) and Final Notes
These headphones sound comes close to my Grado SR-60's and my Soundmagic PL-50. They have a more Grado-like, forward sound signature. However, these have a certain set of quirks to them, such as the hard rock scraping/grinding noise. Grados and the Soundmagics are very refined and detailed, while the Beyerdynamics are sort of more rugged, if you will. Would I make them my only pair of headphones? Probably not. Are they nice? Absolutely. These are, in my opinion, an absolute steal at only $9.50 USD which is what I paid for them. You also need a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter for portable use unless your amp takes the larger plug. These headphones seem to be relatively rare too. If you are interested, do a search on eBay for the term "DT-302" without quotes. There is currently a handful for sale. Get them while they last!
If anyone has any further questions about these headphones, please feel free to post below or to PM me.
