[sacd lover]

Negatives for the dt880 ..... I just find the headphones frequency response to be to treble dominant. The 880's are extremely neutral and clean sounding but have a nasty treble peak that makes the treble to prominent. Consequently, the the resolution of detail is overdone and over the top. Sibilance is excerbated and low level detail can sound etched.

The 880's can be involving to listen to with music that has little high frequency content, but I evetually found them to be to analytical and thin sounding with most music I listen to.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Even if a headphone made 90% of my recordings hard to listen to (which the DT880 doesn't), I'd still want the honesty. I find it hard to call this a flaw. That said, the DT880 does blow the flaws in recordings out of proportion a little bit compared to some other cans. I'm willing to pay the price for the sense of transparency and illusion of live performance (which works for me), but some folks may not be.

Absolutely agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by billinkansas Truth be told, I'd dump the Senns too for something in between. I'm still waiting for someone to cross them as the HD-880, or will it be the DT-650?

I think the HD 595, which Steve999 mentioned would be in-between the two although more towards the HD 650 whereas the AKG K701 would be another interesting alternative although the AKG leans stronger towards the brighter DT880 side. In any event, I think the K701, DT880 and HD 650 have higher resolving capabilities, bigger soundstage, better imaging, and a few other technical traits compared to the HD 595.

 

[pbirkett]

I'm surprised to see an alarming omission of a negative for this headphone, and I am assuming that everyone who uses it must be bald, because I feel sure that if you have hair, that this would effect you:-

Scalp burn from the headband.

Anyone who thinks these are the most comfortable phones out there clearly have not tried the DT531.

 

[billinkansas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamCalifornia What are the negative sides of owning DT880's? Any negative experiences with sound quality? Do they require an expensive headphone amp because they're power hungry? Would a $300 - $400 amp do? And, if yes, which one? X-Cans? Gilmore Lite? Headroom's Micro? Why the DT880's are not on the Beyerdynamic site? Are they discontinued? Of course I've read tons of reviews praising the DT880's. See you on the Positive Side of the Moon Adam

OK Adam.

You asked for opinions - now you have them. All valid experiences.

They're really good cans, not perfect cans.

Confused yet?

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by billinkansas . I would agree that they are often more realistic sounding, but really, no human can hear that kind of treble detail at a live performance, especially at a distance. You've got to admit that - c'mon, admit it now. Truth be told, I'd dump the Senns too for something in between. I'm still waiting for someone to cross them as the HD-880, or will it be the DT-650?

1) Good point. I feel the same way .... you can not hear that kind of treble detail live. People tend to do comparisons to other gear which gives you a scewed referance. The 880's resolution of treble detail is definitely overdone if you make the comparison with live music.

If you want something between the dt880 and the senn 650 the AKG K701 is a good headphone to look into. The 701 does eveything well and nothing overtly wrong. The tonality is very slightly bright but this can be easily corrected through a number of means.

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover If you want something between the dt880 and the senn 650 the AKG K701 is a good headphone to look into.

Seconded.


Quote:

The 701 does eveything well and nothing overtly wrong.

I recall having said that of the HD 650 two years (or so) ago. Now it no less applies to the K 701 -- which additionally sounds quite natural to my ears.

I could live with the DT 880's dominant treble because of its smooth- and cleanness, but never would have called the sound really natural (as there's a hint of glassiness and glare in the treble). Which also goes for the HD 650 for the opposite coloration, although I found its characteristic to be more tolerable, together with the generally fuller and more breathing tone. Especially the DT 880's bass sounds a bit compressed.
.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett I'm surprised to see an alarming omission of a negative for this headphone, and I am assuming that everyone who uses it must be bald, because I feel sure that if you have hair, that this would effect you:- Scalp burn from the headband. Anyone who thinks these are the most comfortable phones out there clearly have not tried the DT531.

LOL while I'm certainly not bald, I've never had much a problem with the headband on the 770/880. I only noticed a slight pressure point on top of the head, which was easy to remedy by cutting the rubber piece inside the headband in half, and putting one piece of it on either side of the head at about a 90 degree angle. But even then the DT 531 remains the comfiest Beyer

 

[billinkansas]

I think the DT-880's were the most comfortable 'phones that I've ever worn. There were times when I would get up and start to walk away, forgetting that I even had them on. Never have tried the DT-531 though.

 

[AdamCalifornia]

Why have I started this Negative thread? It makes me cry!
There are quite a few Negatives! Oh, No!
Compressed bass, light bass, bright, nasty treble peak, not too punchy,
not natural sounding, too clinical, at times causing listening fatigue,
unforgiving towards sibilance, brutal too 'not so perfect' recordings,
at times can be hard to relax with them while listening to music, ....
and the list goes ON and ON ...
And here is the quote which I appreciate:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny12 i had the dt880s for a few weeks, i just didn't like the sound, hd600s were more comfortable, the ms-pros were better for rock. i couldn't really find anything that i usually listin to that i liked on the dt880

Since I do have Sennheiser HD595 (50 Ohm), I've asked on one of the threads: How do HD595 compare to DT880?
The answer was (quoting from memory):
I've got both HD595 and DT880 and I am ONLY using HD595 and the DT880's catch dust!


Question1:
Someone metioned:
"... Just go for the pre-2006 models, which sound the same and actually look better than the current sci-fi-look version. ..."
How can I find this out while ordering on the internet???

Question2:
I went to the Beyer site and found this:
... "The revised design gives the DT880 a modern, attractive, appearance" ..
What do they mean here? "The revised design" with respect to, say DT990, ...
or to the older look of DT880, say 5 years ago?

See you on the Crying

Side of the Moon

Adam

 

[White Fox]

The biggest negative is the difficulty in driving, much more than the treble spike. From memory, they sound more accurate in the treble than the HD 580s & HD 600s did to me. Never did direct comparisons, though.

I'm actually using an ancient Panasonic PCDP (I'm out of the closet) with the Corda HA-2, and I'm getting some of the best balanced and most live sounding headphone sound I've heard (and I've had better sources in the past).

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamCalifornia Why have I started this Negative thread? It makes me cry! There are quite a few Negatives! Oh, No! Compressed bass, light bass, bright, nasty treble peak, not too punchy, not natural sounding, too clinical, at times causing listening fatigue, unforgiving towards sibilance, brutal too 'not so perfect' recordings, at times can be hard to relax with them while listening to music, .... and the list goes ON and ON ...

Why don't you just audition a pair? Buy a pair, and if you don't like it then return it. Problem solved.

P.S. ask for negatives, and you're gonna get negatives. Group a number of different points from different people all together and it looks like you're dealing with one of the worst headphones on the planet. Except it's an artificial conclusion based on different people and their specific gear, recordings and listening preferences -- none of which may actually apply to you. Go audition a pair.

 

[spike33]

Yeah seriously, what did you expect when you asked for negatives? All headphones have flaws. Some just happen to have flaws that you can live with or don't care about.

 

[ScubaSteve87]

negatives of owning the Dt880? It means that you prob don't own the ad2k

 

[wakked1]

Cons:

1) You need a real amp. Real $300 amp will do. Without it they sound thin and lacking bass impact.

2) You'll want to EQ them a bit (-6 @ 9Khz, +6 @ 14Khz).

3) You'll want to run them out of a 120 ohm output or use a 120 ohm adapter... make a HUGE difference to the fullness of the bass.

With all 3 they are the bargain of the audio world IMHO.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakked1 3) You'll want to run them out of a 120 ohm output or use a 120 ohm adapter... make a HUGE difference to the fullness of the bass.

Uggh... unless there's evidence they're designed to be run out of a high impedance jack, what you're really getting is bloated bass. Of course, that's the way 99% of the world seems to prefer it.