[pzm9pzm9]

I sold HD650 and K701 after acquiring O2 setup. & DT880/600 ohm stays with me. I felt O2 had all the advantages of HD650, K701 and DT880. But, somehow, I had a feeling that I would regret selling DT880. It is hard to tell but there is some definate excellence in SQ that convinces you Byers, infact, have some special qualities like Grados.

 

[music_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pzm9pzm9 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I sold HD650 and K701 after acquiring O2 setup. & DT880/600 ohm stays with me. I felt O2 had all the advantages of HD650, K701 and DT880. But, somehow, I had a feeling that I would regret selling DT880. It is hard to tell but there is some definate excellence in SQ that convinces you Byers, infact, have some special qualities like Grados.

have you heard the ps1000 and hd800? if so, how do you think they compare to the beyers. how do you think the beyers compare to the o2?

i think the beyers have a lot of the attributes of the o2's. the only thing i really would listen to now besides the beyers is the o2 and l3000. thats just my opinion but to me that says a lot. again folks, the beyers are $319!

i have tubes but i rarely use them. i prefer high end ss. on high end ss the beyers are pristine. my front end costs many,many times what the beyers do maybe that is why they perform so well for me. they seem to be able to make use of the best equipment. the woo is plenty good if you like tubes. actually i prefer the woo stuff to the ear hp4. i still prefer ss though.

i think a very good thing that is somewhat affordable is to plug the beyers into the m902. they can take a lot higher than that though imo.

music_man

 

[dongringo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by music_man /img/forum/go_quote.gif if i may sum up in a nutshell why i am so impressed with the dt880 pro. they are neither excellent nor poor at anything. they are simply good to very good at everything. all other headphones may excel in some areas, even much surpassing the beyers. then they have their weaknesses. the dt880 pro are just the most well balanced headphones i have ever heard. i now prefer rather polite across the board, then complimentary here and inflammatory there. i find the two most talked about phones here lately to have tremendous strengths and weaknesses. they both excel beyond the beyers then fall short elsewhere. balance is the key to my happiness. the beyers fill this void better than anything i have ever heard/owned. of course these are my ears. many people feel differently. the cornerstone of this board is subjectivity. this is my bit. music_man

I really appreciate your "bit." I have the Grado RS1 and Denon D5000, both of which excel in very specific areas and specific kinds of music, but I've decided that I would like a pair of phones that have a more neutral sound. Sometimes I switch back and forth from progressive metal to jazz to world, sometimes song to song. It would be nice to be able to leave the same pair of headphones on without having to switch to meet the need.

Do you recommend them for this? And will a portable dac/amp like the ibasso D4 be sufficient in driving them? I'd appreciate any more thoughts you might have.

 

[music_man]

they are very polite with any music. honestly the ps1000 and other $2,000 headphones are a lot better. only in some areas though. the beyer is like the "one size fits all". it is pretty good at anything. great at nothing and poor at nothing. just good old fashioned rock 'n roll(or whatever music you prefer).

indeed, if you go the high end route you will end up owning $20,000 of headphones. you need a different one for everything. the beyer is not nearly as good as high end phones tailored to certain tasks but it does not dissapoint at anything at all either. depends on what route you wish to take in your headphone journey.

music_man

 

[dongringo]

Well, in my journey I can't afford more than $300 for my next pair and want the most neutral can I can get without it being boring. PS1000 will always be out of range for me I'm afraid, but I'm happy with what I've aquired thus far. Just that the Denons and Grados are colored enough to make me want a neutral phone for all purpose listening. I understand what you are saying about them not being great or bad at anything. I've been wondering why they are priced so much lower than some other phones in their class.

One more question though if you don't mind, or if anyone doesn't mind answering as well. Which is the most neutral sounding can between HD650 and DT880? Which is brighter? I guess that's two questions. And I guess I like a little color in my sound. I've only heard the HD650 and HD600 and I'm not sold on wanting them. They sounded a tad dark to me.

 

[music_man]

i think the dt880 pro is more neutral than the 650, the 600 is closer. ymmv. i think the dt880 is probably the brighter one. it has no veil.

music_man

 

[dongringo]

Thanks. That helps alot.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fantastic first post. I'd be very interested to read your impressions on other headphones as well.

x2.
Welcome to Head-Fi. Pleasure to read your post, julienchina.
The DT880/600 are excellent phones, and I'm sure you will love the HD800 even more.

 

[joomongj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by julienchina /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is my first post on head-fi. I used to be a professional cellist, and used to play alongside all kinds of instruments in all kinds of rooms or halls. And I love hi-fi, and have toyed with many very impressive systems, going up to the hundreds of thousands (US$). I'm saying that because the typical musician doesn't know equipment. Musicians are easily impressed, because they don't even imagine getting close to the live experience with any equipment is a possible thing. They are certainly not after it, because they live in live environments, so what they look for and notice the most in hi-fi is what is better than the live experience. Tell me I'm wrong. In a nutshell, don't trust your musician friends on equipment. But maybe you can trust me a little... lol. First of all, I want you all to know that by principle I am always trying not to be brand biassed. Because most brands have different products that satistfy different customers. And if we speak of headphones they depend so much on the rest of the chain to sound good that many times comparing two pairs of cans on the same amp is not fair to at least one of them. But ! That being said, I have to confess that recently I am in awe with my 600 Ohm DT880. For acoustically recorded music (as opposed to music we usually listen to with amplification, such as jazz, pop-rock etc) , I think the 600 ohm DT880s ( I don't like the lower impedance versions) are the most timbre accurate (I choose my words very carefully, I didn't say most revealing) headphones I have ever heard. They take time to get to their best, but it's the first time I hear this kind of instrument timbre accuracy on a pair of headphones. I have far less experience in the headphone domain than the speaker domain, so I have never heard the K1000, the Qualia, the Omega, the Orpheus, or the R10. Nor the newest HD800 and T1. But I've listened to my best recorded CDs and SACDs with many of the expensive Denon, Audio Technica, Mb Quart/Maestro, and of course Grado. I never thought I'd feel like this, because so-called "accuracy" is always room acoutics dependant, so we always can argue that different devices' sound signatures are like different rooms. But, that is the only pair of heaphones I've heard that gets the right timbre for every instrument and voice, even in big symphonic recordings. I don't love my HD650s that much anymore (still on certain types of recordings or music), because coming from the Beyers I hear distortion in the highs. I just cancelled my order for the Grado PS1000 after a very careful listening session comparing them with the DT880s. Both had two weeks of 24/7 run-in time, and I compared them on different amps including the flagship Rudistor combo and the Lavry DA11. Without a doubt, considerably more information, and more "air" is coming out of the PS1000, so in terms of resolution objectively the Grados are the better can by a mile. But at the end, as impressive as they can be, with classical music the Grados are not timbre accurate in the highs the way the Beyers are, there is a coloration that is quite far away from what the instruments sound in any acoutic conditions in real life. Compared to the DT880s. Then compare to the coloration on Audio Technicas and the Grados are Heaven on Earth, but that's another story... Also, the PS1000s boost the bass slightly in a way that makes me feel that in many symphonic recordings the double bass low notes come even faster and clearer than the violins ! This is not normal, in real life it takes 10 times the time to even start the vibrations on a thick string ! Of course, the DT880s have their flaws too. They aren't that great for me in pop music or rock, they will often sound dull and dry and are the least forgiving I know on bad recordings or lossy files (in that category the oh so revealing PS1000s nevertheless sound better on pop/rock mp3s, and of course the low impedance allows them to play directly on mp3 players. With them I was proven once again how better sounding my Samsung YP-P3 is than my so highly praised Cowon S9...) The bottom line is : for good classical music recordings, the 600 Ohm DT880s are so timbre accurate that they outclass their price range by quite a margin. So, for the next step I will have to choose between either the HD800 or the T1. If I like them.

Great review. I enjoyed your cellist's point of view. Thx.

 

[vcoheda]

the PS1000 is one of the most trashed headphones to hit the head-fi forums in a good while. what a blow to grado.

 

[music_man]

well, i have listened to the ps1000 for months. i am back to the dt880 pro! there you go.
that's just my opinion, ymmv!

music_man

 

[vcoheda]

i listened to my HD800 for months non stop. then one day i plugged in my HD650. i couldn't believe how good it sounded. the sound stage was much smaller and it did not have the micro (stat-like) detail of the 800 but otherwise just an excellent sound. it reminded me why the 650 was my reference headphone for all those years.

the older models, we need to remember that they were king too once.

 

[bbmiller]

But ! That being said, I have to confess that recently I am in awe with my 600 Ohm DT880. For acoustically recorded music (as opposed to music we usually listen to with amplification, such as jazz, pop-rock etc) , I think the 600 ohm DT880s ( I don't like the lower impedance versions) are the most timbre accurate (I choose my words very carefully, I didn't say most revealing) headphones I have ever heard.

The above is a snippet from the very start of this thread. (I hope I do not offend by using a snippet) I am wondering if any of you all use equalization curves from your computer when you are at home listening? I am also wondering if it would be possible even if you have a hearing physiology very similar to julienchina to set up multiple equalization curves that would make 600 ohm DT880s  for amplified music such as the jazz, pop-rock etc which julienchina implies are not as revealing as the acoustically recorded music to ones that would be as revealing for what they are?
 
I am new to using audiophile level equipment for listening to music and need to purchase my first headphones of audiophile quality. I believe I bought a very good first DAC and headphone amplifier. And will be using my computer as a source exclusively for listening to music. I use a free software equalizer that lets you save endless different curves of equalization per the dictates of these forums major equalization thread.
 
So with the right number of equalization curves would it be possible to adapt one headphone perhaps  600 ohm DT880 two be very good at almost every type of music genre?
 
Julienchina do you think the soundstage of the 600 ohm DT880s is good for listening to thunderous full symphonies like Beethoven's ninth?

 

[Mambosenior]

The 880/600, with a decent tube amp (Darkvoice 3322 or 337, and/or LaFigaro 339) is pretty awesome with all types of music. I listen to a lot of large symphonic music.
Good luck.