Anything better than HD600...

[Dusty Chalk]

Neither the DT880 or the HD600 isolates much.  The DT880 is just a little bright, though the DT880-600 cures more of it.

The DT880 isolates more than the HD600, which doesn't isolate at all.  The DT880 isolates a little bit more than 'nothing'.  Certainly not enough for my environment.

[Dusty Chalk]

I didn't find them bright at all.  Maybe that's why they don't scale as well -- they don't need "crazy good" amplification to get those upper frequencies.

[shellylh]

I would like to try the DT880 some day (which version is supposed to be best?).   Don't know why I bought the DT990 instead of the DT880 years ago.  I guess I was still in my basshead days. 

[acidbasement]

 

Just for the record, the DT990 was never recommended.  I was recommending the DT880, which is a completely different animal.

 

Oh, I knew that.  On the previous page Shelly had mentioned the DT990 though.  I just wanted to be the first to unrecommend them.  

Edited November 1, 2013 by acidbasement

[Dusty Chalk]

I would like to try the DT880 some day (which version is supposed to be best?).   Don't know why I bought the DT990 instead of the DT880 years ago.  I guess I was still in my basshead days. 

What?  Not, they're slanted the other way -- bright.  The DT770 are the basshead headphones.

[shellylh]

I thought both the DT770 and DT990 both had more of a boosted bass than the DT880 which was supposed to be more neutral.  I know the DT770 has a ridiculous amount of bass but thought the DT990 was like the DT880 but with boosted bass and highs or something like that.  My memory may be lying to me thought (and I've never heard the DT880, only the 990 and 770).  I guess I was into odd numbers back then. 

[Dusty Chalk]

I have to admit, I'm going on memory also, which is long enough ago that it may be failing me as well.  Also, maybe because the DT880 didn't exist at the time, compared to the DT770 it was bright and not bass heavy.  I do agree that I found the DT880 (once it came out) straightforward compared to the bass-heavy DT770 and the (to me) bright DT990.  I guess I think of it like this:

 

DT770 \

DT880 -

DT990 /

 

(Bit of an exaggeration, but it's the best I can do with ASCII.  Imagine me standing in front of you with my hand in the air with a slight slant representing bass-heaviness for the DT770, etc.  No, no, I'm not right in front of you, crowding your personal space, I'm standing next to you holding it out in front of both of us.)

 

Also, I have an old (pre-DT880) DT990, so maybe they were different.  I did have an HD600 at the time, and remember it having more bass than the DT990, but I don't remember what I had at the time.

[wink]

I have the DT880 '05 which isn't as linear as the DT880 '03.

The DT880 '03 is the better allrounder, but, on some songs the DT880 '05 just "SINGS". That's why I still have it.

 

The DT880 Pro is one I don't know about, as I haven't heard it, but from what I understand, it's similar the the DT880 '03.

 

YMMV, as usual.

 

I like the HD600 more.

[complin]

Yeh the HD 600's are a bit livelier than the HD650's and for me have a good overall balance for a dynamic. 

I like the DT880's as they are a bit more refined and airier at the top end but not so much bass impact. It comes down to personal preference,

 

The other dynamic I rate against the sennheisers are the ERGO model 2's. very similar sound signature but different presentation, similar to the Jecklin electrostat.

I'm not sure if these get exported to the US or that matter much outside Europe, but if you get the chance certainly worth a listen. 

[Torpedo]

on the 600 love    Beyers suck. Period. All of them. Period. From the once vintage holy grail DT-48 to the superuberduper T1, one of the biggest overpriced POS I've had the dubious pleasure of listening. However I can understand why some people likes them. Horses for courses.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Torpedo

[Tyll Hertsens]

Nah, the 880-600 is pretty good, as is the DT250-250, DT23,1 and DT1350...

 

...Other than that though, pretty lackluster.

[complin]

Wasn't the DT-48 developed for use out in the field in very poor conditions?

Primarily for monitoring voice and other general sounds for radio and film on portable analogue tape recorders?

They are pretty indestructible, even the diaphragms are aluminium. I don't think they were really intended for high quality monitoring in a studio or music for that matter. 

 

on the 600 love    Beyers suck. Period. All of them. Period. From the once vintage holy grail DT-48 to the superuberduper T1, one of the biggest overpriced POS I've had the dubious pleasure of listening. However I can understand why some people likes them. Horses for courses.

[Dusty Chalk]

Beyers suck. Period. All of them. Period.

Incorrect.

[spritzer]

Beyer have made one good set of headphones, the ET1000.  Find a good one and it compares favorably to the SR-Lambda which is no small praise... 

Edited November 1, 2013 by spritzer

[Torpedo]

It's possible, Birgir. I haven't listened to those. The rest of them 

[robm321]

DT1350s are definitely good. The 880s were a bit sharp for me. 

[Aimless1]

I haven't heard much of the Beyer line.  Hated the 770/990 but I like the DT880. 

[nikongod]

Wasn't the DT-48 developed for use out in the field in very poor conditions?

Primarily for monitoring voice and other general sounds for radio and film on portable analogue tape recorders?

They are pretty indestructible, even the diaphragms are aluminium. I don't think they were really intended for high quality monitoring in a studio or music for that matter. 

 

I'm pretty sure they were developed to prove that Beyer could build them. 

 

They are a standard because everyone knows how they work, not because they are good. "Standard items" don't have to be good - they have to be consistent & readily available for comparison. 

 

"In a blind test 99% of participants were able to differentiate the Beyer DT48 from a piece of shit with better than 90% accuracy (20 ABX comparisons). Of the 99% of participants with functional hearing 95% preferred listening to actual dog turd." Is a completely valid statement. 

 

They are used for monitoring voice because that is the only thing they are good for. 

[cetoole]

Beyer have made one good set of headphones, the ET1000.  Find a good one and it compares favorably to the SR-Lambda which is no small praise... 

My pair arrived DOA, did they have issues with construction that lead to failures?

[morphsci]

I liked the Beyer 880-600s enough to buy them twice and only sell them once.

[dsavitsk]

The T1's actually sounded great with just the right amplification, but "just the right amplification" required a lot of tweaking. With any other amp, they were pretty blah.

[spritzer]

My pair arrived DOA, did they have issues with construction that lead to failures?

 

I think the coating on the diaphragms is the most likely culprit.  Beyer used a simple voltage doubler to generate the bias voltage in the N1000 with the input limited by a 90V transient suppressor.  Same as Stax did but Beyer used 1uf caps for the doubler and they could overload the coating, slowly burning it off.  If the diaphragms are in one piece and the cable shows contact then this is pretty much the only thing that can go wrong. 

[nikongod]

I should note that I agree with the others - the various DT880/990/T1 can sound quite nice with the right amp(s) but it does require a bit of effort to dial everything in. 

[complin]

So what in your opinion would be  "just the right amplification" for the T1's?

 

The T1's actually sounded great with just the right amplification, but "just the right amplification" required a lot of tweaking. With any other amp, they were pretty blah.

 

 

I should note that I agree with the others - the various DT880/990/T1 can sound quite nice with the right amp(s) but it does require a bit of effort to dial everything in. 

[Torpedo]

Nothing like showing oneself opinionated to cheer up the conversation