In my case it is the ifi zen CAN!
Sounds much better with the 880ās than the Emotiva
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All I did was connect the DT880ās to the Emotiva and started playing music from my library and let it run for 72 hours. I put them on my head and checked volume levels at the start to set it at a decent level. Then I put the headphones on a foam block and let it go.
I think it will benefit from a burn-in session. Iāve found some headphones sound pretty good right out of the box, and some do not. These DT880ās did not sound good out of the box to me.
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Is there a difference between a dedicated burn-in session and simply using them for a while?
No, I donāt think so. One can choose to do a burn in before enjoying their headphones, or just use them and listen to them improve in sound slowly over time. That is, depending on how long a headphone takes to get to its optimal sound. Some wonāt take long at all, others might take a while.
This morning I did another test using the Schiit Jotunheim on high gain. I was too tired last night to turn on my Windows PC or get behind the desk again to swap some cables around.
The differences in this test compared to the other three amps are I am using the Schiit multibit DAC module inside the Jotunheim and while playing the same tracks as yesterday, they are on my Windows box and through Foobar.
Still looking at the same things as before, noise floor and power here. With the Jotunheim I found that it had more power, or headroom, than the THX 789 and Darkvoice. Getting the volume level about the same was better at 55% to 60% on the knob compared to the 75% on the other two. There was no noticeable noise floor at all. That is unless I had no music playing, the amp on, and I turned the knob to 100%. Only then I could detect a faint hint of hiss. But for any practical sense of the measurement, there is no noise with the Jotunheim. The other thing was that the bass response was comparable to what I experienced with the THX 789.
So now with four amps tested on the DT880 600Ī© I can, in my opinion, say that any decent amp on the market can power these headphones respectably. One doesnāt need a āpage 11ā mod to enjoy these headphones. In fact, the Emotiva BasX A-100 is probably the poorest choice to pair with these headphones.
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So, plot twist, since Iām content to listen to these through my Yamaha RX-V363 at the moment, I did a thingā¦ I was watching different reviews on YT and I came across the review from āNo Theme Reviews.ā
After watching the full video where he sorta debunks Zās recommendation, he goes on to talk about the Beyerdynamic A20 and A2 being great for these (sort of an obvious choice looking back on it.) However, since Iām not keen spending that kind of money specifically just to get the ābestā sound out of these guys, I bought his other recommendation: A $60 Douk amp that apparently has a favorable output impedance to match the DT880. Since this is crazy talk, but cheap crazy talk, Iām going to take a chance and see how it sounds. Should be here in a month or so since itās shipping from China.
Meanwhile, Iāll stick with my Yamaha, and probably go with the iFi CAN/DAC stack at some point soon.
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if a low damping factor alters the frequency response bringing the bass up a bit i donāt think thatās crazy talk at all, we just need to know wether it works or not. It would be nice to view some measurements too to get an idea.
I am not a fan of the āNo Theme Reviewsā channel and I am effortlessly driving my (modded) DT880/600s balanced from the THX789 and Topping A90 (and sometimes single-ended from the Beyer A20 amp) but can only repeat here what I wrote as a comment to the video concerning the little Douk DAC-Amp:
āOut of curiosity, I ordered the Douk and it is really surprisingly good. It has no issues driving the 880 and all my high impedance āvintageā cans (several AKGs/Beyers in the 600 Ohm range) and it sounds quite ārichā (i.e. bass is present and dynamics are quite good). The DAC is a bit limiting the performance with its 48/44kHz and 16bit but it is perfectly OK for casual listening. The biggest surprise for me is that the Douk powers with ease my vintage Pioneer SE700 which is an extremely low-sensitivity piezo-electric headphone from the 70s for which I need my ājumperedā BasX A-100 to power it decently. If only the Douk wouldnāt run so hot (really hot ! about 70 deg. Celsius), I would definitely recommend it as a must-buy for everyone to test it before getting any of the expensive gear for (very) high-impedance cans.ā
Again, this amp is for those who want to experiment a bit with high output impedance amps (120 Ohm) - not really for serious listening. But it works. I do have some safety concerns however: 1.: Temperature (class A = always hot). 2.: The Douk comes with a low quality 24V cheapish power brick which I replaced immediately with a slightly better one. Nevertheless, I would buy it again.
P.S.:
The Douk with its original chinese power brick which lacks all(?) of the safety labels/certifications required to operate it in the EU (and US I guess). It also has a fixed cable with an US-plug. I also placed some of these sticky plastic feet on it to have some space for ventilation in order not to burn my desk surfaceā¦
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Ah interesting, well thatās a plus as I was also thinking about checking eBay for some vintage stuff. Thanks for the details on how it operates.
Just do not leave it unattended when powered. These are its temperatures (F and C) when idle (!) ā¦
BTW I painted the LED with some white color but it is still very brightā¦
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Oh boy.
Might want to put a PC fan next to that (1200 RPM nominal) and āunderrunā it at 9V
Indeed. When in use, I place it next to my DarkVoice which is cooled/ventilated by two controlable 5 inch fans.
Do you keep that douk amp in the position shown at all times?
I use four dekoni nuggets affixed to the bottom of the headband. Iāve used them on multiple headphones and their sticky side still adheres great. Theyāre a nice memory foam and are the most comfortable headband solution Iāve come across. At $15 for four of them on Amazon rn Iād consider that a steal!
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No. Its just upside-down to measure the temperature. The ācooling finsā on top are however not much cooler but you canāt measure it there.
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Well after a long weekend of listening to these guys, Iām going to return them. Theyāre too harsh on my head and on my ears. I thought I was listening to these at a nominal volume but even turning them way down they just get too harsh on me. The luster of the initial clarity they brought was just a bit too much for me in the end.
did you have them fully driven? They tend to sound brighter when not fully driven, granted 600 ohm has more treble than the 250 ohm. Shame, as the headphone is quite nice imo
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this sound demo for 1990 fatigue me using dt880 600 ohm ,is from my dt880 or from sound demo ?
probably a combination of both. the DT 880ās are known to be peaky with their treble, so using them on a warm amp is usually recommended. but if you were also listening to music that was treble focused, that would have made it worse.