As a someone who modded his DT880, hereâs my 2 cents about how much power it needs.
Zeos is right that it needs power, but it doesnât need 600mW like the Emotiva gives. It would certainly benefit more but I could also notice the difference on the 400mW of the 789 in balanced.
That also said, if I A/B test a lower power SE and the higher power balance on the same amp. There is also a huge difference in quality. The treble is more refined, the bass slaps, and everything tightens up. It is right up there with $700 Elex in terms of quality. Itâs more intimate than the Elex when itâs properly powered, but it more than makes up for pulling out micro details in music I canât hear in other headphones of the SAME price point.
So that said, the JDSlabs Atom is 125mW at 600ohm. The 789âs SE is 100ohm at 600ohm. All I can say is give it a try with more power. I know from experience from using Argons (and a lot of planars), feeding power into certain headphones drastically changes the sound. The 600ohm DT880 is one of them.
can we agree to just tell beyer to change out their pads to whatever kind of magic they pulled with those tygr pads? Seriously I love the pads that came with that headphone lol. Super soft with great weight distribution
Thatâs interesting⊠I found dt880 to be fairly bright when I tried the original 600 ohm edition but it lacked a lot of body and bass while natural just didnât seem very present⊠Though anyone who tells me dt 880 is far too bright probably hasnât sat with the 990s, that sir is brightness. Was wondering about the black version as according to the frequency it would suggest the black variation has more bass and sounds different, I seen it as potentially a headphone I could appreciate more as I really donât like the 600 ohm edition I had.
Doesnât take too much to drive them. Liquid spark drives them fine as does things such as the atom and the magni. I have tried these with the asgard. Had the same bit of issue with the lacking body to the sound. Got rid of the headphone due to it. DT 880s donât have a lot of sub bass nor warmth and are lacking in body to my ears least not in comparison to itâs alternatives.
Was curious on the black variation due to the change in frequency looking more appealing.
I have the DT 880 Black edition. From what I can tell, the headband is slightly smaller and less clampy than the Premium edition. Also the pads are stiffer and deeper. As such I think the signature is brighter because the ears are held further from the driver. I actually swapped the pads for the softer 880/990 pads and the headband with a pair of 770 Pros, and I think it warmed up the sound but really improved comfort on my big head.
If you say the DT880âs donât have sub-bass then I can tell you that you were underpowering them. They HAVE sub-bass. My balanced set was rumbling to the through songs with sub bass. They have body and detail, but I say they are more W shaped, with a slight hump on the mids.
Thatâs the difference between running them loud and running them with power.
Never did I say they didnât have sub bass nor did I say they didnât have body. Also, pretty sure running them with a Asgard 3 or Liquid spark powers them just fine. Itâs Just that I found it lacking in those areas. Though I definitely would not say itâs a W signature. Agree to disagree⊠I didnât post to argue about the fundamentals of the headphones sound only to ask about the alternative black version that appears to have a seperate frequency and sound.
If you wanted my opinion on it however, no I found it a neutral bright frequency⊠the low doesnât seem raised in itâs sound nor its frequency response and doesnât have a very deep bass and while the bass is there I found it lacking I like a relatively good thump to my bass and sub bass this definitely didnât land that sound to my ears despite all of its detail, the mids are more neutral very clean very natural and fairly thin but in a good way, quite a bit of air and sparkly elevated treble. Overall the headphone doesnât sound very full and lacks in body even more so when you compare it to the 770s or 990s this is much more towards neutral and my biggest issue with it is itâs lacking points in the bass and fullness of itâs sound. The headphone is simply not for me. I asked about the black version as the possibility of potentially appreciating the headphone more.
I have heard that the pads on the black versions were much stiffer and deeper⊠Havenât tested them myself⊠the only black pads I own from beyer currently is from the tygr though these are extremely soft and plush so I assume different pads? These practically disappear off my head which is quite nice. Thanks for the insight on that though I appreciate it. Perhaps this particular headphone just isnât for me. I already own the dt 990s, 1990s, T1.2, tygrs, and bout to be 177x go so I guess I am alright.
Based on taking apart the units, the tuning is done entirely on the headphones. I currently use ZMF Ori Suedes on my modded DT880âs and they do little to the sound change, so itâs more a comfort thing. Not enough to warrant anything you might like.
Well, I wasnât really planning to change the pads⊠more along the lines of wondering if itâs just straight up a different tuning causing that frequency response or just the black pads which are, like said currently, supposedly thicker and alter the sound accordingly. If you were to go and compare the sound signature I listed to that of the 1990 it also becomes rather apparent that in terms of frequency they are very close which I will post here
red again being the black version of the dt 880s blue is dt 1990 analytical and purple being balanced dt 1990. This is primarily what made me become curious and my buddy I speak to over the internet owns a pair of the 250 ohm black and wouldnât shut up about how good they are. After testing the original version, and not being a big fan, I got to wondering more so after being told they are of a different tune entirely but this I do not think has been fully proven to my knowledge. Which if not ya know⊠no harm done but if so and they are a different tune of course I may be interested.
@ssjdrn since you mentioned switching to the silver pads from the 880/990 this is again what got me interested. This is again the black version of the dt 880s but pad swapped over in comparison red being black pads blue being silver. This causes me to believe that the black version of the 880s is of a seperate tuning to the original 880 edition
So you took my response out of context. I was not talking about this forum. I was talking about No Theme Reviews that was referenced as evidence that Z was wrong. He is a terrible reviewer that has spent many of his reviews bashing, and âbashingâ is a nice way to put, Z and other reviewers. His reviews should not be taken seriously by anyone.
That doesnât matter. When you get viewers by calling Z and other reviewer A-holes, S-bags, and worse, you donât deserve any views or mentions. I hope that the mods here would just get strike all comment about No theme. If you donât see the problem here then you are a part of the problem.
Iâd recommend the Premiums with a OTL tube amp if you want to get into them. But yeah, something like the TYGRs is probably a more all-around practical headphone.
Just got mine and it takes up a lot of space. On one hand, itâs fucking massive. On the other hand, itâs not ânotâ bad ass having a speaker amp on your desk for your headphones cause yeah, Iâve got some fân hardcore headphones. Come at me, bro
I canât speak to the gsx1000. Iâve never heard it and I couldnât readily find its power specs. The Atom has plenty of power for DT880. IMO, itâs not the best sonic match, but thatâs a synergy thing and not a power thing. I also have some treble sensitivity. That combo is too sharp for me. However, you may like it just fine. The Atom has the power, though.
gsx1000 is pretty weak and cannot run the 600 ohm headphones. I found it struggled even with some in the 250 ohms depending on how demanding the headphone was. However, Atom will be fine
