đŸ”¶ Beyerdynamic DT880 600Ω

Do they sound better on balanced ,single ended or same after modding

After long burn in DT 880 600 Ohm become very close sounding headphone to 990 pro 250, and this is not brain burn in, i’m mainly listen to 990 pro 250. 880 600 ohm burning in 24 hours per day and today after 4 days of burn in, comparing to 990 it differs not so much, very strange because before this burn in i prefer 990’s, now they are so similar that i can’t make even say which sound better.

This question is not really answerable as presented. Or
 the answer is “no they won’t sound better SE or Balanced, either way.”

If you have an amp that can be run both ways, chances are the Balanced connection has more power. And chances are also that the Balanced will be better implemented within that one amp. Neither of these “chances are “ statements are certain — unless and until you identify a specific amp, that is.

Single -ended can sound just as good as balanced, if you’re talking about an amp that can only be run single-ended. But then you’re not comparing the wiring of the headphone at all, but just comparing the amps.

In many cases, dollar for dollar, the SE amp will be superior.

If you already have or are committed to an amp that can be run both ways, it might be worth getting the headphones rewired for balanced. Obviously, you would need to do it if your amp could only run balanced, too.

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Actually i was confused between asgard 3 and magnius but it seems asgard 3 is better but not balanced

It is true that the Asgard is not balanced. I believe most people who weigh in on this forum would tell you the Asgard is better, too, as you’ve been noticing. I’ve never heard ir seen a Magnius in person.

For me the “balanced” amps would matter more at the input side, connecting to a balanced DAC. This is because with an electronically-crowded desk, you may get a ground loop making noise in the amp. Balanced will prevent this.

This is not important to a lot of people who never had a ground loop problem.

Well. I will be connecting a balanced dac separately

Not to the Asgard you won’t, right?

I will be using asgard and modius stack

But then you still have to connect the Modius single ended to the Asgard. That is, Asgard doesn’t have a balanced connection.

Have you had experience with the dt880’s sound signature? I personally think Having an amp to compliment the sound sig of the dt880’s would be more important than whether or not its balanced but thats my 2 cents. I prefer the dt880s on a warm tubey sounding amp so tube amps make them sound great. But if your set up is already balanced then why not go full blown balanced. If I were to go balanced amp, I’d look into the liquid platinum.

Ive been wanting to try the asgard3 with the dt880’s since by consensus it seems to be the preferred amp for cost and performance.

Ohh yeah now I remember

No experience yet but I guess I will go with single ended mod only

I love mine with the Violectric V220, which is only a Single Ended out amp.

I input balanced and the SE out sounds Great with these headphones. Although TBH I haven’t had these headphones for about seven weeks. :unamused:

On the upside, they are leaving Germany this week and I can’t wait to get them back.

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I have an Asgard 3 and a Darkvoice(stock tubes).
I just got DT880 600ohm yesturday so they’re not burned in yet.
So far they sound great on the Asgard, but even better on the Darkvoice.
Not only do the tubes help balance the sound, but it just sounds more direct.

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Need me a darkvoice.

yea you do.
Drop has it for $200
Don’t sleep on that deal
One recommendation is keep good air circulation around it as it gets crazy hot

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Ok. Y’all have turned a skeptic into a believer.

The Dekoni Choice Suede pads arrived today and before I did the swap, I listened to that bass heavy track I mentioned before. Then I swapped the pads and replayed it. Holy shit!

You weren’t kidding that a pad swap could improve the bass response on these cans. I’ve long been mildly skeptical of any significant difference in sound a pad swap could bring. I assumed from others comments, including Z’s, that there might be some difference, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite this dramatic.

The bass response is very good now and I’m noticing big changes in sound stage in other songs already.

I am going to miss that shiny silver look of the stock pads though.

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Told ya lol.

Oh no I learned that rather early on lol. Pad swaps are like one of the biggest changes from my experience much more than the amp and dac in cases.

I went with the Black 600 ohm due to that, just looks better that way
 Well, less you can get a Manufaktur like a chrome or something at 600 ohm

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@Falenkor et al. Anyone try these with Sundaras? I like the stock sound, but at this rate I’m going to need replacements sooner than later, lol.

Lol, getting a bit tired. Removed that last post of mine, you mean pad swaps like the suedes?

Sundara will respond well to pad swaps, but I would probably recommend something like the base pads which are generally Hybrids this way you keep that treble less it’s causing issues. However, hifiman use a plastic ring adapter so different pads. As far as increasing bass on the Sundara, I would say just equalize it