RebelAmp powerful enough for DT 880?
No. Unfortunately not. I own it among several other amps and the RebelAmp is a very good amp for many of my headphones and I will keep it for sure but it is not able to drive the DT880/600s to their full potential. I use the DT880/600 modded balanced with the THX789 and the Topping A90 which work both very well.
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stock pads?
Dekoni Choice Suedes or Elite Velours make it so much more controlled and comfortable.
umm what? The rebel amp is 300 mW RMS per channel at 600 ohms which is the single ended power as the Asgard 3… of which the asgard 3 can drive it just fine however the knob will be up at around 70 - 75% to be “loud”. Hell just the basic liquid spark gives it plenty of power… as does the atom, magnius balanced, hel, l30, magni, heresy, among many others… I fail to comprehend how anyone figures the 880 600 ohm is truly hard to be driven to this regard… hell even the Soundblaster G6 over there can drive the 880s just not to the “best sound” due to it’s natural scaling with higher ended equipment
I prefer the stock pads but I also tried the Dekoni Choice Suedes which are super-comfortable but darken them a bit too much for my specific taste. I use the Choice Suedes on an old vintage Beyer DT880 variant. It is a matter of taste…
You get them “loud” with many amps - including the rebel - but they are lacking bass, control, dynamics, clarity etc. … You might be happy with them nevertheless on those amps.
Definitely have had no such issues with asgard or further up the chain. I can’t speak with the rebel I don’t personally own it… but I definitely can speak for the multitude of amps I have tried.
Y’all who are asking about what amps can or cannot power these well enough on the single-ended connection might consider reading my post from the other day about that. They work just fine on the THX 789 and similar amps.
and
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Elite Velour is less dark and more airy though. I know people that prefer that to the Choice Suedes.
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Thanks for that tip. Unfortunately, most Dekoni pads are a bit difficult to get here in Germany. Dekoni has delivery costs which are higher than the price of the pads and there are taxes on top. Some variants are available in the EU but not all of them. If I see the opportunity to get them locally, I will try.
I’ve done A/B testing SE and Balanced on a 789. I can definitely say that the difference in power when balanced is so much more different. The highs come down, the detail goes up, there is sub bass and clear vocals, nothing is muddy or veiled.
There is also a noticeable sound change too when you go from a 789 to something like the A90 (which has a better power delivery and no distortion on gain 3).
I’ve yet to try it on an OTL tube, but I doubt it’ll have a problem since the power delivery operates differently than solid state.
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Running them on a balanced mod would no doubt significantly improve sound and performance. My commentary was solely on single-ended performance which probably most people have compared to having them modded.
I got mine at WOD audio, fast delivery too, didn’t seem that much more expensive than getting them from the US site, it’s not like they are cheap to begin with.
Personally, I settled on the elite Hybrids. I went back on forth on the choice suede, elite sheepskin and those, but once I added redscape audio into the mix, the sheepskin and suede become too dark. Between that more speaker-like sound, the added soundstage and the tube pre-amp, the hybrids really still carry through the detail and while they aren’t quite as comfortable as the suedes or sheepskin, they’re still better than the stock pads, which are slightly angled, just enough so that I touch them.
Haven’t tried any other pads, I was already spending too much on these pads as it was XD.
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Thanks for the hint. Up to now I bought the Dekoni pads for headphones (and the “bulletz” tips for IEMs) from a Poland based store “audioheavenstore”. They are cheaper there but the choice is limited (i.e. currently no Elite Velour for DT series). But I will try out the WOD audio store. I agree with the darkening of the sound by the Choice Suedes. I have enough (too many) Beyer (and vintage AKG) headphones to find a good use for them if they do not match my taste for the 880.
Edit: I just bought the Elite Velours from WOD audio. I already have the Elite Hybrid ones and did not really like them on the DT880 but I do enjoy them on an old AKG340.
Anyone in the UK or worldwide that would like a Professional DT range Balanced Mod then these guys are good, they’ll even do a custom paint job too if ya want…
So, I decided to go ahead with a balance mod on my DT 880. Apologies for the poor and intermittent photography.
I’ve got a driver version with zener diodes that could contact a mini xlr or 3.5mm jack entering the cup, and outside of a couple of small files I don’t really have the tools to drill or make new apertures.
So I decided on a pigtail style mod. I’d heard of people fishing conductors down the original cable outer jacket for short lengths, and well:
Nope
Luckily I found that the stock cable is only secured to the strain relief in the very top, and can be easily twisted out and parted.
For the re-cable I used Somme Cable SC-CICADA 4 for the main connector and SC-Cicada SO-D14 between the cans. Both with fit into 550 Paracord without needing to strip the outer jacket or shielding. Once sheathed they’re also both very firm fits with their related openings on the DT880. Often an empty leading section of paracord would need to be fed through ahead of the cable, then trimmed back once enough cable had been pressed through. Once in place the size is about 1:1 with the openings, so I didn’t need to add a gasket or hot glue to maintain a seal.
Left side is connection leading to right can. Zip tie there might not even be needed - the sheathed cable is that tight with the opening. After driver installation the very edge of the unit will be touching the cable, but since it’s held in place by the locking ring I figured it doesn’t matter. While it’s hard to make out in this photo, the wire splices have been collected with a bit of PVC tape and wedged behind the main cable entry.
New cable fitted through stock strain relief. Short length of adhesive heatshrink after the strain relief is enough to secure the end of the paracord and prevent the cable from dislodging. The strain relief can put in/out with the securing clip as needed for working on the cable (only reason I don’t have it further out from the cup in that photo is that I’d been shortsighted and secured the wire splices already - didn’t want to pull on it too much).
End result:
Cable length is about the same as a short portable, terminating in a 4 pin mini-xlr. Originally I was only going to have a short tail, but having the mini xlr connection that far up on had a tendency to bias the weight too much to one side - so I went with a kind of “shortest usable length without extensions”. I’m building more matching connectors once I get the parts, but I’ve got a bunch of compatible connectors and extensions that I did as soldering practice.
I think a mod of this style could also be useful for the DT770, since it avoids needing to cut into the retention ring surrounding the driver. If there’s interest and I get a hold of a set I’m happy to do something and document it a little better. I’m still an amateur at this so please feel free to tell me if I’ve created a fire hazard.
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Oh damn, I’ve never seen ones with diodes before. I wonder what they do and when did they do it? Because alternatively, you can coat those diodes very carefully with liquid tape to insulate it against other components. Then you can also put the jacks on an angle to further prevent them from touching. That’s what I would do. Still, it’s an ingenius way of recabling and making it detachable at the same time!
They will probably clamp the maximum voltage on the drivers (not relevant for music) to protect (clipping) them in case they get abused (since the 600 Ohm version might sound mute on some equipment).
Might also just be general TVS… but yeah, nail-polish works really well to insulate bare components.
Edit: on another forum people contacted Beyer and they confirmed they are there to protect the drivers from too high voltages but they apparently are also just optional… so not every variant has them… who knows how they decide on that 
The DT880 600ohm Balanced Mod is END GAME for all Headphone makers out there.