What about using the unbalanced port? Is it passable somehow?
nah, it’s just that the particular headphone in question is a picky one and power demanding at the same time.
completely different sounding signature to the 880, definitely not technically an alternative honestly.
never buy stuff blindly in this hobby, gets you burned pretty quick.
I would honestly just recommend digging around for a post modified beyer if you really want the 880s or you can try to run the headphone unbalanced… when I tried it though it definitely wasn’t full driven… just got volume but it was lacking in some areas such as the low end and detail retrieval
I actually was very interested in 880 because of your gaming guide:D Great soundstage and sound imaging and also because many people recommend these but now I realize that these are quite demanding in power. I also have DT770 for gaming but I feel like I could do more than that for gaming. Otherwise the HD600 is not bad (for gaming) but I feel like the sound stage is not exactly gaming material imo. Well the Tygr isn’t availaible here anyway.
G103-s (and -p), RHNP, LiquidSpark, a lot of tube amps, all the amps @Falenkor mentioned.
This “moar powaa!”-meme needs to die, preferably before someone accidentally hooks them into a 100V-system amplifier.
Sorry I did a mess with the original post and instead of reply I deleted.
After the balanced mod I’m using the 880 600ohm with the x7s at no gain and in many songs i cannot max out it because the driver starts to distort and when it doesn’t the volume is extremly high, autually i prefer to work with little to no headroom in order to get more control, maximize the performance of the amplifier and avoid to change the gain every time I use others headphones with lower power requirement since the gain in the amp is located on the bottom.
PS my source is a khadas tone board that as an output of 2Vrms his dac is the focusrite solo that has an output of 4.6Vrms (15.5dBu) so the amplifier internal gain is even less required since I has alteady a signal that is boosted of 7.2db compared to a standard unbalanced dac
I don’t like touching the controls on the bottom of X7s as Z said it wouldn’t be good for the amp. I think that I can either upgrade the amp or just simply use headphones that have the range up to 300 ohms.
You’ve got an amp that is specifically designed for drive high impedance headphones so I will not worry about the combo 880 x7s. Actually the aune x7s will work better on a dt880 than a tygr300 that is 32 ohm for example. Because the aune as a relatively high output impedance (at least the 2018 version I didn’t find new measurements of the newer versions) so if the impedance curve of the headphone isn’t constant (in many cases it isn’t on dynamic headphones) and the damping factor is low it can cause variations of the frequency response. I personally will be worried more about the choice of the headphone itself since I how the hd600 as well. For me the dt880 is worth because I use it mostly in production where the better imaging and stage combined with is extremely analytical sound make it worth. But I really don’t know if I will keep it just for general use because I much prefer the 600 for that. Actually I will use the 880 over the 600 for general purpose just in electronic tracks.
I’m not a professional in the audio area. I just want a good quality headphone that will stay with me for a very long time:D in this case I’m looking for a pair used mainly for gaming and because DT880 is constantly being recommended as a good headphone for gaming I thought I could give them a shot.
I’m not a gamer so i can’t help you specifically there, but i can describe you the differences between the 880 and the 600, the main advantage of the 880 over the 600 in imaging/soundstage is that with the 600 the soundstage in not constant with that i mean that how you probably noted the sounds in the center, all left and all right appears closer to you instead when the sound is moving in between left/center right/center the sound seems to be more far away and less focused even if actually it is not. With the dt880 the dept of the soundstage is much more constant so if you’ve got a sound that is moving from left to right the dept of the sound still pretty much the same during the moviment. I dont konw if that helps in gaming but many say that it does.
Yes. Sound stage and sound imaging are a major part of playing FPS games. The treble is also very important because it helps you notice footsteps. I’m no e-sport athlete, just a casual guy looking for a good pair of headphones. So hypothetically my Aune X7s can drive 880 600ohm but not to its fullest quality? I can only use the unbalanced port because the 4pin xlr balanced port demands a balanced cable, which is very expensive and hard to find.
In order to balance the 880 you need to modify the internal wiring of the headphone is not just about buy a cable. You will drive the headphone properly also in se with the aune since you’re using the focusrite that has already an higher output compared to others dac by setting the gain to medium it will drive the 880 easily. The 880 has a lot treble but maybe you will miss the immersion that a warmer headphone will give you. If you find that the hd600 sound good about tuning and you want just a better soundstage/imaging the 880 will solve the problem but if you think that the 600 sounds a little light and thin you will have that same problem with the 880. Did you check the fidelio x2? I’ve heard it ones and has a nice sounstage and a warmer signature that maybe is more appropriate for gaming. About the amplifier if you decide to go for a low impedance dynamic headphone you have the focusrite also and it will do the job. I have a focusrite 2i2 and it drives low impedance dynamic headphones pretty well.
Thank you. These cans are not cheap so I really want to be careful when choosing something that will be used for many years. There’s someone who says that my amp is not powerful enough and then there’s someone who says it’s okay to use the x7s. Can I ask you what “se” means? Fidelo x2 are not available here.
se = single ended (jack unbalanced output)
The thing is, from whay I understood you are looking for an headphone that as good imaging soundstage and a warm relaxed sound signature and possibly that you can drive with the amps that you have already. The options that i see are:
dt-880 good imaging and sound stage but cold sound signature (i own it)
hd650 imaging and soundstage pretty similar to the 600 but with a warmer sound signature not worth if you already own the 600 and you think to keep both (i owned it)
k712 should be warmer than the 880 with a good soundstage and imaging (never tried)
fidelio x2 not avaiable otherwise pretty much what you’re looking for (tried)
harmonic dyne zeus an improved x2? many people say that (never tried too expensive imo)
hd560s pretty neutral more bass and more treble then the 600 and 650 slightly better soundstage (I tried it but I didn’t like it and I sended it back since for analitical listening the 880 is better imo)
after there are many others headphones designed especially for gaming but i don’t know them
Thank you for the explanation and recs. I’m probably going to look more into DT880 600ohm since they are more available. I hope people won’t kill me for this but I hate the physical design of AKG headphones. I heard so many praises about 560s but I was afraid it was too overhyped, I think that I could skip them since I already have the neutral HD600. The rest is again unavailable here:(
Another option is returning my Aune X7s for better amps (like Rupert Neve Designs RNHP - very expensive) but I would hate to do that because of the strict transportation in Central Europe due to pandemic. Also I don’t see a point in buying high-priced amps because of one headphone.
Good luck with your research, I hope you’ll find what you are looking for, but really not be worried for the aune is not perfect but is pretty solid for drive high impedance headphones personally I owned a lake people and a lehmann and I sold them after the aune because the lehmann wasn’t as clean and the lake people was almost identical to the aune with the headphones i had double the price with a gain switch inside and only single endend. About the RNHP here many people really like it but actually it will struggle much more to drive the 880 than the aune in single endend, the rnhp is designed for drive low impedance dynamic headphones and planar headphones that does’t require an huge amount of power. I’m curious to try it because people really like it but the design actually is really simple and cheap like 50euro if was made in china.
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I dunno man, we might need more jumper cables… you couldn’t possibly run this very old headphone in 600 ohms off less than $100 amplifier cough cough.
^ below $100 and run the 600 ohms… not the best, but do work fine.
ah, I see. Yeah they are quite demanding but not to a crazy degree since most $100 entry level dedicated amps can run them… the issue with x7s is all that power is located in it’s balanced port like a lot of amps… if the 880 was balanced it definitely can run off that x7s with no issues in high gain but I can say the same for other amps like THX 789 and IFI amps
really depends on what your looking for as 770 is more of a V shape while 880 is neutral bright… 770 is more comparable to the sharper 990 while 880 is in it’s own area less you include 1990 or T1
That narrow soundstage kills it for gaming for me personally… I can use them fine casually but everything feels too close to me…
Tygrs are only available on their own directly from beyer or through third party… you can use Hifishark to search multiple sites for someone selling them… I have also seen beyers b stock parties selling on reverb for tygr at like… $149 which is ridiculously low for this headphone.
this is definitely true… the x7s won’t be the best for tygr due to it’s low ohm factor but be really good for 880s since it’s specifically designed for high impedance… it’s only that unbalanced port that’s lacking.
very reference, bright neutral sennheiser… above the average soundstage and good enough imaging… properly well rounded and nice in my opinion… I wouldn’t rate it higher than the beyers for fps gaming but it still is up there
Would you recommend me to rather look into another amp or different headphones? So I guess Tygr is out of picture. They are available but they are sold only with that microphone for the same price as HD600. I don’t want to order outside the country because of the pandemic and strict customs rules.
Thank you for the advice. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one having the weirdest setup in this audio hobby:D lost of mysteries regarding almost everything.
Either or really. Honestly I’d recommend selling the x7s less you plan to get balanced headphones later… just grab an asgard 3 or something like a lake people as they are single ended with alot of power. Entry levels work fine too and you can usually find like liquid spark for $70. Note if I recall theres an aune dedicated single ended amp too… been a while
Not the most popular option but you can always either mod the 600 ohm balanced(you don’t need an ultra expensive cable… I used newfantasia for a while and those are like $40) or go the 250 ohm route
Other headphones really depend on your sound preferences which I don’t think I seen reading through here
What about FiiO K5 pro? Aren’t they more powerful than X7s in terms of unbalanced ports?