Thanks to several forum members, random Amazon customers and a host of web reviews I decided to buy a pair of these, in 250 Ohm flavour. I already have some ageing Grado SR80, a pair of Sennheiser IE80 and I'd impulse bought some Sennheiser Momentum on-ears. I've been mainly using the IE80s with my Galaxy S3 phone as a portable player when travelling, and having livced alone for the most part of the week in my own house rarely used them, and certainly not in my main system. I've moved in with my partner and her family, so a decent pair of phones was always going to be required. Whuilst the IE80s are sensitive enough to be just about loud enough to drown out a pair of Pratt & Whitneys at take off thrust, they have always been overly bass boomy to me, and somewhat grainy in the upper mids, but that is probably as much as a fault of the source.
I also listened to my sons AKG 550, and much preferred their flatter more even musical response than the momentums, so they quickly went back. The Grados ear pieces have long since disintegrated, so I have just bought a pair of replacement foam doughnuts.
I'm not going to wax on about the tonality of the DT880s, they've been around long enough and reviewed enough times for that to be easy to determine, but the sonic characteristics that I noticed as much as their tonal balance is their handling of microdynamics, and the effect this has on musicality and rhythm of the track. Sure they are slightly bright (but I like that), far from bass heavy, but flat and extended which does not suit a lot of people; but the sense of drama, pace and sheer dynamism is astounding. In comparison, the IE80s are bloated, slow and pondersous; the upper bass just obscures the midrange detail and robs it of delicacy and scale; and then the grainy upper mids just grate and detract from the music. The Grados with their new pads are better, but they are simply way too bright, the treble being overly brash and slightly sibilant. The bass too appears to be stronger and fuller than the DT880s, but in fact it's not, it too is over exagerated, though more extended than the IE80.
Detail of course is there in spades, I've just spent an hour listening to several very familiar Pink Floyd tracks, and I can hear more of the background conversations than ever before, but it's the way that the music swells and descends that is most impressive. All of this using my humble (but vastly underrated) Dacmagic +, so goodness knows what the 600 ohm version would be like with a top quality headphone amp. I was in two minds whether to bother writing yet another review of possibly the most reviewed phones on the planet, but I'm really that impressed i had to share it!
I've rtied them also with a Dacmagic XS, which struggles unsurprisingly to generate a lot of volume, but the same sonic traits are present. I'm waiting for the beyerdynamic DT880 A200 portable DAC amp, which I'm hoping will transform the S3 / galaxy tab pro for general around the house listening.
I also listened to my sons AKG 550, and much preferred their flatter more even musical response than the momentums, so they quickly went back. The Grados ear pieces have long since disintegrated, so I have just bought a pair of replacement foam doughnuts.
I'm not going to wax on about the tonality of the DT880s, they've been around long enough and reviewed enough times for that to be easy to determine, but the sonic characteristics that I noticed as much as their tonal balance is their handling of microdynamics, and the effect this has on musicality and rhythm of the track. Sure they are slightly bright (but I like that), far from bass heavy, but flat and extended which does not suit a lot of people; but the sense of drama, pace and sheer dynamism is astounding. In comparison, the IE80s are bloated, slow and pondersous; the upper bass just obscures the midrange detail and robs it of delicacy and scale; and then the grainy upper mids just grate and detract from the music. The Grados with their new pads are better, but they are simply way too bright, the treble being overly brash and slightly sibilant. The bass too appears to be stronger and fuller than the DT880s, but in fact it's not, it too is over exagerated, though more extended than the IE80.
Detail of course is there in spades, I've just spent an hour listening to several very familiar Pink Floyd tracks, and I can hear more of the background conversations than ever before, but it's the way that the music swells and descends that is most impressive. All of this using my humble (but vastly underrated) Dacmagic +, so goodness knows what the 600 ohm version would be like with a top quality headphone amp. I was in two minds whether to bother writing yet another review of possibly the most reviewed phones on the planet, but I'm really that impressed i had to share it!
I've rtied them also with a Dacmagic XS, which struggles unsurprisingly to generate a lot of volume, but the same sonic traits are present. I'm waiting for the beyerdynamic DT880 A200 portable DAC amp, which I'm hoping will transform the S3 / galaxy tab pro for general around the house listening.
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