Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition – 600 Ohm
Background: I recently completed a Bottlehead Crack DIY kit and tried it with my Sennheiser HD-58X, 6XX, and 600. I purchased but have not installed the Speedball kit. I’m using it with the Bottlehead-supplied clear-top RCA 12AU7 but swapped their GE 6080 for a Svetlana 6N13S (6AS7G).
The HD-58X with 150 ohm impedance is unusable on the Crack, per ridiculous channel imbalance at normal listening volumes and very scratchy sound. The HD-600 has 300 ohm impedance and is “okay,” but hissy and not interesting. The 600 is always temperamental and prefers balanced amps in my experience, and the Speedball may help. That’s TBD.
The HD-6XX also has 300 ohm impedance, but transforms into a reverb and harmonics king on the Crack. To my ears it loses its excessive bass (as on solid state amps), to be replaced by fun and tubey bass. Its output is not remotely accurate or true to the source, but very low-fatigue and a very engaging repackaging of music. This setup likely sells the Crack for a lot of people. Sometimes it becomes too rough and distracting, but that’s the topic for another post.
As the Crack is an OTL amp and compatible only with high impedance headphones, something with 600 ohms must be tried. Enter the Beyerdynamic DT-880.
@Resolve initiated this thread with a review and non-recommendation of the DT-880 250 ohm edition (above). I’m here to both agree and disagree for the 600 ohm edition.
Cost, Physical Design, Fit, and Comfort: The DT-880 Edition 600 ohm retails for $200 or less (I paid $175 new). It’s made of metal and plastic, with initial quality competitive to Sennheiser’s 500 and 600 series. For my head, its comfort is equal or superior to the Sennheiser 600 series and Focal Clear. There’s enough adjustment range, the velour pads are soft, and there’s not too much clamp. The 3 meter rubbery cable is permanently affixed the left ear (only), and it requires major surgery to swap. So, no balanced testing was possible.
Overview of Findings: The DT-880 600 ohm can be downright impressive with the midrange and vocals, but it indeed has treble issues. The bass is not detailed or deep either. I recommend this product as a vocals specialist, at least with treble EQ or de facto tube EQ (per the Crack).
Test Equipment and Setups:
- Schiit Bifrost 2 → Bottlehead Crack → Headphones
- Schiit Bifrost 2 → RebelAmp → Headphones
- Schiit Bifrost 2 → RebelAmp as preamp → Bottlehead Crack with volume cranked to 9/10 to get around channel imbalance with the cheap factory pot → Headphones
- iFi ZenDAC (v1) → Headphones
Headphones Compared Back-to-Back: Focal Clear (not on the Crack), HD-600, HD-6XX, and DT-880.
Test tracks: My set of fatigue-evaluation songs and more.
Findings:
The DT-880 delivers pleasingly smooth, detailed, and enjoyable vocals, and that aspect can be superior to the Clear. The Clear is technically better in most ways, but relatively bright and thinner in the mids. Unfortunately, the DT-880 routinely results in rapid fatigue (tinnitus, piercing whines) with the solid state amps. My Crack minimized this, and I used the Schiit Loki (4 knob version) to mitigate it on the RebelAmp. My settings were Pots 1 & 2 at 12:00, Pot 3 at 3:00, and Pot 4 at 9:00. This further smushed the DT-880 into the mid range and drove attention to vocals.
The DT-880 600 ohm edition can be fully satisfactory for a session of mild music on the Crack. The Crack does its gooey-tubey job and makes the world a smoother and creamier place. With rock or troubling treble, no, there are better choices. [Again, and to be addressed separately in a Crack post: the HD-6XX delivers something very different than the DT-880 on the Crack.]
In back-to-back testing versus the Clear on the RebelAmp, the DT-880 loses both high and low range details and dynamic punch. It sounded dead when set at a similar volume, but its creamy smoothness appeared when the volume was raised. It’s very enjoyable as long as the treble is controlled.
In testing on the relatively weak ZenDAC, the DT-880 is a usable option. It again generated pleasing mids but fatiguing treble. The ZenDAC has no power to spare and doesn’t generate much bass, ever. As such, it has a bass boost feature to provide a mid-bass hump. This is vague and rubbery bass, but at least something is there. The 600 ohm DT-880 pushes the ZenDAC to its absolute limit, with my preferred volume at 2:00 to 4:00 and no discomfort even at the max volume at 5:00.
Recommended Users:
- Fans of vocals and middle frequency music
- Those who are not sensitive to treble
- Those who enjoy EQ or tube rolling
The DT-880 reminds me of the Koss Porta Pro for delivering a mix between good mid-range performance and piercing treble. The DT-880 also reminds me of the Focal Utopia for delivering random treble stabs. I’m quite enjoying it for mids and vocals on the Crack.