 Nearly perfect for recording, mixing, and monitoring |
| Review Date: September 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Steward Willons, Illinois |
I was recently in the market for a new set of headphones and my audition process was lengthy and borderline obsessive. The result was a pretty good picture of what's out there for a reasonable ($600 or less) price. After listening to Sennheisers, Grados, AKGs, Etymotics, and Beyer, I came to the conclusion that the Beyer DT770s are nearly perfect for recording, monitoring, and mixing. I didn't get a chance to demo the DT880s, which some people rank amongst the very finest transducers in the world, but I'm sure they're even better.
The AKG 240s are popular with the home studio/bedroom producer crowd (yeah, I too have a pair laying around) and since the 240s and DT770s are in the same general price range, I'll compare them most thoroughly. I've said this elsewhere, but my general feels are, Grados are best for low-power devices (e.g. iPods, Walkmans), Sennheisers are amongst the best for audiophilic listening, and Etymotics (and now Shures) are best for revealing every minute detail of a sound. Those opinions are based on owning and living with many pairs for a long time.
So, where do Beyers fit in? They're awesome for anyone who wants a sealed headphone for noise isolation. They don't reduce noise to the extent that a canalphone like the Etymotics will, but then again, some people prefer not to stick tiny audio transducers way into their ears. Plus, sharing is not a problem. The DT770s will provide reasonable isolation even in noisy environments. They're a great choice for monitoring with drums. As a percussionist, my problem was always finding a headphone that cut out enough of my playing so that I didn't have to blast my eardrums every time I played with a click track.
I tried the AKG 240s in these types of situations, but they fit substantially looser and a fair amount of noise leaks in. The fit is also a problem when you need to move. The Beyers firmly grip your head. There's not a lot of pressure, but at the same time, you can shake your head around and they won't move. They AKGs were always fatiguing after an hour or so, but the Beyers were so comfortable that I could all but forget I was wearing them.
Sonically, the Beyers are impressive. My AKGs always seemed light on bass. I'm not a bass fanatic, but when there is heavy bass, the headphones should translate it without scaling it back. The DT770s were appropriately punchy when it was called for, and subtle, but present the rest of the time. I never felt like the bass had a distinct roll off in the audible frequency range. With a lot of headphones, once you get below 60Hz, the bass power reduces noticeably, but not so much with the Beyers.
The midrange was quite smooth and blended seamlessly with the very precise highs. I wouldn't go so far as to call them crystalline, but they were very detailed and accurately reproduced the higher frequencies that get lopped off by lesser headphones. Overall, the sound was slightly more aggressive than with my Sennheiser HD600s. I think the HD600s are better if you just want to listen for pleasure, but when you're in the studio, you need something up-front and energized.
When I heard the DT770s, I was listening through a Digidesign interface, which had a dedicated headphone amplifier. This is critical, because without proper amplification, these headphones are perfectly capable of sounding dull and lifeless with anemic bass and little dynamic range. They're not going to work with your iPod unless you add a portable headphone amp. Similarly, they'll play reasonably loud out of your computer, but the precision and dynamic range won't be there. The DT770s are rated at 250 ohms making them sufficiently high to require more voltage than your portable devices can deliver. It's not like they'll make an ugly sound running directly out of your iPod - just that with extra power, they really become something special.
Overall, I highly recommend the DT770s to anyone looking to set up a home studio. They're analytical enough to reveal hidden details, but they still sound pleasing and won't fatigue your ears, even after long sessions. If you're wanting to listen directly from a portable device, the Grado SR60s will work much better. If you're wanting to listen for pleasure, I think the very high end Sennheisers are a little more musical. However, for all your recording/mixing/monitoring tasks, the Beyers are great. I highly recommend them |
beyerdynamic DT 770 250 ohm model
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| Review Date: May 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: A. Helfer, Pennsylvania |
I do a lot of listening through a headphone amp. My principal headphones are AKG 701s, which are stunning once they're broken in. However, the AKGs are based on an open transducer principle. That is, you can hear everything going on around you -- the 701s don't attenuate environmental noise at all.
So I started searching for a sealed model. These beyerdynamics are the best that I found within the realm of reason price-wise. I'd been watching them here for some time, and the price dropped by about 35% to under two hundred, so I picked them up.
The build quality is pretty good. I don't like that the metal brackets holding the earcups are not polished around their edges -- they're a bit sharp or rough. It wouldn't have cost much to smooth them out a little. Aside from that, I have no complaints. They're comfortable, almost as comfortable as the 701s. But they don't have the 701s' auto-fit feature.
The sound off the bat was incredibly bright, almost strident or peaky in parts of the upper registers. With about 100+ hours of use, however, they're breaking in pretty well and easing off a bit. Still a bit on the bright side. The bass is emphasized much more in the 770s than in the 701s. (Some people say the 701s are lean, but I think that's a mistake. They have deep bass. It's just musical in the 701s -- they don't sound like a car with a kicker box in the trunk. If you want to hear lean bass, find some AKG 240DFs.) These 770s sometimes emphasize the bass a bit too much. But I can live with them because the bass is still controlled, not boomy. The mids are OK on the 770s, much better than the pair of Sennheiser 280s I have from several years back, but they lack the liquidity, presence, and detail of the 701s in that range. I prefer the 701s for jazz, classical, vocal, and acoustic music. These beyers are great for rock, rap, and electronic stuff. They do a good job of keeping out environmental noise, however, so they're useful for other music in environments in which you don't want to disturb others or have them interfering with your listening. I'd say 4.5 stars if I could. |
Beyerdynamic DT770 (2006 250 ohm version)
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| Review Date: March 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Colonel Saito, North Potomac, Maryland |
I am reviewing the DT770 250 ohm 2006 version.
A few months ago Amazon offered a great deal on these cans (somewhere in the ballpark of half the price they are currently offered at). At first I was disappointed; they are not good without a lot of power and paired with just my ipod, even at maximum volume they were too quiet, not to mention audibly underpowered, fitting of their ohm rating. However, upon pairing these cans with a cheap Chinese fiio f3 headphone amplifier I am much changed in opinion. Despite the fiio being a very cheap amp ($10 or so), the combination has been marvelous to listen to. While they still need a fair amount of power from the source, they sound much more full, and the bass is properly powered.
Let me start by establishing this point. The bass for these is definitely the selling point. It is strong, full, and 'healthy'. At the same time, the highs and lows sound good as well though admittedly not as clear or clean-sounding as equivalently-priced open headphones (such as Sennheiser or AKG). Some portable audiophiles might live by open designs, but for me something about closed headphones with good bass just works for my ears, and I much prefer these for hip-hop or rock to my open Grado sr60's (although I will admit I am simply not a fan of the Grado sound). Furthermore, for a closed headphone these have a very good soundstage. However, because it is closed they still feel naturally a bit more contained, but at the same time more organized as well. I developed a liking for the closed soundstage for jazz because it reminds me of the small jazz club environment (rather than my Sennheisers, which can occasionally feel too big for quartets). Simply, this is both a positive and negative; these sound great with an understandable instrumentation of a smaller to medium number. In summation, I'd definitely prefer a Sennheiser for classical with it's large instrumentations, but these sound acceptable for virtually all kinds of music as long so long as there aren't too many different parts that need a spatial sound.
Finally, these headphones are both relatively low-fatigue and very comfortable. In build quality, they are well made, a bit better than my Senns and Grados, but worse than my AKGs. One thing to note is that at first they may seem like they are clamp down a bit hard around the head, however with some wear or a few manual stretches of the metal headband this can be easily rectified.
Overall, I'd give these two stars if you have no amp, 4-5 stars depending on what amp you have. I rounded up because, despite the cheap amp I have paired with these, I am extremely satisfied with the sound. |
Amazon made a Mistake !
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| Review Date: January 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: FAN ZHOU, NYC, NY |
All reviews of different beyerdynamic headphones are mixed together. Dt990 dt770 etc... What the Hell!
Can amazon have each review under the right headphone? |
My work headphones
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| Review Date: April 17, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Ethan Gardella, Los Angeles, CA |
The Beyerdynamic DT 770's are the perfect headphone for work. They are sealed well to leak little sound out, you will not disturb your neighbor at reasonable volumes. The large comfortable pads also help seal environmental noise out, even with no music outside sounds are decreased by about 20-30%. Build quality is fantastic: the cable is firmly attached, headband seems to flex well, cans seem firm and tight with no moving pieces.
These are not the most picky headphones as far as connection is concerned, they do well un-amped, even from most portable devices; although battery drain is noticeable over ear buds. Amping these makes them really shine and even a cheaper amp make them sound great. Source is important considering these are extremely accurate, junk in == junk out.
Sound quality is outstanding for every type of music I throw at it (Classical, Jazz, Rock, Rap), just make sure your ears are in about the center of the can as too far forward is bass city and too far back is treble town. Definition and Clarity are as good as Sennheiser 600s, if not slightly better. You can hear fingers move up and down strings, and vocals are clear but not over accented, percussion truly shine. The general sound is warm but not so soft that things start blending together. These are my favorite headphones that I own and would recommend them to anyone. |
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