Beyerdynamics DT 770 Pro

[Resonance]

Just a quick question. I've been looking around for a new pair of headphones and stumbled upon the Beyerdynamics DT 770's and they look amazing. However, there a versions for 250 Ohms, 32 ohms, and 80 ohms. Since I just recently started researching headphones I don't know the differences between ohms and other specifications. Could anyone enlighten me?

Thanks.

 

[jamesriley94]

The higher the impedance (Ohms) the less static gets through...but you need a more powerful amp to drive them.

The 32 version is meant for iPods really - I wouldn't really want to buy them tbh.
The 80s are meant to be amped, but they go to a reasonable level on portable devices and PCs without being amped.
The 250s need to be amped.

However, not much static gets through after 80ohms, so there's little difference in that sense between the 80s and 250s. If you look up reviews, most places say the 80s have a better bass and sound a little better than the 250s, but differences I'm sure will be minor.

Therefore for normal PC use, the 80s are probably the best to go for - although I would recommend a good soundcard such as the Essence STX with the headphone amp, or getting something like a Fiio E7.

So you know - I own a pair of the 80s, and they are amazing headphones.

 

[Resonance]

That helped so much... on very many levels. I tried out a Steelseries Siberia v2 and the amount of static, or whatever background noise that was, was completely horrid to listen to when I was listening to youtube videos. Was this due to the 32 ohms? On my current headset I only hear a slight bit of it but not as much as the siberia's.
What are amps and sound cards meant to do? I understand on a very basic level.

 

[jamesriley94]

You can't really compare headsets to headphones. Headphones will always be better.

That could have just been due to the bad quality of youtube video tbh. I can't really say more.

Amps provide more power to the headphones so they can go louder.
Soundcards process the sound better and so the quality of the audio is better.
There's also DACs - Digital to Analogue converters which then refine the sound and eliminates static and other background noise.

If you're getting good headphones such as the DT770s - you need all 3 of those features really.
The Xonar Essence STX have all of these built in, but if you want to save money, you can get a Fiio E7 which is just a DAC and headphone amp. So you'll get cleaner audio, which will make it sound better quality, but it won't be quite as good as having the soundcard too. However, if you went with that, you'd be able to use your headphones with the Fiio on your iPod, or other portable device, and so have great quality audio everywhere if you wanted.

The other option is buying external DACs and amps - but you need to be spending a lot of money to make that worthwhile.

 

[Resonance]

In response to the comparison between headsets and headphones, I'm 100% with you on that. Since the optimization is directed to sounds. Though for the videos, I've tried multiple videos, comparing them both neck to neck. The amp really makes sense though, I was wondering why the sound was so low even when I tried putting everything to max. I guess if I did have an amp or sound card the quality would have been pretty good.

I'll probably buy the DT770s with the Essence. Though since I don't have enough for both at the moment, the DT770s should be fine on it's own? I may just wait till I can just buy both.

 

[Josh Weston]

If you're testing out the raw performance of your headset, using YouTube videos isn't the best way to go.
Try and download a song using a lossless format and see how that goes.

 

[Resonance]

Oh it wasn't only with youtube, I tried it out with games and music. The quality was okay, it wasn't that great.

 

[jamesriley94]

If you're sure about getting them, I'd probably get the 80Ohms now.
Then save up for an Essence.

But - keep your eye on ebay. There are often very good deals on the cheaper Fiios that are just portable headphone amps. Even one of those in a PC/iPod should make a fair amount of difference.

I definitely agree with Josh though.
Once you've got a soundcard and proper headphones, it's so easy to tell when you're listening on youtube.

Did you just try the music with the headset? No proper headphones?
If so, you'll notice so much difference when you get it all set up.

 

[Resonance]

I've never really listened on proper headphones, since I'm the only person in person that I know that actually cares about quality, instead of buying beats.
Can't wait to see how they'll turn out.
Thanks.

 

[Blade of Grass]

I think that you should go for something better than an essence, like a usb DAC and a headphone amp.
something like what they sell:
http://schiit.com/