Hello my friends!

I'm going to buy the Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 ohm headphones (which I hope that they will be good for producing psytrance- if anyone has a different opinion please let me know) So I'm now looking for a headphone's amplifier to pair with the DT 880 600 ohm, as I believe that my RME babyface won't be powerful enough to drive these headphones. Which amplifier would you recommend? My budget is between £150 and £200

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

The Beyerdynamic DT 880 are really great headphones. It's very questionable if you're not buying them specifically for mixing and mastering tasks, if your choice is not a little bit over the top.
I would say they are absolutely not needed for production tasks. I'd recommend the Audio Technica ATH-M50 or the AKG K271 MKII. Which are more than you need for production. Plus they
won't let you down in most mixing and mastering tasks, as well. The ATH-M50 sell for about 100$ and the AKG for about 150$. If you decide to order them, you can still send them back
if you don't like them or feel they don't fit your needs and get the Beyerdynamic. I think you have 14 days to "test them" (or is it 30 days?).

Your RME interface should have enough power. You probably won't need a headphone amp. You shouldn't monitor too loud using headphones, anyway. You can't judge anything on
headphones if you're monitoring too loud, plus it's not good for your hearing. Same thing here, I would order the headphones first to test them with your interface. And if you still
feel like you need more power, then buy a headphone amp (or a different interface). I would seriously save the money and buy something else.

Big Mike

 

Thanks for replying and advice. I actually will buy the headphones for mixing and mastering tasks, but didn't make it clear at all. I use monitores for producing, but my bedroom is really bad in terms of acoustics. I've bought my babyface about a month ago, so looking for another audio interface is not an option for me at the moment, but should have thought about the headphones when I bought it, was so excited that I simply forgot. I will order the headphones first, and see how it does with the babyface, but I'm 99% that I will need a headphone's amp. From what I've heard and from all that I've read throughout the Internet, all RME babyface users who also own the DT 880 600 ohm confirm that the babyface is not really powerful enough to drive the headphones. Some people are happy with the 250 ohm without amplification. But not with the 600 ohm version.

I've heard that these amps could be an interesting choice to pair with the 880 600 ohm:

Indeed G3 Headphone Tube Pre Amplifier,
Bellari HA540,
Little Dot MK IV- a lot of people seem to like this one,
The Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11,
Schiit Audio Valhalla,

I'm not really confident in choosing one of them, so some help would be great.

 

After checking, I saw that the Babyface headphone out is 30 ohm. Maybe you should try using the headphones with the headphone amp of your computer instead of using the interface.

Sorry, didn't know. I thought it was more.

Big Mike

 

After reading sooooo many reviews and articles and after reading on so many forums, I came to the conclusion that the 600 ohm version is better than the 250 ohm version. Apparently, it's not a big difference, but the difference in price is small too. So i thought why not get the best?! Especially if even with the 250 ohm version I still need a headphone amp...I intent to try both versions as soon I get to London on Sunday, but I don't think it will change my mind...

RME headphone out ohm is disappointing: 30 ohm?! Such a great portable audio interface with this big disadvantage. It's a pity...

 

It's quite simple. Your headphone amplifier's output should be able to deliver around 70-80 ohm of impedance on the output to be able to drive 600 ohm headphones properly.

The equation looks like this: 8 x 80 ohm = 640 ohm.

The closer the number to 600 the better, although the differences aren't really so earth-shattering, but a huge deviation from that equation will give you a different sound: a bit more or less bass in particular.

There is a similar calculation for the microphones but the equation goes like this: 10 x the microphone's impedance gives you the impedance of the microphone preamp you should use. That's one of the reasons why they invented the "tilt" EQ, I suppose, to be able to correct the sound that you get as a result of having mismatched impedances. Many people actually prefer somewhat mismatched impedances in this case, especially when it gives you more highs.

Cheers!

 

DT250's (80ohm/£50 cheaper) are very very nice (I own) and are not overkill - maybe the 880's are overkill.
RME should be more than enough. Save your cash.

 

I don't have this. I haven't use it either.

http://www.jdslabs.com/products/35/objective2-headphone-amplifier/

I have read that for the price the O2 is one of the best amplifiers at a low budget with a flat response. Feel free to check around for other reviews yourself.

Price around 129.99$ dollars + 10.99 on adapter. Make sure to order the adapter for your region. I believe the support the UK/British outlet and the American version.


http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/i-love-these-headphonesthe-nad-viso-hp50
I will also recommend the Nad Viso Hp50 Headphones if you still undecided on the beyern~

 

DT-880 600 is plugged straight into the MBP here.
Not very loud, but my ears say thank you and I have to work more on my mixes... so it's all for the good.

 

I have a question for the OP.

Do you think their sub bass simulation technology is reliable in those beyer product ??

I'mnottalking in therm of frequency response but in thightness ofthe bass in those headphone

 

I have been using the DT 880 Pro's for the last couple of years. I love them. I drive them directly from my RME Fireface 800 ...(out of the head phone jack). NO ISSUES w/ volume / amplitude not being enough. Having said that, you may want to check the spec between the Babyface and the Fireface. If the Babyface has a headphone out jack like the Fireface ... my suspicion is the output is probably close .. but I do not know the spec without looking it up myself.

Just one last thought .. i don't know how much the DT 880's sell for now, but mine cost a small fortune. I also have a set of Sennheiser 280 HD 280 pros. Comparison of the two is very interesting. The DT 880 cost a lot more, are very comfortable, and have a very nice sound to them. Yes, you can use them to reference and reference in mastering.

HOWEVER .... while the Sennheiser HD 280's are not as comfortable, have a slightly harder sound ... they noticeably have more bottom end. I mention this, because I suspect that there may ( I stress MAY as it is a personal choice / preference) be better choices if you are doing any type of electronica where you are in the frequency range of 55 Hz and below (subsonic stuff). In the lower end, the Sennheiser's have a better spec and cost about $95 at Best Buy (of all places).

Hope this helps you.

.............. I just thought of something else I should mention. Keeping in mind that if you mix or master TOO loud ... say beyond the 85 Db level ... you begin to hear incorrectly. I won't bother you with the technology ... ( look up Fletcher Munson Curve) ... but the bottom line is if you exceed this general level, the human ears begin to hear / perceive frequencies incorrectly as pertains to low / mids / high end. Most professional audio engineers know this .. but some times guys that have no formal training do not realize how the human ear performs. If this interests you, you might want to see if you can get your hands on the Golden Ears series of disks and the PDF manual (It is a training methodology to help audio engineers hear accurately in the 10 octave music spectrum.

Don't forget to research the Fletcher Munson curve and how the ear hears. Also, if you look at professionally mixed music from the major studios using a spectrum analyzer, you will see there is an approximate 3 Db slope, starting on the low end, and sloping down to the high end. This is something else you may want to look into. The human ear needs to have the bottom end boosted a tad to equally hear the bass and the midrange amplitude be the same.

Peace. I'm gone.

 

The Fletcher Munson Curveball Explained

 

I'm a big fan of the DT 880 Premium Edition (250 ohm) i use them for both mixing/mastering and production tasks and i'm pretty satisfied..to amplify them i'm using a FiiO Olympus E10 digital Amp..it's pretty cheap but trust me it works like a charm!
You will pilot your headphones at their best.
Peace
JB

I can tell you they're very tight

 

After googling it again, I can say that the Fireface and Babyface provide exactly the same headphone amp. If people say they have enough power to drive the Sennheisers, then you should give it a try. As other
posters mentioned above, I am also using the headphone out/amp of the Mac. I use an early 2009 model with AKGs. Can't speak for PC, but I guess the hardware used in (most) PCs can't compete with the
hardware used in Macs. So, it might be a good idea to look for your computers headphone amp specs and use that one if you feel like the Babyface doesn't give you what you need.

Big Mike

 

I would go with Objective2 Headphone Amplifier (especially for the price). Check out this article- http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html
I have one myself and use it along with my audio interface to drive a pair of LCD-2's (audeze).

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I've recently heard that the O2 is a good choice to pair with DT 880. I'm not sure if that's with the 600 ohm version. Will for sure be checking around for reviews. Would be also great to hear from someone who owns it.

Thanks a lot for your recommendations I'll definitely be be researching the Fletcher Munson curve and how the ear hears, and will soon try to get the my hands on the Golden Ears series.

I'm not sure, but I guess that the fireface 800 phones output impedance is, like the babyface, 30 ohm. Which Beyerdynamic DT 880 version do you use? The 250 ohm or 600 ohm?

AT.

I've heard good things about the FiiO headphone amps. Do you think that the FiiO Olympus E10 will be enough to drive the DT880 600 ohm version?

AT.

Will first buy only the headphones and give it a try. But somehow I have a feeling that will need the amp. Especially because from time to time, I really like to significantly increase the volume to check certain things...would be great if I didn't need an amp, but I have my doubts....

AT

Thanks for the article. The O2 is liked by many. I'm starting to consider it as a good choice to pair with the DT 880 600 ohm. However, I also would like to get some feedback on these headphones amps before making up my mind:

Indeed G3 Headphone Tube Pre Amplifier,
Bellari HA540,
Little Dot MK IV- a lot of people seem to like this one,
The Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11,
Schiit Audio Valhalla,


AT.

 

For sure. Explore all your options