beyerdynamicDT 880 Edition 600 Ohm Hi-Fi- Headphone

I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD599SE headphones (50 ohms). Similarly priced. I wanted a set of high impedance headphones because the volume is too loud for normal headphones when connected to an Audiolab 8000A amplifier. The DT 880 headphones are a better match to the amp's headphone socket and are significantly quieter than the Sennheisers for the same volume level. When used with a laptop via a Focusrite audio amp, they are too quiet. 600 ohms headphones are, therefore, to be used with either a good quality hi fi amp or via a dedicate headphone amp.The good: these headphones are very detailed and revealing. It is true that they have a brightness to them but that is not the same as saying they are 'bright'. It is easy to pinpoint instruments in the mix and hear them with a distinct quality that is lacking in the Sennheisers. Upon comparison, the instruments can be heard with the Sennheisers but not with the same precision and tonal quality. Percussion is handled extremely well and it is easy to hear intricate high hat details which are lost with the Sennheisers. There is a noticeable flavour to the skin of each drum. Strings are gloriously open. Bass notes are easy to hear without them blending into an overall bass boom. In particular, they excel with upright bass - the decay of each note can be heard and the characteristic of each string heard. You can tell instantly if a bass is electric or upright. The bass register seems to go lower than the Sennheisers too but it is not noticeably pronounced. Piano notes similarly benefit from hearing the acoustic properties of each note. Vocals are superb and intimate.The not so good: These are not 'rock' headphones. They are not bass heavy and thus lack a rock sound stage presence. The stereo sound stage can sometimes lack focus and sound too wide. Pink Floyd was very detailed but suffered from being too left ear/right ear. The headphones benefit greatly from good quality recordings and mixes. They are breathtakingly good with small jazz ensemble, Sinatra, swing and any well recorded acoustically based genre. Some rock/pop recordings sound better than the Sennheisers and it would not be fair to say they are not good for other types of music. Overall, with my somewhat eclectic recording collection, I would say the Beyers sound better with about 70% of my music. When I prefer the Sennheisers, it is not because they ‘sound’ better, it is generally because they handle the sound stage better and tend to smooth any harshness in the production/mix which the Beyers reveal too honestly.Summary: the headphones might sound 'bright' if used after listening to something 'warm'. The same is true vice versa. The 600 ohms version is not suitable for portable devices, laptops, phone etc. as they are too quiet. They excel with tonal quality, detail and musicality. When partnered with good source material, they are superb. The Sennheisers are ideal for YouTube HD listening and other 'device' sourced material. They have a warm balance, are easy to live with deliver a solid all round performance. When that moment to listen to great source material arrives and stunning replication of detail, tone and total immersion is required, the Beyer DT 880 headphones deliver. Build quality is excellent. They are light and very comfy. I wish they had a detachable lead like Sennheiser headphones. When they are good (which is the majority of the time) they are simply excellent. For other times, I would buy a pair of modest headphones.

I like everything about this - made me a complete fanboi.I have an Audiolab 6000a integrated amp and this headphone’s 600 ohm as per my Audiolab’s manual is on the upper end of what the amp can accept - however once connected it manages this headphone brilliantly.My speakers are Kef R3 with a Kef 10 subwoofer. I wished a headphone that would reproduce the same sound via headphones when the family is sleeping, and it sure can!!! If anything this headphone helped me clarify the sound better so that I could then calibrate my subwoofer better when I took the headphones off.I note it seems to play the song as is - ie with no extra colourations - ie when there is good bass, it plays that, etc. However do remember the quality of most recordings is not great - this will clearly show everything as is. But just wait till you hear a good recording and then heaven!On another note, I had no bright treble - but reading reviews on YouTube, some people say if the amp powering this is not powerful enough then only will it sound bright - again not the case for me, unless a particular song is specifically recorded that way.I also like that the ear compression is minimal and the pads do not make my ears hot and with the relatively light weight for this type of headphone - so comfortable that I can fall asleep listening to music.My headphone journey - Sennheiser HD599 which in my opinion sounds garbage in comparison to this. Then I had a Sundara which was very clear but did not have a good soundstage and also my ears became hot after a while with that. Also Sundara heavy.With this DT 880 - loving the improvement in horizontal soundstage even though it has the clarity of the Sundara but not sounding as bright.In a nutshell, if you have something that can power 600ohms, you will not regret buying this and hopefully be most happy having gone for this, as I currently am.