David Solomon – Headphones.com
Beyerdynamic’s DT880 is a headphone which I have been long familiar with and have always had a great affinity for since the first time I heard them. The sound is tilted just a notch brighter than neutral while still sounding very natural and transparent. At one point, not too long ago, the
DT880s were often cited as the most detailed headphone offering available. While many manufacturers such as Beyerdynamic themselves as well as
Sennheiser and newcomer
Audez’e have since raised the bar, the
DT880 is still in my opinion, the most detailed headphone at its price point. For this, I consider the DT880 a monster of a value!
THE FIT THE FINISH
The plush velour earpads which Beyerdynamic installs on the DT770, DT880 and DT990 models, are in my opinion, amongst the most comfortable earpads in the industry. These earpads are user replaceable. Should they ever lose their freshness, the pads can be taken off very easily and new ones can be installed. The faux leather headband is nicely padded. The headphone while larger than portable headphones, is lighter than it appears. The ear cups can slide to be raised or lowered. Overall, these are among the most comfortable headphones I know of. Unfortunately, the one-sided 9-foot cable is not detachable. The cable terminates to a standard headphone miniplug with the definitely-wanted ¼" adapter included.
The headphones themselves are semi-open in design and allow sound to leak into the outside. For this reason, the DT880 may not be the ideal headphone choice for some listening environments. Some may inquire as to why >Beyerdynamic would choose to create an open-back headphone. The reason as specified by many manufacturers that design open-back headphones is that it is easier
The DT880 are offered with 3 different impedance ratings. The 32-Ohm version is best suited to using directly out of a portable device or computer. The 250-Ohm version is best when plugged into a typical stereo receiver and many headphone amplifiers. The 600 Ohm version is best when used with a dedicated headphone amplifier such as Beyerdynamic’s own A1.
Like the DT770 & DT990, the DT880 ship with a soft pleather carrying case with a secure foam interlay to protect the headphones as they travel around with you. Not bad!
ALL ABOUT THE SOUND
THE GOOD
- Even tonal balance, with a slight treble boost for more detail retrieval
- Extremely natural and transparent sound
- Wide soundstage
- Excellent imaging ability
- Great for acoustic instruments
THE BAD
- While the headphones are not overtly bright, the extra treble emphasis may not be preferred by some
- These headphones will not appeal to those seeking extra bass emphasis
The DT880 succeeds at being euphonic and analytical at the same time. The HD650 with which it is often compared has a fuller and smoother tone overall, but does not provide as much air around instruments, leading to a darker sound. The DT880 is also nearly 200 dollars less than the HD650, but competes alongside it quite nicely.
One thing I’ve always loved about the DT880 is its ability to extend very deep into the sub bass region with great impact, but without ever making one think of the DT880 as a warm headphone. Another aspect of the DT880 I’ve always appreciated is the forwardness of the midrange which adds a sense of depth which I feel at times the downside of the DT990.
The DT880 is not without fault. When compared against the HD650, there’s a degree of transparency lacking. The HD650 sound more “alive” to my ears, and transients are more liquid. When compared against Beyerdynamic’s own current flagship model, the T1, the DT880s are shown to be quite a good effort considering the price difference. Even still, the DT880 is no match for the T1′s amazing detail retrieval ability. While the DT880 is likely the most detail headphone at its pricepoint, there is a quickness about the T1 which leaves the DT880 behind very fast. The other noticeable advantage of the T1 is the angling of the drivers which, because of their forward/facing you position, creates a more realistic soundstage and overall sound environment. Even still, the tonal balance of the DT880 is sometimes preferable to me over the T1. It is just a hair less aggressive in the treble and for this reason, I sometimes prefer it.
Using the DT880 600 Ohm with Beyerdynamic’s own A1 amplifier yields astonishing clarity. The transient response using the DT880 through this solid state amplifier is very good. I prefer however the added harmonics of tubes because of colorations and warmth it adds. Using the Woo Audio 5 with the DT880 600 Ohm, I have to admit, it’s good, great in fact. With good amplification, the DT880 can sound very close to the world’s best. If tubes are too much of a hassle, the SPL Phonitor is an extremely capable amplifier with a plethora of crossfeed options which make the DT880 come alive.
The very first time I listened to the album In Rainbows by Radiohead was with the DT880s. Listening to “Reckoner” again by Radiohead I am still stunned by the spaciousness – the room reflections of the percussion sounds inordinately real. The closer up percussion in the right channel has great depth and weight. All the ghosts notes on the snare are perfectly audible and this drives the rhythm with more intensity.
Listening to Julia Fischer’s wonderful rendition of Mozart’s Violin Concerto #3 on Pentatone, I am floored by the near-perceivable vanishing point which is achieved with by listening to this recording through the DT880. By the term vanishing point, I mean to refer to the 3 dimensional horizontal pyramid of sound typically achieved by listening to binaural recordings through headphones.
Listening to Wynton Marsalis’s rendition of “Caravan”, I am thoroughly convinced that this headphone has the finest bass and treble extension combination in its price category. The undertones of the bass are thoroughly felt, while the sizzle of the nails rattling in the cymbals can be heard all the way up top for a clear open pallet. The trumpet blare is never too aggressive or piercing. The piano is of its own space and at no point does the mix of instruments sound congested.
Listening to Jeff Buckley’s “Vancouver” I felt the vocal to be slightly more backward than I prefer. I also would prefer a thicker sound here. By comparison, the HD650 have a much fuller sound, with more presence in the low mids. By comparison the DT880 sounded a bit polite and thin.
I think one of the most obvious advantages which the DT880 has over all the other similarly priced headphones which I’ve heard, is its immense soundstage. When listening to classical music and other well-recorded acoustic music, this attribute adds tremendous depth to the sound. When the soundstage is small/narrower, a large orchestra can sound blurred and compressed. From my experience, very few headphones have a larger and more natural-sounding soundstage than the DT880.
LAST WORD
In recent times, the debut of a thousand-dollar-plus headphone has become a fairly common event in the audiophile community. The DT880 is one of the few headphones which has sustained its reputation as one of the best headphones on the market, despite these newer flagships. For a revealing, spacious listen, there is no better value.
RATING CHART AT PRICEPOINT
| Sound Quality |
10 |
| Design & Features |
9 |
| Comfort |
9.5 |
| Value |
10 out of 10 |
*For this review, I had the pleasure of using a one of a kind DT880 made especially for headphones.com . It is a headphone which we designed ourselves. I think it’s simply amazing looking. Black velour earcups; a beautiful brown real-leather headband; and our logo engraved into the metal! Check it out:
The packaging here is nothing fancy, but still attractive. The XBA-1 ships with a soft carrying pouch which although serves its purpose, may not be suited for busy (and sometimes less than careful) users. I always prefer a hard-shell carrying pouch. Sony also includes an accessory which allows you to wind your cable up both for storage and for customizing the length while using. It’s a nice consideration, but ultimately I didn’t find it necessary.
As mentioned, the cable design of the XBA-1 is designed to rest behind the head. I prefer the Y-split cable design of the iPhone enabled version. The earpieces are designed to have the cable fall straight down rather than wrap behind the ear. Both models feature a right-angle plug, which is always preferred for portable use since it puts less strain on the headphone output.
The XBA-1 ships with a variety of differently-sized silicone ear tips as well as differently-sized silicone / foam hybrid eartips. The foam/silicone hybrids are a fantastic for getting the most noise isolation possible, but some may feel that the plain silicone tips are more comfortable. Overall, the comfort level of the XBA-1 is pretty good. I prefer earphones that have the cable wrap behind the ear because they actually feel less heavy this way as the cable doesn’t hang down from your ear. The earpieces of the XBA-1 are small enough that they do not carry too much weight.
Listening to “OMG” by Usher, I wasn’t floored. Ideally, I would want more bass than the XBA-1 had to offer. These aren’t the earphones you are going to want if you are looking for sub-bass. While the vocals had great presence and were not fatiguing or sibilant, I ultimately felt that at the end of this track, the SL99 from Soul by Ludacris was far better for r&b.
Listening to “One” by Metallica, I noticed that because the track already lacks deep bass, the XBA-1 did not appear to be bass deficient. During the faster section, I felt that the drums and guitar were competing a bit and the overall fidelity was certainly diminished in comparison to the softer section.
Switching to Wynton Marsalis’s “In the Court of King Oliver,” I specifically wanted to hear how the piano would mesh with the drums. The trumpet was right out front as it should be, being the lead instrument, but the piano was slightly blurred against the resonating cymbals.
The nozzle on each earpiece is at a slight angle which makes for easy insertion. The earphones come with a variety of differently sized silicone sleeves. I opted for the largest size as I found I was able to achieve the best seal with these. It’s interesting to note that for their white model the silicone sleeves are white and for their black model the silicone sleeves are black. The Street by 50 also ships with a hard shell carrying case for easy storage and commuting.
When comparing the overall feel and look of the Street by 50 with similar offerings by Soul by Ludacris and Beats by Dr Dre, I find that the Street by 50 are the sleekest and, perhaps, most attractive looking.
But how do they sound?
Listening to Bjork’s “Isobel” I felt that there was simply not enough instrument separation. The sound was far too cluttered to really take in all the wonderful ornaments that the song has to offer. On the plus side, Bjork’s voice was not at all sibilant, which it sometimes can be on this track. The bass response worked better here than on Jay-Z’s track.
Listening to “Taxman” by The Beatles (in mono mind you), I checked to see how sharp the cymbal transients would sound on the big crashes. Fortunately they were not sharp. However, the overall tone of the song was duller than I would have liked. It sounded somehow blanketed and I began to become weary that the Street by 50 was not an earphone that I could recommend.
Finally, a track that really impressed me was “Cathedral in a Suitcase” by Pat Metheny. This track is exceptionally well-recorded and showcases a lot of upper harmonics in the percussion. The Street by 50 managed to hold the mix together very well without being too strident in the treble. It also showed me that the midrange itself is closer to neutral than a lot of other in-ear offerings in the consumer market. I still however felt that the bass and lower mids was lacking somewhat.
The overall packaging is among the best I’ve seen. In addition to a fancy cardboard storage box, the SRH1840 comes with a hard-shell carrying case with zipper. Even the included instruction manual was of a higher grade than average.
The SRH1840 is among the most neutral headphones on the market today. It allows you to fully assess the music and hear details that you didn’t know were there. For editing and mixing purposes, the SRH1840 also may prove to be an asset because it doesn’t favor any region within the audio spectrum.
Listening to Carlos Kleiber & the Vienna Philharmonic perform Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, I noticed that I was able to faintly hear clarinets over the opening motif. It is unusual that one would be able to spot the clarinet amidst the thick string section. The SRH1840 was able to allow the clarinets to have their own space. The upper harmonics of the mix are audible due to the headphone’s wonderful treble extension.
Next listening to Joe Henderson’s version of “Without a Song” from his Big Band album (one of my favorites) I was pleasantly surprised to hear the multiple big band horns did not sound strident at all. Usually when the horns blare out on this track, I have to lower the volume to avoid ear fatigue. Not the case here. The drums showed to have a terrific balance of impact and detail. The bass was just slightly lacking here. I would have enjoyed a hair more impact. The lead saxophone was wonderfully present and entertained a large space in the center. The imaging of the instruments was excellent. The overall soundstage was narrow but intimate.
Listening to Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” I found the highs to be aggressive and the bass to be lacking. If I was merely monitoring the mix, I would be pleased with the tonality because of its revealing nature, but for listening purposes, the tonality felt sterile with this song.
Listening to Arcade Fire’s “Crown of Love” the balance was much better. The bass was fuller, the vocals fuller as well and the percussion elements were better balanced, though still slightly on the bright side. The background vocals possessed wonderful presence with the SRH1840 and this added immensely to my enjoyment of the track.
As one might have expected based on my description of the sound, the SRH1840 showed that it is not an ideal candidate for hip hop listening. It lacks bottom and punch. I took a listen to Nas’s “New York State of Mind.” The balance was oddly bright and lacking in visceral impact. This is not the fault of the SRH1840. Hip Hop music often sounds best when the headphone possesses a colored tonality. In the sense that the SRH1840 is a neutral headphone, it was doomed to not be the right choice for hip hop.
Another criticism I have of the 
Shifting to a full-scale orchestral work, Schumann’s Konzerstuck for 4 Horns & Orchestra, as conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, I found that the XBA-3 excelled. The trumpets and horns were not piercing, nor abrasive. The cellos and basses were fully present. The only criticism I have here is that the violins have a syrupy sound (a little smooth), but in my opinion, too smooth is better too abrasive.
Listening to “Joyride” by Dave Holland with Pepe Habichuela I was truly won over. Firstly, the left and right Latin percussion parts were not marred by the aggressive hot treble sounds that other detailed headphones sometimes have. Instead, the music felt alive and rhythmically focused, with great bottom even out of the iPod. The guitar, also played in a percussive nature, did not get swallowed up by the rest of the percussion. The XBA-3 showed itself to be a top tier earphone on this track.
Listening to U2′s “One Tree Hill” I was pleased to see that the detail-capabilities I heard in the previous track, carried through to this one. The alternating left/right guitar parts were both present and easily decipherable within the dense mix. The vocal showed here to be a bit lacking in presence. The mids on the XBA-3 shows some recessive qualities which leaves vocals more blended, rather than forward. Depending on your preference, this could be a good or bad thing.
Listening to “Fall of ’82″ by The Shins, I was pleased that the XBA-3 showed no signs of overt sibilance, yet tremendous detail over the entire audio spectrum. It lacks some warmth and transparency, but overall, it is a very clear and involving sound.
While listening to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” I became fully convinced that the XBA-3 is a better all-rounder than the XBA-4. Whereas, the XBA-4 felt a bit more aggressive in the treble region during my hip-hop listens, the XBA-3 was more on-point with the music – full bottom, clarity in the vocal, and just a better all-round visceral feeling. I could imagine some hip hop fans will want even more bass from their earphones, but overall I was very pleased with the sound.
CRITICISM: For one I don’t like the cable design all too much. As they have done with several in ear models, Sony has designed the XBA-4 to have the cable rest behind your head, but not in the standard Y-split cable fashion. The cable design of the XBA line has it so that the left and right are unevenly split. This design prevents the user from letting the cable hang in front since the left and right ear piece are connected to one another. This is a bummer for those whom don’t prefer this style, but a great asset to those who do prefer the cable to be worn behind the head. Ultimately the cable falls on the left side and terminates to a right-angle plug in order to prevent strain on the headphone output.
Another criticism I have of the XBA-4 is that the earpieces are designed to be worn with cable hanging straight down, rather than behind the ear. I prefer a behind the ear design for several reasons. Firstly, I think it is ultimately more comfortable to have the cable behind the ear. Secondly, I feel that having the cable behind the ear, prevents much of the sounds which emanate from the cable being touched or moved. These sounds are known as microphonics and are not preferable when listening to music.
One final criticism I have regarding the design is the lack of removable / replaceable cable. If the cable should break, you will need to send the earphones in for a warranty repair/replacement. Surely, not ideal, but nonetheless the cable appears sturdy enough to withstand normal use.
PRAISE: Now that I’ve gotten my criticisms out of the way, let me express how well built these earphones come across. 
Listening to Eiji Oue’s interpretation of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde on Reference Recordings, I was simply blown out of the water! I have to tell you that it is so seldom that an in-ear can sound so open and breathy. There’s a sense of closed-in that in-ears just can’t escape. The XBA-4 comes the closest I’ve heard to providing that natural airy sound. Michelle DeYoung’s voice can sound thicker than it is in actuality if there is roll off in the treble region. I know this because I have seen her perform this exact work several times in real life. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano, but her voice is filled with overtones that make her so unique and wonderful to listen to. This recording of Mahler’s masterwork is extremely well recorded and the XBA-4 did not let me down. I was stunned!
Listening to Erykah Badu’s “On & On” it was a shock to me to hear minimal sub-bass out of the iPod. When I plugged it into my computer soundcard, BOOM there it was. These earphones can do bass, but you definitely need to feed it to them more than the average earphone. The overall sound was slightly sharper than I would have liked but I was capable of hearing the resonating delay on Badu’s voice very easily. Usually I have to “ear-squint” in order to hear this delay, but not here. So far so good…
In the words of Chuck Berry…”Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music…” How does the XBA-4 do rock? Listening to Van Halen’s debut I felt the guitar crunch was spot on. It reminded me of Grado in some ways – a bit bright, but filled with bite and punch. The drums sounded slightly harsh at the introduction of “You Really Got Me,” but possessed a speaker-like presence in the way the filled the space. Roth’s vocals were brought forward which added to the three-dimensionalism.
With the XBA-4, jazz and blues feel very intimate and lively at the same time. I like the way piano transients are rendered with here. The attack is very natural sounding to these ears. One thing which did surprise me was that, while listening to Lee Morgan enter into his solo on “Moanin’” the trumpet was more piercing then usual and I was forced to reduce the volume.
The headband too is covered in this pleather material. The headband does not clamp with too much force and therefore I easily could see myself wearing these headphones for long sessions. However, the problem I find about the headband is that the plastic is easily breakable where the earcup connects. In fact one of my customers sent back this headphone with this part broken off (twice!). So needless to say, the SRH240A does not win any durability awards from me. The cable is thinner than most at this headphone size and this adds to the portability factor. Being that this headphone is designed with studio monitoring in mind, the headphone does not feature a microphone or Apple remote. However, I feel that the build quality may be too fragile for most studio applications. 
Traditionally, a good monitoring headphone will possess a close to neutral tonal balance, be fairly easy to drive, and be close to leakage-free. That’s pretty much what you get with the SRH240A. For its price, it does what I believe it was intended to do fairly well. It is most definitely rolled off in the bass. The extension just isn’t there and I would not personally find myself using it in a studio setting simply for this reason. The midrange exhibits a bit of forwardness in the vocal region, but overall the tone is hardly natural to my ears. I may find that a vocalist would benefit from using these during a recording, but I may not opt for them simply because there are superior options available such as the Sennheiser 
The Sound of the SRH240A is probably not going appeal to most music listeners. It is a very colored headphone, exhibiting a clear emphasis in the mids, and lacking a lot of bass. It’s therefore headphone I reserve to recommend in most cases. Even in studio application, I’m not sure that the build quality can withstand standard use for very long. Shure has better efforts for sure. But again, if you are careful with your headphones and looking for something that zooms in on the human voice, these headphones are one I do recommend at its price.
The outer grills are removable as well – should you dent them or wish to replace them in the future, the manufacturer makes it easy! It is worth mentioning here that the headphone itself is open-back – the grills are vented to allow sound in and out of the headphone. No sound isolation here.
