DT 770 or 990, 80 OHMS or 250 OHMS

[Mewkss]

I been looking at the DT 770 and 990 pros but i cant figure out if I should get 80 OHMS or 250 OHMS and which headset will be the best for gaming. The two amps I been looking at are the evo 4s and the elgato wave XLR.

[atarione]

IMHO.. the 990s are so bright and harsh that i have never wanted a pair..... I love my DT770 Pro 80s however and they are my go to gaming headphones at home...   A USB powered DAW / amp is going to have "issues" getting you sufficient power for any of these...   I have a Steinberg UR22mkII for other reasons... and I honestly do not find it sufficient for my DT770 80s ... it is great with something like Sony MDR-V6 or ATH-M50s ..but the Berydynamics.. just lacks the power / headroom ... even at full gain... just not getting' it.    

 

If you like beyerdynamic and want something more open the DT880s are by far my preference to the DT990 I have the 250ohms version and they are great.. problem is with them being semi open my wife complains about them from a room away, as they leak a lot of sound out.

 

I wouldn't necessairly go out of my way to buy one now... but I have a wall powered Creek OBH-11 that is acient and not that powerful by modern headamp standards and the DT770s or 880s sound soo much better with the creek than my Steinberg UR22mkII .. keep the dial at about 10 o'clock and they are as loud as I would care to have.... w/ the USB powered DAW like I said even at max gain.. just not very loud...

 

Something like a Atom / Magni... etc... is probably going to be what you wanna look into? in my view.

[Cocococo]

In all honesty Beyerdynamic aren't great choices for headphones in any price bracket they sell to, DT880 is comfortably the best thing Beyer makes but if you're looking at 990 and 770 then chances are you're looking at around 100-150usd headphones. If you just want affirmation for Beyerdynamic then DT880 is the one to buy, but the market has come a long way since the DT990 and 770 were good choices.

 

For closed backs the AKG K361, K371, Shure SRH440A and 840A are all vastly better sounding with better features (DT770 cable isn't removable and they don't fold up, everything i listed does) As for open backs AKG K702, K612 and Sennheiser HD560S absolutely crush Beyer's open headphones, only one without a detachable cable is the K612 but frankly with the holiday sales and promotions if you can get 702 or 560S for same price just get them (you can usually find refurb HD560S for like 100usd, crazy good deal) 

 

You're going to see people talk about DAC's and amps (Digital to Analogue Converter and amplifier) for everything so here's a very objective rundown based upon the data i've seen and trust. An apple USB-C to 3.5mm dongle is fine for headphone use, i'd take Apple dongle over most budget DAC's out there, there's something called a Qudelix 5k that is a bluetooth dac/amp (basically you send bluetooth signal to it and it becomes your headphone jack) and frankly up until Schiit Magni/ Modi stack the Qudelix is the best headphone option out there bar none.

 

None of the headphones i listed need any external amplification, there's a popular misconception in headphones that "more ohms means harder to drive" and tbh it's not entirely incorrect, but it is like 30% correct at a stretch. Headphones have their own unit of measurement to determine how loud they get with a power source, Sensitivity. You might see "96db/mw" on a Beyerdynamic box and what that means is that with a milliwatt of power the headphones reach 96 decibels of volume, this does not need any external amp to reach ideal listening volume (if you listen at 90db your ears are not long for this world) basic rundown on sensitivity: above 95db: fine on basically anything, above 100db: turn volume down before plugging in, below 95db: might want to think about amps, especially if they're electret or planar magnetic headphones, below 90db: good luck finding headphones this low sensitivity but you 100% need an amp now. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Cocococo
Gave a lil run down on DAC's and amps

[Psittac]

9 hours ago, Cocococo said:

In all honesty Beyerdynamic aren't great choices for headphones in any price bracket they sell to, DT880 is comfortably the best thing Beyer makes but if you're looking at 990 and 770 then chances are you're looking at around 100-150usd headphones. If you just want affirmation for Beyerdynamic then DT880 is the one to buy, but the market has come a long way since the DT990 and 770 were good choices.

 

For closed backs the AKG K361, K371, Shure SRH440A and 840A are all vastly better sounding with better features (DT770 cable isn't removable and they don't fold up, everything i listed does) As for open backs AKG K702, K612 and Sennheiser HD560S absolutely crush Beyer's open headphones, only one without a detachable cable is the K612 but frankly with the holiday sales and promotions if you can get 702 or 560S for same price just get them (you can usually find refurb HD560S for like 100usd, crazy good deal) 

 

You're going to see people talk about DAC's and amps (Digital to Analogue Converter and amplifier) for everything so here's a very objective rundown based upon the data i've seen and trust. An apple USB-C to 3.5mm dongle is fine for headphone use, i'd take Apple dongle over most budget DAC's out there, there's something called a Qudelix 5k that is a bluetooth dac/amp (basically you send bluetooth signal to it and it becomes your headphone jack) and frankly up until Schiit Magni/ Modi stack the Qudelix is the best headphone option out there bar none.

 

None of the headphones i listed need any external amplification, there's a popular misconception in headphones that "more ohms means harder to drive" and tbh it's not entirely incorrect, but it is like 30% correct at a stretch. Headphones have their own unit of measurement to determine how loud they get with a power source, Sensitivity. You might see "96db/mw" on a Beyerdynamic box and what that means is that with a milliwatt of power the headphones reach 96 decibels of volume, this does not need any external amp to reach ideal listening volume (if you listen at 90db your ears are not long for this world) basic rundown on sensitivity: above 95db: fine on basically anything, above 100db: turn volume down before plugging in, below 95db: might want to think about amps, especially if they're electret or planar magnetic headphones, below 90db: good luck finding headphones this low sensitivity but you 100% need an amp now. 

Dude, do you own a pair of Beyerdynamics?  They make really good headphones and I don't know why you hate them so much.

 

11 hours ago, Mewkss said:

I been looking at the DT 770 and 990 pros but i cant figure out if I should get 80 OHMS or 250 OHMS and which headset will be the best for gaming. The two amps I been looking at are the evo 4s and the elgato wave XLR.

Run away from any concept of running any headphone on the wave XLR

 

From their own website

 

This is basically nothing at all unless it's a typo

 

Compare that to the Schiit Magni which is the benchmark of "will run most headphones"

 

[Cocococo]

1 hour ago, Psittac said:

Dude, do you own a pair of Beyerdynamics?  They make really good headphones and I don't know why you hate them so much.

 

I do own a pair of DT770's (80 ohm) and have briefly owned DT880 (250 ohm, gave away to a friend, wasn't huge on them but they alright) and 3rd generation T1 (absolutely atrocious) as for demos I've tried 990 (absolutely hated them), DT700 (fixes most of the flaws I have with DT770 but frankly are far too expensive) Amiron open (these are also terrible) 2nd gen T1 (better than 3rd gen but still not good) and recently tried an 80's pair of electrostatic DT880's (these were funky, comfort was a lot nicer than the new ones but the sound was also quite hissy, they were damaged) 

 

Beyer might have been good options 20 years ago but that is no longer the case, if you like them great, no judgement from me, modern DT880 is a decent buy if HD560S aren't available to you. But I'm not going to be singing praises for products I dislike and not recommending them simply because "popular" and "studio professional" marketing, remember how popular Sony MDR-7506 used to be, studios aren't interested in balanced signatures and good sound, they have the crazy speakers for doing any mixing and mastering with (and airpods lmao, modern mastering is hilarious) studios just want something that'll survive as many clumsy artists and trips under the chair wheels as possible. 

[Psittac]

21 hours ago, Cocococo said:

I do own a pair of DT770's (80 ohm) and have briefly owned DT880 (250 ohm, gave away to a friend, wasn't huge on them but they alright) and 3rd generation T1 (absolutely atrocious) as for demos I've tried 990 (absolutely hated them), DT700 (fixes most of the flaws I have with DT770 but frankly are far too expensive) Amiron open (these are also terrible) 2nd gen T1 (better than 3rd gen but still not good) and recently tried an 80's pair of electrostatic DT880's (these were funky, comfort was a lot nicer than the new ones but the sound was also quite hissy, they were damaged) 

 

Beyer might have been good options 20 years ago but that is no longer the case, if you like them great, no judgement from me, modern DT880 is a decent buy if HD560S aren't available to you. But I'm not going to be singing praises for products I dislike and not recommending them simply because "popular" and "studio professional" marketing, remember how popular Sony MDR-7506 used to be, studios aren't interested in balanced signatures and good sound, they have the crazy speakers for doing any mixing and mastering with (and airpods lmao, modern mastering is hilarious) studios just want something that'll survive as many clumsy artists and trips under the chair wheels as possible. 

You don't have to sing praises of them but I find fault with crapping on them at Every turn.  I have only been in this hobby full time for about 3 or 4 years but one of my earliest adventures was a dt770-80 that I bought for a blind friend.  Have I found far "better" headphones since, yes.  Even the DT880-600 which it lead me to has been surpassed by other headphones, namely the dt1990pro.  And while I'm told that the dt880-250 is a turd (ala zreviews) the 600ohm is freaking amazing when you put several watt's behind it.

 

Anyways my point isn't entirely about the merit's of Beyerdynamic, rather how you go about the topic.  It seams that every last chance you get to crap on the brand you take full advantage of it.  This is more about etiquette, if you have a problem with something maybe be a little more subtle about it.  A lot of people enjoy these headphones and a lot of new people could find them enjoyable as well.  At the price I would strongly recommend the nth-100 over the dt770-80 however when I make these suggestions I don't produce a vendetta against the dt, rather I say that I really enjoy the Rode product and let them make their own choice.

 

A little quip about my journey, the very first "hifi" experience I've had was with Sennheiser, I got a pair of HD something or other from newegg and it sparked my audiophileish career 18+ years ago.  I had audio systems in cars and always had a discman on me, but this was something completely new.  Sennheiser is a great company and I wish that I could recommend their products more fervently because I have faith in them, but other than those first headphones and my friends hd599 that were overpriced garbage when new, I only have the 6xx to go off of.  Which is an amazing headphone however it isn't worth running with onboard audio so I rarely recommend them.  My point being here that everyone has a limited scope on the audiophile world, and taking a hardline negative stance is probably not accurate nor warranted.