beyerdynamic DT 1770 PRO Closed Studio Reference Headphones

Bought with my own cash money. Update IV --- 23/2/16 --- Ditched the A20 as treble detail was a little bit lacking and the bass had a tendency to be slightly overwhelming (only a tad - but enough to cause brain annoyance!) which I'm putting down to the power output of the amplifier as I had a similar issue with my high output tube amp. I preferred the sound signature of the DT1770's plugged straight into my iPad but it didn't go loud enough on some recordings and lacked some body (Brilliant for modern well mastered tracks so if that's your bag - you don't need an amp!). I've since switched to the Oppo HA-2 which has a good clean neutral sound and with its low gain switch the bass is once again perfect and no loss of any resolution whatsoever. Killer combo. Keeper for Defo (and no more updates!!). Update III --- 25/12/15 ---- Now paired with Beyerdynamic A20 Amplifier - Just Wow! Really opens these babies up! I thought they were great without an amp and even better when paired with my Fiio E12a but paired with the A20 these are sublime. Expensive but worth it (Someone burgled my house xmas eve and took my Sony MDR-Z7 but left my Beyers! Silver lining and all that!). Update II --- 23/11/15 --- After more research (and reading Dale Thorns review - who I usually agree with) I found out that these may not match well with tube amps so bought them again and paired them with my Fiio E12A and these are like a different headphone. Maybe my original pair had a slight driver mismatch but the boomy bass and slightly distant mids along with a slightly higher volume in the left ear have all been rectified with this pair! I've been amazed that these have such powerful deep bass when its present on a recording but when the track doesn't have any bass these stay faithful to the original recording and don't add any extra colouring. Truly amazing and not something I have heard on any other headphone. So glad I tried them again! Although the DT150's are still amazing value for money I think I will be keeping the DT1770's and retiring my tube amp. Update --- 6/11/15 ---- Now sold! After Extensive A/B testing against my £96 Beyer DT150 250 ohm through my Littledot II MKII tube amp I've come to the conclusion that there isn't enough difference to justify the extra £350. I've EQ'd the mid bass down a few Db and this has brought the tanklike DT150's to life. I was amazed at the difference it made. Plus the Mids are more present on the DT150's which is a shame as I wanted to love the 1770's but they just didn't do it for me to justify keeping them. Original review --- Having lived with the DT770 250 ohm for years I was on the fence about these given the higher price but I finally bit the bullet and they certainly are exquisite. Build quality is always top notch with Beyer but these have an added layer of luxury to the usual utilitarian materials and styling. Hifiguy 528 (Hifi insider) Mike on YouTube had it right when he said the DT770's feel like a toy next to these! Check his unboxing for a peek at all the bits n bobs and the materials etc. I usually love neutral headphones with a bit of oomph (Oppo PM3 are the stand out ones for me) but I've always loved the bass on my DT770's as it just thunders through my bones with an amp. What I've never loved is the extremely bright treble. Sure it's great for detail but the Oppo PM3 showed me you could still have the treble detail without the sibilant peaks that the DT770/880/990 line is infamous for. I always found myself EQ'ing the Mids up slightly on the 770's with their V-shaped sound signature. And basically the DT1770 addresses all these issues for me. You get all the Bass loveliness of the 770's but with a more present midrange and a perfect treble (to my ears). I've seen some reviewers say that even the 1770 has a peaky treble but I don't see how that can be the case! It's just right and very welcome! The bass also has more texture on the 1770's (something I had never heard before! Bass texture!? But yep you can get a real sense of it with these). But are they worth the price hike? Well as always it's subjective but if for whatever reason you're like me and can't use open backs then these I reckon are as close as you can get to a high end open back sound in closed back form and still keep the price below £500! The sound stage is certainly very 'open' for a closed back can and certainly not as congested as the Oppo PM3's. What's more these being Tesla drivers they are extremely efficient and run to substantial listening levels straight out of my IPhone 5s despite them being 250 ohm (a hell of a lot louder than my 770 250 ohm anyway! Weird!). I've now got them running through my LittkeDot II MKII Tube amp and they sound great. Hope some of this helps. Stew

Firstly, I should say I have tried these before, and I do not remember them sounding this good. I have spent considerable time with the DT 770 250 ohm (80 ohm, too), as well as DT 990 and other variations. These are a fairly big step up in detail retrieval. With the DT 770, I was left wanting more, and I couldn't help but think that they lacked just a tiny bit of of natural detail. I also tried the Fidelio X2HR, and although they were impressive with vocals, they lacked quality or sub-bass, and did not have more in the way of detail in the treble (even compared to the DT 770). I put these DT 1770 on, and instantly I could hear the vocals with a lot more detail and forward presence. The detail and natural sound of them is pretty mind-blowing. I don't think these can be beat for their bass performance. I read a lot of reviews saying bass can be flabby, but this is not the case with my headset, as they are incredibly detailed for bass also. I would say these are the first headphones that I would describe as 'sounds like you are in the room listening to the artists'. Blu-ray audio is even more of a treat. I loaded up Shutter Island in 4k, and for the first time in a movie, I could hear that they are speaking in to a mic, if that makes sense - these things pick up so much detail and it is hard not to be impressed, even for the price I paid of £369. Unlike the DT 770, the treble response does not hurt my ears. The physical comfort is also a step up, due to the more comfortable pads. The headphone just screams quality. The supplied cables, although long, are very light an not irritating at all.

Top quality sound and build as expected from a Beyerdynamic product at this price level. I bought these to replace a pair of Sony MDR1 phones which had also received excellent reviews but which I returned to Amazon as I found the sound lacking in dynamic range and too congested. Admittedly the Beyerdynamic are two to three times the cost of the Sony’s but I have a good CD player, Cyrus CDi and Roksan turntable plus Roksan amp so the extra outlay is justified. Unlike the Sony’s the Beyers are clear, transparent, dynamic and respond in a linear fashion to increased volume levels. I’m sure that the headphone output of the amp is pretty good but no doubt a dedicated headphone amp will bring even greater benefit. As we increasingly rely on reviews but don’t always have the opportunity to try products out for ourselves I cannot say that these are the”best” headphones at this price range, or the most suitable for your needs, but I definitely will not be returning them! Unlike with the Sony’s I have to stop myself from playing record after record as these Beyer’s are truthful and musical, slightly warm, and can play loud. Highly recommended. BTW I also own a pair of Grado 80’s which are superb but the sound leakage is not well received by those around me. Package received on time and in excellent condition. Thank you.

1st pair arrived with faulty right speaker distorting. Returned, with replacement working fine. In summary; good pair of cans; recommend you have a decent quality source that can supply enough power for them otherwise they can sound a touch quiet and slightly 'thin'. Replaceable ear muffs and cable should considerably prolong lifespan. Detail: Bought to upgrade from Philips Fidelio M2s (first pair lasted 20 months, 2nd about 6 before disintegrating hence concern about lifespan). Sound and build quality knock the Philips into a cocked hat. Use almost exclusively with iPhone 6 and Oppo HA-2 DAC/amp (also from Amazon) for pleasure. 3 reasons for this; 1) the headphones can take a bit of driving (esp. with older 'pre-loudness war' recordings), and can be a bit quiet on their own; not inaudible, but occasionally not quite loud enough. 2) slight emphasis on treble when straight from iPhone, which can be wearing after a while (though less so for listening to podcasts and the like). 3) Oppo makes everything sound better :-) So, for Oppo and iPhone combo... Sound is clear and crisp from deep bass to high treble. Bass never sounds muddied and treble rarely sounds grating. However, using the iPhone app EQu for the past 5 years or so, I've always dialled-in a kick for higher frequencies to compensate for my aging hearing. Not doing this with the 1770's (use completely flat profile) which may indicate a built-in treble spike. Comfort-wise, they're light and sit well over the ears. I start to notice the headband on the top of my (massive) head after about 90mins, but a slight re-jig stops any discomfort. Often wear for 4 hrs at a time with no fatigue on ears or head. Bit bulky for transporting esp. with carry case (I bought Slappa case to more-snuggly contain them). Good build quality (faulty first pair aside....); now about 6 months old and as good as new. Cons: 1) Did feel a bit of a berk taking the outside at first for walk into work, bit that fades with time. 2) Slight faff to carry-around the virtually essential Oppo.

These replaced some HD650s which had been modded to improve the bass. What a difference. The DT1770 Pro was so much better all round but particularly the bass. They need 300 hours burning in before you experience what they are capable of. So much detail. I have a fully differential amplifier (balanced), so to take advantage of the diffential output from the amp I modded the phones. I already use Custom cans cable (much better than the supplied cable) I replaced the jack plug with a 4 pin xlr at one end, at the other end i fitted a mini 4 pin xlr plug. On the headphones I replaced the 3 pin mini xle socket with a 4 pin mini xlr socket. Next I rewired the cabling inside the phones as per the 4 pin mini xlr standard, thereby separating left and right channels and removing the shared return of the original setup. Boy was that worth doing! The DT1770 headphones have now moved up another quality level. I still after listening for many am stunned at how much detail these headphones can deliver. I use the Topping A90 Descrete Amplifier, Topping E70 Velvet DAC, IFI Zen Steam.

I haven’t heard Senn’s 820 yet but these remind me of the T70p, but just better, and a whole lot more. Price tag is warrranted. I stupidly sold the T70p for the T5p thinking I’d get more of the same. How wrong I was. The DT1770 for me at least, are end game closed backs, I own HD800S and these cans (DT1770) are not shamed at all. They need a Dragonfly Red DAC/Amp as a minimum to push them to adequate levels. Strangely my iPad Pro 10.5” drives them with more authority than a 2013 Mac Pro or MacBook Air but remains album dependent. If you like the Beyer house sound, look no further. My critical subjective thoughts: Soundstage (for a closed back) - 9/10 Comfort - 9.5/10. They are slightly on the heavy ish side compared to DT770 but don’t let this put you off. I can wear them for 5-8 hours without any problem. Detail - 9.5/10. From the lows to the highs, they sound just right. Bass could be more defined, hence the .5 but as a bass head, it isn’t a problem. Vocals are beautiful. Keepers!

I had the ath-m50x, the dt770, dt1990, hyperx cloud alpha s (a very good clone of the dt770, very similar sound), hifiman Sundaram, and while I'm not some big audiophile, I do enjoy good quality music. I use the sound blaster ae-5 sound card, and listen to mp3 320kbps, as I can't hear any difference between that and flac. And personally, these are the best headphones I ever used. Clear sound, can pick up all the little details, very good bass and I like the warm and trebely beyerdynamic signature sound that some people don't. Only complaint is the pads are short, not enough height between the headphone cup and ear, I had to buy bigger ones as I couldn't get a proper seal on my head, and if I did, even a small movement would ruin it.

I've been using M50x for 5 years and don't regret it because for £100 it's the best value for money but if you want that next level sound you need to spend around £300 on audiophile headphones and the DT 1770 Pro does just that. It's so good in instrument separation and the detail is next level with huge prefect bass that doesn't destroy the mids or highs. If you like some bass with detail this is the headphone to get. The comfort is excellent, way better then my m50x were it hurt my ears after 2 hours. These don't hurt at all. Please bear in mind that you'll required to use a dac. I've a dragonfly cobalt dac which improves the sound dramatically but please invest atleast on a decent dac as I've used these on my onboard supremefx mobo and it's not good. As you're just better off just getting a £100 headphone without a dac, due to the fact that you'll be bottlenecked by your onboard audio if you buy expensive headphones which will only get 30% of its potential without a dac. Just a heads up.