Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2014 3:45:45 GMT
I've been listening to my Beyer-Dynamic DT-150's for a couple of hours now going through Yello's Zebra and Pocket Universe, Tycho's 'Dive' and Manuel Gottshing's 'E2 - E4'.
I know Ian uses a pair of DT-150's as a studio workhorse, but I suspect most headphone lovers would be surprised by the overall package. I have a stock pair of 150's except that I have fitted the slightly smaller and very awkward to fit DT-100 velours.
The velours tone down the slightly overblown bass. The sound signature I get with my system is that of clear mids and treble with a powerful bass with enormous slam. The headphone seems to be much better balanced and there seems to be something going on in the volume department as well. It seems that no matter how loud I turn the 150's up, they remain calm and unflustered, able to articulate changes in volume and tone. If ever there was an argument about pads being able to change the sound of headphones, this must be it.
If you have a pair of DT-150's with the stock pleather pads, I strongly suggest you invest in a pair of DT-100 velour pads. They unfortunately don't mask badly recorded or low-bitrate tracks, but feed them a quality file, and they absolutely sing.
The fact that they feel that they are built to withstand the roughest, toughest, most abusive treatment is a welcome bonus, plus every part is user replaceable and available on the Beyer-Dynamic website.
Now don't get me wrong, these are not the best headphones in the world, if there is such a thing. They are big, closed-back, ugly, unremittingly black, worn back-to-front (the single-cable entry is worn to the right side, not the left), and deeply un-fashionable, but because of all that I feel that they might be one of the most overlooked cans ever.
For headphone use, I have a Cambridge Audio Stream-Magic as my source, feeding an RG-modded X-10D into an RG-modded XCans V-2 . Interconnects are DNM Stereo Solid Core from SM-6 to X-10D and also into my Shanling STP-80 amp.