My favorite headphones of late have been the Sennheiser HD-580s.  Those headphones strike a nice balance between low cost ($200 range) and exceptional sound, even by audiophile standards.  My interest was piqued when Pavel sent me the specs of a headphone model I had never come across before: the Beyerdynamic DT-880.  The frequency response graph supplied by headphone.com (http://www.headphone.com/ guide/by-manufacturer/beyerdynamic/

beyerdynamic-dt-880.php) was mind-bogglingly good.  When my HDs went out of commission from a broken cord and I had to order a replacement from Sennheiser (replaceable cable being a feature, by the way, that few if any other consumer-friendly audiophile headphones have), I decided to give the DTs a spin.

I ordered the cans near the beginning of February and got them about 2 or 3 weeks later -- this was what the website advertised for the wait time on these, and so my expectations were pleasantly met.

The packaging was nice, but nothing too fancy.  The leather carrying case with foam insert was a nice touch, but most likely not something that will end up being very useful.  The headphones themselves, as you can see, are quite attractive.  There is a slight feature trade-off between these and the Sennheisers: the Senns have a detachable cable, so if it breaks (as mine did), it's cheap to replace it.  On the other hand, the cable for those has the traditional both-ear cable configuration, which can at times be slightly annoying.  The Beyers, in contrast, do not have a detachable cable, however, they employ the somewhat nicer single-ear cable to the left ear, which ends up being quite convenient at times.  I'd give the Sennheiser's a slightly higher score here, as I think the cost-effectiveness of replacing just the cable is a pretty big win.

Like much of the HD series, the DT-880 employs a circumaural (around the ear) headphone style with soft, velvety cusion for the contact with the skin around the ear.  And, like the HDs, these headphones are just a delight to wear.  They are light, comfortable, and unlike the Grado consumer-end series, can be worn for hours at a time without even a hint of discomfort, even if you have rather big ears like me.

Of course, the real test of any headphone must ultimately be how it sounds.  I have to confess, my expectations were rather high for these, considering the incredible advertised frequency response of 5Hz-35,000Hz with an almost flat response curve.

I'm happy to report that even with my very high expectations, the DT-880s did not disappoint. 

Typically, I test the bass response first to assure myself that I can hear

(rather, feel!) nearly subaudible frequencies -- the HD-580s are brilliant in this regard.  So, I popped in AI's 'Uprising' and DJ Cam's 'Hardcore Freestyling' and had a listen.

Lo and behold, the roughly 12-20Hz bass line elements came through loud and clear, and produced the expected feeling of 'rumbling' right around my ear -- perfect.  I threw on my DJing headphones -- Sony MDR-V700s -- for a quick comparison, since I know those also have brilliant low-end response.

Predictably, the Sonys produced exaggerated bass below I'd guess 80Hz -- I am fairly sure this is by design, and is partly caused by the gigantic (50mm) driver coupled with a closed-back headphone style.  So though the Sonys had *louder* bass, the DT-880s produced more accurate bass, which was more defined, less boomy, more punchy and overall better balanced with the rest of the music than the Sonys.  In fact, I'd say the DTs here sounded very HD-580-esque, which as you can imagine, I consider to be a huge compliment.

Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to do a head-to-head comparison of the HDs and the DTs in the same few minutes of time.  That will be my first order of business tomorrow.  More details to come.

It is worth noting that the resistance on these headphones is if anything even greater than the HDs, and so, if you want to make sure you're driving them forcefully, you may want to invest in a headphone amp.  This is not necessary, but just a nice-to-have.

But for now, I can say that these similarly priced headphones (to the HDs: $200ish) are another nice strike at the consumer-friendly audiophile market.  These cans sound brilliant, are comfortable, look nice and would make a nice addition to any audiophile headphone lineup.