Review on beyerdynamic DT 880 Premium Edition 250 Ohm Over-Ear Headphones - Wired Semi-Open Design for High-End Stereo Systems by Andrew Agarwal

Wow, I put it on for the first time. Boom! It was as if the thick blanket around my ears that I had been wrapped around for many years had finally been lifted. Everything is so clear that I can actually hear the singers breathing in, moving their lips and tongue and caressing their fingers on the strings. .) and everything in between. My goal was to find detailed, honest headphones and some IA/Bed headphones in stores with the 2nd gen Fiio X3, as I was trying to find something halfway efficient without an amp: * Sennheiser HD598: Smooth but boring for most rock has little to no bass.* Audio-Technica ATH-M50x: Overrated, too cramped, bass blown out. After just 5 minutes of listening, I got a headache.* Grado sr80e: God! Like someone using a chainsaw right next to my ears. Didn't even last a minute.* Grado sr325e: smoother than sr80e, good but too metallic for me.* V-Moda M100: good, good hits, slightly less detail than HD598 and sr325e. Looks good too.* Sennheiser Momentum On Ear: The bass was very good, detailed, strong, fast, but the mids were too far away and the bass was overloaded. I couldn't enjoy any of the classics with it.* Audeze Sine: Maybe the Fiio X3 2nd couldn't handle it because those headphones sounded like $30 to me. I also have a Sony XBA-A3 hybrid IEM with a single 16mm dynamic driver. and two balanced rebars and a skullcandy grind. For me the DT 880 is a lot cleaner, to the point where I use it more to see the differences than to enjoy the music. You can find the DT 880's frequency response graphs and balance them for smoother reproduction (i.e. more bass and less treble around 8kHz for more punch and less noise) without loss of detail. I mainly use the DT 880 for movies. and classical, and if the head is strong enough, rock and metal. The details are sometimes overdone, so for relaxed music listening I use the XBA-A3 for stronger (but slower) bass and smooth highs. Skullcandy Grind is only for audiobooks on my phone just for convenience (easy to turn on and off, there is a button on the phone) as there is too much bass for any music on this phone (good for those who like beat the bass, but no money enough).