List Price: $259.00
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- Closed dynamic headphone, 80 ohms
- Good ambient noise attenuation
- Lightweight, low-profile design
- Single-sided, detachable cable
- Powerful neodymium system for accurate reproduction
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I have actually just replaced the DT 250-80s after 7 years of service ,so I havd had a long time to become familiar with them.I bought them because I was looking for a sealed can for better work isolation. Were that not an requirement, I'd go open-backed, so I was looking for sealed headphones that had as much as possible of the open and detailed quality that, say, the Grado 80s have. The Beyers don't quite do that, but they are reasonably detailed.
The bass is punchy and articulate, with a sense of pace pressure that differentiates the sound from open cans. That said, this is probably due in part to an exaggerated mid-bass. I don't hugely mind this, as music benefits in terms of rhythm and pace, but I wouldn't call the bass range uncolored.
The treble is good overall. However, like a mirror image of the bass, it's a little exaggerated in the lower treble. This is good news bad news, as it provides sibilance and articulation, but at the expense of neutrality, transparency and soundstage detail.
The result of these bass and treble lumps is that the DT 250-80s has some very appealing rhythmic qualities. Your toes will tap. They just aren't the last word in detail, soundstage or neutrality.
Issues:
Fatigue both aural and physical. The treble peak above gets pretty tiring after a few hours. About the same time for me, my outer ears started to ache from the pad pressure. These are not circumaural, they will press on some part of your ear, depending on how you fiddle with them. For an hour, maybe two, no problem. Beyond that, a break was required.
Construction. The earpiece is attached to headband with a swivel mechanism. The attachment between the earpiece and the swivel mechanism is a tiny, short screw, that after a few years, would continue to unscrew itself, and would often drop out. Then, typically during a sweet, quiet passage, the ear piece would pop out, the sharp end of the swivel would jab me in the temple, and I'd jump up knocking my coffee into my keyboard. OK, the last part only happened once, but that screw came out a half dozen times. This one little thing was poorly engineered, and it was quite frustrating.
Have moved on to the new KRK Systems KNS-8400. Also sealed, similar price point ($150 US). They are similar is some respects to the Beyers, but improve in some key areas: overall balance, comfort (fully circumaural) and long term listenability. I think at this point the DT 250-80 have been superceded technologically, but I'd still recommend them if you can find them for a good price.I recently purchased these headphones as a replacement to my beloved Sony MDR-V500DJs, which had eventually given up the ghost. I use them mainly with my PC for listening to music, using the internet, and playing games. Therefore, I didn't envisage buying these as professional-grade monitoring equipment.
First of all, I've read in a couple of reviews about the "odd" seven-pin detahable cable, which is secured to the headphone unit by a small screw. It's true that the separate nature of the cable does seem odd at first, but considering that cables can get damaged and that this one can therefore be easily replaced for about £25 without buying an entire new set of cans, it's actually reassuring. Another reassuring thing is the large, proud writing on the box and the headphones themselves declaring "MADE IN GERMANY"; where something is made is always very important to me, because it's that extra guarantee that it will last and has been made with high-quality materials.
Closed-back headphones are often bought by non-professionals because they don't want sound leaking from the unit. These seem to contain sound very well within their velour-cushioned earpads (which, like the cable, also have official spares available online). The adjustable headband is not smothered with protective material, but it's comfortable enough.
Most important, of course, is the sound quality that any audio equipment produces. I always find it acutely difficult to buy any audio equipment without listening to it first, because the tastes of individuals reviewing things like this vary so widely. Some people love accentuated bass, some hate it. Some people say that the sound is coloured by certain cans and hate it, some love them for just that. (Just look up reviews of a range such as Grado's headphones to see what I mean.)
In any case, I really love the deep and balanced sound that these DT-250s provide. Being studio headphones, it has been commented that they will mercilessly expose the flaws in any recording; I've certainly found this true with these, at least when comparing them to the Grado 225is I use with my hifi. I don't see this as such a bad thing: to give as flat and neutral sound as possible is certainly no worse than accentuating certain aspects of a sound range to sweeten it, and it always seems a fairer way to represent something audially. The 80 OHM impedence may not give quite the same kick as some other headphones, but they are more than loud enough when used to listen to music from a PC, the muffled sound that I got from my deceased Sonys when cranking up the preamp on a player such as iTunes has been reduced greatly.
I really like these headphones. As you may have guessed, I'm no audiophile; but a balanced -if admittedly sometimes coldly analyticalsound, excellent sound isolation, good build quality and decent comfort levels means that, to me at least, these headphones tick the boxes required for a good pair of PC headphones.These earphones are interesting.
Pro: They are sealed, circumaural cans, and the 80-ohm version (the DT 250-80) is easily driven by portable electronics.
Con: The cans themselves are not all that portable, as they're full-sized and don't fold.
Pro: The cord is detachable.
Con: The plug connecting it to the phones is HUGE (about 2 inches long), and the company (or anyone else, for that matter) does not make any cables for this headset except for the stock cable, making a detachable cable pretty pointless.
You get the idea. Sonically, these things are very good for sealed cans, and I carry them regularly with my MP3 player for travel. Although the external noise blocking is not as good as that provided by earplug-type headphones (such as Etymotic 4 series, another of my favorites) it is quite good, and the phones are useable on airplanes. If you want a full-sized set of headphones that can run off a portable, I would recommend these.Nice cans for the money.
I use them eight hours a day at work at the computer. They are well sealed. So I don't bother the neighbors in other cubes.
I don't really notice them. I can't tell you how high the highs or how low the bass -it's just the music -almost all classical. I took them home and tried them with the head amp and, of course, they sound better, but they are fine on their own. I might look at Headroom's bit-head amplifier since that can run off the USB.
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Since the time of writing this review I have purchased the Bit-Head. Well worth the money. Really opens up the sound of these headphones.
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