****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I do have an audiophile ears, but I do not own any audiophile equipment. Recently I bought a Yeti Plus microphone that has an audio jack for monitoring audio. So, I plugged in my Bose QC35 headphones, using the 3.5 mm audio cable, and it sounded OK. But, it didn't sound great. I decided to subscribe to Apple Music to see what the music sounds like via this setup. It was nothing to write home about. I then plugged the same QC35 headphones to my 2021 Apple M1 Pro MacBook Pro (14"), and it sounded exactly like it did out of the Yeti X microphone's headphone jack.I decided to research and see why the quality was so low. I don't normally listen to music, but I couldn't imagine that the Apple Music streamed (even at the highest selectable quality) would be so unremarkable. So, I looked up the impedance of the audio jack of the Yeti X microphone, and I realized that it's a high-impedance audio output. Then, I looked up the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro specs, and what do you know? It also has a high-impedance output audio jack (unlike the 2020 M1 MacBook and MacBook Pro). So, then I googled what impedance should the headphones have for high-impedance audio outputs and learned that the impedance of the headphones should be at least 8-10 times of the impedance of the audio output in Ohms.Hence, I started the search for the high-impedance headphones. I've read hundreds of reviews, and I finally found the DT 770 PRO 250 Ohm headphones. They were well reviewed, they were relatively inexpensive, they they had a version with 250 Ohm of impedance (which is about 8 times as high as the audio output of the Yeti X audio jack). So, I decided to try these headphones. I ordered them and received them the next day via Amazon Prime shipping. As soon as I plugged them in and started the stream from Apple Music, my jaw dropped. This is what I was looking for, and here it is. Unbelievable I could get a jack pot on the first attempt for under $200 and especially becasue they are made in Germany. How is this even possible?Now, are they comfortable to wear? To me, they are a little too tight. Are they worse than the Bose QC35 when it comes to comfort? Maybe Bose QC35 are a little more comfortable. But, when it comes to the sound, OMG. There is no comparison.Unless you want to pay many times more for premium high-impedence headphones just to get a better fit, then go ahead and get the ones for $1500, $2500, etc. Otherwise, these are amazing when it comes to the audio quality. Can anyone tell that these are better than the QC35? Yes, anyone can tell unless you use these 250 Ohm ones with a low-impedance audio output like in smartphones, older MacBooks, etc.Now, my son has a 2020 M1 MacBook Air, which is an excellent laptop, but it has a low-impedance audio jack output. So, for my son, I've ordered an 80-ohm version to compare to my 250-ohm version. I will let him decide which one to go with.I'd suggest getting both the 80-Ohm and the 250-Ohm version and compare them side by side - as long as you are getting these headphones for a decent piece of audio equipment. If you are getting them for an iPhone (not sure why you would), then maybe you should go with the lowest-impedence version.Edit:I've now compared the 250 Ohm version to the 80 Ohm version. In the beginning, I couldn't tell any difference when using them with my Yeti X microphone's high-impedance audio out jack and the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro high-impedance audio jack. However, the more I listened to both, the more I started hearing the difference. I then switched to testing both 250 Ohm and the 80 Ohm headsets exclusively with the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro's high-impedance audio jack because it turned out that the Yet X audio jack shows its shortcomings when music with serious bass is played out of it.In my opinion, the 250 Ohm headset reproduces the sounds more accurately. When listening to Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes (on Apple Music lossless), I could actually hear some imperfection in the bass guitar (like the string was moved under the player's finger accidentally, resulting in a little distortion), while I couldn't hear this through the 80 Ohm headset.When listening to Bohemian Rhapsody Remastered in 2011 on Apple Muisci (lossless), It appears that mids and the highs are a bit dulled down through the 80 Ohm headset, whereas they are crystal clear through the 250 Ohm headset. We are talking here very subtle differences that can only be detected while listening to the same piece over and over again via both headsets (back to back).It appears that the best songs recommended for testing headsets are:1. Bohemian Rhapsody Remastered (2011) by Queen. ...2. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. ...3. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala. ...4. Heroes (2017 Remaster) by David Bowie. ...5. No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer. ...6. Diamonds From Sierra Leone by Kanye West. ...7. Now We Are Free by Hans ZimmerAdditionally, I was using the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro's audio jack (which auto-senses high-impedance and low-impedance headphones). I'm not sure what it does for the 80 Ohm headphones: does it consider them low-impedance or high-impedance because, in reality, they are medium-impedance headphones. Compared to other laptops, the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro probably has a decent-quality pre-amp and DAC similar to inexpensive (less than $200) standalone DACs with pre-amps. So, perhaps to hear the difference between the 80 Ohm and 250 Ohm versions of this headset, one should use decent audio equipment. My son hasn't yet tested the two headsets with his 2020 M1 MacBook Air, so I'm not sure which one he decides on. I will post another update later.
