The DT770 LE is extremely easy to listen to, it’s very non fatiguing and you can use it for multiple hour listening sessions without any discomfort. This DT770 is very detailed and very clear sounding. There’s nothing offensive with its sound. Bass goes deep and can be punchy when needed but is sometimes a tad loose. The mids are very nice as well, they don’t sound like the typical Beyer mids, sounding fuller and more upfront. Treble extension is pretty good but you won’t get any of the hot treble you would think you would get, it’s very inoffensive. The sound stage is wider and especially deeper and more 3 dimensional as you would expect it to be as well. It is very balanced and fast! Overall that makes is a very easy to listen to, musical closed headphone. “Smooth and effortless” just as Mike described it already.  Did I mention it does great for all musical genres I threw at it?

Compared to the bassy and very fun sounding COP I recently reviewed, this DT770 has a bigger sound stage, more clarity and detail but less bass (depending on the setting of course). You could call this the audiophile version of the COP. Like Mike I think it wouldn’t be fair to compare this to the T70. The 70 was clearly made for a different crowd, a niche so to speak. The T70 is a very detailed, analytic and technical headphone. The good old Audio-Technica M50, one of my first headphones I owned, sounds a lot more forward and bright, with less body and bass. It’s also very clear but less detailed and a lot less musical. It do is more neutral or analytical to my experience. /Lieven

Amplifier Pairings

With its 32Ω and 1.6m OFC cable (Oxygen Free Copper) it is clear the LE version of this 770 was not only made for the studio but for the street as well. A new trend Beyerdynamic seems to be holding on to lately. While this version does not need amplification, I would suggest using an amplifier anyway. An iPod can drive it to serious volumes but volume isn’t everything and using an amplifier does give the sound more weight, detail & clarity. It controls the bass a bit better and there is the better sound stage. I wouldn’t see why you wouldn’t use an amp unless you wouldn’t have one available.

I used 4 amplifiers to test the DT770 LE: Our 2011 product of the year, the E10 mini dac/amp by Fiio, the JDSLabs C421, the Woo Audio WA2 OTL and the desktop sized Violectric V200. The E10 gives this 770 thicker mids and a looser more boomy bass but it also results in a smaller sound stage and less detail.  The C421 produces a wider sound stage with this Beyer and you get more detail and clarity with an excellent balance. Keep it on low gain at all time, high gain doesn’t do the sound good at all. The V200 is a bit powerful for this LE headphone. I had to put it at -12db gain to get it sounding it best. The best amp however, and that was quite a surprise, is the WA2 amp. Clarity, speed, detail but also sounding smooth and with excellent bass. I haven’t been able to stop listening to this combo, ask Mike he’s probably crazy about me raving about this Beyer by now…

Despite the lower impedance and the fact that you can boost the volume loud enough with an Ipod, an amp is still recommended. Without an amp, bass gets a little boomy and the soundstage is not as spectacular as it would with a good amp. I tried the LE with a number of different amps from the powerful Burson Soloist to the portable ALO National and Matrix M-Stage. All of these amps help a great deal in improving low end control and impact. 

End Words

What I do know is that DT770 anniversary was executed so well that it would be a pity to see this model being limited to some production number. It’s more expensive than the standard run DT770 (roughly ~$100 difference checking from the local Jaben), but I think it’s still very competitive at that price given the sound quality. For instance, personally, I would go for this anniversary DT770 over the AKG’s K550 or Shure’s SRH1840. Over the period when I had the DT770 LE, I barely used the HD650 which you all know I’m a big fan of. So, Beyer definitely has a contender with this one, and I’ve never been a Beyerdynamic fan. /Mike

The DT770 PRO Limited Edition 88 is available in the better stores. Online prices are between $200 and $250/140-200€ and as I said before only 4.000 will be made in 2012, so stop reading and run to the store, right now!

It is my favorite Beyer up to date, the COP gets the 2^nd place and the DT990/600 comes in 3^rd.  I can’t remember having enjoyed a headphone as much as I am enjoying this one, I’ve even been playing air guitar listening to Muse… So Happy birthday Beyerdynamic, you’ve made yourself and us music lovers a great gift for your 88^th birthday!