DT 275 PRO vs DT 880 Edition (600Ω): which needs more amplifier?

The Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO is 45Ω at 105.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) is 600Ω at 96.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

The DT 880 Edition (600Ω) needs 9.0 dB more than the DT 275 PRO to reach the same loudness — 2.5 mW against 0.32 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDT 275 PRODT 880 Edition (600Ω)
Impedance45 Ω600 Ω
Sensitivity105.0 dB96.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)118.5 dB/V98.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.32 mW2.5 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.12 V1.23 V
Current for 100 dB2.7 mA2.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
5.62 Ω75.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280266

One caution before reading the rows. Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO and Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, each of them needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

Where the two part company

14 of the 280 sources have the power for the DT 275 PRO but not for the DT 880 Edition (600Ω) — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 11 more.

33 sources are low enough in output impedance for the DT 880 Edition (600Ω) under the one-eighth rule but not for the DT 275 PRO (Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, ART HeadAmp 4 Pro, 30 more).

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the DT 880 Edition (600Ω) but crosses it with the DT 275 PRO (Schiit Mjolnir 3).

266 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The gap between these two in decibels does not change with volume — it is a property of the two headphones. What changes is the size of the numbers, and it changes fast: every 10 dB costs ten times the power. The row that matters is the one nearest the level you listen at, and for most people that is nearer the top of this table than the bottom.

The DT 880 Edition (600Ω) is more demanding than 98% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the DT 275 PRO than 39%. Both figures use the same measure as the rest of the site: whichever runs out first against a 2 V, 100 mW dongle, voltage or power.

dB SPLDT 275 PRO powerDT 275 PRO voltageDT 880 Edition (600Ω) powerDT 880 Edition (600Ω) voltage
803.2 µW12 mV0.03 mW0.12 V
850.01 mW21 mV0.08 mW0.22 V
900.03 mW38 mV0.25 mW0.39 V
950.10 mW67 mV0.79 mW0.69 V
1000.32 mW0.12 V2.5 mW1.23 V
1051.0 mW0.21 V7.9 mW2.18 V

105 dB is included because forum power figures are usually quoted there or higher. It is also a level that damages hearing in minutes — how many minutes is its own calculator.

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, DT 275 PROHeadroom, DT 880 Edition (600Ω)Output impedanceNoise
FiiO KA11$2926.5 dB6.4 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5923.5 dB3.0 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV
iBasso DC03 Pro$6923.4 dB3.2 dB0.12 Ω0.9 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 266 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 66 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both — the rest either fail one of those or never printed the number at all, and 197 of them are in the second group.

The cheapest of the 66 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 26.5 dB of headroom on the DT 275 PRO and 6.4 dB on the DT 880 Edition (600Ω), its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 5.62 Ω and 75.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 17 dB and 37 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and none of it is about how either headphone sounds. To put either model against a source this page does not mention, or to change the target loudness, use the amplifier matcher.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
DT 275 PRO5 - 24,000 Hznot printednot printed
DT 880 Edition (600Ω)5 - 35.000 Hznot printednot printed

Beyerdynamic prints 5 - 24,000 Hz for the DT 275 PRO and 5 - 35.000 Hz for the DT 880 Edition (600Ω).

DT 880 Edition (600Ω): Beyerdynamic prints one range for the whole DT 880 Edition page, the same figure for every impedance version.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, and that is the whole of what this section can tell you. A wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble on that headphone: without a tolerance, neither number says how loud either model is at the ends of its own range, so the difference between the two is a difference between two pieces of marketing copy. A ±dB figure is what turns a range into a specification, and of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print it.

None of this is a measurement. What each maker publishes, and what it is worth, is set out in the frequency response audit.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO and Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω). Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Beyerdynamic never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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