DT 880 Edition (600Ω) vs MMX 300 PRO: which needs more amplifier?

The Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω) is 600Ω at 96.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 PRO is 48Ω at 96.0 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDT 880 Edition (600Ω)MMX 300 PRO
Impedance600 Ω48 Ω
Sensitivity96.0 dB96.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)98.2 dB/V109.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB2.5 mW2.5 mW
Voltage for 100 dB1.23 V0.35 V
Current for 100 dB2.0 mA7.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
75.00 Ω6.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
266280

One caution before reading the rows. 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, that model 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 MMX 300 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 MMX 300 PRO (Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, ART HeadAmp 4 Pro, 30 more).

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 MMX 300 PRO than 79%. 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 880 Edition (600Ω) powerDT 880 Edition (600Ω) voltageMMX 300 PRO powerMMX 300 PRO voltage
800.03 mW0.12 V0.03 mW35 mV
850.08 mW0.22 V0.08 mW62 mV
900.25 mW0.39 V0.25 mW0.11 V
950.79 mW0.69 V0.79 mW0.20 V
1002.5 mW1.23 V2.5 mW0.35 V
1057.9 mW2.18 V7.9 mW0.62 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 880 Edition (600Ω)Headroom, MMX 300 PROOutput impedanceNoise
FiiO KA11$296.4 dB17.3 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$593.0 dB14.2 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV
iBasso DC03 Pro$693.2 dB14.2 dB0.12 Ω0.9 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 266 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 67 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 67 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 6.4 dB of headroom on the DT 880 Edition (600Ω) and 17.3 dB on the MMX 300 PRO, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 75.00 Ω and 6.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 37 dB and 26 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 880 Edition (600Ω)5 - 35.000 Hznot printednot printed
MMX 300 PRO5 - 40,000 Hznot printednot printed

Beyerdynamic prints 5 - 35.000 Hz for the DT 880 Edition (600Ω) and 5 - 40,000 Hz for the MMX 300 PRO.

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 880 Edition (600Ω) and Beyerdynamic MMX 300 PRO. 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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