DT 770 Pro X Limited vs DT 900 Pro X: which needs more amplifier?

The Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X Limited is 48Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X is 48Ω at 100.0 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.

The DT 770 Pro X Limited needs 2.0 dB more than the DT 900 Pro X to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 1.0 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDT 770 Pro X LimitedDT 900 Pro X
Impedance48 Ω48 Ω
Sensitivity98.0 dB/mW100.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)111.2 dB/V113.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.6 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.28 V0.22 V
Current for 100 dB5.7 mA4.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
6.00 Ω6.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the DT 770 Pro X Limited but crosses it with the DT 900 Pro X (Schiit Mjolnir 3).

280 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 770 Pro X Limited is more demanding than 71% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the DT 900 Pro X than 62%. 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 770 Pro X Limited powerDT 770 Pro X Limited voltageDT 900 Pro X powerDT 900 Pro X voltage
800.02 mW28 mV0.01 mW22 mV
850.05 mW49 mV0.03 mW39 mV
900.16 mW87 mV0.10 mW69 mV
950.50 mW0.16 V0.32 mW0.12 V
1001.6 mW0.28 V1.0 mW0.22 V
1055.0 mW0.49 V3.2 mW0.39 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 770 Pro X LimitedHeadroom, DT 900 Pro XOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2011.0 dB13.0 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2919.3 dB21.3 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$3611.0 dB13.0 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 69 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 208 of them are in the second group.

The cheapest of the 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 11.0 dB of headroom on the DT 770 Pro X Limited and 13.0 dB on the DT 900 Pro X, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 6.00 Ω for both, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 24 dB and 22 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 770 Pro X Limited5 - 40,000 Hznot printednot printed
DT 900 Pro X5 - 40,000 Hznot printednot printed

Beyerdynamic prints the same thing for both the DT 770 Pro X Limited and the DT 900 Pro X: 5 - 40,000 Hz.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, and that is the whole of what this section can tell you. The two sheets print the same range, which is itself a hint about how much the number is worth. 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 770 Pro X Limited and Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X. Every figure on this page comes from what Beyerdynamic published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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