DT 880 PRO

Dynamic Headphone Order # 490.970

FEATURES

Semi-open studio headphone Rugged headband construction Single-sided cable Soft headband pad Gold plated stereo jack plug (3.5 mm) & 1/4" adapter (6.35 mm)

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Transducer type. Dynamic Operating principle. Semi-open Nominal frequency response. 5 - 35,000 Hz Nominal impedance. 250 per cartridge Nominal SPL. 96 dB SPL Nominal T.H.D. < 0.2% Power handling capacity. 100 mW Sound coupling to ear. Circumaural Nominal headband pressure. 3.5 N Weight (without cable). 295 g Length and type of cable. 3 m / single-sided coiled cable Connection. Gold plated stereo mini jack plug (3.5 mm) and 1/4" adapter (6.35 mm)
(all specifications according to EN 60 268-7)

APPLICATIONS

The DT 880 combines the advantages of open headphones with those of closed studio headphones. The improved systems of the legendary DT 880 provide a high quality studio headphone with excellent analytical properties, especially for classical music. The balanced reduction of environmental noise guarantees a perfect spherical sound, while the complete sound spectrum is reproduced in great detail from the lowest sub bass up to the highest frequencies. The higher frequencies are crystal-clear without being unpleasant and impress with a very smooth sound. The precise balanced mid frequencies are analytical and supportive, without being predominate. The bass is voluminous without being too obtrusive. The new designed headband fits for all headsizes and grants better wearing comfort, especially during long studio sessions.

SPARE PARTS

EDT 990 V Ear pads, velours, circumaural. Order # 926.679 BN 59-53/A Headband pad. Order # 340.502
1 of 1 beyerdynamic GmbH & Co. KG Theresienstr. 8 | 74072 Heilbronn Germany Tel. +49 (0) / 617 - 0 | Fax +49 (0) / 617 - 224 info@beyerdynamic.de | www.beyerdynamic.de For further distributors worldwide, please go to www.beyerdynamic.com Non-contractual illustrations. Contents subject to change without notice. E3/DT 880 PRO (02.09)

DT 880 PRO HT

Multicore cable Multicore cable

Headzone Technology

The Headzone technology

4.1 The idea

Headzone emerged from the idea of remodelling the effective parameters of an ideal auditory space with a certain loudspeaker set-up (up to 5.1) as convincingly and exactly as possible and to make this available in a compact and lightweight transportable device like an external sound card. With the help of the lastest DSP-enabled signal processing, Headzone processes the audio channels in such a way that they are heard in the headphones exactly as they would in an actual room: outside the head, in fixed positions and with a realistic sound impression. In contrast to other surround simulations using headphones, which produce an impressive but very diffuse spatial effect due to stereoscopic image widening and reverberation effects, Headzone performs just like a real 5.1 loudspeaker system in a high-quality control room. Each surround channel is reproduced as a separate, virtual loudspeaker and can be positioned exactly as required by the user. Headzone places key emphasis on the maximum accuracy of reproduction.
4.2 Surround on stereo headphones how to trick your brain
The Binaural Environment Modelling technology, which is the heart of Headzone, basically works on the principle that your perception is what you hear and if you hear nothing else than the signals played through two speakers close to your head, i.e. headphones why shouldnt it be possible to generate any perception you like? In fact, humans always hear in stereo using the left ear and the right ear. The fact that with two ears we can also hear spatially is due to the ability of our brain to evaluate the available signals in relationship to each other. This not only creates the left/right information but also a genuine 3D effect. The actual processes are too complex to describe in a few sentences, but we would like to mention a few, but critical factors: 1. Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF): describes various parameters of the sound signals at both ears, via: a. Run time differences: sound arriving at the listener from the right will be heard first at the right-hand ear and will arrive at the left-hand ear a short while later. b. Differences in level: sound arriving first at the right-hand ear will travel around the human head and then be heard at the left-hand ear with an attenuated level and a different frequency spectrum. 2. Relationship between direct sound and diffuse sound: a sound source close by will have a higher proportion of direct sound than a distant sound source. 3. Typical patterns of early reflections in a room: a sound source that is very close typically generates different reflection patterns (speed and angle of the reflection incidence) compared to one that is far away. Interestingly, for a human listener, some of these reflections are used to define the apparent sound source distance, while others will have a more prominent effect on the perceived room size of the surrounding room. 4. And finally head tracking: in a natural environment humans unconsciously use the ability to turn their head in order to find out exactly where a sound source is located. These are just minute head movements, which nevertheless are extremely important for natural hearing. It is due to these head movements that we are able to distinguish clearly between front and back (particularly in spatial hearing). With Headzone, this natural hearing has also been realised in the headphones, since Headzone constantly tracks the head movements of the listener and incorporates them in the audio reproduction. If we can succeed in replicating all these factors through digital signal processing (which we do), we can model any required room information that the human brain perceives as realistic. In other words: we can trick the brain!

4.3 Virtual loudspeakers

For example, if a mono audio signal is reproduced via a loudspeaker at a distance of 3 m and an angle of 30 to the left of the listener, this signal reaches the listener with the characteristics specific to each of the two ears (frequency response, run time, space component etc.). The brain evaluates this information and thereby determines the position of the loudspeaker. Headzone imprints this information on the audio signal using digital signal processing and can thereby generate the same spatial impression with the headphones. This makes it possible to position an audio signal virtually anywhere in the space around the listener and thus generate a virtual loudspeaker.
4.4 The virtual control room
After being able to create virtual loudspeakers, the next question will be how to place these loudspeakers in a room, as the actual sound image is composed by the loudspeaker itself and the acoustic characteristics that are added by the room it is standing in. With other words, your virtual control room. For quite a long time the recording industry has been defining the characteristics of a listening control room. These are defined in todays standards such as: OIRT E86/3, IEC 268-13, N 12-A, EBU 3276-2, ITU-R BS.1116, SMPTE 202M, ISO 2969,THX 1138, etc. The main thing that we learn from of the different standards is that THE perfect control room does not exist, as everyone defines it a little bit differently. But we also learn what the qualities of a good reference listening room are, namely: : Reverberation time ms Defined room geometry Low background noise level No strong reflections that alter the sound color Highly diffuse reverberation tail When modelling a virtual control room for the Headzone system, we could have measured out some legendary control rooms and put them into Headzone, but what would the benefit be for you if you were able to work in the virtual Abbey Road Studios ? You have probably never worked there and perhaps never will in your lifetime and even if you did perhaps you would not like the sound of the control room at all. For the Headzone Virtual Control Room we decided to take a different approach: If THE perfect control room doesnt exist, but we know the qualities of a good reference listening room. why not allow you to adjust the listening room and create your OWN perfect control room? In our opinion a good sounding control room is quite a personal thing and therefore flexible within certain limits. It is perfect when you feel at home and comfortable with the room response and the distance perception. In other words, when the room sounds plausible to you. Most importantly, you should always be able to use the same listening conditions, even outside your studio, while recording, or during listening sessions while travelling. This gives you all the benefits of a true reference listening room, where a sound engineer can easily judge the quality of a recording. The more you work in that specific room, the easier you will be able to tell how this would sound in any other environment. In addition, with Headzone, you are only a few mouse clicks away from listening to your production in different environments to double check that what you have mixed for living-room conditions will also sound right in a small car! The Headzone virtual control room is therefore based on the qualities of a good reference listening room as described above, but Headzone also allows the user to custom-design the sound characteristics of a loudspeaker system in a control room with just a few mouse clicks. Adjustable parameters include all those effects that additionally affect the sound image in a real room and that are omitted in conventional stereo headphones: the size of the room, the distance of the loudspeaker to the listener and the characteristics of the control room. We deliberately incorporated all parameters into just 3 sliders (Room Size, Distance and Ambience), which are easy to understand and operate within a range of 0 to 100. In fact, when adjusting your personal control room, we want to encourage you to do what you can do best: use your ears! Just start playing around with the room parameters in your virtual control room. As soon as you feel that your setting sounds realistic and convenient, youve made it! Youve created your own reference control room, which you can now take with you anywhere in the world.

4.5 Why head tracking?

1. Loudspeakers do not move! Loudspeakers are installed at fixed positions within a room and provide a sound impression that is spatially stable. The loudspeaker does not change its position with the listeners every movement, but will sometimes be in front of them, next to them or behind them, depending on their movements/position. In contrast, headphones are attached to the users head, which means that a signal coming from the right-hand earpiece of the headphones will always remain to the right of the user because the headphones also turn when the listener turns his head. Since we are not used to moving loudspeakers, our brain is constantly reminded of the fact that we are just wearing headphones. Headzone solves this problem with the development of new, patented technology. With the help of an ultrasonic head tracker, the system continuously tracks the head position of the listener and adjusts audio reproduction accordingly. For example, if the user places a virtual loudspeaker in the front right-hand corner of the room, it will always remain in that position. The user can turn towards or away from the loudspeaker no matter how he moves, the loudspeaker does not move and remains at the same virtual location. This allows for a striking degree of reality in surround reproduction, which could not be achieved until now, as at a certain point the brain forgets that the person is wearing headphones. You feel as though your virtual listening control room is real, but even better, as you can easily take it with you.
Loudspeakers installed at fixed positions
Surround simulation without headtracking - loudspeakers follow the head movements
Surround simulation with headtracking - Headzone head tracker tracks the head position and adjusts the audio reproduction accordingly. The loudspeakers remain at fixed positions in the virtual room.
2. Perfect out-of head localisation As already mentioned above (see chapter 4.2 Surround on stereo headphones how to trick your brain), we unconsciously turn our heads in order to localise a sound source. During this movement, headphones without head tracker will, of course, also turn the sound image by the same degree, whilst headphones with head tracker ensure that the brain will once again receive the additionally required space information just as in real life.
EarPatron Hearing Protection
5.1 Basic Principles of Hearing Protection
Background The human hearing is one of the most important and sensitive sense organs. Therefore, hearing protection is essential for people who are exposed to high sound pressure levels for a longer period of time. It is even of existential importance for people who need a good hearing for their profession such as musicians, sound engineers, interpreters or radio moderators. Problem Like a sunburn which is noticed when the skin has become red already, it is found out that the noise level was too high when the ears are already ringing. In both cases it is too late to think about protective measures. State of the Art The current offer of electronic hearing protection includes more or less the use of audio limiters only. For an extensive hearing protection the limiting of the electric output signal with a limiter is not sufficient. Instead of this the actual sound pressure the user is exposed to has to be registered, evaluated and regulated during the whole time of listening. The target is that the listener cannot reach a critical noise dose over a long period of time of listening.

5.2 Function of EarPatron
The EarPatron technology implemented in the Headzone PRO XT system contains the following functions: Headphone-Adapt Technology Depending on the technical specifications, each headphone produces a different sound pressure with the same output level of the headphone amplifier. For this reason the Headphone Adapt technology has been developed. The measured electrical values are put into relation to the used headphone. After entering the technical specifications of the headphone, EarPatron is able to use the actual sound pressures as basis of all calculations, because electrical values are in direct relation to the acoustical impact. Noise Fuel Gauge As the Headphone Adapt algorithm is used to find out the actual sound pressure at any time, EarPatron is able to sum up the level of noise already arisen over an arbitrary period of time. This is converted into a percentage value of the rating sound level (maximum noise level) of 85 dB(A) for 8 hours. This threshold value means that a permanent sound pressure level of 85 dB(A) is permitted for a maximum of 8 hours. A rise of the noise level by 3 dB results in a splitting of the permitted time (e.g. 88 dB(A) for 4 hours, 91 dB(A) for 2 hours etc.). This rating sound level must not be mixed up with the maximum sound pressure level that can be achieved (here 105 dB(A) at 1 kHz), as the effective sound pressure is regarded in proportion to the working time. A sound pressure of e.g. 119 dB(A) for 10 seconds results in the same noise level as an 8-hour sound pressure of 85 dB(A). The Control Panel and the base station display how much percentage of this value has been achieved already. 10% means: A lot of noise still may be given, 100%, however, means: You have already received the whole daily ration of noise. The noise fuel gauge allows the user to check if his listening habits are healthy. A displayed value of more than 100% means: The hearing volume has been too high for the duration of the work. Furthermore, it is helpful to develop a feeling for the consequences of high listening levels, because an increase of the volume automatically increases the display of the noise fuel gauge. With Headzone PRO XT the EarPatron technology does not actively intervene into the signal processing, it only acts as an indicating instrument. The EarPatron algorithm works without automatic reset. This means that breaks of the user, when the hearing volume is set to 0, are not evaluated as recreation phases for the hearing. EarPatron can be reset with Reset only. The reason why is that the noise level the user is exposed to during a break is unknown. It is unknown, if the hearing of the user really could recover or if it was exposed to a higher noise. This means the noise fuel gauge will not reduce, even when the hearing volume has been 0 for a longer period of time. EarPatron cannot take into account the whole daily routine of the user, but with EarPatron the stress of the hearing can be kept harmless.

, the digital Firewire IEEE 1394
Input Select LEDs Analog LED green Analogue inputs are activated Analog LED red Analogue inputs are close to clipping FW LED green Firewire inputs are activated FW LED red Firewire inputs are close to clipping AES/EBU LED green AES/EBU inputs are activated AES/EBU LED red AES/EBU inputs are close to clipping Note: The appropriate Input Select LED will light up red when less than 6dB of headroom is left for at least one audio input (except Com channel). Separate Peak LEDs for every audio channel are displayed in the Headzone software control panel.

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Master volume control Master control for the headphone volume. When working with the Headzone system, always set the master volume control to minimum and then slightly increase the volume to a decent value. EarPatron noise level LEDs Seven LEDs display the achieved EarPatron noise level in per cent. EarPatron noise level reset button With this button you can reset the EarPatron noise level to 0% (refer also to chapter 5. EarPatron Hearing Protection). Limiter LED Limiter LED green Limiter activated Limiter LED red Limiter actively limits the output signal Headphone sockets Headzone PRO XT provides two 1/4" (6.35 mm) jack sockets to connect up to two headphones. As the head tracker does not operate properly when two headphones are simultaneously used, Headzone automatically turns off the head tracker when two headphones are connected. Note: When connecting two headphones, the impedance changes from the device perspective. For calculating the EarPatron noise level, Headzone assumes that two identical headphones are connected. If two different headphones are connected to the device, the displayed noise level is useless, as it does not represent the whole impedance of the system.

Rear view

Head tracker connector Connector for Headzone Rail (head tracker receiver), balanced. Com input Balanced XLR mono input for line level signals (6 dBu nominal, 15 dBu clip). This additional signal can be routed to the virtual L, R, LS and RS loudspeakers. The volume of the Com channel can be set with the Com Volume control 4 on the front of the device. Analogue inputs 6 balanced analogue inputs for Line level (6 dBu nominal, 15 dBU clip) via 25-pin Sub D socket (refer to chapter 15. Sub-D pin assignment). AES/EBU In The AES/EBU connector provides 6 digital inputs according to the AES3 or EBU Tech-3250E standard, which are three XLR sockets each for two channels supporting sample rates up to 192 kHz. Digital audio input (IEEE 1394) The digital IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connector provides 6 digital audio inputs with a sample rate of up to 96 kHz. Furthermore, the Firewire connector is used for exchanging configuration data between the Headzone hardware and Headzone software control panel. Headzone utilizes a standard 6-pin Firewire connector and supports the IEEE 1394-A standard. Use an appropriate adapter cable to connect a 4-pin Firewire port (common on notebooks) or an 8-pin Firewire port (IEEE 1394-B Standard). Note: - The labelling of the Firewire connection can differ, e.g. it can also be iLink or 1394 etc. - Headzone untersttzt nicht die Stromversorgung ber den Firewire 1394-Bus. Power connector for 100 - 240 V, 50 Hz or 60 Hz.

9.2 How to connect to your hardware
Before opening the Headzone software control panel, make sure that your hardware is connected and turned on. Once the panel is open it will download and display the current Headzone configuration and display Headzone Device X - Connected in the status bar at the bottom. Now the control panel is connected and ready to work. When opening the control panel without any hardware connected or disconnecting the hardware while the Software Control Panel is opened, the status bar will display No Headzone Device Connected and you will find all of your virtual speakers set to 0, for example. Note: Sometimes MACs take several seconds until hardware is fully operational after being connected to the Firewire port.

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9.3 Room set-up

Virtual speaker set-up

Within Headzone you can easily configure the virtual speaker set-up to meet your personal needs. Click on any of the speaker symbols in the virtual control room 1 and move them to a new position while holding down the mouse button. Alternatively you can type the desired angle into the Virtual speaker positions field 2 and set it by pressing the Enter button on your keyboard. The LFE speaker is not incorporated into the surround processing (and therefore not adjustable) as it only contains very lowfrequency material (below 120Hz). This is due to the fact that a human being is not able to have a clear spatial impression or localisation at a very low frequency. However, the level of LFE speaker depends on your room settings (Roomsize, Distance, Ambience) to always have a steady balance between LFE and Surround speakers. Rotate loudspeakers 6 With this function you can rotate all loudspeakers 180, as if you rotate your chair 180 in a real 5.1 surrounding. Mirror loudspeakers 7 With this function you can change places of the rear and front loudspeakers. L moves to the position of LS, R to RS and Center is 180 from its original position.

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Room settings
Within Headzone you can adjust the sonic behaviour of the virtual control room to meet your personal taste or needs, whether you are used to working in large and wet control rooms or if you prefer small, dry sounding locations. This function goes far beyond normal reverberation and can be considered real modelling of a reference control room. For more detailed information on the virtual control room, please refer to chapter 4. The Headzone technology. Roomsize With the Roomsize parameter 3 you can adjust the size of the virtual control room, not regarding the distance to your speakers, but how small or big rooms change the sonic impression of audio material reproduced by loudspeakers. Distance The Distance parameter 4 effectively sets how far away the virtual loudspeakers are from the listener. This will mainly influence the sound pressure at the listeners position and also the balance between direct sound and reflections. Please note that this parameter directly influences the volume of your reproduced audio material. For high Distance settings you will probably have to use the master volume fader (see 9.4 Volume Controls) for some makeup gain. Ambience The Ambience parameter 5 basically controls how much colouration your control room should add to your audio material - in other words: if you want the acoustics of your room to be dry or really wet. You should be aware of the fact that in reality the room sound has quite a big influence on your spatial impression and also on the sound of your loudspeakers. For this reason very low Ambience settings tend to be slightly unrealistic, because your virtual control room is turned into an anechoic chamber. Please note that this parameter also influences the volume of your reproduced audio material to a certain degree. For high Ambience settings you will probably have to use the master volume fader (see 9.4 Volume Controls) for some makeup gain. Note: Please note that the controls for the Room Setting are interactive! For instance, when setting Distance to 0, your virtual speakers will be nailed to your ears and you will obviously not hear any difference when adapting the Ambience or Size of your room. Likewise, if you turn Ambience to 0 (which simulates an anechoic chamber), high Distance settings will influence the volume, but not the reflections in your control room, as there are no reflections in an anechoic chamber.

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9.4 Sound Adaptation
With the sound adaptation you can adapt the sound of your Headzone system to your needs or to the sound of an existing monitoring system. For this four parametric equalizers are available.
Each of the four equalizers allows setting the parameters frequency 1 , gain 3 and quality 2 separately. When a Headzone system is connected the effects of the equalizer on the frequency response is displayed in the Eq curve view 5. In order to evaluate the changes in sound acoustically, you can turn off the equalizers via the Bypass EQ tick box 4.

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9.5 Volume controls

Input peak LEDs

The input peak LEDs 1 show if an input stream is close to saturating one Headzone input. The LED 1 will light up when there is less than 6dB of headroom left. If at least one input peak LED responds, the currently active input select LED 10 on the front of the Headzone base station will light up red (this refers only to the six surround channels, the input peak LED of the Com-input is omitted). When using the analog inputs 18 of the Headzone base station, audio levels that are too high can saturate the A/D converters in the hardware and lead to permanent distortion. Please level your analog input signals so that the clipping LEDs will only light up for the highest audio peaks. When using the digital input 20 of the Headzone base (Firewire connection), the Headzone inputs cannot normally be saturated as Headzone is able to handle audio samples with a digital word length of 24 bits. If an audio channel is distorted, please check the audio source used on your workstation for transmitting saturated audio signals.
Surround channel level meters
The level meters for all surround channels 2 show the signal strength of the corresponding audio signal after the volume fader (AFL), but before the Headzone surround processing.

Surround channel volumes

The volume faders for all surround channels 3 will level audio signals in your Headzone hardware within a range of -50dB to +10dB and are intended to set up a convenient balance between your virtual surround speakers. ll channel volume settings will be stored within your hardware and are still available when you use Headzone again, whether a PC is connected or not.

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Muting channels
The Mute tick boxes for all surround channels 4 have the same function as setting channel volumes to zero, but then allow muting and unmuting of channels without losing the volume fader settings. All mute tick boxes settings will be stored within the hardware and are still available when you use Headzone again, whether a PC is connected or not.

LFE filtering

Within Headzone the LFE channel has a cutoff frequency of 120Hz (24dB/Oct.) for playback of low-frequency audio signals. This can be important for some surround PC games that use a full-range signal on the LFE output, assuming that the connected subwoofer has an integrated crossover. Nevertheless, if you want to have full control of the frequency range of your LFE channel (e.g. if you set the corresponding bandwidth limit yourself during mixing) you can enable the Fullrange tick box 5 in the Headzone software control panel to set the LFE channel full-range. When doing so, please note that the LFE channel is not incorporated into the surround processing and full-range signals can therefore impair the surround impression.

The Com channel can be routed to the virtual loudspeakers L, R, LS and RS by selecting the appropriate tick box At delivery the Com channel is routed to the two virtual rear loudspeakers.

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9.6 Control / status panel

Bypass processing

Although Headzone is designed to simulate a virtual 5.1 control room, there may be situations where you want Headzone to operate like a normal headphones amplifier when checking a stereo mix or a CD. By clicking the Bypass processing tick box 1 all processing (including head tracking) is deactivated and a stereo downmix of all surround signals is put out. Headzone then works as a reference stereo headphones amplifier. In this mode, the Bypass LED 8 on the front of the Headzone base (refer to chapter 6.1 Base station) will turn red. The Bypass processing tick box 1 has the same function as the Bypass button chapter 6.1 Base station) and is therefore interactive.
on the front of the Headzone base (see
Note: Although the surround processing is completely disabled in Bypass mode, the playback volume is still influenced by the Distance and Ambience parameters as described in chapter 9.3.2 Room settings. This is because switching between processing and bypass could otherwise lead to a dramatic increase of volume and damage your hearing. Locking the playback volume to the Distance and Ambience parameters will always provide a suitable volume balance between bypass and processing mode.

Bypass head tracking

If you want to use Headzone without head tracking, you can deactivate this function by clicking the Bypass head tracker tick box 2. In this mode, the head tracker angle will be permanently fixed at 0 and the head tracker LED status LED 6 on the front of the Headzone base station will turn off (see chapter 6.1 Base station). Note As long as the head tracker is deactivated, the Headzone rail (see chapter 6.3 Headzone rail and clip) does not necessarily have to be connected to the Headzone base.

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Selecting an audio input
By selecting the option Audio input control 3 you can choose between the analogue (Sub D) 18 or digital Firewire IEEE1394 and AES/EBU 19 audio inputs on the rear of the Headzone base. The selected input will be displayed by the Input select LEDs on the front of the Headzone base station (see chapter 6.1Base station). The control element is interactive with the Input select button 6.1 Base station).
on the front panel of the Headzone base station (see chapter
How to determine the head tracker mode
If you would like to use two Headzone systems, you can configure them for the parallel operation via the Head tracker Mode pull-down menu 9. One of the two Headzone systems must be set to Dual (Master), the other one to Dual (Slave). The Slave system continuously synchronises with the Master system to avoid interference. If you only use one Headzone system, please configure it as Single, because then the head tracker can work at a higher speed.

Viewing the hardware status
Within the Status panel 5 you can view the equivalent of the status LEDs on the front of your Headzone base station (see chapter 6.1 Base station).
Viewing and customising the head tracker
The Headtracker view window 6 provides all necessary information on the current position of your head (e.g. angle) in an easy to understand graphical display. Please use the interactive display to check if your head is located in the specified working range, which is +/- 60 off the middle axis. When running into the red area between +/-60 and +/-90 you will probably notice a decrease in performance, while for angles beyond +/-90 the head tracker will not work properly any more. By using the Reset button 8 you can define the aural middle axis of the head tracker, or in other words, you can define where front actually is. This feature can be very handy if you are sitting a little bit off-axis from your receivers and want your current viewing direction to be 0 or front for the head tracking. Point your head to the desired 0 position and click the Reset button 8. The small arrow 7 in the head tracker view will move to the new front position and you will hear the surround reproduction switch to 0. This function is interactive with the Reset button on your DT 770 PRO HT or DT 880 PRO HT (see chapter 6.2 DT 770 PRO HT / DT 880 PRO HT headphones). You can adjust the compensation of the head tracker between very sharp (100) and loose (0) with the Scale slider 14. Depending on your personal taste, you might find very sharp settings of the head tracker a little bit unnatural compared to reality. In this case, you can lower the Scale slider to a convenient value that feels more realistic.
Note: To find the best scale setting do the following: Play an audio signal to the left front speaker (e.g. use just the left analog input, use an MP3 player on your PC station panned to the left or use the software control panel to mute all other channels). Move the left front speaker to an angle of -45 using the room set-up panel (see chapter 9.3 Room Set-up). Turn your head a few times about 45 to the right and back. If you feel that the virtual left front speaker is moving a little bit in the opposite direction to your head movement, lower the scale setting. If you feel that the virtual left front speaker is following your head movement slightly, raise the scale setting. Repeat and re-adjust until you feel that the virtual front speaker stays stable at its position while turning your head. Normally, people find scale settings between 60 and 80 most convenient.

Limiter

With Headzone PRO XT the output signal can be limited to an adjustable maximum sound pressure. This is a hard limitation which operates on a sample basis to protect the hearing. If a sample exceeds the threshold, it is limited to the threshold value. This results in audible distortions. Using the limiter only makes sense, when the volume is substantially decreased below the maximum sound pressure. The limiter can be monitored via the limiter LEDs 11 in chapter 9.5 Volume controls and 14 on front of the base station. When the limiter is activated, these LEDs should illuminate green. Should they illuminate red, the limiter is actively limiting the signal. The maximum sound pressure can be entered in the Threshold field 10 (refer to chapter 9.6 Control / status panel. The limiter function is activated or deactivated via the tick box 4. The control of the limiter can be locked with a password (refer to chapter 9.6.3 Password protection). In this way the employer can ensure for example that the maximum level with work stations is e.g. 85 dB(A). This means the maximum level of the limiter must be set to 85 dB in the Threshold field 10 , the limiter must be activated by ticking the tick box 4 and the control must be locked. Now the set limiter cannot be changed any more. Warning: Do not forget the password!

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Com Channel Ducking
The ducking function for the Com channel can be activated by selecting the Ducking tick box 12. This function provides a better understanding via the Com channel. If the Com signal exceeds the ducking threshold value 11 , the remaining audio signal is attenuated by the value which has been entered in the Thresh field 13. If the value drops below the threshold, the volume is increased again after a short while.

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9.7 Extended settings
Opening the ASIO driver control panel
For changing the settings of the Headzone ASIO driver, select the Advanced tab on the Headzone software control panel and click on the ASIO Settings button. A new window will open for the Headzone ASIO driver allowing you to change the internally used sampling frequency of the Headzone base as well as the ASIO buffer size to influence latency. Available sampling rates via ASIO are 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz and 96 kHz. The minimum available ASIO latency will be directly dependent on the speed of your workstation. If you notice audio dropouts or anything similar, raise the ASIO latency setting. As Headzone is a pure playback device, it is not necessary to always use the lowest possible latency. Note: As ASIO drivers are on Windows PCs, the ASIO Settings button is available in the Windows version of the Headzone software control panel. In the MAC version this button is missing as Headzone is fully compliant with Apple Core Audio and therefore does not utilize ASIO drivers.

Checking version numbers

For checking the software version numbers of your Headzone system, please look in the Firmware versions box. 1. Control Panel: version number of the software control panel 2. IEEE1394: firmware version of the Headzone Firewire controller 3. DSP: firmware version of the signal processor in your Headzone base station Note: Make sure that your hardware is turned on and connected to readout the DSP and IEEE 1394 firmware versions.

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Password protection
Locking By using the password protection of Headzone PRO XT you can lock the configuration of the integrated limiter. When locked, the limiter cannot be turned on or off any more and the threshold cannot be changed. All other functions are not affected and remain the same. For example this can make sense for an employer, who wants to make sure that the employees are exposed to a limited sound pressure level only. Lock In order to locke the limiter, select the Lock button. Now enter any password into the Enter Password field and repeat it in the Confirm Password field. The password must not contain any vowel mutations, special characters or similar and must not be longer than ten letters. Afterwards, select the OK button. Now the password is stored in the Headzone base station and the limiter cannot be configured any more. Note: If a password has already been stored with the Headzone base station, it will automatically be suggested when locking and you only have to confirm it. You can, however, replace the suggested password by any other one as described above. Unlock In order to release the control of the limiter, select the Unlock. button. Enter the password in the Enter password field and select the OK button. Now the limiter can be configured again. Note: Never forget the password! The limiter can only be turned on or off when entering the correct password. Should you forget the password, please contact the beyerdynamic service.

max. 60 max. 4m

max. 45

Maximum head angle

Maximum distance and horizontal off-axis angle

Rail max. 30

Maximum vertical off-axis angle

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Troubleshooting

11. Troubleshooting

To restore the factory settings of your Headzone device, do the following: Close the application software that uses Headzone as audio device. Turn off the Headzone base station 1. Press and hold the Bypass 7 and Input Select 9 buttons on the front panel of the base station. Turn on the Headzone base station 1 while holding the buttons ( 7 and 9 )down. The Headtracker will start flashing slowly Release the buttons ( 7 and 9 ). The Headtracker 6 and Bypass 8 LEDs will flash quickly twice. Factory preset is restored.

and Bypass

Problem Audio sounds distorted
Possible Cause Input levels are too high
Solution If you use the analog or AES/EBU inputs: reduce the output level of your sound source and use the peak LEDs for monitoring the input level (refer to chapter 9.5.1). If you use the Firewire input: reduce the output levels in your application software, use the peak LEDs for monitoring the input level (refer to chapter 9.5.1).
Output levels are too high
Reduce the output level with the master volume and/or Com volume control on the front of the Headzone base. Increase the output level of your sound source or your application software, but always avoid overloading the inputs, as this would lead to distortion as described above. If you use the digital input: increase the output levels in your application software, but also in this case, avoid overloading the inputs.
Bad signal-to-noise-ratio

Low input levels

Low audio output level
Check the level meter of the master section in the Headzone control panel, if the output level is low (e.g. due to low input levels or high distance/ambience settings), increase the master volume. Use the volume knob on the front panel of the Headzone base to adjust your listening volume. Adjust the speaker set-up in the Headzone control panel. Adjust the scale of the Headtracker compensation to your needs (see chapter 9.6.6 Viewing and customising the head tracker) Use the Reset button in the Headzone control panel or the Reset button on your DT 770 PRO HT or DT 880 PRO HT to set the aural middle axis to where you want it to be.
Virtual audio sources are not located where they are supposed to be
The virtual speaker set-up does not match your needs Scale of Headtracker compensation does not match your personal perception
Aural middle axis of the head tracker is not set to the desired position

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Problem Virtual audio sources seem to move while turning your head

When turning your Headzone device on, the settings are not the same as when turning it off the last time.
As told in this manual, Headzone automatically stores all settings within the hardware. In very seldom cases it can happen that you turn off your Headzone device during the process of storing or before new settings have been stored.
Audio is played with a higher pitch than it should be on Power PC MACs
When configuring your Headzone device to the lowest possible sampling rate (32 kHz), your MAC will not properly re-initialize this setting when you plug in Headzone the next time. Your MAC will configure Headzone to the highest possible sampling rate (96 kHz) instead, while internally working with 32 kHz. This problem is known as the chipmunk bug on Power PC based MAC computers and is not derived by Headzone, but by the native Apple Core Audio drivers. This problem does not exist on Intel MACs and will probably be solved with future updates of MAC OSX.

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Problem Audio on the front channels is turned down although all sliders in the software control panel are at the same position.
Possible Cause Some older audio players for Windows just level the volume on the L/R channels even when playing surround signals.
Solution You can check the behaviour of your Windows audio player by using the 5.1 Test_Sine_All.wav file on your Headzone CD. Just play this file and watch the level meters in the Headzone software control panel. When the level on the front channels is lower, even if all sliders are set to 0dB, move the volume slider in your audio player and watch if the volume changes on all 6 audio channels or just on the front speakers. If the volume just changes on the front speakers, please leave the volume of your player set to maximum and use the Headzone software control panel for levelling.

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Technical Specifications
12. Technical specifications
General Permissible ambient temperature. +10 C to +40 C at < 90% humidity Overall dimensions base station (W x H x D). 483 x 44 x 220 mm Mounting dimensions base station (W x H x D). 447 x 44 x 200 mm Weight base station. 2.9 kg Power supply Internal switching power supply Operating voltage. 100 to 240 V AC 50/60 Hz Power consumption. max. 25 W Headphone output Socket. 2 x 1/4" stereo jack (6.35 mm), connected in parallel Max. output level. 100 mW into 250 Ohms @ 1 kHz Output impedance. 100 Ohms Headphone impedance. 32 to 600 Ohms Analog inputs Socket. 25-pin Sub-D socket Level. 6 dBu nominal, 15 dBu clip Input impedance. push-pull 10 kOhm push-push 4.2 kOhm Com input Socket. 3-pin XLR socket Level. 6 dBu nominal, 15 dBu Clip Input impedance. push-pull 10 kOhm push-push 4.2 kOhm AES/EBU inputs Socket. 3 x 3-pin XLR sockets Sample rates. 32 to 192 kHz Firewire input Socket. IEEE1394A, 6-pin Sample Rates. WDM 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz ASIO 44.1, 48, 96 kHz Core Audio 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz Audio Word Length. 24 bit Minimum system requirements PC. Pentium / Athlon 800 MHz Windows XP 256 MB RAM Windows 2000 (SP3) Windows Vista (32-bit) MAC. G4 MAC OSX 10.4 Intel MAC Screen resolution. 800 x 600 Head tracker operating conditions Range (distance). 0 - 4 m Maximum off-axis angle. Horizontal Vertical Maximum head angle. Front plane Maximum no. of adjacent trackers. 2