Is there anything that sounds GOOD with the beyerdynamic DT990?

I'm sure the engineers at beyerdynamic thought this headphone sounded great when they wrapped up this project but I'm not hearing it. Literally everything sounds harsh with this headphone. Are there any tracks out there that takes "advantage" of the elevated treble response without sounding harsh?

 

HELLO, may a suggest that you introduce yourself in the correct thread, and them post this question in the general advice thread?

I liked those HP using a tube amp in one of my friends house. I think it was a British tube amp company, but cannot recall the name right now. Before that, all opportunities that I tested those headphones, I had a massive migraine and needed some morphine to stay alive.

 

Hiya,

Given your old thread re: the DT880 and the DT990, it seems to me you're rather determined to like the DT990. That's perfectly fine, I'm the same way about some cans too, but if its tonality bothers you as much as it seems to then I'd say there isn't very much you can do to alleviate that short of mechanical mods or EQ-ing; adding some front damping comes immediately to mind, but I'm not sure it'd be as useful taming the 990's 6-7kHz spike as it would, say, something in the "brilliance" region (10kHz+).

As for music that might sound good with stock 990s... errm.

If you're sensitive to excesses in the mid-upper treble then any recording that's mastered to sound halfway balanced will likely sound painful to you out of the 990s. As someone who used the DT880 for years and found it quite satisfactory for most music, I feel you may benefit from giving those a try and passing the DT990s along to someone who won't find them as fatiguing.

 

Having owned the DT-990, and after a month of living with them and retuning them. Simple answer to your question. No. I tried every style, old and new. Tube amps, hybrids, SS. Nothing made a difference.

 

I believe that they sound pretty good hitting the bottom of a traditional zinc dustbin.

 

They sounded best for me when I heard the sound of the last strip of packaging tape coming off the roll sealing up the box I used to return them.

 

They sounded ok with a Dac 19 and a Liquid Carbon.

I never liked these headphones much for music, but for gaming/movies they were pretty good.

 

I am a closeted fan of Beyerdynamic here. I recently bought DT880 600 Ohm from @Dr. Higgs and I am really impressed, T5p 2 Gen are my preferred closed back headphones, but DT990 I did not like when I tried them. I listen to classical music mostly and the headphones with elevated treble are usually OK but DT990 was a bit too much.
I agree with @Lyer25, try DT880.

 

Beyerdynamic: treble peaks so vicious a helmet is required but it won't help.

Except for the DT-150... Which can serve as a helmet but you won't need it.

 

I actually have both the DT880 & DT990. I'm just trying to make sense of why Beyerdynamic chose to remove the damping material inside the DT880 and call it the DT990 because the 880 is already bright. Something must sound great with these, right?

 

Silence.

 

I had a T90 back in the day. I don't know whether this will carry over to the DT990, but I found that it sounded best when I didn't plug it in to anything. That was the secret.

 

Wrong. Sorry.

If you want big round pads, try AKG.

But honestly, can I suggest to you a pair of Sennheisers?

 

Get a Koss PortaPro and listen to some Prince. Then reconsider this hobby.

Whatever you do in the future, keep the PortaPro...

 

I actually briefly tried these yesturday at a local store along with the DT 770 and 880. To my surprise the 770 was the easiest to listen to as the deep bass balances out the treble spikes somewhat. The 990 just seemed like a broken 880, way too bright even for someone like me with a fairly high tolerance for treble issues.

The DT 880 600 ohm ones are very good for the money as long as you're into bright headphones. I'll probably pick up a 770 as a guilty pleasure can - their price at 139 euros also puts a lot of things in this hobby into perspective...

 

Were the mids and highs on the 770 & 880 similar?

 

Mids were more recessed on the 770, 880 is gentler on the V-curve/more neutral. Didn´t notice any significant difference when it comes to highs (both have the typical Beyer spike), but these were all the 32/80 ohm versions. Apparently the 600 ohm DT 880 are a bit smoother in the treble. The 880 also had a significantly more open sound as expected vs. a closed design, but it lacks the bass extension of the 770 resulting in a thinner tonality.

The 770 clamps a lot more than the 880, which for me was a very good thing as it provided a fantastic seal for the bass to shine. I would have bought the 250* ohm 770 on the spot, but unfortunately they were out of stock.

* There is no 600 ohm version of the DT 770 Pro (in current production)

 

Well there is a very good use for DT990 where they really excel.

Submarine Sonar.....

 

Clamp on the Pro version of the 880s is significantly higher than the Premium.