Beyerdynamic DT990 (ver.2005) Appreciation Thread!! - Page 3

Ageed DT-990se are excellent!

Also having the wonderful AKG-701s which are great in terms of coherence and clear with(now well burned-in) nice HFs...These DT-990se do one up them on clarity and wide seperation of instruments and soundstage where the presentation is simply extraordinaryly pleasing! Driven both by a tube preamped HeadFive with a sony ce595 SACD...

I'll agree, as has been previously stated, the 990 can be sibilant with some recorded/mixed sibilant music and that's where I then choose the well burnt AKGs ie CDs (non SACD) "YES" (Songs) and such complex pieces, or Deep Purple (MIJ) you know, all that older terribly recorded stuff i love
However for stuff like Cat Stevens or even well recorded ZZ top or Elton John (Madman) Cars (Anthology) OMG...Simply fantastic with the DT-990s...Well appreciated indeed

Not having heard either of those, that's what I've been ranting about as well. Of course headphones can't fully reproduce that full-on experience, but they get better and better, delivering that intimacy that headphiles grok, but giving something that reminds us of live as well. The dt990's go more in that direction, rather than act as studio monitors, they give you what was intended to be heard. I don't think that makes it less honest. In my eyes, it makes them more honest, but that's all down to how you hear the world I guess.

It all comes down to what you prefer, and if you prefer that, then you'll be feelin' the Beyer Luuuuv.

So, what ohmage is everyone using for headphone out? I find I prefer 0ohm 99% of the time. It's been twice I preferred 120ohm, and that was for a Rusted Root cd which just sounded completely incoherent and painful...and then completely normal from the 120ohm jack, and then the Star Wars episode 3 OST. Those two made me second guess my preference, but I tend to get a bloated muddy rolled off sound from 120ohms the rest of the time.

I tried them once with my 120ohm adapter, but found little change other than a muddy-ing of the bass, so I said phooey on that. Leave the 120ohm outputs for the 831 and 931

That's what saint.panda wrote about adapters and Beyerdynamics in his terrific "Closed headphones review".
Sounds that this might not apply to newer models anymore.

Hi-Finthen, how are the 990's with your Ec-ss compared to the tube pre/head5 ?

Sorry, if my sarcasam over on the EC SS thread was misinterperted; my bad ;-}

I have not heard the EC SS and my post was an atempt at showing frustration with not reading more specific informative impressions & comparisions from those who have in that thread.

I'm interested in an upgrade, I suppose, but I don't just want to make a sideways move for simply the sake of change of tone or such.

I'm quite pleased with pumping the H5 with extra omph with my Foreplay actually....

I think I'm showing symptoms of the hardware itis at this point ;-}

Gosh Dang ya Head-Fi

I have 990s that are a few years old. Are the new ones of a similar sonic structure? I never thought of them as overbright.

Mine were high impedance. Ironically, they sounded great when powered by my old RCA 2010 PCD.

I should have a listen to an EC-SS with my 990's tomorrow, will report back with results.

Well I have the 03 DT880 and the 03 990 (non-pro), driven from the rig below. I decided to go for the older models due to price - I am not 100% convinced that the new ones will be THAT much better (each to their own, etc), and the price of the previous generation was that much cheaper.

Driven from my ANT Amber and MF Digilog DAC, a match that, on paper was supposedly a great match for the DT880, I found the DT880 forward, and perhaps somewhat aggressive, I wouldnt have called them boring, but for me at least, not a comfortable listen, sounding a touch on the metallic side, and perhaps hyper-detailed to the point of being distracting.

The DT990 however, immediately renders the 880 boring on this system. It makes you see how clinical and "matter of fact" that they are. The DT990 on my system provides a warmer, much more natural sound, and the bass is noticably more present, and the headphone conveys pace, rythym and timing in a more satisfactory way to my ears. There is good detail, and it is very lively, but you can listen to this for hours, and overall, the balance is much closer to what I would expect to hear from a pair of loudspeakers. This alone, is enough for me to prefer them, even without the other traits.

The DT990 is not a headphone for analysing music or equipment (but please be aware it does clearly sound better the better the system). It is a headphone for enjoying music. As such, since I am not really one for over-analysing music or sound these days - I just wish to enjoy what I hear - the DT880 has never came out of its box since the 990 arrived.

Truly great VFM headphones particularly for those who wish to get a great sounding pair of headphones and just settle down and not worry about what else might be out there.

I just purchased the DT 700 pro's and I'm also auditioning the 2005 dt 880's that a friend is letting me borrow. I like the "amount" of bass of the 770's, but find that the 880's mid and highs are better. Would you say that the 990's have more bass than the 880's (maybe similar to the 770's, but retain the mids and highs of the 880's? I want to like the 880's, but the lack of bass is holding me back. Granted, I'm only listening to both of them via my computer speakers amp, so maybe a better amp would bring out more bass in the 880's?

The 990 has more bass than the 880, but less than the 770. To my ears, its just right.

FWIW, I use an amp that is said to have powerful bass, and on that, the DT880 still doesnt have enough for my tastes. If you have a nagging feeling that it wasnt going to be enough, then it probably wont have.

Would you say that the 990's retain the detailed mids and highs of the 880's? In particular, I love the way a snare drum sounds on the 880's, lots of impact whereas on the 770 it seems drowned out as do the highs. I listen to mostly hard rock such as Tool, Marilyn Manson, Disturbed, etc... and I love bass, but I want to hear the rest of the song too.

Would you think that a Little Dot 2+ would be a good match for the 990's? I thought I had read that amp adds a little bass kick to music. Thanks!

I have the '05 880's. I use them with a Singlepower PPX3 SLAM. For my tastes, the bass is usually adequate; however, I tend to agree with the product description at Headroom that for rock, hip hop, etc., people may want a stronger bass reproduction. And, I agree that if bass is a concern already, you may be disappointed with the DT 880's.

That said, I doubt I'll be getting rid of mine anytime soon. The way they handle female vocals (important to me) is magnificent.

I can't speak about the new DT 990's. I've never heard them, but they do have me curious.

You may find this review helpful
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=DT880
I know that I did.

Wow, great review... with a tube amp and all. Hmmm... Why is there such a difference in price between the 990 and 990 pro?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont....x=0&image.y=0

Granted, neither are in stock, but wouldn't the 990 pro be pretty much the same phone?