DT990 vs Q701: Gaming (with Dolby Headphone)

1. Those who have used Dolby headphone know that it very slightly smooth the highs.  The Q's highs are already smooth enough in stereo, so they don't need this.  It takes away some of their "air", which they don't have that much of to begin with.  The DT990s DO need this smoothing.  They still need even more smoothing though IMO.

1. When gaming with Dolby Headphone the DT990 keeps up better with the Q701 then it does in plain stereo.  The DT990's soundstage gets a good deal larger with DH than it does in stereo mode.  I think the treble gives it some extra reach. 

1. In Dolby Headphone the Q701 soundstage is still a little better.  The soundstage sounds a bit more diffuse, coherent, and fluid with the Q701s where the DT990 sounds a little more disconnected.  In other words, it's harder to hear where  one virtual speaker ends and the other begins with the Q's (which make them a little more immersive for me), whereas the DT990s it's a bit more obvious that it's jumping from one to the other.  Again, probably related to the angled drivers. 

1. Positioning is pretty good on the DT990s, although objects out in front of you don't sound quite as nice as on the Q701s due to the DT990s having less depth and less front imaging.  Probably goes back to what I said about the DT990 soundstage being more left-right centric in stereo wile the Q701s present a better and deeper image in front of you (angled drivers, again).

1. Overall I'd rate the Q701 positioning/imaging a bit better, and separation a bit better on DT990s. 

1. The DT990 has less mids and more highs, so it can etch out and outline objects a bit sharper/better (sort of like AD700s), but they sound sort of hollow and artificial to me, and the placement sounds a bit better on the Q701s.  The fuller mids on the Q701 gives objects more body and mass, although they aren't as sharply outlined as on the DT990s. 

1. I actually think the Q's have more of a home-theater-like sound than the DT990s.  The flatter/less colored response of the Q's sounds more speaker like than the elevated highs of the DT990 (speakers shouldn't be producing that much treble).  The DT990s low end response is nice, but the leaner mids make them lose some weight to the sound.  The  Q701s have nearly the same bass but more body and weight to the mids.

1. I'd say the Q701s are still the most fun and immersive gaming can's I've tried, although they're not quite the best competive/fps cans I've tried.  The AD700s still have the best raw positioning, and the PC360s are very good as well. I actually prefer the DT880s signature more for gaming than the DT990s.  I bet the T1s would be fantastic (angled drivers FTW).

1. The Q701s can be run straight off the MixAmp, even when mixing in chat.  I will say that their soundstage clearly benefits when double amping with my M-stage.  The M-stage increases the Q701's soundstage size a bit past PC360 size and closer to AD700 size, and the imaging/positioning got better as well. The Q701s didn't benefit when adding in my E9 amp though. 

1. I didn't try to run the 600 ohm DT990 straight off the MixAmp, and you probably shouldn't either.

mad lust envy said:

Hmm... are they really fun for music? Because considering how I don't have much use for the DT990 now that I have the D7000s, I might benefit more from the AKGs.
What scares me is that they'll sound reminiscent to the K701 which I hated for music, unless I raped them with bass boosts from the E5 and E7.

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suitheist said:

Hmmm, people seem to have varying opinions about how much the q701 differs from the K7xx. 
 
I have now been shown a pair of the K701s at £165 delivered, which is exactly £100 cheaper than the cheapest Q701 I have seen. I'm finding it hard to resist jumping in at that price. Is the Q701 THAT much better?
 
From what everyone says about the DT 990 i feel like it OUGHT to be ideal for what I want, but when I went to try it (the pro version) the level of bass seemed overwhelming to me. But then, I'm not used to anything much beyond ear buds really.
 
Given that Im not used to serious bass, maybe i wouldn't notice anything missing on the K701? And i've read that they get better with amping and burn in.
 
 

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mad lust envy said:

The AKGs need quite a bit of power to sing. I'm sure they'd sound good off the E11 and it's bass boosting, but they deserve better.
As for the PC360's voice chat, it's very clear for me, though for me to hear EVERYONE else, I tone down in game audio so voices aren't trampled by the game audio. Like CoD, I drastically turn down in game music, and I set my mixamp to power voice chat a bit more than game audio.

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