beyer dt990 - Page 3

I received my set of DT990 600 ohm cans two weeks ago. They sounded impressive right out of the box, but I decided it couldn't hurt to give 'em some exercise. I ran the Comcast "dance/electronica" channel through them 24/7. Anyway, I've been putting them through their paces. They sound terrific. On some audio CD's I EQ the treble down a bit. I wanted detail and I got it in spades with these cans! I've never been a bass head but these phones deliver such a clean lower end that I'm re-experiencing my favorite music (and movies) with deeper ears. I still don't like thumping by brains out; this bass is precise and not overblown. One thing that really surprised me: these 600ohm cans run fine from my 4G iPod Touch (?!). That's without an amp, and no, I'm not delusional. I tried running the iPod signal through the iPod interface on my Pioneer VSX 1019AH receiver and it didn't sound much better (if at all). Of course, I had to crank the iPod volume almost all the way up, but the sound was totally tolerable. Running the original CD (which I had ripped to iTunes) through my PS3 sounded better, due to the revealing nature of these cans. No surprise there. But I can enjoy music through my iPod without an amp and that wasn't expected. Most of my listening will be through my sound system (blu-rays & CD's). All in all fantastic headphones. Kudos to Head-Fi.org for giving us this conduit of valuable information. Happy listening!

Yea, I'm going to get an amp sometime soon. I was testing it again yesterday on the iPod and found that I could (at least) use a bit more volume.

It really is not as much about volume as fullness of the overall sound.  You can hear the music without an external amplifier but you won't hear the music those headphones can make directly out of an mp3 player.  Even with my Cowon J3, which is louder than any other mp3 player I have owned, there is simply not enough power to fill the sails on these headphones.  It is sort of like a narrow beam spotlight versus a floodlight.  You get the central image from both but it takes the floodlight to see the whole spectrum.  I notice the greatest difference in the bass response which is sort of o.k. from an mp3 player but which becomes heaven-sent when fed by an external amplifier.  Interestingly, treble response also seems clearer and more controlled through an amplifier.  For lack of a better expression, the sound becomes bigger when these headphones are amplified.

I don't even bother listening to these headphones from an mp3 player.  I tried it again when I got the J3 since it seemed more powerful than my other players (ipod touch, Zune HD, Fuze, Walkman) but I could hear what I was not hearing and it was too unfullfilling to enjoy.  If I was not experienced with these headphones amplified, I might have had a different impression.  As it is, I have other headphones which sound great directly from an mp3 player and I save the DT-990's for their intended use.

Thanks, Kappy. Some good metaphors there! I will work toward filling the sails.

I wonder if FiiO's new E11 can power DT-990s 

Yes. The E11 works fine with it. In fact, I rather like it as a combo!

Ian

For those wondering how to tell which version of DT 990's they have (I found out the one's I got weren't the ones I orders (good news is I worked with the vendor and they are shipping me the correct ones ) )

I received this information from Beyerdynamic via a request sent to their site:

There are a couple of ways to tell which impedance you have for your DT 990 headset.  One way is it is checked off on the side of the

   Original packing box that it comes in. 

The other way is the most accurate way and that is to remove the ear pad and black clamp ring and look at the driver.  The back of the driver has color marks around the terminals. 

The color code for

     32 ohm is green,

     250 ohm is red,

     and 600 ohm is yellow.

   We do have universal cables that say 32 ohms.  You will find this on the 32 ohm, 250 ohm, and 600 ohm.

   The difference between the impedances are mainly because they are used for different applications.

   32 ohms:  ideal with portable players.  (iPod, iPad, smart phones, lap tops)

   250 ohms:  ideal for home audio

   600 ohm:  ideal for audiophile use with high end amps

I take no credit for this and use at your own risk but hopefully it might be of help to some. 

BTW as it turns out I got the 32 Ohm version - Not bad but not what I ordered.