Beyerdynamic T90 Discussion and Support Thread
Dec 21, 2013 at 10:35 AM Post #1,321 of 4,487
 
Hmmm.  I've had my T1s for a week or so...and then yesterday I bought the HD800 during the Amazon $889 deal (could not stop my finger from clicking the add to cart button).
 
I feel the same way about my T1.   I simply can't imagine another headphone being as well balanced and musical as the Beyerdynamic.  The Stax SR009 is the only other headphone I've heard that has wowed me more than the T1.
 
I'm guessing I'm going to send back those HD800s sooner or later.  Any less bass than the T1s would be too little...any more and the perfect balance would be disrupted.  For the past week I've been coming home after work to listen to music until I have to go to bed.

... I want the T1 >.> 
 
I wonder if I even need to get the T90 q.q 
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 11:55 AM Post #1,322 of 4,487
  ... I want the T1 >.> 
 
I wonder if I even need to get the T90 q.q 

I purchased a T90 for $460 from Amazon a couple of weeks ago...hoping they would be 90% as good as the T1 at a fraction of the cost.
 
I read this thread before the purchase and I remember thinking that Zombie_X  was being too harsh when he gave his impression of the T90.  I thought he was perhaps being a little elitist, but now, after listening to the T90 and the T1, I completely agree with him.
 
IMO, the difference in price (between the T90 and T1) is worth it.  The bass and the mids of the T90 might be 90% as good as the T1s, but the highs are miles apart.
 
It's not that the highs are sibilant - I experienced zero sibilance with the pair I eventually returned - it's just that everything sounded unnatural with this model.   Nothing is that bright in real life.   It's like if a drummer was sitting 10 feet away from me with most of his drum kit, but the high-hats and the cymbals were only a foot away and he was hitting them with a gigantic drum stick.   The T90 is not neutral, it is not balanced, and it does not sound natural.
 
The highs are the highlight of the T90 show...they shove their way to the front and force everything else has to take a back seat.
 
 
If you want to try the T90s, my advice to you would be to buy them from Amazon (no restocking fee...no questions asked if you don't like the headphone).  You might like this model if you are a serious treble head.
 
 
 
 
 
The T1 highs are...perfect.
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 12:17 PM Post #1,324 of 4,487
Not a 'treble head', but find the T90's in my chain, my hearing, my preferences to sound quite natural.
 

 
Well, before my purchase I sent a PM to a member who owned a pair.   Turns out he had just sold his pair because he did not find the treble very pleasing.  He also informed me that the guy who purchased his pair had put them back up for sale for the same reason.
 
I'm not trying to say that you are wrong or that your hearing is off...all that counts is that they give you pleasure, after all.   I found the treble very, very unnatural sounding.
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 12:54 PM Post #1,325 of 4,487
  I'm not trying to say that you are wrong or that your hearing is off...all that counts is that they give you pleasure, after all.   I found the treble very, very unnatural sounding.

You might want to check the rest of your system for "very unnatural sounding" symptom; T90 are like Beyer A1 - what you feed them, they will present to you. Also, how many hours did you have on them when you made your conclusion? If it was less than ~400, then you most likely did not hear how T90 *could* sound.
 
Just one example. I was messing around with USB cables, and some cables would have this "unnatural" signature while other ones would sound extremely balanced. In other words, another pair of headphones could easily be a better match to your specific setup as they would smooth out/hide what T90 reveals (but what you hear with T90 would still be there). It's all about balance and synergy of all components, very much including interconnects and digital cables.
 
I've owned T90 for 9+ months by now, and they survived a lot of equipment being changed and a lot of cables being tested and replaced, so I know how they could sound in many setups, and in my opinion there is hardly anything that I would call "unnatural".
 
But again, your hearing is different and maybe T90 is not a good match to your ears, which is perfectly normal (some reported so); what we hear is all relative to our ears and our setups and it could result in quite different conclusions.
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 2:03 PM Post #1,329 of 4,487
  If the T90 has too much treble you definitely just need to change out your USB cable.

L3000.gif

 
Dec 21, 2013 at 2:10 PM Post #1,330 of 4,487
In all seriousness though, he's right that a headphone with tons of treble detail will reveal weakness in your chain but its much more likely that elvergun's issues were caused by the T90 itself, specifically its treble quantity.
 
Oh, and USB cables are incapable of sounding different unless they're malfunctioning. <-- Public service announcement for all of the kids out there.
 
But I'd hate to see this thread go off-topic into these things just as much as you guys would so lets just pretend none of this ever happened, eh?
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 2:57 PM Post #1,332 of 4,487
Not a 'treble head', but find the T90's in my chain, my hearing, my preferences to sound quite natural.

The T90 sound very natural to me as well. Our similar chains may have something to do with that. I'm using a V800 DAC, Crack (no speedball yet) with Osram A1834 and RCA clear top 12AU7. Then again, the sense of space, 3D and air just gets better when a Zana Deux is substituted for the Crack in the chain.
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 3:25 PM Post #1,334 of 4,487
http://www.aqvox.de/usb-power_en.html
 
This actually makes an audible difference for USB powered DACs, but that's more a power issue than cable issue.
 
Dec 21, 2013 at 4:24 PM Post #1,335 of 4,487
If the audio jack input to your headphone amp isn't isolated, but grounded, then it's a very real possibility you could get a ground loop noise issue from a bad cable. But yeah, noise on the 5V or ground of the computer itself is usually a much much bigger problem.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top