DT990 or Modded Fostex T50rp - Page 2

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Originally Posted by jfinne16 

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Originally Posted by wolfetan44 

Audio is all opinion based, only reason I dislike this hobby. Where do you happen to live? Maybe I can look around

Belvidere, Il area. A little outside of it actually

Went to the closest area, Chicago. Looked online and it said your an hour and a half away, not too bad, but still a drive. Unfortuanetly, I looked at 4 stores and they only carried Grado?? Other than that, there were 2 audio shops I looekd at near you(maybe not audio shops) that didn't look good at all. Sorry, man

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Originally Posted by jfinne16 


If I can afford the 880s is it worth the price jump? Or even 990s used? I don't mind buying and letting them sit until I get an amp if it means I'm getting a good deal.

Well, both are pretty good. But the 990's have virtually nonexistant mids due to the super boosted treble and bass. 880 are more neutral and have a nicer midrange along with good highs and a bit of a bass emphasis. DT770 Pro 80 is sort of in between.

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Originally Posted by Supertoaster 

Well, both are pretty good. But the 990's have virtually nonexistant mids due to the super boosted treble and bass. 880 are more neutral and have a nicer midrange along with good highs and a bit of a bass emphasis. DT770 Pro 80 is sort of in between.

I am sorry, but this is such a grossly exaggerated statement. The mids are somewhat in the background compared to the lows and highs, but they are still excellent - neutral, clear, extremely detailed and very natural sounding IMO. In fact, I feel that DT990 produces more detailed mids than DT880. I would say that coming from ATH-M50, which is also somewhat V-shaped with booming bass and sharp highs, the DT990 sound will suit jfinne16 better than DT880. DT880 is quite neutral, but a bit too polite in the bass IMO and while DT990 bass is arguably excessive, I only feel that it is slightly so and for a lot of music I appreciate the extra heft at the bottom end that DT990s offer since they make up somewhat for not being able to feel the low frequencies the way you can with speakers.

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Originally Posted by Pianist 

 

I am sorry, but this is such a grossly exaggerated statement. The mids are somewhat in the background compared to the lows and highs, but they are still excellent - neutral, clear, extremely detailed and very natural sounding IMO. In fact, I feel that DT990 produces more detailed mids than DT880. I would say that coming from ATH-M50, which is also somewhat V-shaped with booming bass and sharp highs, the DT990 sound will suit jfinne16 better than DT880. DT880 is quite neutral, but a bit too polite in the bass IMO and while DT990 bass is arguably excessive, I only feel that it is slightly so and for a lot of music I appreciate the extra heft at the bottom end that DT990s offer since they make up somewhat for not being able to feel the low frequencies the way you can with speakers.

+1

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Originally Posted by jfinne16 

I'm really happy you said this because after lots of reading on the 990s I came upon the T50rp threads and it made them sound like they were gods gift to the headphone world once modded correctly and I couldn't stop reading about both headphones.

Well, the Fostex cans are great value for their price, but DT990 is also great value for their price. DT990 is simply a higher end headphone in almost every way. Fostex does use a potentially superior orthodynamic driver in its cans, but it doesn't realize the full potential of orthodynamic drivers, whereas DT990 is almost the epitome of dynamic driver design and has fewer flaws.

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Originally Posted by Pianist 

 

Well, the Fostex cans are great value for their price, but DT990 is also great value for their price. DT990 is simply a higher end headphone in almost every way. Fostex does use a potentially superior orthodynamic driver in its cans, but it doesn't realize the full potential of orthodynamic drivers, whereas DT990 is almost the epitome of dynamic driver design and has far fewer flaws.

How about when putting them up against the Mad Dogs? Also I'm not sure if you have the answer to this or not but what is the must neutral sounding Beyer? I got the 880 250ohms and it was way too bright for me

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Originally Posted by kskwerl 

How about when putting them up against the Mad Dogs? Also I'm not sure if you have the answer to this or not but what is the must neutral sounding Beyer? I got the 880 250ohms and it was way too bright for me

Any particular reason you're set on Beyer? Plenty of great sounding neutral headphones out there.

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Originally Posted by kskwerl 

How about when putting them up against the Mad Dogs? Also I'm not sure if you have the answer to this or not but what is the must neutral sounding Beyer? I got the 880 250ohms and it was way too bright for me

I don't have a modded T50RP to compare to my DT990s, sorry. A professionally modded T50RP can sound great I am sure, but I still doubt that it can compete with such great open back orthos like HE-500, LCD2 or better. DT990 can compete with high-end open back orthos quite well. I think the dynamics actually do some things better. In any case, such a well modded T50RP will be quite a bit more expensive than what you can get DT990 for anyway, plus the OP is coming from the V-shaped ATH-M50 and likely doesn't want a neutral bass and treble response - I am sure he wants a nice kick and sparkle and T50RP won't give him that. Well, at least not the sparkle. I think that the soft ortho sound also takes time to get used to coming from dynamic drivers and it's not a very good idea for a beginner audiophile to jump straight from the lower end dynamics to higher end othos. I am sure that for the OPs tastes, DT990 will be more suitable anyway.

I believe that DT770 Pro is more neutral than DT880/990, but only the Pro version. I think T1 is also more neutral, or at least softer sounding - not as aggressive and harsh as the DT series can be. I think the somewhat thin sound with a slightly exaggerated attack in the highs is one of the few weaknesses of the Beyer DT770/880/990 series cans.

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Originally Posted by Pianist 

 

I don't have a modded T50RP to compare to my DT990s, sorry. A professionally modded T50RP can sound great I am sure, but I still doubt that it can compete with such great open back orthos like HE-500, LCD2 or better. DT990 can compete with high-end open back orthos quite well. I think the dynamics actually do some things better. In any case, such a well modded T50RP will be quite a bit more expensive than what you can get DT990 for anyway, plus the OP is coming from the V-shaped ATH-M50 and likely doesn't want a neutral bass and treble response - I am sure he wants a nice kick and sparkle and T50RP won't give him that. Well, at least not the sparkle. I think that the soft ortho sound also takes time to get used to coming from dynamic drivers and it's not a very good idea for a beginner audiophile to jump straight from the lower end dynamics to higher end othos. I am sure that for the OPs tastes, DT990 will be more suitable anyway.

Isn't the newer version of M50 relatively neutral? I don't recall OP saying he had the old version.

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Originally Posted by macrocheesium 

Isn't the newer version of M50 relatively neutral? I don't recall OP saying he had the old version.

Oh, all those revisions! I have no idea. My experience however leads me to believe that if there are any changes, they are very minor and that the general signature of the M50 remains unchanged - it's still V-shaped in all cases. I owned a pair 3 years ago and it was quite V-shaped. I auditioned another pair at a local store about a year ago and it was similarly V-shaped. Finally, I heard the limited edition recently and it is also very similar sounding to the previous pairs I heard. So yeah...