migasson
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2012
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@draven5494- I listened to the Burson/T90, and I thought the same thing. However, with any of Woo Audio's amps, loved it. I now own a WA22/ T90 combination.
@draven5494- I listened to the Burson/T90, and I thought the same thing. However, with any of Woo Audio's amps, loved it. I now own a WA22/ T90 combination.
Beyer's imaging and presentation is what interests me, from what I've read. I'm just scared about the lack of bass or body. But if they are comparable to the HD600 and especially the HE-500, sounds good to me.
I have followed this thread with great interest and decided to hear the T90 for myself.
Background: Having owned and enjoyed the Sennheiser HD600 for several years (and the HD580 for years before that) my listening bias is toward flat frequency response and low distortion. I prefer accurate bass to quantity of bass. This is probably due to years of studio monitor listening. A well designed control or mastering room is a delight to experience. So for years I have held the HD600 as the standard to beat. I found the HD650 interesting but still preferred the HD600. Have yet to hear either an HD800 or HD700 in a controlled setting.
Chain: I currently enjoy a V800 DAC as source to either a V200 or WA3+ amp. The former is the soul of accuracy while the latter has that magical midrange and generally is a rose colored lense on the music. I treat them as my critical listening and recreational HP amps respectively.
Journey: Always wished I could add a sub to the HD600 and also lower an already incredibly low distortion. The HD600s are still a fantastic headphone in my opinion. So I researched orthodynamics, electrostatics, and improvements in dynamics. This resulted in acquiring an HE-500 which did produce better, accurate bass than the HD600 and a lower distortion (more resolution). The penalty was a -2 dB shelf above 1000 Hz. Correctable using Electri-Q on the 2-bus in either a DAW or WinAmp. These are also heavier and a little less comfortable to wear for extended periods. Still, very much worth the extra effort, after they burn in (>100hrs). I wasn't initially happy with these out of the box. I prefer the velour pads to the leather ones. With leather pads the HE-500 acquires a mid-range honk on my head with my ears. YMMV.
Enter T90: with the previous comments in this thread I vacillated for awhile. Finally took the plunge the result has been rewarding. These are the improvements over the HD600 for which I sought. Extended, accurate bass and lower distortion which translates to more resolution. Very comfortable as has been proven over several 6+ hour sessions. Beyerdynamic has created a very special headphone with the T90. I feel less lies between me and the muscians in the live room or the venue. The difference is similar to that in telephoto lenses. Good, inexpensive lenses may allow one to see the outline of feathers on a bird in the distance and may have some aberration at the edges of the image. Better lenses allow observation of feather details beyond the outlines and lowered edge aberration. Headphones are the acoustic lenses on personal listening. The T90 is definitely one of the better acoustic lenses.
Final thoughts: The T90 has become my first call HP. If you like the sound of an HD600 you should definitely audition the T90 if budget permits. The HD600 and HE-500 will remain in my inventory as they have their respective sound signatures that I still find useful along with my bass head HP, the Denon AH-D5000.