[TMRaven]

What are your previous experiences with headphones, and what songs are you listening to?
 
The DT990 has always been hyped up as this super bass heavy monster of an open headphone, but that's not really the case.  9/10 of your average consumer oriented closed-back headphones will have more bass than it, especially sub-bass.

 

[Splashy]

Thanks for responding,
 
All I had prior was the MEElectronics M6P. I listen to a bit of everything and was just testing out the bass to see what it's like. I feel close to nothing and I'm not a basshead, I lfeel the ever so slightest kick behind it. I wasn't really expecting a bass monster either but I wasn't expecting a 2 on a scale of 10. Even flipping on the bass on the Fiio e10 does nothing (maybe a 5% increase?) whereas it would affect my M6P.
 
Do you think there's something I could do to test this out?

 

[Splashy]

Also, I'll stress that I'm not being obnoxious by implying that there is bass and I want more. It's the fact that there's close to nothing and I really have to strain my ears to feel anything. The thing is, I'm pretty sure the audio is playing perfectly fine so I cannot figure out why the bass is almost non-existent. 

 

[TMRaven]

Sadly I have no experience with the M6P so I don't know what you're coming from.
 
You really shouldn't be feeling much bass at all with the DT990, or most any headphone, if the feel was what you were going after.  
 
Probably the best way to test your bass output would be to play a recording with a good amount of it.  Anything from Daft Punk's RAM is a good tester, as those are all really well produced songs.

 

[James35]

Splashy, it's possible you might have something wrong with that pair, but in case you don't know, open back headphones don't have as much base as closed headphones. If you are looking for serious bass, the current king is JVC SZ2000. I think the consensus is that open back headphones have a nice realistic soundstage with lots of detail. I needed open back headphones for family security and I really like the DT-990's. In the near future, I'll probably get a 2nd pair for when the family is not in the house and I can afford to shut out the world.
 
BTW, did you alter your Windows sound EQ?  I did, as a flat EQ was too weak in the bass for me.

 

[TheGame21x]

 
The DT990 has always been hyped up as this super bass heavy monster of an open headphone, but that's not really the case.  9/10 of your average consumer oriented closed-back headphones will have more bass than it, especially sub-bass.

 
Exactly my thoughts. While I'm perfectly satisfied with the amount of bass in the DT990 Pro, it's definitely not the bass monster I thought it was going to be based on the hype. The treble is also a lot more even and less piercing than I was expecting, and this is coming from a guy who's sensitive to piercing treble.

 

[Splashy]

Hi James35, I am aware that open headphones don't have the same bass as closed headphones. But I read that DT990 had more bass than most open headphones. Nevertheless, like I said previously, the bass is not there whatsoever, maybe very slight. I'm not being greedy and asking for more bass as if it was already there, it's just that I cannot feel the bass at ALL. It's equivalent to wearing $5 earphones type of bass. As in it's ever so slight, like a 1-2 on a scale of 10. I've tried plugging it in different ports and devices but still no luck. 

 

[TMRaven]

Again, is your opinion of lack of bass coming from the sole reason of not being able to fee it?  No headphone will let you feel the bass.

 

[Splashy]

Hmm, I'm not very good with audio terminology. What do you mean by no headphone will let you feel the bass? I'm talking about the 'thump' you feel/hear. It's practically not there on the headphones. I can crank the bass up on an EQ and turn on the bass switch on the Fiio e10 and almost nothing changes. Yet if I do it on the M6P earphones I mentioned previously, the thump dramatically increases (albeit extremely muddy). 

 

[TMRaven]

What songs are you using to test the bass again?

 

[Splashy]

I just searched for 'bass test' on Youtube and used this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b-FEaGJG8Y

 

[Splashy]

Apparently using a link needs approval for admins. I'm not sure how long that will take so I'll have to post it another way. I searched for bass test on Youtube and found a song with the title of "Bass test - Feel The BASS (bass boosted)". Objectively, I feel almost nothing when using the DT990s. Yet it explodes on the earphones. 

 

[TMRaven]

Don't use any of those.  Just name a song that you're listening to on your music player.

 

[Splashy]

I was listening to Crown - Jay Z. Just the intro to be specific. On the DT990 it feels extremely soft like it's held back. Like, if I hadn't have known the song beforehand, I wouldn never have guessed there was any significant level of bass. 

 

[TMRaven]

The intro to Jay-Z's Crown isn't that bass heavy, headphones with well controlled bass won't give you a lot of it with that song.
 
Try Chord Memory by Daft Punk.