[Daskful]

I am new, please don't behead me for what the next sentence will be. So, I say this with a declaration of defeat: I only have a Razer Megalodon. Kekeke.
 
For a great while now, I have wanted to purchase better gears of audio. I started by placing the Sennheiser HD 650 in my shopping cart many months ago, and I've never actually ever checked out with it. This is because I have always felt insecure about the investment. And that I'm poor, but mostly insecure. The insecurity comes from not knowing a singe thing about these gears.
 
Now, my Megalodon is starting to die on me. I've started reading and doing research over these threads to make myself familiar with the concepts. By reading around, I realized how much I'm missing out on. I also learned to finally remove the Sennheiser HD 650 off my cart, seeing as I am new and still trying to identify the type of listener I am. But I want to get started.
 
I've always loved music, a huge variety of genres of it. Since summer started, I've started recollecting my family's music collection and started ripping them to my computer. I have FLAC and 320s albums, and the bland sound that resounds outward the Megalodon became clearer. I mostly play PC games and build PC's and all that, but I also want to start investing on other things.
 
From what I've read, I should start with some of the pre-$200 value headphones before jumping the big ones that most of you guys sport. And just tonight, I saw that the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250 Ohm (read a review who seems to match description of my concurrent situation - college student + looking to get started on great sounds base on what I can afford) is on sale for $171 on Amazon. Before this find, I was willing to purchase the Audio-Technica ATH-M50. A friend of mine also added the V-Moda Crossfade LP to my to-consider-list. I'm starting to lean on the DT 990 more since it seems like a advantageous start.
 
As for amp and DAC, I'm smacked between Schiit's Magni and Modi combination, and or Fiio's E17 and E9K. Kind of funny that these whole setup will cost a lot cheaper than a single Sennheiser HD 650. But that doesn't matter at the moment, any of the ones I'm considering should be worlds away from the Megalodon.
 
Help a brother out?

 

[NA Blur]

The DT990 is a good enough headphone.  It has a mild midrange and some welcomed bass extension.  The highs can be a tad bright at times and compared to other headphones like the DT880, HD650, and AH-D2000 the sound signature is really colored.
 
I went from the HD650 to the DT990 and liked it for a while until I compared it to my AH-D2000.  In the end I just could not settle for the brightness and colored midrange of the DT990.
 
I would recommend the AKG K550 over the DT990.  The AKG K550 is much more tame and neutral in that it sounds balanced from treble to bass.  The headband is a tad uncomfortable, but with a little cloth that issue goes away completely.  If I did not already have a pair of AH-D2000 from Denon I would have the AKG K550.
 
AKG K550 from Headphone.com
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/akg-k-550.php
 
I do not have much experience with either of the amps / DAC units your mention, but I do pay attention to what goes up for sale and what appears to always have issues.  Many FiiO products seem to develop issues over time and people are always upgrading away from them so I recommend the Schiit gear over the FiiO.