[Makiah S]

Quote:

Ya I heard tube amps work wonders with the DT 990 but was a little out of my budget. One day I hope to give it a shot tho. For now just gonna have to deal with this Schiit, times are hard

Actually, the Ath A900x is another AWESOME can that works well with Tubes! 
 
The Ath A900x, has a nice full bodied bass, great treble and high energy mids. Those mids [which would be GREAT on a tube] pair'd with that price make for an excellent headphone that pairs well with Budget Level Tubes.
 
I own the Dt 990, the extra bass is not my favorite with rock, vocals... or Folk World Music , but It's amazing with Classical, Jazz, Nu Jazz [which is like Instrumental Hip Hop] and epic with EDM [Tehcno]
 
That being said, Like the Dt 990, the Ath a900x has a simmilar sound signiture. It has less bass [so it works nice with everything] and the mids maintain a nice enough attack that when pair'd with a tube the Dt 990 has really wonderful lush, yet detailed and smooth mids. The Ath a900x should work equally as well with Tubes, although it does not have the sound stage to withstand a high gain tube [like the dt 990] 
 
Either way, It's a nice can! Wish I still had a tube to try it with

 

[elctronn]

Main handicap DT990 is small max.power load (0,1W). 990s resents high volume with bassboost. ATH-A900X tolerate much more (2W). With active bassboost circuit is A900X absolutely best worker.

 

[erick151]

I don't understand why or how having an extra amp in addition to the 600ohm SBZ amp improves SQ on an 250ohm headset,...

 

[bassfreek]

I don't understand why or how having an extra amp in addition to the 600ohm SBZ amp improves SQ on an 250ohm headset,...

Because while the SBZ does a great job, it does in fact get better when add on the amp. I was happy before running my Schiit Magni through the soundblaster z but even happier now that I've switched to the Vali. It just adds a warmth and intensity to them that wasn't there before. The only reason for getting the Z is for the 75% surround sound feature which gives me the sound stage I was looking for (I personally think typical headphone 2-channel sound style is absolutely terrible and not sure how people can enjoy it).

 

[Nympho]

I am in almost the same boat, but I am thinking of building my first tube amp, probably a 12au7 based tube amp.

 

[Brushy]

  Because while the SBZ does a great job, it does in fact get better when add on the amp. I was happy before running my Schiit Magni through the soundblaster z but even happier now that I've switched to the Vali. It just adds a warmth and intensity to them that wasn't there before. The only reason for getting the Z is for the 75% surround sound feature which gives me the sound stage I was looking for (I personally think typical headphone 2-channel sound style is absolutely terrible and not sure how people can enjoy it).

Ah so you picked up a Vali. I have been going back and forth on my first set of decent headphones. The guys over at RazorDog! Audio are giving me a good deal on a pair of AKG K712. But at the same time I've been considering the DT 990 Pro's. I'm also running a Sound Blaster Z and mostly listen to Music/Game with the occasional movie thrown in. As of now I'm up in the air with this. I was looking into the same setup as you Vali/DT990's/SBZ or just the AKG K712 with the SBZ. Would love some feedback on this from anyone who has used the K712 with a Sound Blaster Z and also has experience with the DT990's. Trying to stay under the $400 mark here. I can get the Vali w/ DT990 for roughly the same price as just the K712's.

 

[squareznboxez]

If you're on a budget, I find that the signature of the 990 250ohm really runs well of hi-fi/stereo speaker amps, these are available second hand and modern day ones can connect to your computer via an optical cable
 
it really compliments the low reaching bass at the same time slightly tapering the extensive highs - making it much more listenable for long periods,  Vocals also seem much more natural compared to my Firestone setup as the 990's mid range signature doesnt always sit well with people, on a stereo amp this fixes it big time, soundstage is also not sacrificed which makes it perfect for watching movies/tv shows as well
 
I have an entry level Harman Kardon AVR151 as well as a Firestone DAC/Amp stack (see below) and i find that the sound off the Stereo amp far trumps the Firestone amp when it comes to the 990s, the 880s on the other hand sound next level off the Firestone setup
 
Other good receivers include Pioneer, Yamaha and Marantz which can be had on the 2nd hand market for next to nothing due to people upgrading etc.

 

[Uncle AL]

DT990s are on my short list for new cans I'm considering for my LD MK IV SE amp. Anyone with experience with this combo? Other cans on-hand and wish list, include, Sennheiser PXC450s, Q701s, HD650s and HD800. Looking for different, yet complimentary qualities for these headphones and thought DT990s might fit-the-Bill. Thoughts...?

 

[JakeJack_2008]

As a rule of thumb always    include the O2 (along with the ODAC) in your search for an amp under $300
(or even much more expensive). 
 
I'm using my DT 880s (250 Ohm) with the JDS Labs O2 along with the ODAC and my Toshiba Satellite laptop. 
I am really very happy. The system sounds great.
 
JJ
 
P.S.
I am extremely puzzled that the O2 (for instance from JDS Labs) has not been mentioned in this thread so far.
It's a blasphemy!