[393699]

I think you should get yourself the Amiron Home and give it a try. You can always return it for a refund if you don't like it. One thing that should be mentioned is that we all have a different shaped ear canal. Depending on the shape of the inside of the ear, that alone can cause certain frequencies to sound harsh for some people, and fine for other people. I did not find the DT1990 to be too bright when I tested it at my friend's place. I do not find my Amiron Home to be bright either. We did a listen a couple months ago just to compare the headphones. I had not heard the DT1990 before, and he had not heard the Amiron Home before. We both were able to identify that the upper frequencies on the Amiron Home had a smoother character. Neither of us found either headphone to be bright, harsh, or sibilant though. I used to own a DT770 250 Ohm a few years ago. That headphone has a nasty treble spike at 8-9kHz. I found it to be a terrible headphone in the upper frequencies. It gave me headaches and literally hurt my ears. There is a harsh and grainy character to the DT770 at 8-9kHz. I sold it, and later I got the DT880 250 Ohm. There was no more issue. It also has a spike at the same frequency, but it is so much cleaner and and refined. I did not find it harsh or fatiguing at all. It was much smoother. The frequency response graphs for headphones can give a general impression of what the headphone will sound like, but it will not tell the whole story. Take my experience for example with several Beyer headphones, which all have the peak at 8-9kHz.

DT770 = painful, headache causing
DT880 = detailed, articulate
T90 = painful, headache causing
DT1990 = detailed, articulate, more refined than the DT880
Amiron Home = very smooth, detailed, refined, cohesive

 

[nishan99]

hi
i am asking if the fiio a5 is a good match to the dt 1990 ?
i heard both of them have dry warm presentations, and i am afraid the dry and warm characteristics will be overdone

 

[megabigeye]

I don't think I'd describe the DT 1990 as "warm," exactly. More neutral, I think.
I don't know what "dry" means.

Dry - Lack of reverberation or delay as produced by a damped environment. May comes across as fine grained and lean. Opposite of Wet.

That's about as bad a definition as I've ever seen, seeing as there's no given definitions for "delay," "damped," "fine grain," or "lean." I already now what reverberation means. Oof. And "Opposite of Wet" will just lead you down a recursive loop. This is making my brain hurt.

Sorry. What was your question?

Aside: sometimes when I'm bored and alone I'll have "GNU's not UNIX" running through my mind like the worst earworm.
GNU's not UNIX GNU's not UNIX GNU's not UNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIX.
Great. Now I'm never going to get to sleep.

 

[zazex]

The 1990’s are not at all sibilant.
If you have a problem with sibilance with the 1990’s, what you have is a problem with your source material and/or your DAC/amplification ‘up chain’.
Yes, the 1990’s have pronounced upper-registers, but assuming that the rest of your kit is feeding them well, they are never sibilant.

Respectfully, I'll say that your statement is not nearly as factual as you make it out to be.

I had fairly lengthy auditions with both the Amirons and the 1990's, and in the end I was
disappointed to conclude that I really didn't much like either one.
Sibilance, though, was not the issue in either case.

 

[nishan99]

I don't think I'd describe the DT 1990 as "warm," exactly. More neutral, I think.
I don't know what "dry" means.


That's about as bad a definition as I've ever seen, seeing as there's no given definitions for "delay," "damped," "fine grain," or "lean." I already now what reverberation means. Oof. And "Opposite of Wet" will just lead you down a recursive loop. This is making my brain hurt.

Sorry. What was your question?

Aside: sometimes when I'm bored and alone I'll have "GNU's not UNIX" running through my mind like the worst earworm.
GNU's not UNIX GNU's not UNIX GNU's not UNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIXGNU'snotUNIX.
Great. Now I'm never going to get to sleep.

i know it's not exactly warm, but it has a lot of bass so i don't want more warmth added from the source.
dry means sharp/ultimate details of the sound opposite of smooth and liquide.
so smooth sounding headphones don't have the finite details but produce the sound like a wave to your ears so it's more relaxing for longer listening sessions.
e.g. tubes produce smooth sound, focal headphones are dry, LCD2, edition x are smooth sounding.

 

[Hyp0xia]

This hobby is a whole lot more fun if you go find a product you actually enjoy instead of hanging around a thread just to complain about a product you don't. Each headphone has its own characteristics. That's what makes it all so fun. That's why many of us have so many headphones in our arsenals. Stop trying to "fix" the one that doesn't conform to your preferred sound signature.

 

[kelly200269]

Most sibilance is located in the 5-10 KHz range which is heavily emphasized on all 3 headphones shown in the graph, basically if you're increasing the relative volume of a sibilance-prone area it's going to be more noticeable to people who are sensitive to it. Show me where I said that most people are going to hear and be bothered by sibilance in the 1990 and then your dissatisfied owners argument will start applying. I am referring to my own personal experience. I reference the 12 DB peak as an explanation for what I'm hearing, I can only speak for myself and how other people perceive this and its effect on sibilance is going to be different depending on the individual.

I take issue with being told that I must have some sort of issue in my setup if I am hearing sibilance with the dt1990, as if it's impossible that the headphone itself is emphasizing the sibilance to me.

I think it’s acceptable for anyone to say that ‘you’/they personally find a certain headphone sounds a certain way.
If YOU find the 1990 sibilant, then that’s OK. Or NOT OK for you as the case may be!
But I take issue with people labelling the 1990’s as sibilant, full-stop. They’re not.

This hobby is a whole lot more fun if you go find a product you actually enjoy instead of hanging around a thread just to complain about a product you don't. Each headphone has its own characteristics. That's what makes it all so fun. That's why many of us have so many headphones in our arsenals. Stop trying to "fix" the one that doesn't conform to your preferred sound signature.

+1

 

[megabigeye]

i know it's not exactly warm, but it has a lot of bass so i don't want more warmth added from the source.
dry means sharp/ultimate details of the sound opposite of smooth and liquide.
so smooth sounding headphones don't have the finite details but produce the sound like a wave to your ears so it's more relaxing for longer listening sessions.
e.g. tubes produce smooth sound, focal headphones are dry, LCD2, edition x are smooth sounding.

Ah, okay, I think I'm beginning to understand what you mean.
The DT 1990 doesn't really have a mid/upper-bass or lower-mids emphasis, which is where I think warmth comes from, so adding a warm amp would probably be okay.
I think what you're referring to as "dry" I'd probably refer to as "perceived detail," which has as much (or more sometimes) to do with treble presentation (especially in the upper harmonics) as it does with actual detail retrieval. Am I in the right ball field? The DT 1990 does have a lot of treble, and upper harmonics are pretty forward, so pairing them with an overly bright amp might not be the best match, if that's not what you're after.
...After a little bit of reading of definitions of terms, "dry" seems to also connote a very vague lack of refinement in detail and texture retrieval. I think whether you find them to be dry, grainy, or gritty is going to come down to you. As you can see from the last few pages of this thread, some people enjoy the treble of the DT 1990, some don't. Personally, I find the DT 1990's treble to be forward, but smooth in presentation (in comparison to, say, the PM-3 which I find recessed but somewhat grainy, or the HD 650 which sounds recessed but smooth).
I have the FiiO E12A, which (along with the E12) is the predecessor the the A5, and from recollection the DT 1990 plays well with it. I haven't listened to the pairing in a while, though, so my memory of it isn't the best. I can listen to them both a little later, if you like, but you might want to find somebody with that exact amp.

 

[nishan99]

Ah, okay, I think I'm beginning to understand what you mean.
The DT 1990 doesn't really have a mid/upper-bass or lower-mids emphasis, which is where I think warmth comes from, so adding a warm amp would probably be okay.
I think what you're referring to as "dry" I'd probably refer to as "perceived detail," which has as much (or more sometimes) to do with treble presentation (especially in the upper harmonics) as it does with actual detail retrieval. Am I in the right ball field? The DT 1990 does have a lot of treble, and upper harmonics are pretty forward, so pairing them with an overly bright amp might not be the best match, if that's not what you're after.
...After a little bit of reading of definitions of terms, "dry" seems to also connote a very vague lack of refinement in detail and texture retrieval. I think whether you find them to be dry, grainy, or gritty is going to come down to you. As you can see from the last few pages of this thread, some people enjoy the treble of the DT 1990, some don't. Personally, I find the DT 1990's treble to be forward, but smooth in presentation (in comparison to, say, the PM-3 which I find recessed but somewhat grainy, or the HD 650 which sounds recessed but smooth).
I have the FiiO E12A, which (along with the E12) is the predecessor the the A5, and from recollection the DT 1990 plays well with it. I haven't listened to the pairing in a while, though, so my memory of it isn't the best. I can listen to them both a little later, if you like, but you might want to find somebody with that exact amp.

No need thank you. <3
Dry term applies to the whole sound not just the treble, the only headphones that produce the tiny details while still sounding smooth are electrostats, and i think that's why they sound unnatural and odd because ligically smoothness means you refined something so you have to loss the tiny details to produce smooth thing.and the electrostats combining both so it's odd sounding and defently unnatural sound.
some may use the term metalic rather than dry.

 

[megabigeye]

I was mentioning the treble because that's what is arguably the least smooth on these headphones; and also because that's where a lot of perceived detail/texture comes from-- which is part of what "dryness" is, so far as I can tell. I guess I wouldn't describe the overall sound as "dry," but I haven't heard any electrostats, if that's your point of comparison.

 

[phunkfarm]

OK, I got a pair for $499 with a bonus amp. Lets say were talking $400 for the phones alone. Im struggling, searching the depths of my brain to come up with a pair of $400 phones that can touch the DT1990. Further whenever I see a detailed comparison to these phones, Invariably, the target phones are always sub $1000 offerings due to the retail list of the DT1990. When you factor in what you can actually score a pair for (half retail), then we start approaching the definition of the term "game changer".

If I'm wrong here - prove it to me. Come up with a pair of phones that can be had for <$500 that can compare to the DT-1990. Short of the HD-600, I don't see too many rivals.

I'm waiting....

 

[WildStyle-R11]

OK, I got a pair for $499 with a bonus amp. Lets say were talking $400 for the phones alone. Im struggling, searching the depths of my brain to come up with a pair of $400 phones that can touch the DT1990. Further whenever I see a detailed comparison to these phones, Invariably, the target phones are always sub $1000 offerings due to the retail list of the DT1990. When you factor in what you can actually score a pair for (half retail), then we start approaching the definition of the term "game changer".

If I'm wrong here - prove it to me. Come up with a pair of phones that can be had for <$500 that can compare to the DT-1990. Short of the HD-600, I don't see too many rivals.

I'm waiting....

HD660 S

 

[Sekka]

This hobby is a whole lot more fun if you go find a product you actually enjoy instead of hanging around a thread just to complain about a product you don't. Each headphone has its own characteristics. That's what makes it all so fun. That's why many of us have so many headphones in our arsenals. Stop trying to "fix" the one that doesn't conform to your preferred sound signature.

No one is complaining, I asked for some recommendations based on my two issues with the DT1990, got a recommendation, then was repeatedly told by the same person that I couldn't possibly be hearing sibilance unless there is some problem with my setup or ears. Before then, I was only looking to "find a product I actually enjoy". Is nothing but praise allowed in a product thread, some unspoken rule that every thread must be an echo chamber?

I think it’s acceptable for anyone to say that ‘you’/they personally find a certain headphone sounds a certain way.
If YOU find the 1990 sibilant, then that’s OK. Or NOT OK for you as the case may be!
But I take issue with people labelling the 1990’s as sibilant, full-stop. They’re not.

If I find a headphone to sound sibilant, I'm going to say it sounds sibilant. I don't care if that offends you at this point, I've already clearly stated several times that what I hear and what others may hear are two different issues. If it could be scientifically proven that the dt1990 sounds exactly one specific way, it would be worth arguing. It's not, so this is a waste of time

 

[phunkfarm]

 

[WildStyle-R11]

If you are not up for an argument yourself, don't bother posting random things. I mentioned HD660 as those are the one of the few I have heard in that range. DT1990 is a good headphone, but it has competitors, it's just that the market is all over the place and I can't give any real opinions about headphones I haven't heard. I think offers from hifiman in this price range would do pretty good against DT1990 and what was it M1060 perhaps?