[genclaymore]

  At this point, I think I am beginning to understand why the OP put a "" on the thread title because these must be really happy sounding headphones. Given the overwhelmingly positive response here, I might as well make the plunge blind and buy a used one once it pops up on eBay. It can't be worse than the HD600 because at least the T90's upper treble is much more present, which I like. I can take a sin of commission instead of omission if it is done elegantly and with finesse.
 
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It may take a couple months to gather together the funds (oh, the wads of cash we throw down for our sonic perfection...) but I will remember to post impressions once I get my pair. Everyone, those who I may have recognized by name or not, has played a part in this my next step in the hobby and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
 
PS: I cannot wait to hear what Sonic Boom, the song linked in my sig, sounds like. OH MY GOODNESS! I can't wait to hear that mighty bass guitar, those silky, strong female vocals, and the crunchy and proud electric guitar. Just a few paychecks and this puppy will be all mine!

 
 
 
PPS: This video review just goes to show how hyped I am to own them and I haven't even demoed the darned things yet!
 
 
PPPS: Something interesting I noticed between the HE-6 and the T90. The sound responses are really similar, and one is a flagship. That's absolutely great to see, but I have always been skeptical of HeadRoom's graphs, though I have been using this view lately because I don't totally agree with the curve they are applying.

The beyerdynamic T90 when they was my primary headphone before I got the HE-500s, they sounded really good thru the little dot MK 2 2.0 I had with Varies of Vacuum Tubes. But After grabbing a pair of HE-500 and a Asgard 2 and getting rid of the little dot MK2 2.0 so i would stop bleeding money from buying vacuum tube's which I bleed lot more money then i did for op-amp swapping. I tried the T90 on the Asgard 2 and now I notice what people was talking about when they said they was bright. Before I didn't notice or it didn't bothered me as I haven't had another pair of headphones beside them. I had to take them off because my left ear is Sensitivity to brightness but before the hE-500s and the Asgard 2 this didn't bother me. But never less the T90 are grab headphones but they sit in my closet. Maybe one day I give them another shot.

 

[ansi]

 
PS: I cannot wait to hear what Sonic Boom, the song linked in my sig, sounds like. OH MY GOODNESS! I can't wait to hear that mighty bass guitar, those silky, strong female vocals, and the crunchy and proud electric guitar. Just a few paychecks and this puppy will be all mine!

 
 

 
Holy balls, last time I heard that song was on the Mega CD, my terrible 90's walkman headphones plugged into it's headphone out. Listening to it with my current gear just totally blew my mind.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

   
Listening to it with my current gear just totally blew my mind.

I know, right. Spencer Nilsen, the music director behind this, was an absolute genius when he headed the making of the Sonic CD soundtrack. The entire soundtrack is an audio masterpiece in that it is well composed and it is excellently mixed--all in all an excellent test for audio gear.
 
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Sonic+Cd+Songs/1805813
 
I highly recommend listening to any of the present tracks from the level music and you will be amazed. When I got into audiophile headphones back in 2007 or so and started out with a pair of Sennheiser HD555's, I was amazed myself when I played the Sonic CD PC game. As a Sonic music connoisseur, I still consider Sonic Boom from Nilsen's creations the best of the best in Sonic the Hedgehog music repertoire.
 
By the way... DAT BOSS TRACK. Absolutely terrifying for little kids, but the metallic distortion that is panned through the channels is a perfect test for treble detail, balance and harshness.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

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.

As an HD600 owner, this review also was considered and greatly impressed me in my plans (still not yet) to eventually buy T90. I thought it useful to bump for others to refer to, seeing how it's over a year old.

 

[atomicbob]

Well it has been a very long time since I have visited this thread. My collection has grown since my last post here. Having acquired and let go of a lot of DACs, amps and cans, here are the final systems to which I spend my precious little free time listening:
Auralic Vega -> ZDSE -> HD800
MF V-90 -> Crack -> HD600
Woo WA7 -> T90
I am listening to the WA7+T90 as I write this. It is very engaging, fun listening. Each system has its respective attributes as to why I keep it in the collection. The only remaining curiosity for me is what the Yggdrasil may offer over or complimentary to the Vega. Otherwise I am settled on these systems.

 

[DangerToast]

Well it has been a very long time since I have visited this thread. My collection has grown since my last post here. Having acquired and let go of a lot of DACs, amps and cans, here are the final systems to which I spend my precious little free time listening:
Auralic Vega -> ZDSE -> HD800
MF V-90 -> Crack -> HD600
Woo WA7 -> T90
I am listening to the WA7+T90 as I write this. It is very engaging, fun listening. Each system has its respective attributes as to why I keep it in the collection. The only remaining curiosity for me is what the Yggdrasil may offer over or complimentary to the Vega. Otherwise I am settled on these systems.

Awesome. I consider myself a mid-fi connoisseur and it's good to know that people with summit-fi budgets still enjoy the t90 (the jewel of my collection)

 

[plakat]

Yes, the T90 is very enjoyable, so mach in fact that I own two of them (normal and Jubilee). I think its just below the point where you have to put a lot more money on the table to get any improvements...

 

[Hifihedgehog]

  Yes, the T90 is very enjoyable, so mach in fact that I own two of them (normal and Jubilee). I think its just below the point where you have to put a lot more money on the table to get any improvements...

You're the second person, I believe, I've heard in this thread say that. The other said they were saving up to purchase another pair. It's interesting how polarizing these are. Though, from what I've seen, I would have to say that the lion's share of the people who have owned them seem to love them to bits.

 

[plakat]

 
You're the second person, I believe, I've heard in this thread say that. The other said they were saving up to purchase another pair. It's interesting how polarizing these are. Though, from what I've seen, I would have to say that the lion's share of the people who have owned them seem to love them to bits.

Yes, polarizing is certainly true: many can't live with their treble-happy nature I guess. I considered myself a basshead for many years (long ago) but in fact I found it much easier to get good bass performance than really nice treble... the latter is often either subdued and therefore boring to me or sibilant, which I, too, do not enjoy. While the T90 might be too hard in some configurations it does have really good resolution and all the nice sparkling I crave for. But I can understand that its not a can for everyone.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

 
Yes, polarizing is certainly true: many can't live with their treble-happy nature I guess. I considered myself a basshead for many years (long ago) but in fact I found it much easier to get good bass performance than really nice treble... the latter is often either subdued and therefore boring to me or sibilant, which I, too, do not enjoy. While the T90 might be too hard in some configurations it does have really good resolution and all the nice sparkling I crave for. But I can understand that its not a can for everyone.

Did you have to use a euphonic amp (i.e. Bottlehead Crack) or a more neutral one (i.e. Objective 2) to get the sound you wanted out of them? I'm excited to own them but I still have to save up for the T90.

 

[plakat]

 
Did you have to use a euphonic amp (i.e. Bottlehead Crack) or a more neutral one (i.e. Objective 2) to get the sound you wanted out of them? I'm excited to own them but I still have to save up for the T90.

Maybe due to my background in Pro audio I'm more into neutral sound and generally prefer SS amp. Out of my array I like the T90 best with the Beyerdynamic A2 on the high output impedance setting, but the Fostex HP-V1 is a nice combination as well (utilizing a tube in the preamp).
I can imagine that an OTL tube amp might work with the T90, giving it a bit more warmth than most SS amps.

 

[genclaymore]

I had to use a Little Dot MK 2 with either CV4010 or EI 6HM5 Tubes to make the useable, as if I tried the wrong tube they wouldnt sound right. When I had the NFB15.32 I didn't like them out of it that much. Maybe a certain SS amp would had fixed that for me with the T90.

 

[ToothyCow]

Hi All! I'm a fairly new head-fier and have had some fun reading through this T90 tread.
 
For the best couple years I've, for the most part, been into Grado - which, I still love. But, I love headphones in general and I've sort of forced myself to move outside of the Grado line a bit and experience new things. After hours and hours of research and reading, I've decided the T90 would be a really good way to break into a new sound.
 
I received my T90s today and I'm really really enjoying them. The treble certainly 'sparkles', which I think is a good way to describe it. I still love my Grados (RS1 & PS500), but these t90s come off as a more serious, refined sound. The Grados are really fun - these are elegant (and super fun too). I think the PS500s still edge out the mid-bass, but it's certainly nice to have more sub-bass in the mix overall, which I'm not used to at all.
 
Anyways, I thought I'd just share some of my first impressions as someone coming from Grado and encourage anybody else who may be stuck in their Grado ways to try new things
 
Oh... and I've also learned that headphones can be comfortable!

 

[Kozic]

Hi All! I'm a fairly new head-fier and have had some fun reading through this T90 tread.

For the best couple years I've, for the most part, been into Grado - which, I still love. But, I love headphones in general and I've sort of forced myself to move outside of the Grado line a bit and experience new things. After hours and hours of research and reading, I've decided the T90 would be a really good way to break into a new sound.

I received my T90s today and I'm really really enjoying them. The treble certainly 'sparkles', which I think is a good way to describe it. I still love my Grados (RS1 & PS500), but these t90s come off as a more serious, refined sound. The Grados are really fun - these are elegant (and super fun too). I think the PS500s still edge out the mid-bass, but it's certainly nice to have more sub-bass in the mix overall, which I'm not used to at all.

Anyways, I thought I'd just share some of my first impressions as someone coming from Grado and encourage anybody else who may be stuck in their Grado ways to try new things

Oh... and I've also learned that headphones can be comfortable!

It's great to hear you are enjoying the T90 and after the first 100 hours they sound better. From what you have read I'm sure you know your amp plays a big part in their sound(I use the Asgard 2 high gain smooth warm SS goodness) but if you like them now that should not be a problem.

 

[ToothyCow]

It's great to hear you are enjoying the T90 and after the first 100 hours they sound better. From what you have read I'm sure you know your amp plays a big part in their sound(I use the Asgard 2 high gain smooth warm SS goodness) but if you like them now that should not be a problem.

 
I have a Mangi 2, which seems to be perfectly fine. Perhaps one day I'll be able to hear some different amps, I'm just not ready to throw down money in that direction. As far as I'm concerned, the amp is there to boost the volume and nothing else. Of course, I'm telling myself that to appease my bank account. Thanks!