[Townyj]

  (bold text was fun haha)

I will be receiving T90 later today. I'm a little treble sensitive(tinnitus) - example Sennheiser HD-700 has somewhat bad treble for me, but HD-800 sound OK for my tastes. Hope I will like T90's treble.

Good luck.. the T90s made my ears bleed.

 

[leggy]

I did, and once I heard the T90 compared to my DT 990, I sold the 990 and got the T90. The bass is tighter, better defined. The T90s are a bit more lush. Of course once I heard the T1 (gen 1), I felt the same way about the T90. I'm not a big fan of the T1 gen 2.

Once you have a DT990, improvements are incremental. If you never hear a T90 or a T1, you will be perfectly happy with the 990. Your problems start once you hear something better, even if only a little better. Then you end up having to have everything!

You have a few choices (as I see it).

1. Delete your head-fi account and be happy with what you have
2. decide you are insane (like the rest of here) and either upgrade to mid-fi, then to upper-mid-fi, then to summit-fi
3. just upgrade now to summit-fi

Thank you Allan.
I agree with you that as long as I am here I will always look for the next better thing be it a can, dac or amp.
I like my 990 except the mid and particularly vocals, which is recessed. I just started this hobby so I haven't heard a lot of cans. I currently own AKG Q701 besides the 990 but I hear more details with Beyer but Beyer mids with the Q. Beyer's sound more focused compared to the Q because of sound stage difference. Drums sound better on the Beyer.
I am applying EQ increase between 2k-5k on the Beyer to bring the mid a little bit forward.
At this point, I am not in a position to spend over $500 on a can, in fact I would rather stay under $350 but I am telling myself to spend a little bit extra and be done for a while.
I like bright cans hence my interest in T90. If the T90 adds like 20-30% (sorry couldn't find better way to describe) on every aspect of 990 then I will be happy.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

I did, and once I heard the T90 compared to my DT 990, I sold the 990 and got the T90. The bass is tighter, better defined. The T90s are a bit more lush. Of course once I heard the T1 (gen 1), I felt the same way about the T90. I'm not a big fan of the T1 gen 2.

Once you have a DT990, improvements are incremental. If you never hear a T90 or a T1, you will be perfectly happy with the 990. Your problems start once you hear something better, even if only a little better. Then you end up having to have everything!

You have a few choices (as I see it).

• Delete your head-fi account and be happy with what you have
• decide you are insane (like the rest of here) and either upgrade to mid-fi, then to upper-mid-fi, then to summit-fi
• just upgrade now to summit-fi

Thank you Allan.
I agree with you that as long as I am here I will always look for the next better thing be it a can, dac or amp.
I like my 990 except the mid and particularly vocals, which is recessed. I just started this hobby so I haven't heard a lot of cans. I currently own AKG Q701 besides the 990 but I hear more details with Beyer but Beyer mids with the Q. Beyer's sound more focused compared to the Q because of sound stage difference. Drums sound better on the Beyer.
I am applying EQ increase between 2k-5k on the Beyer to bring the mid a little bit forward.
At this point, I am not in a position to spend over $500 on a can, in fact I would rather stay under $350 but I am telling myself to spend a little bit extra and be done for a while.
I like bright cans hence my interest in T90. If the T90 adds like 20-30% (sorry couldn't find better way to describe) on every aspect of 990 then I will be happy.

Well, I see you live in So Cal, so you are lucky! Go to the CanJam in Irvine in March and feast on headphones!
 
Unless you are using a program that doesn't support EQ, just use EQ to get the sound you want. Nothing wrong with that.  

 

[NoOneLt]

I had 990 and upgraded to T90 - don't operate with 20-30% numbers, i believe it would be the jump from some cheapo to 990, but 990 to T90 let's say 5%, i really didn't heard huge WOW effect i wished, but it is just me, i don't dig deep into details. 
 
And further i go i think everyone perceive what they hear hugely differently, and without trying you can to tell will you like it or not. Sound is not in your ears, it is in your brain, and while everyone is more or less different person, everyone hear the same thing different.

 

[Deni5]

Good luck.. the T90s made my ears bleed.

 
Initial impression, not impressed. Normally when you listen to a pair of headphones you raise the volume till you hear satisfying bass levels. Doing so on the T90, since the treble is very much bumped compared to rest of the spectrum you will get this piercing treble that is in no way enjoyable at all. Yeah, you got all the details, but really in a bad way. Even makes vocals sound bad (I haven't experienced sibilance before, not on a level I'm experiencing now with T90 anyway)
 
Only way to enjoy this headphone in my opinion is get a dB meter and set it below 80 (75-78 is usually what I use, don't like more than 80) but in doing so bass is low in volume. Really this sound signature for me isn't really special.
 
And speaking of the bass - not that impressed. It's not boomy, but then again it isn't high quality for my tastes. It's kind of slow and not very tight. Looking at decay graphs on Golden Ears it's understandable I guess.
 
These are the first Beyerdynamics I have tested/own and not impressed regarding the price/performance ratio. You can do so much better for the money. (time to burn them in - not that I think that will do much change to the extreme treble spikes)

 

[Townyj]

   
Initial impression, not impressed. Normally when you listen to a pair of headphones you raise the volume till you hear satisfying bass levels. Doing so on the T90, since the treble is very much bumped compared to rest of the spectrum you will get this piercing treble that is in no way enjoyable at all. Yeah, you got all the details, but really in a bad way. Even makes vocals sound bad (I haven't experienced sibilance before, not on a level I'm experiencing now with T90 anyway)
 
Only way to enjoy this headphone in my opinion is get a dB meter and set it below 80 (75-78 is usually what I use, don't like more than 80) but in doing so bass is low in volume. Really this sound signature for me isn't really special.
 
And speaking of the bass - not that impressed. It's not boomy, but then again it isn't high quality for my tastes. It's kind of slow and not very tight. Looking at decay graphs on Golden Ears it's understandable I guess.
 
These are the first Beyerdynamics I have tested/own and not impressed regarding the price/performance ratio. You can do so much better for the money. (time to burn them in - not that I think that will do much change to the extreme treble spikes)

To be honest i listened to them quite low volume, they just had to much treble... literally way to much! Right now i have been breaking in a pair of DT250's and the balance on them is crazy good. Its taken a few days for my ears to adjust and the headphones to open up, i favour the 250's well over the T90's i had. A 3rd the price of the T90's... go figure. Seriously... the headphone game is getting out of hand. Prices are ridiculous on things like the HE-1K and LCD-4, i have tried so called top end phones and they are in no way worth the extra cost. If you have hundreds of thousands to blow then fair enough, but the gain is sooooo minimal i giggle at the money people throw around.
 
I had them for 4 months and could only listen in 30min spurts before needing a few hours rest each time.

 

[MonsieurNiceGuy]

I just picked up the T90's last night, and I agree with everyone is saying about the treble. I normally listen to music at low to moderate levels, but even then it seems like it's a little too much. I can definitely understand the Z-Review video about where he disliked it.
 
I will be honest though, they do sound good. 
My only complaints would have to be the treble and the soundstage. Compared to my K712's these seem closed backish to me. 

I'm going to give another run for a week at work and see how that goes if not expect to seem here or eBay for sale.

 

[PixelSquish]

I feel lucky I have no issues with the treble and just find these nice and detailed. I can listen to them for hours and I like the bass punchiness as well. This is coming out of a Bifrost Multibit DAC to a Burson Soloist SL MKII amp

 

[leggy]

I had 990 and upgraded to T90 - don't operate with 20-30% numbers, i believe it would be the jump from some cheapo to 990, but 990 to T90 let's say 5%, i really didn't heard huge WOW effect i wished, but it is just me, i don't dig deep into details. 

And further i go i think everyone perceive what they hear hugely differently, and without trying you can to tell will you like it or not. Sound is not in your ears, it is in your brain, and while everyone is more or less different person, everyone hear the same thing different.

Thank you.
There are several impressions compared both and I agree with you, I have to try it myself to decide.
Waiting a price drop on Amazon to order

 

[leggy]

Well, I see you live in So Cal, so you are lucky! Go to the CanJam in Irvine in March and feast on headphones!

Unless you are using a program that doesn't support EQ, just use EQ to get the sound you want. Nothing wrong with that.  

I am going to SoCal's CanJam but that will make things much harder after listening to some cans that I can't afford.
I use APO EQ on my laptop and that helps me to some extent which frequency is missing or weak for my ears with a particular can but most of the time I turn the EQ off

 

[NoOneLt]

Thank you.
There are several impressions compared both and I agree with you, I have to try it myself to decide.
Waiting a price drop on Amazon to order

It is still about signature preference, if you liked 990 for some reason then T90 will improve in that, if you disliked it and hope that T90 will fix it.. it probably won't.. And they pretty picky about record and amping. After getting Vali 2 some selected recordings sound awesome (honestly it osunded awesome straight from ZxR), but most of wide spread music is pretty so so... Very record depending.

 

[leggy]

It is still about signature preference, if you liked 990 for some reason then T90 will improve in that, if you disliked it and hope that T90 will fix it.. it probably won't.. And they pretty picky about record and amping. After getting Vali 2 some selected recordings sound awesome (honestly it osunded awesome straight from ZxR), but most of wide spread music is pretty so so... Very record depending.

I do like the 990 except the vocals which I feel they are recessed and smaller sound stage compared to Q701. Half and maybe more to what I listen to is smooth jazz and female vocal jazz followed by country, pop and classic. I don't listen to trance, EDM, metal and rap

 

[adydula]

Have you ever listened to real music? Put your ears next to a wire brush on a drum...get close to a snare drum and listen real close to a brass instrument its very brash and harsh...but realistic..its what they really sound like....in real life.
 
When I listen to music with these same sounds it may start to sound sibiliant, harsh or trebley. but its not as good as the real thing....yest many of us think the T90's are bright, brash and harsh...
 
When I go back to lesser cans the veil comes back and the realism and accuracy of the sound gets buried in a softer image...
 
The T90's arent perfect, but they allow me to get closer to what an instrument sounds like in the reaal world.
 
A bass guitar sounds like a real bass guitar or close to it. Brass sounds brassy and harsh like in real life.
 
Imagine going to a metal band or orchestra and asking them to tone in down because its too bright for your ears!! Ha!!
 
This is kind of what your doing with a good set of cans like these when you add EQ etc....it amazes me that so many people want headphones to fix crappy recordings...
 
If you listen to really well recorded stuff it will sound very good....better and closer to the music than many other cans....
 
Ok enough ranting,,,,and its all IMO anyway..
 
A.

 

[Gilly87]

I do like the 990 except the vocals which I feel they are recessed and smaller sound stage compared to Q701. Half and maybe more to what I listen to is smooth jazz and female vocal jazz followed by country, pop and classic. I don't listen to trance, EDM, metal and rap

 
You want the glory mids, my friend, and you're not going to get them in a Beyer. Beyers all have very flat, clear, almost sterile mids, and while they all have at least a moderate to large sized stage, none of them is expansive or has the same depth as AKGs open cans. The T90s have probably the warmest mids of any Beyer, and have the most prominent mids of any beyer other than the 880 and T1, but they will still be less dimensional and colder than AKGs, and the soundstage might feel a bit cramped after Q701s.
 
Have you heard the new Shure open cans? SRH1840 sounds beautiful, super sexy too. Shure mids are amazing. <3 $500 MSRP but I bet you could find a pair cheaper.

 

[Deni5]

  Have you ever listened to real music? Put your ears next to a wire brush on a drum...get close to a snare drum and listen real close to a brass instrument its very brash and harsh...but realistic..its what they really sound like....in real life.
 
When I listen to music with these same sounds it may start to sound sibiliant, harsh or trebley. but its not as good as the real thing....yest many of us think the T90's are bright, brash and harsh...
 
When I go back to lesser cans the veil comes back and the realism and accuracy of the sound gets buried in a softer image...
 
The T90's arent perfect, but they allow me to get closer to what an instrument sounds like in the reaal world.
 
A bass guitar sounds like a real bass guitar or close to it. Brass sounds brassy and harsh like in real life.
 
Imagine going to a metal band or orchestra and asking them to tone in down because its too bright for your ears!! Ha!!
 
This is kind of what your doing with a good set of cans like these when you add EQ etc....it amazes me that so many people want headphones to fix crappy recordings...
 
If you listen to really well recorded stuff it will sound very good....better and closer to the music than many other cans....
 
Ok enough ranting,,,,and its all IMO anyway..
 
A.

 
Agree with most of your sayings. Still, say you go to a concert. Normally it shouldn't sound bad. Why - because a sound mixer dude has set everything to sound right so you would not be able to hear the harshness and such. Now in the headphone world the sound signature of the headphone takes care of this and to my liking the "mixer" on T90 hasn't done a very good job (but that then again depends on what sound the mixer was looking for).
 
Sure you can always make modifications like using EQ, warm amps, different pads, volume levels and so on to get it more to your liking. I really don't get the point of having the treble bumped that much as is the case here.
 
From product description:
"The perfect music experience in undisturbed surroundings. With the T 90 being tuned to spontaneous listening enjoyment, the music fan can immediately immerse himself in the sound. The T 90 combines the neutral analytic sound of the Tesla transducer with a full, warm timbre and a joy of playing that brings pleasure with it from the very first note. The T 90 not only stands out due to its high level of sound quality but also from its elegant appearance."
 
They go for a "neutral analytic" sound according to statement. Also what's this about "tuned to spontaneous listening enjoyment" - do they mean that the music should not be enjoyed for longer listening sessions?
 
Personally, I am a fan of the "analytical" sound signatures. But even this can be done in different ways. For example Sennheiser HD-800 is analytical but I don't hear the treble the same way I do on the T90. It's more refined on HD-800 in a good way and when your not bothered by harshness you will enjoy the music as a whole much more (imo).
 
I still can enjoy the T90 on occasion, but for me they wouldn't be my goto headphones when doing longer listenings sessions as they are easily fatiguing.