[Rebel975]

@Deep1923: Any chance you have access to a HE-500?

 

[Deep1923]

yes no problem why ?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

How do you compare the bass between the DT990 and T90? That is what I wanna know the most. And have you heard the DT880? How does the bass compare to it?

 

[Rebel975]

Quote:

yes no problem why ?

 

I'm interested in a comparison.

 

[dragoonv]

I'm interested in buying a pair, but that means I will have D7000 DT1350 DT990 T1 T90...
 
Might end up selling my DT990 if T90 is that good. How much did you get it for? Hope zombie gets his pair soon.
 
Will keep my D7000 since it is going end production.  

 

[Zombie_X]

I won't get my demo pair till August unfortunately. I have the T5p and T1 at the moment though.
 
Quote:

I'm interested in buying a pair, but that means I will have D7000 DT1350 DT990 T1 T90...
 
Might end up selling my DT990 if T90 is that good. How much did you get it for? Hope zombie gets his pair soon.
 
Will keep my D7000 since it is going end production.  

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

It is double, because the D7000 was found for sometimes under $600 for a long time. I got both my D7000s for $590-595 respectively. You can't find the HD800 anywhere near that price range.

That's exactly right I got my D7000 for almost $596 and as i said i got a chance to compare T1, D7000 and T90 with the same setups and T1 still best for me while it's a difficult to choose between D7000 and T90 and i prefer T1 over HD800

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

I think the T90 would be the better value. I've talked to a few beyer reps about the T90 and they told me it was an evolution of the DT990. They didn't dive into the sound characteristics other than it being more natural and balanced. I wouldn't mind a smoother T90, but the lack of bass in the initial impressions worries me somewhat. I want that signature DT990 bass but tighter and more controlled.
 
I found the D7000 to be too expensive and sounds mediocre at full price. That being said I would pay $400 for a new D7000 is the opportunity arose. I really do like the D7000 but at those prices I'd be better off buying a 1350 and T70.

On setups i tried them i didn't experience any lack of bass it's just some little details were better with T90 on some tracks and with D7000 on others with O2 or CTH amps but with multi thousands dollar 2pcs Woo Audio amp T90 were a clear winner for me cause of better low level bass details retrieval with classical

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

I'm interested in buying a pair, but that means I will have D7000 DT1350 DT990 T1 T90...
 
Might end up selling my DT990 if T90 is that good. How much did you get it for? Hope zombie gets his pair soon.
 
Will keep my D7000 since it is going end production.  

Sold my DtT90 cause they are too bright for me and there is no such problem with T90
I think T90 should be compared to D5000/7000 instead of DT990
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That's quite a statement. I need more impressions...

 

[Zuqi]

Quote:

both lookin awesome... you even cant compare them together... the t90 is better in all.. better resolution .. giant stage and some rolling heights .. if i would have to decide between T1 and T90 i would get with T90

Thanks for the impression. Could I ask what you mean by "rolling heights"?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Maybe he meant the highs were a bit rolled off in comparison to the incredibly prominent DT990s?

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Maybe he meant the highs were a bit rolled off in comparison to the incredibly prominent DT990s?

I would agree with this assessment. I only briefly tested the dt990s against the T90 (I was more interested in comparing to HE-500). The highs were nice but they weren't the same as the dt 990.

Again I'd give more detailed impressions, but these were all at NYC meet, so I feel that these initial impressions are not complete.

 

[drubrew]

So my friends here are my initial impressions of the T90. When I do the full review, in the coming weeks, I will merge all of my baubles into one section. But, for my first analysis, I used an April Music Eximus DP-1 Headphone Amp / Dac along with an April Music Stello CDT100 transport, utilizing the I2S digital output into the DP-1. I have a great Demo Disc I take to all the meets and I use this disc or track listening on all of our show display systems and to review other systems. I know all of the songs painfully well and thus I have great points of reference to draw from.
 
I burned in a pair of 250ohm Beyerdynamic DT990's to see how much things have changed. I wanted to see if the way sound signatures differed betwen the DT990/880/770, still remained true.  Since the DT770 has been replaced with the T70 I also wanted to see if the T90 was the true replacement for the DT990. Well, I can say that the T70 and T90 sound closer in style than the DT770 and DT990 ever did. I will not compare the T70 and T90 just yet but once I try the T90 on more and various amp designs I will compare these 2 phones to each other.
 
Today I will compare the DT990, T90 and T1. Since they are all open back designs, I wanted to group them together. I have never been a big fan of the DT990 and that is still true. According to Beyerdynamic, it was the top seller of the DT990/880/770 lineup. I find this surprising for 2 reasons. One, I sold more DT880's than the other 2 cans and I prefer the DT880 to the DT990. I cannot say however, that my bias changed the result of our sales, as I bet only 25% of the customers that bought these asked for my recommendation. The DT880 has just always been a good seller for us but maybe the Pro stores sold more of the DT990 series. The Pro and consumer are the same phone even though they look different but in my opinion, the consumer is more attractive thus the price difference. However, I can see why maybe the pro side would like these more than the DT880.
 

 

 I have always found the DT990 thick as jello pudding sounding or veiled and congested. They are just not engaging or musical to my ears. I always felt the DT880 was more natural sounding and probably the best bang for the buck headphone out there. They have a great price versus performance ratio. I used a pair for a very long time but now there are too many phones out there to still have a pair.  I had to limit my collection somewhere.  
 
Anyway, the DT990 and T90 sound absolutely nothing alike at all. As I am sure you folks that have listened to the T70 would say this very same thing about the DT770 vs the T70. The T90 driver design, as I stated early in the thread, are as far as I can tell physically the same as the T70. I see no visual differences. Sometimes vendors will use the same drivers for a closed vs sealed and just use tabs to cover vent holes to change the parameters of the driver. None of this is done on the T90 vs T70. So either the electrical properties are different or they may be the same driver just used in a vented cup. My best guess is the electrical properties are different based on some of what I heard. The T90 is a very attractive headphone and I wonder if they may do the same Manufactor options with this phone that they do with the T50p as the grill fabric looks like a material that could be changed out with other colors. Hopefully, time will tell us this.  
 
Ok, so let's get down to it. Does the T90 come close to the T1? Not really. I often say the Beyerdynamic T1 and the Sennheiser HD800 have some sound characteristics of an electrostatic headphone. The HD800 more so than the T1.  However,  they are both very dynamic, the HD800 is more analytical, the T1 has better bottom end. But, they are light on their feet like an electrostatic phone. They reproduce stringed instruments with tons of air and I can almost feel or sense the plucking of the strings. The T1 is more natural sounding in this regards to the T90.  It is not as, shall I say sensitive. The T90 was a little more edgy in this regard and brighter too. This reminds me of the way I feel about the T70p to the T70. The T70p 32ohm driver is edgier sounding than the T70 250ohm driver. This is same way I feel about the T90 to the T1. Things are smoother with the T1 but not in a warm sense, as the T1 is not warm at all; but, the notes roll off smoother than with the T90. The T90 has good bottom end but if you feel the T70 does not then you will disagree with me here. It does not have the bass of the T70 and definitively not the bass of the T1 but it is more prevalent than the T5p. It does not get as low as the T1, that is for sure. One of the low note tracks I use when I compare phones is from the K2 Sound HD compilations disc. The first Track is called "Symphonic Dances - No. 1 Non Allegro" and it is a wonderful classical piece that has a couple of triumphant parts with great low octave registers. The T1 just knocks this out of the park but the T90 is just is not as dramatic. On Blue Costs Records collection, "Looking For a Home" by Keith Greeninger, the strings where a tad too sibilant for my ears. Please note I only have about a 100 hours on these and all headphones should have minimum of 300 hours before they should be judged. Thus, this is why I want to give them more time and why I also want to do a fuller review down the road with some tube amps and my reference Moon Audio Luna Headphone amp that I used with the T5p review. Now, I can tell you my first impressions are that the 3D presentation is larger from above and below my head than the T1. But, the T1 has a deeper to right and left presentation. I feel more engulfed with sound from the T90; but, I like the deeper stage from the T1 better. But the T90 is a great phone although a little tipped forward on SS gear. If you like the T70 you will for sure like the T90 but for different reasons.
 
I'm not going to bother comparing the T90 to the DT990.  I feel like it is not even in the same league and I just do not like the DT990 enough to give it fair words. So next time, the T70 will be compared and I will use a broader range of gear.  It is very possible the DP-1 is not a good match for this phone. I do very much like the HD800 and T1 with the DP-1 and I do not feel it taints the sound of these. But, the T90 with the DP-1 was a bit too bright and edgy. The phone has a lot of good properties and they are very detailed and articulate yet, very fast like the T1.   The T90 also has a great spacial effect. A lot of the things I said about the T70 sound signature are true for the T90 as well and I think at this point, I will say that I like the T70 better than the T90. But, I will answer this better in the next meeting once I have more hours on these phones. I can see where folks that like rock/metal etc. will like these phones alot!

 

[rasmushorn]

Thanks for the impressions! It sure sounds like a very interesting headphone. I guess I have to listen to it soon since I love the T70. I am looking forward to read more...