[migasson]

@draven5494- I listened to the Burson/T90, and I thought the same thing. However, with any of Woo Audio's amps, loved it. I now own a WA22/ T90 combination.

 

[draven5494]

@draven5494- I listened to the Burson/T90, and I thought the same thing. However, with any of Woo Audio's amps, loved it. I now own a WA22/ T90 combination.

It's possible that a tube amp might help with some of the harshness of the T90s. However, I won't be heading down that road anytime soon.

My Soloist performs very well with the T1s and HD800s with no hint of sibilance at all. Out of all of the headphones I have tried on my Soloist, the T90s were by far the most sibilant of the bunch. So, that tells me that my setup is fine. It has to be the headphones.

It's all good though, we all hear things differently. I'm not saying they are bad headphones, they just don't do it for me.

 

[atomicbob]

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.

 

[rasmushorn]

I have been thinking of getting the HD600 because I miss my HD650 but do prefer the more neutral presentation. What you write makes me want to try the T90 even more. 

 

[migasson]

@atomicbob... Your views on the T90 are exactly what I hear. Congrats

 

[Voohoo]

Man, lots of mixed reviews. I'm going to have to try these out for myself. Beyer's imaging and presentation is what interests me, from what I've read. I'm just scared about the lack of bass or body. But if they are comparable to the HD600 and especially the HE-500, sounds good to me.

 

[eron]

Quote:

Beyer's imaging and presentation is what interests me, from what I've read. I'm just scared about the lack of bass or body. But if they are comparable to the HD600 and especially the HE-500, sounds good to me.

Which is why you can consider the soon to be released CEntrance Hifi M8! You can adjust bass and treble level.

 

[atomicbob]

Several caveats concerning my listening experiences. 1) I tend to listen at 70 ~ 75 dB SPL as verified with a Josephson c550 measurement mic, custom headphone adapter and NT Instruments AL-1 sound analyzer. This is typically 10 dB lower than most folks prefer. 2) the external auditory meatus, while approx 2.5 cm in length and 0.7 cm diameter in general, varies individually accounting for different resonant frequencies experienced amongst us in the 2 ~ 5 KHz range. One person's clarity may be another's screeching sibilance when noting where the peaks and vallies fall on the particular headphone frequency response graphs.

 

[migasson]

I have to say atomicbob, your knowledge far exceeds mine. However,I'm listening to Diana Krall, who can sound a touch sibilant, and my nerves aren't frayed

 

[beyerlove]

Since I changed My DAC to Violectric V800, The treble spikes of T90s become no problem for me.
I seldom find them to be badly sibilant now and I'm enjoying My T90s much than before. 
Very lively, dynamic sounding headphones and I really love those.

 

[atomicbob]

@migasson: Our respective auditory systems are likely more similar than different which would account for similar observations on the T90. One reason I included my listening bias and preference for specific well known headphones to aid others in deciding whether my observations are appropriate for them, or not. We are fortunate to have a large number of well designed headphones with enough variance in auditory characteristics to match individual variance. The challenge is finding the match as an individual. The T90 is definitely a good match for me.

 

[korzena]

Quote:

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.

Thanks for your post. Have you listened to T1? If so, how does it differ from T90?

 

[atomicbob]

I have not heard the T1 yet. It is a semi-open design whereas the T90 is fully open. I am partial to fully open designs for recreational listening. Working I alternate between ATH-M50, HD280, and Extreme Isolation EX-29 depending on how much isolation is required.

 

[lilVaratep]

will the 880 pro have a price drop?

 

[migasson]

@beyerlove..I run a vinyl based system, and had a Musical Surroundings Phenomena II Phono Stage. I switched to a Violectric PPA V600, so I can fully balanced in to my WA22, and a certain brightness disappeared, not that the brightness bothered me, and the soundstage was better integrated Violectric build some good source kit. Prefer Woo to Violectric for amplification though.