[Music-Acme]

Thanks Mad Lust Envy,
 
I'm pleased I am not too far off the mark with trying to get a high quality pair of headphones.
 
There's another term I'm not sure about; "Balanced". 
Does balanced mean the lows, mids and high are of equal volume to each other?  And can you help me understand "Mids" please?
 
Thanks.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

More or less, yes. I have owned 5 DT990/600s, lol, and 4 of them sounded basically the same. Balanced in that they are closer to having the bass, mids, and highs being more linear than the others, though the 990/600 is still and bass and treble heavy headphone with recessed mids.

I actually liked the 250ohm the most, in that it has the most body and energy of the three variants, but the mids were the most distant. The 600ohm sounded the cleanest, but the most reserved. The 32ohm was closer to the 600ohm, but had a smaller soundstage than the other two, and sounded just a hint more congested, and less airy. Still, they're a great headphone for those with desktop amps that cater to low ohm headphones. They actually sound worse than the 250ohm off portable amps or unamped. Once you drive the 32ohm with a desktop amp, they are nearly as good as the others. Still, that makes the 32ohm impractical, as people would assume they are easily driven. They aren't. They are more picky than the 250ohm, though they do get louder.

 

[Music-Acme]

Eureka!  By Jove I think I've got it!  (whoever Jove is?)
Yeah so, balanced now makes sense to me, thanks for that, and the mids being somewhere in the middle.
 
I do have to agree, the DT-990 Pro's do have a lot of body and energy, (like a hyperactive sumo wrestler so to speak) - because my DT-770 Pro's closed HP's are quite powerful sounding and balanced, great for rock, electronica, vocals, most genres, with a nice open soundstage as well, if that makes sense to you.  So my DT-990's are very, very similar to them only a bit more spacious and open-sounding.
 
While I was here just a minute ago I found this on this site, about mids:  
http://www.head-fi.org/t/249333/ok-i-confess-what-instruments-and-vocals-fall-into-lows-mids-and-highs-be-nice  
No1likesme gives a list of instruments in each range so it's a grey area to say the least.
 
I'm learning.  I thinks I'll keep my 990 Pro's on their pedestal for now, but I'm curious to try to 990 600ohms (Pro & Premiums) just out of interest.

 

[Music-Acme]

Oh, here's glossary of sounds that I found helpful, (or confusing) depending on what way you look at it.
http://www.head-fi.org/a/describing-sound-a-glossary 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

i think he explained the difference between the different impedant versions of the 990s pretty well.

 

[asdfghjkzxcvbnm]

Whats better for the AKG's, E09k or E17?

 

[Music-Acme]

Hi Dubstep Girl,
 
Mad Lust Envy said regarding the term balanced: 
 
"More or less, yes. I have owned 5 DT990/600s, lol, and 4 of them sounded basically the same. Balanced in that they are closer to having the bass, mids, and highs being more linear than the others, though the 990/600 is still and bass and treble heavy headphone with recessed mids."  
 
So would you say the DT-990 600ohms versions because they are more balanced than the 250ohm version would suit "finer" music, so to speak, like classical, opera, orchestral and the like, and the DT-990 250ohms more suited to more rock 'n roll / general use?
Or are they equally good with classical and rock 'n roll?
 
"
I can understand that a pair of HP's (DT-990 600ohms) can be balanced whilst also bass and treble heavy (I think?) but where does that put each headphone in the genre categories, which are best for "Classical" and which for "rock n' roll"?  
Many thanks for any info. on this, I think I get "balanced" and the nuances of individual balanced phones, and the term "mids", (I'll put that on the back boiler for now).
Any details on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I think you might be expecting too big a difference. The differences are there, but they are MINUTE. I wouldn't suggest going from the 250ohm to the 600ohm and expecting a revelation. It's only noticeable if you have them side by side. Otherwise, they sound 98% the same. The difference isn't large enough to say one is good for a specific genre, while one isn't. If you don't like a genre with one, you won't like it with the other. The 600ohm is just less bassy, and more airy. Due to having less bass, the mids come up just a little more. They are still recessed.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

i'd say they're equally good for classical or rock.
 
 what hes trying to say is that all dt 990s still have the same sound signature, that is, more bass and treble with less mids. they all will give you the same listening experiencce and excel in the same type of music. when he said balanced, it just means the sound is more refined and controlled. in other words they are better in sounding how they're supposed to sound. they will have slightly cleaner bass, mids that are still somewhat recessed, but not as bad, and the treble will be better controlled but still bright, since they're supposed to sound like that.
 
 
they're all dt 990s, they will all sound like dt 990s, the 600 ohms is just the premium version and has the best presentation of the 3, so if you can deal with their 600 ohm impedance, they're the ones to buy

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

I think you might be expecting too big a difference. The differences are there, but they are MINUTE. I wouldn't suggest going from the 250ohm to the 600ohm and expecting a revelation. It's only noticeable if you have them side by side. Otherwise, they sound 98% the same. The difference isn't large enough to say one is good for a specific genre, while one isn't. If you don't like a genre with one, you won't like it with the other. The 600ohm is just less bassy, and more airy. Due to having less bass, the mids come up just a little more. They are still recessed.

 
+1
 
if you wanted "balanced" sound, meaning equal bass, mids, treble, the dt 880 might be a better choice.
 
the dt 990 has more bass and treble, but less mids, its a matter of preference.

 

[Music-Acme]

I couldn't have hoped for a more conclusive couple of replies.
 
I completely get it what you said, Mad Lust Envy, and confirmed by Dubstep Girl it is the sound signature that should be noted with the 900's.
 
The balanced bit now makes clearer sense, thanks Dubstep Girl, so it's not simply the lows, mids and highs are of equal volume, more accurately the lows, mids and highs are represented more accurately (with more stability, than say with some cheaper HP's more "wobbly" sounding representations also at usually lower impedances).  
 
Would it also be right and bold to put that the higher the ohms resistance the better the sound due to there being less room for the sound to fluctuate, as the HP's control the signal more tightly giving a more Balanced sound.
 
Thanks guys, I think this class is a good one!
 
Thanks so much.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I did have that 600ohm 990 that sounded almost completely identical to the 250ohm one though, lol. Just one.

 

[Music-Acme]

Yeah I'm sure that happens.  You've saved me the expense of forking out for a pair of DT-990 600ohms, for which I'm very grateful.
I won't be doing that now that I know that they are generally quite similar to each other.  
 
Now the DT-880's have been mentioned they have peaked my curiosity.  
 
It just goes on don't it, this quest for the perfect headphone?
 
I'm new to this forum so I'll have to put my details up somehow; Location, Headphones, owned etc.
Maybe one day we'll find the holy grail headphones sitting in a time capsule somewhere near Roswell, Area 51 that the Aliens threw out before they crash landed, and we'll all ... ??? ...well, we'll all probably still be looking for the next best thing.  Sorry went off at a tangent there.  .
 
Nice conversating!
Sure we'll be mulling over more fascinating subjects in the near future.  
Oh forgot to mention, like you I also have the FiiO E17 that I use with my ATH-M50's and sound stunning!

 

[Music-Acme]

Here hopefully is a list of my details for future reference.

 

[Teddy Tc]

I just got my pair of Q701, listening to Leftfield - leftism. Beautiful.