[MK47]

HI,I am looking for some new headphones for christmas. I have narrowed down to these three, I mainly listen to rap/hip pop like Jedi Mind Tricks,eminem,wu-tang clan and a bit of dubstep and a tiny tiny but of metal. I am going to plan on getting Nuforce uDAC after I got some new headphones. I will be using them on the computer mainly and maybe with ipod as well.
I want some clear punchy bass,neutral mids and smoothing highs. And decent soundstage. Comfort is a big part as well, I will be using them for long hours,
I can't decide which one to get. I heard that D2000 would benefits from an low impedance amp?  I dont know too much about dt990. I heard that 840s could get boring and the headband is not comfortable. Can you guys give me some advice?
Thanks alot!

 

[Slaughter]

Add the M50 into the mix as it is cheaper, doesn't need an amp and will satisfy most people. The 990 is a good choice, but the mids are recessed, which I found a little annoying for vocal dominated hip-hop. Some people have described it as being an upgraded M50 though. Haven't heard the D2000, but recessed mids is the same complaint with those as well. And I don't think the 840 are what you are looking for.

 

[MK47]

I have some audio technica ath-sj5 which i really liked but i need to get them recabled also theu have recessive mids.Do the m50s have the same?

 

[Slaughter]

The M50 is pretty balanced across the spectrum, but when called to deliver bass, it delivers low and tight bass, with a little boom. Pretty impressive for such an inexpensive headphone. Some say the mids on the M50 are recessed, but if you listen long enough, you realize they are even with the highs and lows. I was listening to Black Eyed Peas and Eminem yesterday at work and enjoying every minute of it. Well, besides the poor mastering on Em's CD. Dre must have used Beats while producing it.

 

[MK47]

do they benefit form amping? because I want to get a dac for my computer. What about the dt990 ,how much better are they compared to m50?  They are kind of close in price in uk.

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

do they benefit form amping? because I want to get a dac for my computer. What about the dt990 ,how much better are they compared to m50?  They are kind of close in price in uk.

The M50 won't benefit from amping, but they will sound better out of the udac than the headphone out of your computer, and will definitely sound better that way than with a portable player. But amping itself, they don't need the power and sound great out of any portable player. There are a lot more beneifts to a computer rig than just extra power over a portable.
 
I used to own the M50 while I only heard the DT990 once at a meet. But from brief impressions the DT990 sounded very fun but did have very exagerated bass and definitely scooped mids.
 
The M50 has a slight bass emphasis and perhaps the slightest bit of recession of the mids, but definitely not what you would call "scooped" - they do well with rap and other vocal centric music like rock or folk and are really just a shade off neutral in their sound. 
 
They are really great all-rounders which I'm having trouble finding a better replacement for. Just had them for too long and was getting bored, but it's hard to find something closed and portable as good I'll tell you.

 

[Slaughter]

Good description from EddieE. I use them straight from my iphone4 at work and don't enjoy them any less than with my desktop amp at home, which just refines everything. Eddie made a good point, the D2000 and 990 cannot be used as a portable. The M50 pushes the limit on portability, but still works well.

 

[MK47]

Ohhhhh thanks guys. I think I will be getting them very shortly and udac for my computer as well,because i mainly use them on the pc.

 

[Zombie_X]

One thing to note is that the DT990 has less bass impact than the D2000, well at least my pair does.

 

[MK47]

Hmmmm now that I have been looking around,I think I am stuck again.... I heard many good things about AIAIAI TMA-1 and I can't decide,this is going to be my first "descent" headphones.

 

[EddieE]

It is confusing, some times you just have to take a punt and hope. This is a key reason buying from the classifieds is safer. If they don't suit your tastes you can sell them without much if any loss so long as you treat them well. Buy them new and it doesn't matter how mint they are, they are going to be worth a lot less second hand.
 
Something which can be helpful is the headroom build a measurement chart tool. Not the be all and end all and a graph can't tell you everything but it can be useful, or at least interesting.
 
Here is one with some of the phones mentioned on this thread: