DT 990 Pro - peekaboo with bass!!

[nik170]

hi all,

last time i was here - i was a clg student who had saved up 60 bux for a mdr v6.. best 60 bux ever spent.. those sob's grew up on me like anything.. having owned philips hp 890's (Y did they stop making them, I wud buy those again and again)... it was just too drastic of a change.. there wasn't no lush bass - no slight rumble of the phones' with thumpin bass.. anyways, i was happy, till I lost them.. one day, just cudnt find'em no more.. broke, I switched to senn's PMX60 - very good for what you pay for.. still have'em though no sound from the left channel..

anyways, i'm back for round 3.5 and this time with a full time job.. and snooped around a bit and snatched a new

DT 990 pro (250 ohm)

for 150 bux.. My excitement ended when I listened to them for the first time.. I wanted to go back to bein a bass junkie (I've MASSIVE ATTACK to blame for that). Bt they start to crackle if I tweak the bass using the equalizer.. normally, i just tone the volume down and turn the bass up.. They can go loud, very loud.. but crackle too soon (with the bass on the high side)..

here's my setup
Mode 1) PC -> Realtek HD integrated audio -> Analog jack
Mode 2) PC -> Realtek HD integrated audio -> RCA jack (spdif) -> Sony S-Master Amp

Do I need an amp for these puppies? And do I need an amp even if I listen to them in mode 2?

I continue to experiment as I type - and keeping the volume low from the PC and turning it from the amp - seems to be helping a lot..

I just need suggestions on how to improve my experience.. and something that will push the bass..

Thanks all..
nik

P.S - They sound awesome for 'Hindi' tracks (tht's Bollywood, running around the trees, tht kinda stuff).. Massive Attack is a thumbs down on these!!!

 

[ph0rk]

I'm sure it is the lackluster amp on your soundcard - though it could also be the equalizer you are using distorting the signal.

 

[pwrusr]

I have the same exact built in sound on my PC. it can NOT drive headphones at all. There's NO bass if I connect the headphones directly to it. I'm using some logitech speakers that have a built in headphone jack that do a much better sound output to the cans.
I really want to eventually get a decent DAC and real headphone amp soon.
I have the DT880's so I know close to what the cans will sound like coming out of the sound card directly.
Keep the eq flat maybe get a amp that has a variable bass adjustment. if you need to adjust the bass don't go over 0dB on the eq settings, basicly lower the other freqs that you want a little less of.

 

[nik170]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwrusr /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the same exact built in sound on my PC. it can NOT drive headphones at all. There's NO bass if I connect the headphones directly to it. I'm using some logitech speakers that have a built in headphone jack that do a much better sound output to the cans. I really want to eventually get a decent DAC and real headphone amp soon. I have the DT880's so I know close to what the cans will sound like coming out of the sound card directly. Keep the eq flat maybe get a amp that has a variable bass adjustment. if you need to adjust the bass don't go over 0dB on the eq settings, basicly lower the other freqs that you want a little less of.

Ya I've the EQ flat for now.. and using the headphone jack on the S-Master.. I've actually set the vol max on the amp and then adjustin from the pc.. that way minimal amplification from the pc.. btw.. wht's a DAC - i'm guessin it's just a fancy name for a soundcard in the context of a pc.. !!

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik170 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ya I've the EQ flat for now.. and using the headphone jack on the S-Master.. I've actually set the vol max on the amp and then adjustin from the pc.. that way minimal amplification from the pc.. btw.. wht's a DAC - i'm guessin it's just a fancy name for a soundcard in the context of a pc.. !!

DAC = Digital to Analog Converter.
One of the main components of the soundcard is the DAC.
It changes the digital output of the computer/source to analog output for your headphones/speakers.
External DAC's typically sound better for the same price than soundcards.
This is a genralisation of course.

 

[nik170]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif DAC = Digital to Analog Converter. One of the main components of the soundcard is the DAC. It changes the digital output of the computer/source to analog output for your headphones/speakers. External DAC's typically sound better for the same price than soundcards. This is a genralisation of course.

I know what DAC is.. I should have been more clear earlier.. what I meant was - soundcards already have DAC.. so are the DAC's being mentioned here additional cards that are installed on the PC - or are replacement soundcards - that are specifically meant to be better than 'normal' soundcards for doing D2A conversions.. like some link for what we are talking about here would be helpful...

 

[MaZa]

Do NOT boost the bass but cut the treble instead, leaving the frequencies you want stronger around 0db line (if you use Foobar player, easy way is to boost what you want, and then pressing Autolevel button). When you boost up the bass above 0 level, it starts to distort easily. And weak amplification also affects that.

And instead of having amplifier maxed out, set the soundcard volume to max or at half (depends on soundcard?), this way it should send least altered signal to your amplifier. Let the amplifier do the volume controlling.


BTW, a better soundcard is recommended, or even better, external DAC. I have yet to see integrated soundcard with good sound. But since you have an option to use your Sony S-Master amp connected via spdif, I presume it has clearly better DAC circuit built-in than your soundcard, so you dont need to worry about that at the moment.