DT880 vs DT990 | Comparison & Review
Dec 7, 2010 at 1:30 PM Post #31 of 169
Glad for this thread. Interesting posts here that are making me think that I need a DT880 to partner with my DT990. Especially if the 880 isn't as shrill as the 990, which is sometimes slightly hotter to my ears than desired.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 2:12 PM Post #32 of 169
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 2:32 PM Post #33 of 169


Quote:
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...


Of course you know it also works in reverse.
I had the DT880 and bought the HD600, and conparitively the HD600 sounded extremely dull and veiled.
 
I was glad that I kept the HD600 long enough to evaluate them on their own and not merely in relation to the DT880 (which are somewhat overly bright).
 
Yes, I wound up selling the HD600 because I found them slightly dull and veiled.......
rolleyes.gif

 
But my point is that sometimes comparing cans can actually work against you, and should not be your only point of reference.
 
shane
 
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 2:42 PM Post #34 of 169
Pretty one sided review. I can understand the sound isn't what you're looking for but wow...did you really have to make a "they suck big time" thread for that?
Maybe you should have tried them, as said before, with some better amps/sources
wink.gif

 
Dec 7, 2010 at 2:56 PM Post #35 of 169
Quote:
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...



As a great many people in this thread have done.
 
After getting my HE-5LE, which has emphasized mids, I still found the DT990 to have incredibly good sound for the money (especially compared to the K702), and found the two complemented each other wonderfully.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 3:23 PM Post #36 of 169


Quote:
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...


You won't know? Really?
I think you should be able to tell if something has lots of treble or not.
 
Maybe you should have compared the DT 880 to  the AD 700 the AD 700 has way more treble and without the mids and no bass it really makes the treble more apparent and a more extreme case.
 
DT 880 has a just right amount of a treble push its not overly done.
 
I would like to try the DT 990 out.
I bet the AD 700 has more treble than the DT 990.
 
But I really doubt there is headphone out there with more treble than the Sony MDR V6 maybe the Grado 325 comes close.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 3:43 PM Post #37 of 169
Quote:
Quote:
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...


You won't know? Really?
I think you should be able to tell if something has lots of treble or not.


Please explain how. If you know something has more treble, how do you really know?
 
*cough* You compare it to "standard" or "neutral" sound *cough*
 
Everything is comparisons my friend. Absolutely everything.
 
Quote:
Quote:
Just remember DT990 owners, you will never know how incredibly bright they are until you compare them to another headphone...
 
I didn't know that until I compared it to the DT880. Then, I didn't know the DT880 was too bright, until I compared it to my HD650...


Of course you know it also works in reverse.
 


Exactly. Just as long as the comparisons are there in the first place.
wink.gif

 
Dec 7, 2010 at 3:45 PM Post #38 of 169
Quote:
Pretty one sided review. I can understand the sound isn't what you're looking for but wow...did you really have to make a "they suck big time" thread for that?
Maybe you should have tried them, as said before, with some better amps/sources
wink.gif


My AD700 vs A700 review was pretty one sided as well. Because when "I" find a clear winner...
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 3:55 PM Post #39 of 169


Quote:
Please explain how. If you know something has more treble, how do you really know?
 
*cough* You compare it to "standard" or "neutral" sound *cough*
 
Everything is comparisons my friend. Absolutely everything.
 

 
I think someone should know what a treble push sounds like.
 
So basically your saying a person could never know a Sony MDR V6 has tons of treble unless they compared it to a dead zero treble?
 
Well I guess since you can't tell if something has more or less treble you never compared the DT 880 to AD 700 otherwise you would have known the AD 700 has a lot more treble.
And the bad lots of more treble where the mids are left back but the treble goes up.
And the no bass factor makes it more extreme too.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 4:24 PM Post #40 of 169
Quote:
 
I think someone should know what a treble push sounds like.
 
So basically your saying a person could never know a Sony MDR V6 has tons of treble unless they compared it to a dead zero treble?
 
Well I guess since you can't tell if something has more or less treble you never compared the DT 880 to AD 700 otherwise you would have known the AD 700 has a lot more treble.
And the bad lots of more treble where the mids are left back but the treble goes up.
And the no bass factor makes it more extreme too.


I don't think we're on the same page...
 
Say I've been blind since birth. Describe to me the color red. Can you do it?
Okay, now say I have perfect vision. Once again, describe to me the color red.
 
We base nearly everything off of comparisons to other things. I'm not saying you need two colors side by side to tell a difference, because that's easy enough to identify them standalone (unless we start getting into shades, hues, and saturation). But with something such as headphones, you tend not to realize how good or how bad something is until you've heard something different. How on earth do you know a Sony V6 has tons of treble? What if it's 100% neutral? Well, we know it's not, because other headphones can definitely get us closer to what sounds natural in terms of hearing it in real life. Once again, you are constantly using comparisons subconsciously , to benchmark whether something is superior or inferior to another thing, and to also gauge the margin of difference between two objects.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 4:58 PM Post #41 of 169
You either know what increased treble sounds like or you don't.
Obviously you don't.
Some people think it adds detail it doesn't as it goes up it washes away detail and start to make the music sound unnatural.
 
Comparing things might make it easier but its very obvious when its been pushed too far.
Sony MDR V6 way way too much treble.
AD 700 too much treble.
 
The DT 880 has a very tasteful treble push.
Absolute dead zero treble sounds great but a slight push in what the DT 880 does works very well with some music.
But other music benefits and sounds better at dead zero.
The DT 880 has a sweet spot treble push where its slightly elevated above dead zero but still contains dead zero elements but the slight push makes things more exciting and lively but hasn't washed away things yet and a lot of people will find the slight push sounds better than dead zero/flat treble depending on the album or music in general.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 5:09 PM Post #42 of 169
You cannot change the signature of a headphone with source and amp, unless you have really bad stuff. My equipement is more than up to the challenege of these headphones. I even rolled tubes with strong mids and bass heavy into my amp and they are still too polite to be used for pop, rock and hip-hop.

 
Quote:
 
Quote:
The 880 would be the perfect headphone for me, if the mids were moved forward a little and the bass was between the 880 and 990.


good amp and source matching will help you there, too



 
Dec 7, 2010 at 5:48 PM Post #43 of 169
Quote:
You either know what increased treble sounds like or you don't.
Obviously you don't.
 

 
Explain to me what increased treble is. Then, explain to me what Beyerdynamic headphones sound like...
 
Quote:
mibutenma said:


Comparing things might make it easier but its very obvious when its been pushed too far.
 

 
Explain your version of too far. I'm eagerly waiting.
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 6:05 PM Post #44 of 169
Go buy a integrated amp and play around with a treble knob and you'll learn and understand what treble is.
Obviously you don't know what it is. And I'm not going to waste my time trying to put it in into words.
 
And pushed too far would be taking the treble knob to the maximum and and there being no mids taking a mid knob and making it go in a negative direction that's what a Sony MDR V6 sounds like.
And Audio Technica AD 700 treble is pushed pretty far over but it also has a bit of mids so its not complete agony like the MDR V6 but no bass like I said makes the the treble stand out more and sound lifeless.
 
Its funny you hate the DT 880 but still keep a headphone with a lot more treble the AD 700.
 
 
 
Dec 7, 2010 at 6:09 PM Post #45 of 169
This thread's going to kick off just watch lol.
 
My opinion, and that's all it is, is that I think the DT 990 line of headphones are meant for a specific section of the audiophile market - those that are partial to 'fun & bassy' headphones. For me personally, I adore the DT 990's I have. The 1 issue I did have was with the headband but I did rectify that by bending it fully, they didn't snap and problem solved headband's comfy again.
 
As for sound quality, *I* don't find the treble to be bad at all. In fact their brightness is something I rather enjoy as well as their bass. Also I'm not sure the lacking mids are as bad as some people on here suggest - though I fully concede that those said people will know a lot more than me on this subject and have a lot more experience. I'm simply giving my take on these headphones. 
 
For me they're spot on. Granted I've never had great hearing. But to me these are not boring, not lacking in any frequency to my ear, they're lively and ridiculously detailed and clear. Also the soundstage to me is simply phenomenal (which I notice was never spoken of in the op surprise surprise!) :wink: ....also these are spot on for movies too. 
 
In short, I love them. This whole thing just harkens back to the argument of different strokes - people prefer different types of presentation. Some like lively n bassy, others do not. I think it's a bit dumb for the original poster to judge other people's purchases based on their preferences and a headphone he bought himself that he didn't like - or that he got for free and trashed. Not the smartest idea is it ? And as for the destruction pics, why do people do that ? Yeah they're probably broken already but still....
 
In short why do a lot of people online have to be pricks, I don't get it. Sorry, correction, so pricks like me will take the bait and respond to it giving the prick an orgasm over it or somethin....good god. 
 

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