[Supertoaster]

just noting that senns and beyers have veeeeery different sounds

 

[wahsmoh]

I own a pair of DT880's and Sennheiser HD280s. I tried a pair of DT990s at my friends house and they reminded me too much of my Sennheiser HD280s with recessed midrange. I liked my HD280s for the warmer mids but everything seemed recessed over the bass. Well the DT990s have a larger soundstage to compliment the bass but don't have the exaggerated highs or mids that my DT880 does. I love my DT880s because I paired them with a bass-heavy amplifier thus I am able to put out better low frequencies than before while retaining everything else. I got my DT880s for $250 when they were on sale on amazon. The price jumped back to $350 for the 250ohm version.

 

[ultrabike]

Quote:

I own a pair of DT880's and Sennheiser HD280s. I tried a pair of DT990s at my friends house and they reminded me too much of my Sennheiser HD280s with recessed midrange. I liked my HD280s for the warmer mids but everything seemed recessed over the bass. Well the DT990s have a larger soundstage to compliment the bass but don't have the exaggerated highs or mids that my DT880 does. I love my DT880s because I paired them with a bass-heavy amplifier thus I am able to put out better low frequencies than before while retaining everything else. I got my DT880s for $250 when they were on sale on amazon. The price jumped back to $350 for the 250ohm version.

 
What amplifier did you used?

 

[jfinne16]

Hey guys, would you recommend me to save up for dt990 pros over dt770s for 60 cheaper? Also, could I use my Kenwood 1080VR Receiver for the time being. It's from 1997 and was nice for its day. The problem is I can't find any information on the headphone amp. I'm guessing it's not the best thought. 

 

[Supertoaster]

Quote:

Hey guys, would you recommend me to save up for dt990 pros over dt770s for 60 cheaper? Also, could I use my Kenwood 1080VR Receiver for the time being. It's from 1997 and was nice for its day. The problem is I can't find any information on the headphone amp. I'm guessing it's not the best thought. 

Hmm. I think it's down to personal preference.
 
First of all the DT770 has better mids and smoother treble and a more boxed in sound. DT990 has a bigger soundstage and more sub-bass and has a lot of treble. Mids are even more recessed then the dt770's.

 

[jfinne16]

Quote:

Hmm. I think it's down to personal preference.
 
First of all the DT770 has better mids and smoother treble and a more boxed in sound. DT990 has a bigger soundstage and more sub-bass and has a lot of treble. Mids are even more recessed then the dt770's.

Yeah, I would like better mids if the DT990 is somewhat lacking in that category. I've owned both open and closed headphones and honestly I don't prefer either. But...I also like a big soundstage. We'll see I guess.

 

[wahsmoh]

I built a Bottlehead Crack Tube amplifier kit and it was a little bit of a hassle learning how to solder carefully took me around 8 hours working on and off but when you compare it to a solid state amp, tube amps have a much much larger soundstage and usually deliver more sub-bass. I've compared it to my Rolls HA43 Pro and my Fiio E17 and I think the tube sound is a lot warmer in comparison due to it being completely analogue. In other words, if you have $279 to spare and an urge to DIY and take a big risk the effort is worth it because the finished product has a $700-1000 value when compared to tube amps of that price range.

 

[superdux]

the dt990pro is certainly brilliant for watching movies!

 

[jfinne16]

I built a Bottlehead Crack Tube amplifier kit and it was a little bit of a hassle learning how to solder carefully took me around 8 hours working on and off but when you compare it to a solid state amp, tube amps have a much much larger soundstage and usually deliver more sub-bass. I've compared it to my Rolls HA43 Pro and my Fiio E17 and I think the tube sound is a lot warmer in comparison due to it being completely analogue. In other words, if you have $279 to spare and an urge to DIY and take a big risk the effort is worth it because the finished product has a $700-1000 value when compared to tube amps of that price range.

I actually do have an urge for that. How longs the build process?

 

[ultrabike]

I can see how a Bottlehead Crack amp might be a perfect choice for a DT990 600. Tube amps tend to be warmer (not all though), but I don't think it has anything to do with them being analog. 

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

tube amps have a much much larger soundstage and usually deliver more sub-bass.

No... just no. That's a huge generalization, and there are many SS amps that outperform tubes in the same price range.

 

[icecap]

stumbled across this thread while searching for any comparison between T50rp and DT990pro...
 
I am a happy owner of DT990pro.. but am quite tempted to see if an T50rp with some mod can bring a new budget ortho listening experience when B&H is having a good price on this..
 
wouldnt expect the positives over what I have now to be that significant, thus the hesitancy in me buying and still searching for T50rp reviews..
 
but one thing, hopefully in some way useful to the OP is, the DT990pro is a love-hate affair for anyone I guess.. I am really enjoying it.. BTW now it's powered from a tube power amp with attenuator sitting in between.. monstrous, but the power feeding off is almost providing the perfect synergy as my ears told me...
 
so, I am curious to what is your choice, OP?

 

[PETEREK]

I just traded my pair of Beyer DT880 Premium 250's for a pair of Senn HD580's and am liking the Sennheiser sound better than my DT880. I like the really low end bass that the 880's offered but I am willing to sacrifice that A LITTLE for the mids and crisp highs the HD580's give me. Also, the HD580's have a bigger sound stage, that might be because they're completely open back though, so the DT990's might offer the same thing. If it's possible for you to find a pair of HD580's for cheap used, do it. The drivers in them are identical to the drivers in the HD600. I bought some HD600 grills for my HD580's and they're being shipped to me soon (back ordered), but after they arrive the 580's will look nearly the same as the HD600. I'm just chiming in. Overall I like Sennheiser's sound over Beyer. 
 
I own the HD555, and HD580 now and used to own the DT770, and DT880 and still prefer Senn.

 

[VaughnK]

Really liked my dt 880's 600ohm when I got them, great sound all the way across the spectrum.  But soundstage was a little lacking.
I got  a tube headphone amp to drive them and was pretty happy for a year.
But then I got the fostex T50rps and the soundstage was much clearer for half the price. Listened to them for a couple weeks and really liked the sound stage.   I did the mayflower mod and it improved the bass but the soundstage was a little less in terms of precisely localizing the instruments. I am sticking with that right now because I listen to jazz, Bob Schneider, Michael Hedges, Band of Horses, Barenaked Ladies, Kate Bush, Bruce Cockburn, Squeeze and Elvis Costello and all of them sound great, hard rock to acoustic solo singer. My xonar sound card has dolby headphone and it really reasserts the soundstage.   I have not reversed the mod because overall I am very happy (you can take almost all of the mayflower stuff off if you decide to.) Mod is pretty easy if you look at the videos on youtube and have a set of small jewelers screwdrivers. Mod kit is only 20$, but if you can afford 200 like a previous poster said I would get Tyler's already modded units.    In fact I am listening to Bob playing at a club in LA on my Fostex's  right now!
 
https://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/shop/headphones/fostex-t50rp-mod-kit/