[JackarlTwo]

I have just had a chance to listen to DT1990 Pro for a few hours. Clearly better bass, more punchy drums, nice vocals, but the treble spike is indeed painful. How itense is TH900 treble compared to DT1990, if anyone had the chance to compare?

Late reply. I have the TH900, DT1990 and LCD-X. The TH900 is the brighter and most fatiguing one out of these. DT1990 is more neutral, with a worse treble spike than the TH900, but TH900 is still more fatiguing to my ears, (I prefer a darker tuning so you might be fine). While I love the TH900 for its thunderous bass, and they are great for music like EDM, they are very V shaped. The mids are very clear but are definitely in the back compared to the rest of the frequency range. For the genres you mentioned I definitely prefer the LCD-X with a little bit of EQ for its more neutral presentation, much better mids and still a great bass. Drums sound great with both TH900 and LCD-X, but my preference is LCD-X when taking everything into account. TH900 is much more comfortable and lighter, with a slightly bigger soundstage though so YMMV.

 

[monkey4054]

Late reply. I have the TH900, DT1990 and LCD-X. The TH900 is the brighter and most fatiguing one out of these. DT1990 is more neutral, with a worse treble spike than the TH900, but TH900 is still more fatiguing to my ears. While I love the TH900 for its thunderous bass, and they are great for music like EDM, they are very V shaped. The mids are very clear but are definitely in the back compared to the rest of the frequency range. For the genres you mentioned I definitely prefer the LCD-X with a little bit of EQ (great if you have the RME Dac), for its more neutral presentation, much better mids and still a great bass. Drums sound great with both TH900 and LCD-X, but my preference is LCD-X when taking everything into account. TH900 is much more comfortable and lighter, with a slightly bigger soundstage though so YMMV.

Mentioning the DT1990 in the same sentence as the 900 should almost be a crime haha. The 900 is in another league. With the 900 you definitely need to find the right amp pairing and try some alternative pads as with stock pads and the wrong amp, then they can be sibilant and fatiguing at times. I use a Violetric amp and the Dekoni sheepskin pads and it's damn near perfection... The LCD-X is mediocre without serious EQ adjustment (at least the pre-2021 revision models were, new ones allegedly better) and didn't have any of the magic of the LCD 2, 3, or 4.

 

[JackarlTwo]

Mentioning the DT1990 in the same sentence as the 900 should almost be a crime haha. The 900 is in another league. With the 900 you definitely need to find the right amp pairing and try some alternative pads as with stock pads and the wrong amp, then they can be sibilant and fatiguing at times. I use a Violetric amp and the Dekoni sheepskin pads and it's damn near perfection... The LCD-X is mediocre without serious EQ adjustment (at least the pre-2021 revision models were, new ones allegedly better) and didn't have any of the magic of the LCD 2, 3, or 4.

TH900 is definitely a better headphone than DT1990, no doubt. He was asking about the DT1990's treble in comparison to TH900. If he finds DT1990 treble painful he'll likely find TH900 equally painful. Again it's my preference, and LCD-X (2021+) is IMO a better sounding headphone for the genres he asked about. If you like a V-shaped sound you'll likely find the LCD-X boring in direct comparison to TH900.

 

[Easa]

I own a tr-x00 as well as th900, have tested them in balanced and unbalanced, and they show significant improvement in balanced cable

Isnt really the only advantage of balanced output more power delivery to each driver? As the Biodyna drivers have really low impedance and are easy to drive, where is this significant improvement exactly?

 

[Whazzzup]

Well more power and an esoteric concept that power and left and right channel will never touch eachother. Frankly for more scalable hp, like hd800S, balanced helps. th900 I never tried, but they seem fully scaled on hugo or tt without gsx mk2. But whatever one prefers.

 

[Sandkabir]

Isnt really the only advantage of balanced output more power delivery to each driver? As the Biodyna drivers have really low impedance and are easy to drive, where is this significant improvement exactly?

More power gives more juice to the drivers thereby giving more beefier sound output

 

[Thenewbie76]

Hey guys, I just got my Fostex and ooooh boy has it been an experience. I really enjoy using it for EDM and any dark-sounding songs.

But I need some advice. It is quite bright for my taste, which I had a feeling it would be after looking at many reviews. I just want to know which earpads should I get to tame the treble. The two I keep seeing get recommended the most are the TH610 earpads and the Yaxi comfort TH900 pads. Can anyone confirm if this truly helps to tame the treble?

Lastly, does anyone know what headband cushion to buy if I have some hotspot in the middle of the headband when wearing them?

 

[Sandkabir]

Hey guys, I just got my Fostex and ooooh boy has it been an experience. I really enjoy using it for EDM and any dark-sounding songs.

But I need some advice. It is quite bright for my taste, which I had a feeling it would be after looking at many reviews. I just want to know which earpads should I get to tame the treble. The two I keep seeing get recommended the most are the TH610 earpads and the Yaxi comfort TH900 pads. Can anyone confirm if this truly helps to tame the treble?

Lastly, does anyone know what headband cushion to buy if I have some hotspot in the middle of the headband when wearing them?

I have one headband bought from Ali express , it's removable and soft

 

[monkey4054]

Hey guys, I just got my Fostex and ooooh boy has it been an experience. I really enjoy using it for EDM and any dark-sounding songs.

But I need some advice. It is quite bright for my taste, which I had a feeling it would be after looking at many reviews. I just want to know which earpads should I get to tame the treble. The two I keep seeing get recommended the most are the TH610 earpads and the Yaxi comfort TH900 pads. Can anyone confirm if this truly helps to tame the treble?

Lastly, does anyone know what headband cushion to buy if I have some hotspot in the middle of the headband when wearing them?

For pads yes something like the 610 pads or I'd recommend one of the Dekoni pads. I use the 900 Sheepskin leather pads. I don't recommend the Yaxi pads as they change the sound too much, especially the Alcantara, although they are certainly nice quality. You can get a generic wool headphone cover off ebay and that will work around the headband.

 

[waveSounds]

@Thenewbie76 best headband solution I've found has been the HD650 padding and double sided picture tape.

I'll also have to disagree with @monkey4054 because I love the Yaxi alcantara pads

I mainly listen to EDM, d&b, house etc. (but also listen to all genres) and find they work beautifully for my tastes. They do reign in the treble.

 

[Pretardo]

I've been using mine with a Woo Audio WA7 Gen2 for the last few months and found it to be a great pairing. I think the midrange bloom of a tube amp a good match with the V shape sound of the 900. The WA7 is fairly neutral and the bass is quite good for tubes.

I was looking at the WA7 Gen3 myself but I decided to go with the xDuoo TA-22 as an economical halfway to try out tubes. I have to say that the TA-22 pairs really well with TH900s. It also scales really well with other DACs too. The tubes and amp bring amazing dynamics and makes the 900s slam really hard while smoothing out some of the more fatiguing features of the headphones.
Tubes definitely go well with TH900s!

 

[Thenewbie76]

@Thenewbie76 best headband solution I've found has been the HD650 padding and double sided picture tape.

I'll also have to disagree with @monkey4054 because I love the Yaxi alcantara pads

I mainly listen to EDM, d&b, house etc. (but also listen to all genres) and find they work beautifully for my tastes. They do reign in the treble.

I actually bought the ZMF Ori pads cause I also heard good things about it.

I'll see how the ZMF Ori pads turn out to be before getting other pads

 

[r343]

Stock pads wear out quite fast? Purchased new at last october and they are starting to show signs of flaking, haven't even used TH900 that much, just here and there if needed to control leakage, tried some cheap aftermarket copys once and they sounded like crap.

 

[aloki]

Stock pads wear out quite fast? Purchased new at last october and they are starting to show signs of flaking, haven't even used TH900 that much, just here and there if needed to control leakage, tried some cheap aftermarket copys once and they sounded like crap.

Maybe your environment is too dry? I live in a mild environment and I’ve had mine since 2020, no signs of flaking at all.

 

[Whazzzup]

I think skin oils, wear conditions, repetitive placement malfeasance, environment. I too have original pads in both hp that haven’t worn wear in 8 years while others on head fi show fairly quick deterioration. So th900 or hd800S same issues that don’t exist for myself