[CBonUK]

Ive spent the last two months working out what headphones to get.  And have been through FOUR models so far (thank heavens for Amazon Prime).  Started out as a Christmas gift and due to the amount the person wanted to spend I selected the Grado SR125e's.  They sounded good, felt relatively comfortable but I hated the PVC headband and the fact it didn't even have padding.  So I decided to upgrade to the SR325e and pay the difference myself.  The sound was noticeably better, and the headband a LITTLE more comfortable, having a small degree of padding and being leather.  But I found I could not resolve myself to the fact these were more expensive than Sennheiser HD650's, less comfortable, and overall, seemed a cheap build.  So I embarked on a period of new research and Beyerdynamic reared its previously unknown head.  Some time spent and the DT880's seemed on the cards, but I was unsure that they would be as nice as the Senn HD650 / 600.  And a similar price, plus being an old model (not necessarily a bad thing).  So I started to consider the T90.  Again, I realised this model was an old version and so moved on to the even more expensive DT1990's.  I bought these and loved the sound but freaked out a little at the realisation that I had moved from a £144 pair of headphones to a £425 pair without realising the impact on my bank balance !.  I found a reason to justify my return, and regretted it before the cans had even reached Amazon's return centre.  If I could have clawed them back I would have done.  In the meantime the price of a re-buy had gone up from the £425 I paid to £485 !!.  Given that spend I decided to try the Amirons as everyone said they were good, sound-wise, and VERY comfy (I had found the DT1990s a little clampy).  Those of you who read my comments will know that I was utterly disappointed.  I found the Amirons to be a different sound signature to my taste (which was obviously more attuned to the DT1990s) but worse than that, every time I moved or shook my head I heard clicking and creaking noises.  I don't know if it was a loose screw or even driver not properly secured but it was a deal breaker.  That and the fact I felt the DT1990s, at the original price I paid, and being almost £100 less than the Amirons, offered much better value for money with the different pads and cable options, and a sturdier (classier IMHO) build, means the Amirons are now on their way back to Amazon too.  And this time I'm not disappointed to have sent them packing.

​SO, fellow audiophiles (if I can call myself that as a total noob).  My dilemma now is DO I just buy the DT1990s again, or are there ANY OTHER models that have the similar sound signature to the DT1990's that I should be considering.  And that is the question I am putting to you for suggestions please   Thanks.

 

[SiSkEr]

Hi there
 
Do you have an amp for your headphones? Otherwise, you might be better off with some headphones with a lower impedance, or a cheaper pair with an amp.
 
Have you tried looking at the DT990?

 

[ozyx]

You can buy the DT1990 from Amazon Italy for the equivalent of 422GBP: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01KM9EJ7I
 
The shipping should be under 10gbp.

 

[CBonUK]

​Hi SiSkEr.  Yes The 'phones are being run through a Marantz MCR610 multi media play, and it has ample power through the headphone jack to power 260Ohms.  ( http://www.whathifi.com/marantz/m-cr610/review ).  I might consider a dedicated headphone amp at some point, but I'm perfectly happy with the way this unit has been able to drive all of the models I have tried.  I'm more keen to look at headphone models that will be on a par with the DT1990 and Amiron home's rather than looking at a step down.  Thanks for your response

 

[CBonUK]

​Thanks.  Yes I found that and am going to try and persuade Amazon to ship it free under my PRIME membership.  They agreed to do that for me on something once before I recall.

 

[buke9]

If you like the 1990's I would go with them. I haven't heard them myself but many people here like them a lot. I'll be going to CanJam SoCal in April and Beyer is going to be there so I'll definitely hear them there. As for the clamp issue sometimes stretching the headband can help but watch what your doing as some can break doing it. The HD-6xx's were a bit tight on my head but extending the adjustment all the way out and just flexing the metal part relieved the clamp for me and it looks like the 1990's could be done the same way. If I were to try to do it on the headband alone it very well could have broken it as I've heard others have done before. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[CBonUK]

  You can buy the DT1990 from Amazon Italy for the equivalent of 422GBP: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01KM9EJ7I
 
The shipping should be under 10gbp.

should have done that while I could.  price gone back up now

 

[ozyx]

 
should have done that while I could.  price gone back up now

If you are not in a great hurry you can wait a bit and the price will come down. Keepa shows this model to be often at the £420-425 range at one of the European stores. You can also install Keepa browser extension (https://keepa.com/#!addon) to track the price on all EU stores. It can notify you when the price drops at your desired price or if there is an upcoming lighting deal.

 

[CBonUK]

 
If you are not in a great hurry you can wait a bit and the price will come down. Keepa shows this model to be often at the £420-425 range at one of the European stores. You can also install Keepa browser extension (https://keepa.com/#!addon) to track the price on all EU stores. It can notify you when the price drops at your desired price or if there is an upcoming lighting deal.

Wow thanks for that info ozyx, that is very useful to know.
 
Oh.. just looked at link and its not available for microsoft edge so i will need to install a different browser... which do you use ?  I have a windows 10 laptop.

 

[ozyx]

 
Wow thanks for that info ozyx, that is very useful to know.
 
Oh.. just looked at link and its not available for microsoft edge so i will need to install a different browser... which do you use ?  I have a windows 10 laptop.

I have it installed on Firefox and it works great, but I assume it should work the same on Chrome and Opera. The most popular browser in general is Chrome, so you might want to install that.

 

[CBonUK]

 
I have it installed on Firefox and it works great, but I assume it should work the same on Chrome and Opera. The most popular browser in general is Chrome, so you might want to install that.

Thanks Ive installed Firefox and its working on that fine.  I wont install Chrome out of principal since I am constantly bombarded with instructions to download it !
 
One question, since you use it obviously... there are one day instances of prices showing REALLY low, like much lower than would be expected.  Now, ive seen that on Amazon from time to time and in fact that type of listing seems to be associated with sellers who are potentially scammers... one or two of them have had feedback that suggests that.  So would those instances that show on keepa be reflecting those scam listings do you think ?

 

[ozyx]

The graph shows Amazon pricing and Amazon Marketplace pricing separately. The orange line is Amazon's pricing, the blue line is Seller's pricing (best price from the sellers). Sometimes the lines overlap, so you can turn off the blue line by clicking on the blue dot next to the graph (where it says "new") and then you will see only Amazon's pricing history. There you can also turn on/off other things, like "Used" and "Warehouse Deals", if you care about those.
 
The same is true when you click on the "Compare Amazon prices" link at the bottom. The graph shows only Amazon's pricing graphs at the selected countries (you can remove the countries you are not interested in by clicking the dot next to the country) but you can also show the graphs for "New" (i.e. other Sellers) "Used" etc by clicking the appropriate link above the graph.
 
At the top there is the "Track product" tab, where you can set the price and you can also track multiple Amazon stores by clicking the "Track multiple Amazon locales" link. Personally I select only the EU stores. I occasionally order from the USA, but the shipping is higher and VAT is added to the price, and usually this brings the price higher than what you can find within EU.
 
For the DT1990 the very lowest prices where from Marketplace Sellers (lowest was £290 in December). But Amazon sometimes drops the prices a lot also for a few hours every now and then (how often depends on the product) and some products also go on Lightning deals (Amazon.de had the DT1990 on a Lightning deal on the 18th of December)
 
I am using Keepa for a while and it is great. Not only for comparing Amazon Locales and the tracking alerts, but also by just glancing at the graph you can see if this is a proper time to buy something and you can guesstimate how soon the pricing might be better.

 

[CBonUK]

  The graph shows Amazon pricing and Amazon Marketplace pricing separately. The orange line is Amazon's pricing, the blue line is Seller's pricing (best price from the sellers). Sometimes the lines overlap, so you can turn off the blue line by clicking on the blue dot next to the graph (where it says "new") and then you will see only Amazon's pricing history. There you can also turn on/off other things, like "Used" and "Warehouse Deals", if you care about those.
 
The same is true when you click on the "Compare Amazon prices" link at the bottom. The graph shows only Amazon's pricing graphs at the selected countries (you can remove the countries you are not interested in by clicking the dot next to the country) but you can also show the graphs for "New" (i.e. other Sellers) "Used" etc by clicking the appropriate link above the graph.
 
At the top there is the "Track product" tab, where you can set the price and you can also track multiple Amazon stores by clicking the "Track multiple Amazon locales" link. Personally I select only the EU stores. I occasionally order from the USA, but the shipping is higher and VAT is added to the price, and usually this brings the price higher than what you can find within EU.
 
For the DT1990 the very lowest prices where from Marketplace Sellers (lowest was £290 in December). But Amazon sometimes drops the prices a lot also for a few hours every now and then (how often depends on the product) and some products also go on Lightning deals (Amazon.de had the DT1990 on a Lightning deal on the 18th of December)
 
I am using Keepa for a while and it is great. Not only for comparing Amazon Locales and the tracking alerts, but also by just glancing at the graph you can see if this is a proper time to buy something and you can guesstimate how soon the pricing might be better.

​Thanks again for that its a powerful tool it seems !  Ive had a play.  So if I have set a track on an item and it goes down, do I get immediate notification ?  IE is it tracking my items every minute of every day ?  What is the best method of notification ?  You say amazon drops the price for a few hours only at times  ?  What on earth is the point of that ?  How do I get that kind of notification ?  Can I get it to send a text message or something ?  And what is a lightning deal ?  Thanks again for your help.

 

[ozyx]

 
​Thanks again for that its a powerful tool it seems !  Ive had a play.  So if I have set a track on an item and it goes down, do I get immediate notification ?  IE is it tracking my items every minute of every day ?  What is the best method of notification ?  You say amazon drops the price for a few hours only at times  ?  What on earth is the point of that ?  How do I get that kind of notification ?  Can I get it to send a text message or something ?  And what is a lightning deal ?  Thanks again for your help.

According to their FAQ: "The update frequency varies, depending on the general interest in the product in question. If a product is being tracked by someone, it will be updated at least once every hour. Most others are updated several times daily."
 
Personally I am using alerts via email. They also have alerts via twitter, facebook and they also have an Android app, but I never tried any of those. What is best depends on what you use. If you use an Android phone and you have it connected to the internet all the time then you could try their app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keepa.androidpush&hl=en
 
But in general I don't care to get the very best price because (1) that price might never come again and (2) even if it comes I might not be able to buy at that very moment.
 
But sometimes the best price lasts for some days. For example I started tracking the Fidelio X2 and set my desired price WAY lower than the price they had when they just came out at the end of 2014. At that time they were £300, and the average price since is about £220. Then nearly 2 YEARS later, on 21st of September 2016 I got this in my email:
 

 
That best price of £117 lasted for about 3 days, so I had enough time to buy them. Unfortunately at that time I had lost interest and I didn't (and now I regret it!)
 
 
Lightning deals are quick discounts that Amazon has that last for a few hours. The best ones (best products - lowest prices) are the end of November around Black Friday, but they have them year round. If there is an upcoming Lightning deal for a product you are tracking you will get an email like the following:
 

 
There is a countdown (the image above shows 0 because the deal has passed) that shows you in how much time the deal will start. The price of the deal is not known until it starts.