[zanox]

Well, I'm confused whether I should sell my DT 990's. . After continuously listening to them for more than a week, I'm almost in love with them. My only complain are the mids - they are recessed. I love acoustic and ambient music. The mids sound thin with such kinda music for my taste. Athough, I love the sound for movies. Holy**** ! these cans make me feel like I'm actually in a theatre.
Also, the cans made my other headphones sound lifeless, congested and very boring. I can't listen to them as they are no fun to listen to anymore. I love the extreme airyness, incredibly wide cohesive soundstage and the beautiful deep bass of these cans. Any can with the same vibrant sound as the DT 990's with not so recessed mids? It's going to kill me to let go of such beautiful cans.

 

[vid]

Just use EQ to reduce the bass and treble to get the mids to level.

 

[zanox]

  Just use EQ to reduce the bass and treble to get the mids to level.

wouldn't EQing cause the cans to distort permanently?

 

[vid]

Sure, same as with the volume knob. Just don't overdo it and you're fine.

 

[Makiah S]

  Well, I'm confused whether I should sell my DT 990's. . After continuously listening to them for more than a week, I'm almost in love with them. My only complain are the mids - they are recessed. I love acoustic and ambient music. The mids sound thin with such kinda music for my taste. Athough, I love the sound for movies. Holy**** ! these cans make me feel like I'm actually in a theatre.
Also, the cans made my other headphones sound lifeless, congested and very boring. I can't listen to them as they are no fun to listen to anymore. I love the extreme airyness, incredibly wide cohesive soundstage and the beautiful deep bass of these cans. Any can with the same vibrant sound as the DT 990's with not so recessed mids? It's going to kill me to let go of such beautiful cans.

 
 

 
wouldn't EQing cause the cans to distort permanently?

Firstly EQ down not up, if there's to much bass EQ the bass down, that will bring the mids forward
 
secondly try getting a Schiit Vali if you have the funds. I found it did an excellent job at balanceing the sound of the DT 990! It's a hybrid tube to it adds some warmth to the Mids and smooths the Treble a tad as well [in a good way]
 
but EQ will work nicely, for less too 
 
and as far as "better" for $200 dollars, you could try the DT 880. I moved from the DT 990 to the DT 880 and I was happy with the move 

 

[zanox]

   
 
Firstly EQ down not up, if there's to much bass EQ the bass down, that will bring the mids forward
 
secondly try getting a Schiit Vali if you have the funds. I found it did an excellent job at balanceing the sound of the DT 990! It's a hybrid tube to it adds some warmth to the Mids and smooths the Treble a tad as well [in a good way]
 
but EQ will work nicely, for less too 
 
and as far as "better" for $200 dollars, you could try the DT 880. I moved from the DT 990 to the DT 880 and I was happy with the move 

Aren't the DT 880's less airier and have a smaller soundstage? I will get the Schiil Vali instead of getting the DT 880.

 

[Makiah S]

 
Aren't the DT 880's less airier and have a smaller soundstage? I will get the Schiil Vali instead of getting the DT 880.

To some extent, but the DT 880 has a much cleaner overall sound. The air isn't as obvious as you'd think. But yea the Vali is a good place to start if you REALLY like the sound stage and air of the DT 990 

 

[jdpark]

Not quite "Under 200", but have a look at this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/265251/beyerdynamic-dt-150-bloody-brilliant
 
I ended up getting the DT150s after having the DT990 pros for more than six months. The sound is more balanced, and I don't think I lost anything in the soundstage despite the fact that the DT150s are closed. 
 
They are still airy and detailed in the highs, but less grainy and with fuller mids. Also the bass impact is a bit better with the DT150s, without harming the mids at all. 
 
You may be able to find these for around $200 used, but I think they've gone up to $270 on Amazon. In the thread, some of the senior Head-Fi contributors said that the DT150 comes very close to the T1 in clarity. Also, the nice thing is they can be driven by cheap fiio gear or high-end stuff, and scale well with almost any good source/amp.
 
They still have the punch and detail, without any veil, as is characteristic of Beyers, but they are simply more realistic, thanks to engineering geared towards a demanding professional crowd.

 

[ballard3]

+ 1

 

[ayaflo]

AKG k612 pro. Excellent VFM.