[RandomShortGuy]

Hey all,
 
My current setup:
 
PC --> Foobar2000 --> Optic --> Maverick Tubemagic D1 --> Schiit Valhalla --> Beyerdynamic DT990 600 Ohm Premium
 
 
Last night my Valhalla finally came in (listening to the DT990/600 on a D1 for a week waiting for the Valhalla to come off of back order  was pretty lame) and I noticed fairly quickly that the highs were quite harsh on my ears. I usually listen to music loudly in my car and my old ATH M50s, and I've never really had an issue with listening fatigue.
 
But with the DT990s, I can barely turn them up without it being painful after 10 minutes of listening. I haven't had much of a chance to fiddle with the EQ as I had to leave for work, but I feel that if I've been fine for the past 6 months with closed cans at a reasonably high volume, open cans would be better if anything at all.
 
I don't know if it's because I'm younger (23) and I'm more susceptible to highs, or I just missed something obvious when hooking up my system, but this is really quite frustrating. My ears are still sore three hours later after listening for about 20 minutes half of which was me trying to figure out what was going on.
 
On the D1, I have direct sound pushed in, and I believe I have it plugged into Audio Output (though I switched it around with the Tube Pre-amp a few times just to see what difference in sound it was making and it was 5 in the morning, I may have left it in.) Hopefully it's just something I've overlooked and it's an easy fix. I've invested quite a bit in this setup considering my budget and I'd really like to get the most out of it.
 
 
Thank you all again for the help you've given before, and the time for reading this

 

[Gwarmi]

They're a bright can the DT990 600ohm,
 
The Valhalla is not really helping things along since that is not
the warmest sounding of amps, which in conjunction with the DT990's
is giving you a hard treble experience.
 
Take a few notches of dB down at 5Khz and 7Khz and see how
you go.
 
If all else fails, it might be time to sell the DT990's for something
with smoother highers. All part of the journey.
 
Make sure you test the current setup with a well known
high quality recording that you know is reference to your
ears.

 

[Gwarmi]

Could be burn-in as well if the DT990's have not seen 150+ hrs or so

 

[RandomShortGuy]

So far I've only had about 50 or so hours of burn in. As for music, I'm listening to Daft Punk and Red Hot Chili Peppers at around 900 Kbps as my reference.
 
I really hope it's the burn in, I had more than a few people recommend the Valhalla when I was looking for an amp to go to with my DT990s. I don't mind messing with the EQ, but I can't exactly do that with games and maybe blu-rays (haven't looked into that yet.)

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

So far I've only had about 50 or so hours of burn in. As for music, I'm listening to Daft Punk and Red Hot Chili Peppers at around 900 Kbps as my reference.
 
I really hope it's the burn in, I had more than a few people recommend the Valhalla when I was looking for an amp to go to with my DT990s. I don't mind messing with the EQ, but I can't exactly do that with games and maybe blu-rays (haven't looked into that yet.)

That's freaky!
 
I stopped just short of mentioning - don't use the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
as reference during burn-in 

 
They're notorious for using a tonne of compression during the mastering
process - I dig them but the guys doing their mastering stink, everything
sounds so loud!!
 
Try something a little less full on for the remainder of the burn-in,
bet you'll be surprised, the highs should less shrill.
 
After burn-in work around an EQ for the Chillis..
 
Not much you can do about it - the DT990's are just showing you
the shonky practice of their mastering, plenty of other bands get
some of their audio nerd fans in a huff and puff over it..

 

[Gwarmi]

Mix it up but try and find an older recording that you like and know is high
quality renowned for a few high notes - my bet is that it will extend nicely without
the shrill.
 
EQ is one way as mentioned for favored acts that prefer i-pod/radio friendly mastering
practices, another is simply to sell up and look at a can that will smooth over
anything eg, HD650

 

[RandomShortGuy]

 
Quote:

That's freaky!
 
I stopped just short of mentioning - don't use the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
as reference during burn-in 

 
They're notorious for using a tonne of compression during the mastering
process - I dig them but the guys doing their mastering stink, everything
sounds so loud!!
 
Try something a little less full on for the remainder of the burn-in,
bet you'll be surprised, the highs should less shrill.
 
After burn-in work around an EQ for the Chillis..
 
Not much you can do about it - the DT990's are just showing you
the shonky practice of their mastering, plenty of other bands get
some of their audio nerd fans in a huff and puff over it..

Really now? I was not expecting that at all... By The Way was the first CD I ever bought and it's always been one of my favorites, and I figured it'd be the perfect reference. Oh well. The other problem is a lot of my lossless stuff like Parov Stelar have have an intentional crackling vinyl sound (Booty Swing for instance) so I try not to use it as a reference. I'll give my Inception OST a shot when I get home.
 
Any other recommendations? 
 

 

[TMRaven]

The DT990 are notoriously some of the brightest headphones on the market (albeit it has a very refined treble that isn't the least bit shrill or strident at all, it's just very powerful).  They sound nice with a lot of warm recording/masterings, but a lot of stuff is mastered with lower end systems in mind, so they're mastered brightly and/or have anemic bass.  
 
No amount of burn-in will magically make the DT990's huge treble spike go away, so forget that.  I've listened to my 990s for over a couple hundred hours now, definitely have not had a single change in them.
 
Even though tube amps like the valhalla can help tame the 990's immense treble spike, you're really only going to solve the problem by only listening to warm recordings.  The inception ost is nice, and not too bright at all.  However I don't think the 990's lack of bass extension does it justice either.  It's crammed-packed with a lot of 20-30hz bass information which the 990 just can't reproduce on the same level as the rest of its spectrum.
 
Also if you listen very loud, you'll be more susceptible to the treble as well.

 

[tim3320070]

You can try adding a layer or 2 of felt fabric cut to fit the opening- they will stay in place. If that does not work, there's not much else you can do as these are bright by nature. My DT770/600 are less bright but still brighter than many other phones and it's why I kept them over the 990.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Take 7khz to 10khz down by 5~7dB in your equalizer.
 
The DT990's are bright, but I never had fatigue with them. But that's just my ears. I had them on a LDMKIII, Lyr, Matrix Cube, etc, and didn't notice a big difference anywhere and mine are well broken in so there's no voodoo at work. Maybe you're just sensitive to it's treble. Burn-in and tubes and all that is not going to change that. Equalization will change it. Otherwise, wrong headphone for you (luckily, it should sell nicely if you cannot return it).
 
Very best,

 

[RandomShortGuy]

That's really unfortunate... I was really excited for these. I'll give them a little more time I suppose. 

 

[nikongod]

If you happen to have one of those "impedance adapters" like the ETY P-S cable or any similar aftermarket one, Id give it a shot. 
 
IME Beyerdynamic cans sound "mneh" at best from 0-ohm output sources. With a high output impedance (the impedance adapter) they get much much nicer, particularly in the highs. 

 

[Bazirker]

Just got a pair of these myself.  Yes, the treble is quite pronounced, but I don't find it sibilant nor do I find the DT990's fatiguing.  This is off my Fiio E7/E9 combo.  Newer RHCP and Daft Punk both have some shrill highs depending on the track.

 

[RandomShortGuy]

Quote:

If you happen to have one of those "impedance adapters" like the ETY P-S cable or any similar aftermarket one, Id give it a shot. 
 
IME Beyerdynamic cans sound "mneh" at best from 0-ohm output sources. With a high output impedance (the impedance adapter) they get much much nicer, particularly in the highs. 

Forgive me if I'm being a complete idiot here, but I was under the impression that the Schitt Valhalla had an output impedance of up to 600 Ohm, hence why I bought them in the first place. 
 
Also, I couldn't find anything about a ETY P-S cable on google other than them being attached to a specific brand of IEMs (Also not really much of a DYI guy yet as I work a lot with college on top of that.) What exactly do the impedance adapters you're talking about do?

 

[mosshorn]

I would agree with the others and say play with your EQ. Idk if your Maverick can be used as a DAC and preamp at the same time, but that might warm up your setup a little, although I don't know too much about the Mav. 
 
Just to see what you're talking about though, I started playing By The Way (I agree, great album) with no EQ, and holy crap, that is not fun! For rock I would tune down a tad, just experiment with your EQ on a song you know very well. For me that was Thrice (a lot of their older stuff has that high treble you speak of), and while I have about 3 or 4 EQ settings for different stuff, it helps the 990's TREMENDOUSLY, at least for me. These are great all-rounder cans, and even though I have a set of K702's coming in, I'm not sure they'll get as much head time as my 990's. But they do need to be at least semi-tuned to your listening style, then you can make other EQ's for specialty stuff.
 
 
Worse comes to worst, I suppose you could look for an HD600 or 650