[Eurobeat]

  When choosing an amp for the DT990, make sure it has enough power. Specs are usually listed as ____mW into ________ohm load.

Thanks .

 

[DangerClose]

What you say is exactly what someone in the Grado thread said.  He said that the songs themselves already have "emphasized treble."  You think I need emphasized mids?  Peopl say that they are very bassy, with treble, so that's "V-Shaped" right...??

From what you say the DT990's overpower the mids, but the mids is something you think the songs needed?  So confusing LOL....

I hear "Fast decay" a lot and I'm not sure if that's the same as "Fast" which has been mentioned.  I guess the "Decay"; is the "sound decay" in a sense how fast it dampens/the sound stops being produced from the initial burst?

So "fast decay"; can be a bad thing.  Not too sure what "analytical" is exactly in "Headphone terms" but I've heard it used a lot lately...  People also recommended some AKG's to me as well.

I'm not sure what any of the power requirements mean tbh lol.  I guess I'll just figure out what I need when I get them.  I'm sure a lot of people have recommendations?

 
I'm only here because I saw the link in the DT990 thread.  You were asking about the DT990 and saying you want a V-shaped sound, so that's what I'm talking about. 

 
I can't tell you what kind of sound you want.  From what I can tell, the songs you like tend to be electronica type stuff, with vocals secondary, and the ones I listened to sounded, as you said, already tuned for a V-shape.  So then if you add even more V on top of that, it might be a little much.  
 
I said the DT990's highs don't sound harsh, but they are strong, and they can stab you in the ear.  It's just they'll sound good while doing so.  
 
You don't have to get a headphone with emphasized anything.  You could get a more balanced one.  That would be a safer buy too because there's less chance you'd outright hate it.
 
Bassy + treble = V.  Yes.  DT990 is more of a U, but basically the same thing.
 
Yes, decay is how long the note hangs around.  Analytical is kind of what you want it to mean, as many descriptions for sound often are.  It's not necessarily a "detail" thing to me because DT990 has lots of detail, but the AKG 701 has fast decay, and lots of note separation.  If I wanted to hear a pin drop during a rock concert recording, I'd use the AKG 701.
 
 It's just not as "musical" to me as various other headphones are.  I enjoy it, but more in a technical, nerdy way.  You might like it or the K612 or similar for electronica type of stuff.  The 701 is even more of a "unique" sound than the DT990 is though.  I was going to mention it before, but you were going in a different direction until this post.  
 
I'll try an "analytical" and "separation" and "decay" analogy:  
The AKG 701 is like you're laying on a cold operating table.  The Sennheiser 650 is like you're sitting in a really soft chair in front of a fireplace while wrapped in a blanket.  The DT990 is somewhere in-between, and with a subwoofer.  
 
If that doesn't make things clear, I don't know what will.  
 
lol.  Or let's try this one: Imagine listening to a full orchestra.  You can pick out details if you try, but overall it's a full-body sound, and not everyone is playing quite in unison, so there's a bit of resonance or "slow decay."  Now remove all the musicians except one from each section.  That's the AKG 701.  Not really, but it's one attempt to describe it.

 

[Eurobeat]

   
I'm only here because I saw the link in the DT990 thread.  You were asking about the DT990 and saying you want a V-shaped sound, so that's what I'm talking about. 

 
I can't tell you what kind of sound you want.  From what I can tell, the songs you like tend to be electronica type stuff, with vocals secondary, and the ones I listened to sounded, as you said, already tuned for a V-shape.  So then if you add even more V on top of that, it might be a little much.  
 
I said the DT990's highs don't sound harsh, but they are strong, and they can stab you in the ear.  It's just they'll sound good while doing so.  
 
You don't have to get a headphone with emphasized anything.  You could get a more balanced one.  That would be a safer buy too because there's less chance you'd outright hate it.
 
Bassy + treble = V.  Yes.  DT990 is more of a U, but basically the same thing.
 
Yes, decay is how long the note hangs around.  Analytical is kind of what you want it to mean, as many descriptions for sound often are.  It's not necessarily a "detail" thing to me because DT990 has lots of detail, but the AKG 701 has fast decay, and lots of note separation.  If I wanted to hear a pin drop during a rock concert recording, I'd use the AKG 701.
 
 It's just not as "musical" to me as various other headphones are.  I enjoy it, but more in a technical, nerdy way.  You might like it or the K612 or similar for electronica type of stuff.  The 701 is even more of a "unique" sound than the DT990 is though.  I was going to mention it before, but you were going in a different direction until this post.  
 
I'll try an "analytical" and "separation" and "decay" analogy:  
The AKG 701 is like you're laying on a cold operating table.  The Sennheiser 650 is like you're sitting in a really soft chair in front of a fireplace while wrapped in a blanket.  The DT990 is somewhere in-between, and with a subwoofer.  
 
If that doesn't make things clear, I don't know what will.  
 
lol.  Or let's try this one: Imagine listening to a full orchestra.  You can pick out details if you try, but overall it's a full-body sound, and not everyone is playing quite in unison, so there's a bit of resonance or "slow decay."  Now remove all the musicians except one from each section.  That's the AKG 701.  Not really, but it's one attempt to describe it.

Thanks, appreciate you coming here .  Gotcha thanks, was just responding to what you were saying.

Yeah, it's electric fast paced, with sometimes vocals.  Eurobeat usually has vocals, and VGM has less vocal pieces.

Yeah I'm not sure what would be good for the music, but I don't want "too much" which could happen from a V-Shaped pair of headphones...

Yeah I'm not sure about the stabbing .

Yeah I'm not sure if I should get something emphasized or not, but not sure if flatter/neutral is what I want....  As I posted in the first post with the HRM-7's and their frequency graph, so that should give a little idea about what was going on with my last pair.

The logitech G35's were probably more neutral, and I did like them alot, but they had built in "bass and treble" settings.

V U P

So basically if you want to analyze the song, and hear everything you want something with very fast decay, or else sound gets blended in?  Does the music sound less "full" this way if everything is disappearing fast???  Not sure if I want "Fast decay" but is taht different from fast headphones, or is that what others were talking about I want?

Yeah I''m not sure exactly what I want, but I'm slowly figuring out things.  A lot of people recommende the AKG k7xx and such, but not sure if that's what I want either.

I don't think I want to be on a cold operating table LOL.....

I understand what you're saying.  I'm not sure if I want blending or not.  Damn so many different variables...

 

[DangerClose]

I guess that's what those people mean by fast headphone.  That would seem logical.  Less decay, less bass muddiness, less resonances, more separation, "dry."  Stuff like that.
 
701 isn't necessarily cold. I was just trying to describe its "surgical, analytical" type of sound.  It could be called thin.  Some people might disagree on that as an exact description, but at least in a general or relative sense, the notes are thin.    
 
It has a very wide soundstage, wider than DT990, so someone might think it's an obvious choice for watching TV or movies.  But every time a person talks, their voice is lacking body, lacking realism, lacking naturalness, and is just overall uninteresting to me.  I've eq'd and modded them to thicken them up probably far more than the K7xx is thickened, and I like them more that way, but I still prefer something else.  Maybe the K7xx actually sounds way different.  I've never heard them. 
 
For electronica notes dancing around, I think that would be something they're better at.  The K612 is like a less extreme 701.  It's cheaper too. 
 
Anyway, I think DT990 is great overall, the build quality, the comfort, the soundstage, the 3-D'ness, the tonality, the amount of note separation, etc.  But it's hard to recommend it without warning about the boosted bass and treble.  Some people will love that, some people won't mind that, some people will hate that.  EQ can help even them out, but if the person doesn't want to use EQ, then they have to be more sure of the sound signature they are buying.  I wouldn't like them as much if I didn't EQ them.  But, I can say that about a lot of headphones.  Maybe I'd prefer the DT880, but I never caught a must-have deal on them so haven't tried them.

 

[Eurobeat]

  I guess that's what those people mean by fast headphone.  That would seem logical.  Less decay, less bass muddiness, less resonances, more separation, "dry."  Stuff like that.
 
701 isn't necessarily cold. I was just trying to describe its "surgical, analytical" type of sound.  It could be called thin.  Some people might disagree on that as an exact description, but at least in a general or relative sense, the notes are thin.    
 
It has a very wide soundstage, wider than DT990, so someone might think it's an obvious choice for watching TV or movies.  But every time a person talks, their voice is lacking body, lacking realism, lacking naturalness, and is just overall uninteresting to me.  I've eq'd and modded them to thicken them up probably far more than the K7xx is thickened, and I like them more that way, but I still prefer something else.  Maybe the K7xx actually sounds way different.  I've never heard them. 
 
For electronica notes dancing around, I think that would be something they're better at.  The K612 is like a less extreme 701.  It's cheaper too. 
 
Anyway, I think DT990 is great overall, the build quality, the comfort, the soundstage, the 3-D'ness, the tonality, the amount of note separation, etc.  But it's hard to recommend it without warning about the boosted bass and treble.  Some people will love that, some people won't mind that, some people will hate that.  EQ can help even them out, but if the person doesn't want to use EQ, then they have to be more sure of the sound signature they are buying.  I wouldn't like them as much if I didn't EQ them.  But, I can say that about a lot of headphones.  Maybe I'd prefer the DT880, but I never caught a must-have deal on them so haven't tried them.

Interesting on the fast...

I've actually read in reviews that the K701 is cold, I wasn't saying it was in my last post, though.

I really like soundstage  A lot of my music has to do with soundstage as well.

Thanks for the info on the 701 and the DT990s...  I'm not sure if it's what I would want.  Do you think the graph of the HRM-7 is similar to the DT990s, amd if so do you think I'll have issues with harshness....?

I feel I might, I don't know..

 

[jodgey4]

That graph you reference about the HRM-7 is useless without a context for it. Is that raw response, equalized to the H-K curves, free-field diffusion, etc.... don't get caught up on that graph.

 

[Eurobeat]

  That graph you reference about the HRM-7 is useless without a context for it. Is that raw response, equalized to the H-K curves, free-field diffusion, etc.... don't get caught up on that graph.

I don't know anythign about the graph, just showing it, but when I looked deeper into it, to show the page I got it from, well... it's the HRM-7A microphone.. god damnit LOL....


I don't know what to do anymore...  I'm just going to buy 20 pairs of headphones, and i'll let you know what happens next....

 

[jodgey4]

Yes! Auditon anything and everything! Check out Best Buy as well, esp. if it has a Magnolia Home Theatre section!

 

[Eurobeat]

  Yes! Auditon anything and everything! Check out Best Buy as well, esp. if it has a Magnolia Home Theatre section!

hahah .

the places I got are 

https://www.livesoundwave.com/en-us/livesoundwave/audition-program-try-before-you-buy

http://www.thecableco.com/Catalog/Headphone-and-Accessories

Thought I do not know the legitimacy of either company, I've seen them posted on this site...
 
I also have the option of buying a few pairs, which would be preferred, and just sending it back.  I was lucky with B&H with the HRM-7's but I don't knnow if I could rent and return a pair from them, even though they messed up the first time (but it might be another mess up which could be a good thing ).


or just amazon...

But still not sure what to try..  I give up

 

[Eurobeat]

From what I've been reading up on the DT990s is they are "peaky" in the treble and get harsh unless you get a "Warm" tube amp.  SO what does the "warm" part of the amp do?  Just lowers it enough to be amazing from peaky?

I also have been looking at the Fidelio X2, I read a really good review on it, and going to read osme others.  I got a bunch of people recommending it before, but one person did mention something that made me not want to look at them, but I forgot what...

 

[amigomatt]

I don't think that any amount of questioning people is going to get you your answer at this stage. You must go listen to and headphones and decide for yourself.

From me though, if just like to add that I think the DT990s are near the very top of my list for favourite sounding headphones at that's even against the likes of my HifiMan HE560. That I picked a used pair up for £65 is almost criminal value. If you want excitement, aggression and something to unravel chaotic music with confidence then I can't imagine a better choice without spending a lot more money.

Don't get the K702 unless you want everything to sound weird, honky, thin, nasal and lacking in bass.

 

[Eurobeat]

I don't think that any amount of questioning people is going to get you your answer at this stage. You must go listen to and headphones and decide for yourself.

From me though, if just like to add that I think the DT990s are near the very top of my list for favourite sounding headphones at that's even against the likes of my HifiMan HE560. That I picked a used pair up for £65 is almost criminal value. If you want excitement, aggression and something to unravel chaotic music with confidence then I can't imagine a better choice without spending a lot more money.

Don't get the K702 unless you want everything to sound weird, honky, thin, nasal and lacking in bass.

I heard the 702 isn't all that great, but heard the k7xx is nice.  I also heard the k712 is pretty good too.

The dt990s I read were very bright and "peaky" it seems you need a "warm tube amp" and need the right gear.

The X2 is also an interesting choice though.  I might just grab both and test them out...

Not sure if I could also buy an amp that would work for them...  Not sure if the x2 is a good choice though.

 

[amigomatt]

 

I don't think that any amount of questioning people is going to get you your answer at this stage. You must go listen to and headphones and decide for yourself.

From me though, if just like to add that I think the DT990s are near the very top of my list for favourite sounding headphones at that's even against the likes of my HifiMan HE560. That I picked a used pair up for £65 is almost criminal value. If you want excitement, aggression and something to unravel chaotic music with confidence then I can't imagine a better choice without spending a lot more money.

Don't get the K702 unless you want everything to sound weird, honky, thin, nasal and lacking in bass.

I heard the 702 isn't all that great, but heard the k7xx is nice.  I also heard the k712 is pretty good too.

The dt990s I read were very bright and "peaky" it seems you need a "warm tube amp" and need the right gear.

The X2 is also an interesting choice though.  I might just grab both and test them out...

Not sure if I could also buy an amp that would work for them...  Not sure if the x2 is a good choice though.

The Bravo Audio Ocean is a good choice for an entry level tube amp that looks and sounds great.  I can confirm that the DT990s do sound warmer through it with the treble somewhat tamed.  Yes, I am too interested in the K712 and here is a great deal on them on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AKG-K712-Pro-Reference-Studio-Over-ear-Headphones-Ship-from-UK-/321648411311?hash=item4ae3bd42af:g:nVYAAOSwBahVNaQ-
 
If I had the money spare, I would be buying these, but I've just invested in a pair of Grado RS2.  I've also heard good things about the K7xx.  Both the K712 and K7xx seem to alleviate some of the issues of the K702, which apart from their midrange/treble issues did have some great attributes and lots of potential.  The Cayin C5 is a great choice for a portable SS amp that will drive any headphone you like.  Most prefer it over the Fiio E12, which is its competitor.
 
I've also heard good things about the X2, just haven't tried them myself.

 

[Eurobeat]

  The Bravo Audio Ocean is a good choice for an entry level tube amp that looks and sounds great.  I can confirm that the DT990s do sound warmer through it with the treble somewhat tamed.  Yes, I am too interested in the K712 and here is a great deal on them on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AKG-K712-Pro-Reference-Studio-Over-ear-Headphones-Ship-from-UK-/321648411311?hash=item4ae3bd42af:g:nVYAAOSwBahVNaQ-
 
If I had the money spare, I would be buying these, but I've just invested in a pair of Grado RS2.  I've also heard good things about the K7xx.  Both the K712 and K7xx seem to alleviate some of the issues of the K702, which apart from their midrange/treble issues did have some great attributes and lots of potential.  The Cayin C5 is a great choice for a portable SS amp that will drive any headphone you like.  Most prefer it over the Fiio E12, which is its competitor.
 
I've also heard good things about the X2, just haven't tried them myself.

Yeah I'm hoping to not have piercing, but have something that will work well with the fast decay I want.

I was looking at the Bravo audio amps, but this is the first ne I saw with an enclosure, I was looking at the "v3" originally.  I also was interested in the "Project" series from "Garage 1122" like "Project Ember."  One person said they had one that worked amazing with the DT990s.

I'm going to read some more reviews on this x2, and then I might grab it.

I'm not sure about the AKG's.  They seem nice, but not sure it's what I want, maybe too warm?  But if it's fun and exciting with a great soundstage, I don't know...  I was going to jump on the K7xx Massdrop, but ended up not registering and such.  DOn't want to be locked into a pair I might not like...

Wish I could try them al out though .


One X2 review I read said the highs are "artificial" at times, and not "smooth"  What are "smooth highs????"
 

 

[Eurobeat]

Ultrasone headphones are known for this type of music because they are fast, bright with extended highs , clear midrange and tight punchy bass with slogic surround soundstage. Open back like 2200, 2400 and 2900 are great pick and 750, 780, 880,860 are closedback. Audio Technica like AD900, AD1000x, AD2000x are also fast yet render this type of music really well with punchy bass.

Thank you very much for this  First time I was recommended an "Ultrasone" product, and they sound interesting.  I was reading a review of the Fidelio X2 that I'm really considering and it was saying that the X2 is much better than the  2900 Pro.

I've heard good things about some of the AD models, but heard mixed comments about Audio Technica in general.

Thanks for the comments though, do you own any of the headphones you mentioned?