[Lucasta]

First post - sorry if this is in the wrong place!
I know absolutely nothing about music/sound/audio, but I'm looking to buy some headphones as a birthday gift for my partner, he mentioned liking the dt990s at one point so I was going to get those. They would be used for recording and mixing primarily, with occasional use for live performances (synth) and mastering.
Issue is, I have no idea which to get - I'm pretty sure his interface is a Roland Duo-Capture EX which has an output impedance of 47 ohms. Would I be better with the 250 or 600 ohm headphones? From what little I've read you don't want your headphone impedance to be less than 8 times your output impedance which leaves me with 376+ ohms, right? Obviously that's closer to 250 than 600 though, so I really don't know - any advice is welcome!!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Plugging 250-Ohm headphones, into a headphone jack that is 47-Ohms is not a big deal.
But to me the DT990 would have a too biased sound, for audio production.
The DT990 has a strong bass/treble, which slightly overshadows the mids.

 

[buke9]

First post - sorry if this is in the wrong place!
I know absolutely nothing about music/sound/audio, but I'm looking to buy some headphones as a birthday gift for my partner, he mentioned liking the dt990s at one point so I was going to get those. They would be used for recording and mixing primarily, with occasional use for live performances (synth) and mastering.
Issue is, I have no idea which to get - I'm pretty sure his interface is a Roland Duo-Capture EX which has an output impedance of 47 ohms. Would I be better with the 250 or 600 ohm headphones? From what little I've read you don't want your headphone impedance to be less than 8 times your output impedance which leaves me with 376+ ohms, right? Obviously that's closer to 250 than 600 though, so I really don't know - any advice is welcome!!

250 should be fine. The 990’s as @PurpleAngel said would probably not be my first choice for this use case but he said he liked them and that is what you have to go on. That is what I would go with as that says to me as your listening to him and that does mean something.

 

[pbui44]

Coincidentally, the Beyerdynamic DT 900 PRO X also have an impedance of 48 ohms, which almost matches the 47 ohm impedance of the Roland Duo-Capture EX. I still do not quite know how they sound, but this place has a 30-day return policy and is the cheapest that I found in the UK:

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/studio-headphones/beyerdynamic-dt-900-pro-x-studio-headphones

 

[initialt]

First post - sorry if this is in the wrong place!
I know absolutely nothing about music/sound/audio, but I'm looking to buy some headphones as a birthday gift for my partner, he mentioned liking the dt990s at one point so I was going to get those. They would be used for recording and mixing primarily, with occasional use for live performances (synth) and mastering.
Issue is, I have no idea which to get - I'm pretty sure his interface is a Roland Duo-Capture EX which has an output impedance of 47 ohms. Would I be better with the 250 or 600 ohm headphones? From what little I've read you don't want your headphone impedance to be less than 8 times your output impedance which leaves me with 376+ ohms, right? Obviously that's closer to 250 than 600 though, so I really don't know - any advice is welcome!!

I'm with @buke9 , listen to your partner on this one. Maybe see if you can gently coax like a top three out of him or something and post an update.

 

[earmonger]

First of all, what a good partner you are to think of nurturing a musician's creativity.

The DT990 are open-back. Depending on the performance setup, that might be a good thing or a bad thing, but it's something you should ask him about. Does he want to hear the stage sound or would he prefer isolation to hear his own details?

The DT 900 Pro X and DT 700 Pro X are newer than the DT990 -- and, alas, $100 more expensive. Reviews say they have flattened a lot of the bumps in frequency response of the older Beyers, which according to many reviews had treble that was too bright for some listeners. The 900 are open-back and the 700 are closed back, with the same drivers (but with the differences in sound between open- and closed- back -- open-back is more spacious, closed is more intimate). As noted above, impedance is a low 48 ohms. The Pro X models also have detachable cables and a lot of other replaceable parts, for longterm use.

As it happens, I was losing patience with increasing urban noise and decided to get some closed-backs to complement my beloved, wide-open Audio-Technica ATH-R70X -- another headphone made for studios and mixing and the most comfortable headphone I ever expect to try.

My researches led me to the DT 700 Pro X and they arrived today. We're all susceptible to new-toy syndrome, but I'm extremely happy with them so far. Percussion is crisp and pinpoint located, vocals are natural and clear, and they easily pass the sub-bass test on tracks like Hans Zimmer's "Why so Serious" (around 3:20).

As for the impedance...is he plugging into the Roland or is the Roland running into a laptop? The laptop output won't be 47 ohm.

I looked at some of the accessories recommended for the Duo-Capture EX https://www.roland.com/ca/products/duo-capture_ex/accessories/ and the headphones that do show specs have impedance like 32 or 65 ohms, so Roland isn't worried about the rule of eights.

 

[Lucasta]

Thank you everyone for your replies, you've all been a massive help! In terms of responding to questions:

- I don't think a top three would be attainable, my usual calibre of questioning is "what does this button/dial/slider do", so I think item-related questions would make it obvious I'm gift shopping
- I am sadly well aware of the criticisms of the DT 990s as I have read what feels like every review on the internet . His current set of headphones are the AKG K240s and from what I have read these shine in the mid-range, so the more V-shaped sound of the 990s doesn't worry me too much, and I know he likes to switch between speakers and headphones when mixing so I'd imagine he will also alternate between sets of headphones. I think I am just going to go with his noted preferences on this because it's quite a lot of money to be dropping on something I don't entirely understand.
- For use while performing he seems to mainly use the stage monitor and only switch to headphones occasionally, so I think he quite likes to hear the stage sound.
- I think the headphones he has now connect into the interface rather than into his computer directly, the computer is an iMac but I have no idea which one
- I did look at the Pro X but these are well out of our gift budget unfortunately, and given this is his area of expertise he would know right away and not be best pleased!

 

[earmonger]

All very sound reasoning, and all pointing toward giving him the DT990 that he's familiar with.

Since just about every seller offers a 30-day return policy, he could always swap them for something else if it turns out he hates them. But he may well be pleased with them as a complement to the AKG's.

He's lucky to have such a thoughtful partner.