[geom_tol]

I own the Senn hd580 and Beyer dt990 pro (250 ohm).
I've decided to only keep one of these. I'm leaning towards keeping the Beyer. What's keeping me from this is the huge popularity of the hd580/hd600 and the seemingly total lack of popularity of the dt990 pro.

So can people who own both of these or have owned both please comment on the pros and cons of these two headphones (relative each other).

 

[joelongwood]

Let's put it this way..........the only headphone I' ve ever sold (traded, actually) is the Senn HD-600. I resisted doing this for a very long time, even though I never listened to them, for the same reason you stated. I figured they were so popular and praised that it must be my ears.
I picked up a pair of Beyer DT-770 Pros, and I would never consider getting rid of them. These are some FUN headphones. The sound is so damned dynamic, it's scary. They have been my headphone of choice for a few weeks now.

 

[Luvya]

Quote:

Originally posted by geom_tol I own the Senn hd580 and Beyer dt990 pro (250 ohm). I've decided to only keep one of these. I'm leaning towards keeping the Beyer. What's keeping me from this is the huge popularity of the hd580/hd600 and the seemingly total lack of popularity of the dt990 pro. So can people who own both of these or have owned both please comment on the pros and cons of these two headphones (relative each other).

Since you yourself own both phones you should know better than us. Let your ear be the judge.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Goem_Tol,

I guess it comes down to one question: do you consistently find yourself going back to one set of cans over the other for listening to your music?? I fyou vary between them, you might want to keep both. I fyou choose one over the other for all or most of what you listen to, sell the other. Who cares how popular the cans are with other users, which do YOU prefer??

 

[Snufkin]

Let your ears be the judge, or your heart and feet for that matter.
Do you find yourself tapping your toes more with one pair than the other? If so that's probably the pair you enjoy more.

I've rid myself of many "better sounding" headphones simply because they just aren't enjoyable to listen to. Sure sometimes they sound better, technically, but there's just no love in certain headphones and toe tapping is never present.

How popular the headphones are shouldn't have anything to do with your choice, my overall favourite is the Beyer DT531 but it's hardly even discussed here at head-fi except my lini any myself, lini being the one I blame(thank!) for putting me onto the DT531 in the first place

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by geom_tol I own the Senn hd580 and Beyer dt990 pro (250 ohm). I've decided to only keep one of these. I'm leaning towards keeping the Beyer. What's keeping me from this is the huge popularity of the hd580/hd600 and the seemingly total lack of popularity of the dt990 pro. So can people who own both of these or have owned both please comment on the pros and cons of these two headphones (relative each other).

What everyone else has said...which ones do your ears favor?

 

[geom_tol]

Thanks for the advice. I prefer the Beyers, they're more dynamic and have better upper and lower extension. They are slightly fatiguing compared to the hd580's because of these things though.

I really wanted some objective comparisons... I would still like to know why the hundreds of happy hd580/hd600 owners favour them vs. specifically the dt990 pro. (of course most have not heard the dt990 pro, but theres got to be some)

 

[halcyon]

When people say 'dynamic', I think they are actually talking about 'compressed'.

Dynamic would mean that the phone produces the loudest passages at a very maximum relative level to the quietest passages. That is, the phone has a very high dynamic range measured in relative dB (with the lowest amount of distortion).

I think HD 600 is incredibly dynamic. Most studio headphones that are drive very loud need to be dynamic (with proper amplification!).

How can you hear it? It plays the subtle parts very subtly and loud parts loudly, if one has enough of amplification (this is not a sideline to anyone, but we all know HD600 requires good amplification).

Is DT770 dynamic?

I don't have enough experience with it to evaluate it as a whole, but the very little experience I had with it on X-Can V2 was that with that amp it certainly did not sound dynamic to me.

Are AT cans dynamic? I only have a very short exposure to W100, but I think it plays being dynamic by having a bump in the c. 2-4 kHz region, making it sound like it's more alive and have a feel of dynamics.

In my opinion 'dynamic' (as a technical term, meaning relative range of loudness values) usually means completely opposed to what people mean when they say 'dynamic' (the perceptual description, meaning alive, scary, punchy, kicking or whatever).

After all, most people consider CDs that are compressed to oblivion to be the most dynamic, alive, hot and kicking. These kind of CDs have the most narror dynamic range and are by definition, not dynamic, but compressed.

Any thoughts?

regards,
Halcyon

PS A compressed or non-flat headphone will bring out gobs of detail from your old records due to playing the soft parts louder and enabling our hearing to hear sounds that were mostly masked on flat headphones.

 

[geom_tol]

halcyon:
My definition of dynamic is like you thought : alive, exciting etc.
I did not know dynamic had another/different meaning when talking about audio.

The hd580 sounds dull compared to the dt990 (on my system).

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally posted by halcyon A compressed or non-flat headphone will bring out gobs of detail from your old records due to playing the soft parts louder and enabling our hearing to hear sounds that were mostly masked on flat headphones.

That's a pretty broad and misleading generalization to make Halcyon. It would really be dependant on the headphone and how and where the variations in frequency response occur.

 

[Tomcat]

geom_tol,

mikejazz for one seems to like the Beyer 990 Pros more than the Senns 580/600s, and mikejazz is a musician who plays bass violin for Patricia Barber. There are some of his comments in this thread (but you have to scroll down a lot before you'll find his posts). I have never liked the Senns either. They are too lean and thin and hifi-ish for my tastes. I much prefer the 990 Pro. And I prefer the Beyer 531 that Snufkin has mentioned as well (but I like the 770 Pro best of all Beyers). To me, the Senns don't capture the soul and emotion of the music, they don't get my feet tapping, they don't sound "live" to me. geom_tol, remember: the only one who has to live with your decision is you. Why do you care what we think? I for one love my fellow Head-Fiers regardless of the silly misconceptions they might entertain.

 

[halcyon]

Quote:

Originally posted by elnero That's a pretty broad and misleading generalization to make Halcyon. It would really be dependant on the headphone and how and where the variations in frequency response occur.

Please don't understand that I mean or imply it the other way around. My apologies if I came across like that.

I don't mean to imply that all phones that bring out detail in your recordings are dynamically compressing. It could be due to other factors.

But it is quite normal that if a sound is compressed or 2-5 kHz frequency band has a relative bump to other frequencies, then you will hear details that you cannot hear with flat presentation. You will have less masking and psychoacoustic theory suggests that you will then hear more details (esp. those earlier lower in relative loudness).

Of course, I'm not also saying that flat is 'better' in terms of what people prefer, it's just that: flat. Most people might not even like it.

But I stand by what I wrote, even though I agree that it may not hold true in every single situation, but is nevertheless a useful generalisation.

I just wanted to note how audio engineers / researchers use the word 'dynamic' almost in the totally opposite meaning to what most of us consumers use, when describing headphones or loudspeakers.

Best regards,
Halcyon

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally posted by geom_tol halcyon: My definition of dynamic is like you thought : alive, exciting etc. I did not know dynamic had another/different meaning when talking about audio.

Same here.

 

[elnero]

Actually I fully agree with your definitions of dynamic. I personally adhere to dynamic as being dynamic range not "alive".

It was only the statement that I quoted that I thought was on over generalization as written. Your clarification helps it though.

 

[lini]

geom_tol: So you find the DT990Pro/250 sometimes fatiguing, ey?

A little too much bass, sometimes a little metallic highs and the midrange maybe a bit lacking in level? Well, then you need a DT531 - or maybe even an AKG K240S - definitely!

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini