[Lucenzo]

Hey guys,
 
so my brand new beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 Ohm just arrived. Plugged it straight into my Asus Xonar Essence STX and tried it on a few songs and I'm starting to notice that everytime the letter S, or F or other sounds of the sorts sound really, REALLY harsh, and it's like there's a crystal being shattered in my ear everytime..
 
I'm a noob when it comes to audio warez and stuff, so I don't really have any idea on how to google for this problem too..
 
I tried looking around with the settings of the soundcard a bit but it stays the same everytime.. (My standard soundcard settings are 8 channel (don't really know if I should take 2, 4 or 6 channel too, they all sound the same :/ ), PCM 96 Khz and Hi-Fi enabled (to normalize all other settings).
 
 
So is it normal for these headphones to have such harsh sounding "S's" and "Fs" ? Also some beats in DnB music sound really harsh .. :/

 

[ninjames]

That would be a harsh treble, harsh highs, even sibilants. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about those headphones specifically so I can't help you but you've definitely come to the right place, someone will be able to.

 

[Lucenzo]

Aha, "sibilants", that's the word I was looking for ! I was able to google a bit now and some guy said to turn down the 8K bar in the EQ, it helped a little at low volumes, but at the higher volumes ( the ones I listen music with) it's still as if there are knifes in my ear even when I turn the  8 K bar all the way down..
 
Anyone else got some tips ? Or should I just try and return them (not sure if I can, bought them on ebay) and go for Sennheiser HD598 ?

 

[viralcow]

The DT990s are well known for having a hot treble... you should've done more research before you got them!
 
At least now you know your ears are sensitive to sibilance. If you do get a replacement, keep that in mind.

 

[jerg]

 Note the emphasized 8kHz - 18kHz shelf, that is the culprit for your sibilance OP.

 

[Lucenzo]

Quote:

The DT990s are well known for having a hot treble... you should've done more research before you got them!
 
At least now you know your ears are sensitive to sibilance. If you do get a replacement, keep that in mind.

I did read about that but I had no clue it would be THIS harsh that it actually physically hurts my ears lol..

 

[ev13wt]

It is either the recording or it could be the headphones. Usually its the recording. "P"s are also a big problem for mics. Stop trying to listen so loud and you won't notice it. And you won't damage your ears. If the highs hurt, you have it WAY too loud.

 

[spark3]

I have the DT990 600ohm and I had the same problem with the harsh treble, on Massive Attack - Teardrop it really becomes apparent. The treble does tame a little 50+ hours in but it will still be pretty harsh sounding. Turning the volume down helps a lot, the DT990 are painful at high volumes.

 

[realityhas]

Im currently thinking of buying a pair of DT990 myself, but I'm afraid the treble might be too fatiguing. So, lucenzo, after about a day, can you confirm your issues? 

 

[Bill-P]

When I had my DT990, about the only thing that could tame their sibilance was a tube amp with some high frequency roll-off. EQ won't help much, if at all, and they may end up making the music sound lifeless if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[spittis]

I'm sorry but there isn't that much you can do, I had the DT-990 Premium 250 ohm version and I sold them later on because of the exact sibilance problem you describe. For some people, like me, this is a problem, others are not bothered by it.

 

[Lucenzo]

Quote:

Im currently thinking of buying a pair of DT990 myself, but I'm afraid the treble might be too fatiguing. So, lucenzo, after about a day, can you confirm your issues? 

Yes, at default settings it's still a mini crystal explosion in my ear.
 
But I fixed it by turning down the 16 K bar down to -10 DB and the 8 K bar to -5 DB. All the high and harsh treble that used to be a knife in my ear is now very mild and very pleasant.
 
I did this with an Asus Xonar Essence STX. All my music sounds Great now.

 

[cerealkillr]

Keep in mind that, as spark3 said, after 50+ hours of burn-in they do get more tame with the treble. With mine I noticed that throughout a 100-hour burn-in they started out incredibly piercing but got more tame, then spiked up a bit (not to the level it first started at) and softened between the spike and the tamed levels.

 

[Smasha]

I can vouch that when listening to DT 990 Pros straight out of the box,they sound shrill as I just replaced my old 7 year old dt 990 pros with new ones and that famous shrill is back.
 
Give them time and they will sound fantastic.
 
Otherwise get the premium dt 880 premiums which have a flatter eq response.
 
I remember when I bought my last pair I just turned them up  loud(not breakable loud) and left them on the desk overnight.
 
The shrill will turn to shizzle.

 

[Alfred143]

I've read somewhere that somewhere that adding toilet paper to the ear cup softens the 990s a little. I've tried it and is more enjoyable now... you just have to get pass the idea of having toilet paper near you ears