Kees
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2006
- Posts
- 4,619
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A couple of weeks ago I traded my PROline 750s for a pair of DT990s.
I had been very curious about them for quite a while, but never got to listening to a pair.
Not being a fan of long winded stories I will keep it short: I found they sound(-ed!) terrible. By far the worst headphones I ever had.
Boomy, sloppy, echoing, overpowering bass, that completely pushed the midrange to the back, leaving only the highs to penetrate everything.
I love bass, I am a fan of the JVC DX1000 and love my Darths (with plugged-up holes in the rim of the cups), but this bass was just of very poor quality and ruining the rest of the sound.
My old (and as I read here also the new 2005) DT880 had no such issues with bass. It was a bit lean, but of good quality.
Since I thought I remembered that the DT880 and the DT990 use the same drivers I figured that the difference beween the two must be in different acoustics of the housing (semi-open / semi-closed).
Time for some experimenting and tinkering!
In order to remove too much bass acoustically you have to make the housing (more) closed. Place your hands over your open phones (without pushing!) and you will know what I mean.
So I took the DT990 apart and started experimenting with different ways of closing them and with different materials.
I'll spare you all the trials and get right down to the winning mod: Close the best part of the housing (from the inside) with a disc made of thick (2mm) stiff cardboard. The cardboard has enough mass and density to stop sound going out and is inert enough to not produce sound by itself.
The result:
Much more detail and attack in the bass.
Much better balance in the whole spectrum.
No more (seemingly) weak mids.
No piercing highs (they don't stick out any more because the rest is better balanced now).
A very enjoyable set of headphones!!!! (that still have bass that can be compared to Darths
).
The mod is very easy and fully reversible.
Here is how you can do it:
First remove the little screws on the front of the hinges so you can remove the fork/headband from the housing.
Just gently pull it out. The hinges come loose, they are held in the housing by the fork, but it is very easy to put them back in again.
Also remove the earpad of course.
Then very gently with a small screwdriver pry the ring loose that holds the driver in place. Don't worry, it comes off (and goes back on again) very easily, with a little click.
The ring goes in and out in only one position! look carefully around the rim and you will see a small part sticking out a bit and a small recess in the housing to indicate the right position. You can't miss it in the pic, right next to the screwdriver.
Next you see the driver lying in the housing. It is loose, you can just take it out carefully (in the pic it is taken out and you are looking at he back of the driver).
Underneath in the housing is a thick ring of felt.
I filled up the hole in the middle with some more felt (you can also use cotton wool). Over that I put a piece of cardboard.
7cm diameter, 2mm thick stiff cardboard. (the green disc in the pic).
After that just put everything back in again:
First the driver on top of the cardboard (there is enough space, don't worry).
Then the ring back on (watch the position!), just click it in.
Put the earpads back on (MUCH easier when the housing is not yet attached to the fork).
Put the hinges in and slide the fork back in the slits in the hinges.
Search the little screws until you finaly find them again somwhere under your desk and screw them back in.
Have a drink.
Happy listening.
I had been very curious about them for quite a while, but never got to listening to a pair.
Not being a fan of long winded stories I will keep it short: I found they sound(-ed!) terrible. By far the worst headphones I ever had.
Boomy, sloppy, echoing, overpowering bass, that completely pushed the midrange to the back, leaving only the highs to penetrate everything.
I love bass, I am a fan of the JVC DX1000 and love my Darths (with plugged-up holes in the rim of the cups), but this bass was just of very poor quality and ruining the rest of the sound.
My old (and as I read here also the new 2005) DT880 had no such issues with bass. It was a bit lean, but of good quality.
Since I thought I remembered that the DT880 and the DT990 use the same drivers I figured that the difference beween the two must be in different acoustics of the housing (semi-open / semi-closed).
Time for some experimenting and tinkering!
In order to remove too much bass acoustically you have to make the housing (more) closed. Place your hands over your open phones (without pushing!) and you will know what I mean.
So I took the DT990 apart and started experimenting with different ways of closing them and with different materials.
I'll spare you all the trials and get right down to the winning mod: Close the best part of the housing (from the inside) with a disc made of thick (2mm) stiff cardboard. The cardboard has enough mass and density to stop sound going out and is inert enough to not produce sound by itself.
The result:
Much more detail and attack in the bass.
Much better balance in the whole spectrum.
No more (seemingly) weak mids.
No piercing highs (they don't stick out any more because the rest is better balanced now).
A very enjoyable set of headphones!!!! (that still have bass that can be compared to Darths
The mod is very easy and fully reversible.
Here is how you can do it:
First remove the little screws on the front of the hinges so you can remove the fork/headband from the housing.
Just gently pull it out. The hinges come loose, they are held in the housing by the fork, but it is very easy to put them back in again.
Also remove the earpad of course.
Then very gently with a small screwdriver pry the ring loose that holds the driver in place. Don't worry, it comes off (and goes back on again) very easily, with a little click.
The ring goes in and out in only one position! look carefully around the rim and you will see a small part sticking out a bit and a small recess in the housing to indicate the right position. You can't miss it in the pic, right next to the screwdriver.
Next you see the driver lying in the housing. It is loose, you can just take it out carefully (in the pic it is taken out and you are looking at he back of the driver).
Underneath in the housing is a thick ring of felt.
I filled up the hole in the middle with some more felt (you can also use cotton wool). Over that I put a piece of cardboard.
7cm diameter, 2mm thick stiff cardboard. (the green disc in the pic).
After that just put everything back in again:
First the driver on top of the cardboard (there is enough space, don't worry).
Then the ring back on (watch the position!), just click it in.
Put the earpads back on (MUCH easier when the housing is not yet attached to the fork).
Put the hinges in and slide the fork back in the slits in the hinges.
Search the little screws until you finaly find them again somwhere under your desk and screw them back in.
Have a drink.
Happy listening.