Friesiansam
Well-known member
Gray
Well-known member
It's funny what we regard as a 'low' price.
All of us rightly know that to be a great discount for those (no doubt excellent sounding) headphones.
Never in my life though, will I be able to think of 300 quid as being a low amount.
But I'm well aware of the excellent value here, as my poxy car tax is more than that.
Over a week listening and there is one flaw with the DT990s. Tickets popped up for a Killing Joke tour, so I now have one and that prompted some Killing Joke listening. The DT990s don't do a wall of sound noisy punk rock. There is a sound that is like crackling cellophane, as if something is distorting in the treble. If I really listen for it, I can just hear it with the AKG K271s, but I had not noticed it before. The AKGs are far better when I want some punk rock.
The DT990s are very unforgiving of noisy, busy music, as they reveal more of the treble than any other headphone I have owned. I suspect the Hifiman HE6 I had a loan of a few years ago are the most detailed and revealing of all the headphones I have listened to, but there were no distortion sounding issues, even with the noisy stuff.
The DT990s are very unforgiving of noisy, busy music, as they reveal more of the treble than any other headphone I have owned. I suspect the Hifiman HE6 I had a loan of a few years ago are the most detailed and revealing of all the headphones I have listened to, but there were no distortion sounding issues, even with the noisy stuff.
Gray
Well-known member
I mean that as in the DT990s are picking up something from the original recording that is not quite right, rather than the headphones themselves are distorting. Nothing against Killing Joke or whoever recorded their Pylon album, it is as if they missed something that is making a tizzzing or zinging noise in the high treble.
That is over a month now and whilst I am happy enough with the DT990s, I would not recommend them.
Compared to my AKG K271s, they can sound a bit dull and to come alive, need my amp (which is powerful for a headphone amp) put up to the maximum volume I am OK listening to, so not suitable for long term listening.
There is that occasional crackling noise in the treble I first noticed with Killing Joke.
They are very revealing, so sound amazing with well recorded music and pretty poor with not so well recorded music.
They are very comfortable.
So, the flaws are enough that I would not have bought them, but for £110 I am OK with occasional listening. My AKG K271s still rule the roost.
Compared to my AKG K271s, they can sound a bit dull and to come alive, need my amp (which is powerful for a headphone amp) put up to the maximum volume I am OK listening to, so not suitable for long term listening.
There is that occasional crackling noise in the treble I first noticed with Killing Joke.
They are very revealing, so sound amazing with well recorded music and pretty poor with not so well recorded music.
They are very comfortable.
So, the flaws are enough that I would not have bought them, but for £110 I am OK with occasional listening. My AKG K271s still rule the roost.
Gray
Well-known member
Headphones are every bit as subjective as speakers, where no pair does everything right.
Bit of a long shot, but I wonder if your Beyers have the hair issue. Owners of one Beyer model (can't recall which) reported frequency-dependent distortion caused by a single trapped hair touching the driver (I know it sounds like some April Fool joke).
I thought I would update this thread to say that the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250 ohms are not headphones I would recommend. They will be the only time I buy headphones online with no audition. They somehow sound dull, yet have a splashy treble and to get them going, even with a powerful headphone amp, I need to crank the volume up too high for long term relaxed listening. Thankfully I only paid just over £100 for them. The AKG K702s they replace were far better in every aspect.
Al ears
Well-known member
Not too sure when you saw them for that price.
richersounds do them for £379.....
beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250 Ohm favorable buying at our shop
Order the DT990 Pro 250-Ohm (Black/Silver) ✓ 3 Year Warranty ✓ 30 Day Money Back Guarantee ✓ Order Now
Now £118, I got them for a tenner less.
After a gap of not listening to the DT990 Pros, due to the purchase of some Shure SRH1540s, I find that after getting used to the sound of the Shures, the DT990s don't sound as bad as they did when swapping between them and my AKG K271s. They do not sound as flat as they did swapping them with the AKG.
I wonder if the ear gets so used to a certain sound, that something which is noticeably different sounds bad. The Shures are not as different to the DT990s as the AKGs are, so the transition between the two does not jar as it did before.
I wonder if the ear gets so used to a certain sound, that something which is noticeably different sounds bad. The Shures are not as different to the DT990s as the AKGs are, so the transition between the two does not jar as it did before.
Gray
Well-known member
The Shures are not as bright as the AKGs, which means switching between the Shures and the DT990s does not have the same shock. I am presently listening to some Killing Joke, which before sounded dreadful, but is now not bad at all. I had clearly got used to a bright sound, so anything other than that sounded worse, rather than different.
Friesiansam
Well-known member
You are probably right with solid state electronics but, I think it is different where there are moving parts involved.
When I got my Elegias I tried them briefly, just out of the box and, they where a bit disappointing. I ran them loud for 24 hours, as recommended by Focal, without listening at all. After running-in they sounded a lot better. No way my hearing got used to them during running-in.
Gray
Well-known member
Yes, I've never said that running in of mechanical devices is not a thing, just that I think too many people give it too much credibility.
I'm certainly not suggesting that you're the suggestible type.
However, you must agree that when told (whether by popular opinion or, especially by a manufacturer) that an item will sound better after a certain period......then, come what may, to some, that item is going to sound better.
And it does always sound better - nobody ever seems to prefer the original sound.
Because things 'loosen up', rough edges get knocked off....
So must we assume the loosening up always reaches the optimum point....never going past 'just right' to make things worse?
I appreciate that manufacturers wouldn't advocate running in for no reason....but I reckon some might recommend it just because everyone else does 🙂
Friesiansam
Well-known member
Gray
Well-known member
GSV Ethics Gradient
Moderator
No - it's Process-Q, if you recall!...and RA does it on fuses apparently
Sounds so science-y, doesn't it...
bigboss
Moderator
Al ears
Well-known member
Al ears
Well-known member
SteveR750
Well-known member
Hey IDC, I'm just catching up on the odd toipic, like you I don't often frequent htese forums much these days. I had a similar journey as you, not so long ago had around 6 pairs of phones, and each had their pros and cons. I then started to research HRTF and Harman curves, and invested in Roon (for the last 5 years or so, my hifi needs have been purely headphone based) primarily because of it's built in DSP. Once I started EQing my phones, the tonal differences became much reduced, and the differences between them generally less obvious. I sold the lot and bought some audeze LCD-X and decided that's as far as I needed to go. With the Roon / Audeze EQ profile, I can't see the point in spending more, but in truth, the HD650 or Sundaras that I had previously were pretty close with EQ. Just a thought....
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