Anyone willing to take a swing at this:

[sdifox]

Biostud and BoomerD, you don't hear any sharp edges in the music piercing your ears in those DTs?

My DT-770 sounds fine to me. And I am sensitive to harsh sounds.

 

[igor_kavinski]

My DT-770 sounds fine to me. And I am sensitive to harsh sounds.

From day one? Or did it get better with time?

 

[sdifox]

From day one? Or did it get better with time?

Since day one.

 

[igor_kavinski]

OK, I decided to put on my DT 990 Pro, years and years after I listened to them on acquiring them and put them away. Hmm..

There is something different about these headphones. I can hear Jacko in the middle of my head, with instruments coming from both left and right. So good stereo separation. Guess getting much older has made me less sensitive to the sharp frequencies I found harsh earlier.

OMG:

The instruments sound wonderful!

Listening to them on my Thinkpad at 61% volume. Plenty loud for me.

Gotta sleep. Gonna try to compare them with the HE400SE tomorrow using this same video.

Crap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4

The drums sound so realistic!

 

[BoomerD]

OK, I decided to put on my DT 990 Pro, years and years after I listened to them on acquiring them and put them away. Hmm..

There is something different about these headphones. I can hear Jacko in the middle of my head, with instruments coming from both left and right. So good stereo separation. Guess getting much older has made me less sensitive to the sharp frequencies I found harsh earlier.

OMG:

The instruments sound wonderful!

Listening to them on my Thinkpad at 61% volume. Plenty loud for me.

Gotta sleep. Gonna try to compare them with the HE400SE tomorrow using this same video.

Crap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4

The drums sound so realistic!

You should try them with some GOOD music...not that "Mikey the monkey fucker" music.

 

[biostud]

Biostud and BoomerD, you don't hear any sharp edges in the music piercing your ears in those DTs?

No it is not something I've noticed. But it has been a long time since a long listening session, and my main poison when it comes to music is death and black metal

 

[igor_kavinski]

You should try them with some GOOD music...not that "Mikey the monkey fucker" music.

I like monkeys!

And no, not in that way

I listened to different artists. Some of them: Avicii / Savage Garden / Vanessa Carlton / Nelly Furtado / Natalie Imbruglia etc. Some videos have really good soundtracks where I can distinctly make out individual instruments and their location in my headspace. But some had really awful sound, like totally bland. Guess it depends on the quality of the source video uploaded to Youtube.

Drums/percussion instruments have the most impact, to my ears with the DT. They also feel unreal, like something is vibrating my ear drum directly. I think I felt some auditory fatigue after almost two hours of rediscovering some fave oldies from the 80s/90s.

I now understand why these headphones are so sought after.

 

[igor_kavinski]

No it is not something I've noticed. But it has been a long time since a long listening session, and my main poison when it comes to music is death and black metal

Yikes! That would surely kill my ears!

 

[BoomerD]

Biostud and BoomerD, you don't hear any sharp edges in the music piercing your ears in those DTs?

Not a bit. They sound hella good to me.

 

[BoomerD]

I like monkeys!

And no, not in that way

I listened to different artists. Some of them: Avicii / Savage Garden / Vanessa Carlton / Nelly Furtado / Natalie Imbruglia etc. Some videos have really good soundtracks where I can distinctly make out individual instruments and their location in my headspace. But some had really awful sound, like totally bland. Guess it depends on the quality of the source video uploaded to Youtube.

Drums/percussion instruments have the most impact, to my ears with the DT. They also feel unreal, like something is vibrating my ear drum directly. I think I felt some auditory fatigue after almost two hours of rediscovering some fave oldies from the 80s/90s.

I now understand why these headphones are so sought after.

If they bother you...feel free to send them my way...

 

[Meghan54]

So, received the Lavaudio DS400 today. Tiny little thing. Roughly 3.5" x 2.5" by just under 1" thick. Gonna have to figure out a way to mount it to a piece of wood and screw that to the small table next to my desk. Even with silicone feet (not provided with the unit) stuck on the bottom, it gets dragged around with the cord.
As expected, connected it with USB-C right to the PC, USB-C to a wall wart, installed the software, on low gain, only one side of the headphones work...but on high gain...sweet, sweet sounds. Not "blow my ears off" loud, but MUCH better than from the motherboard. I fired up some youtube pipes and drum music...

I bought it from Amazon, so I have some time to evaluate it and decide if I want to keep it or get one of the larger (and honestly, cheaper) units like the FX Audio DAC-X6 or the Fosi Q5...

May I suggest something like this to keep it from sliding around? Doesn't take much at all to hold lightweight stuff down and comes off cleanly. Using some as "feet" for my stand mounted bookshelf speakers. Cat doesn't move the speaker when she jumps on it. Works better than the waffle drawer liner.

https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Tack-S050Q-Reusable-Adhesive-75g/dp/B001FGLX72

 

[MrSquished]

MOST of the Beyerdynamics studio headphones have a known issue with treble spike being very sharp...too much so for some people. "It's not a bug, it's a feature," says Beyerdynamic...

Send them to me...I'll take them off your hands for you to save you the pain of wearing them.

That's a pretty common topic on the head-fi forums. But I bought the t90s anyway, I changed the pads and I do absolutely love them. The bass is phenomenal, And yes they can get too sharp on some music but I just have an equalizer that with a few simple tweaks they just sound great for everything. I might try to get a t1 2nd gen because I heard the t1 3rd gen is just too dark.

 

[BoomerD]

May I suggest something like this to keep it from sliding around? Doesn't take much at all to hold lightweight stuff down and comes off cleanly. Using some as "feet" for my stand mounted bookshelf speakers. Cat doesn't move the speaker when she jumps on it. Works better than the waffle drawer liner.

https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Tack-S050Q-Reusable-Adhesive-75g/dp/B001FGLX72

Not a bad idea. I stuck on some small-ish silicone feet to give it some grip...not enough. This thing doesn't weigh much. They claim 484 grams...that's over 1 lb. I don't think so. (I may throw it on the kitchen scale tomorrow and check)

As it stands, now that I've used this thing for a few days, while it pushes the beyerdynamics much better than the motherboard's sound chip, even maxed out it doesn't get very loud. (and at the top of the volume, sounds starts to get a bit distorted and muddy...just not very clean.
The company doesn't provide much info in their "specifications," but I've found a little:
From their "manual":

And some data from elsewhere:

3.5mm Headphone output	16Ω/190mW;32Ω/140.5mW
Balanced headphone output	32Ω/300mW; 150Ω/143mW;300Ω/71.6mW; 600Ω/35mW

there's not enough info to plug into one of the myriad of headphone/amp calculators on the web, but if it puts out 140.5 mW as 32 ohms, at 250 ohms, it can't be pushing more than 15-20 mW.
I'm still using it for now...but this may just go back to Amazon.

 

[igor_kavinski]

This thing doesn't weigh much. They claim 484 grams...that's over 1 lb. I don't think so.

DT990 Pro weighs more when I hold it in my hand than when it's on my head. The grip is so nice and loose yet firm that I don't feel like there's something like a big studio headphones on my head. The clamping force is minimal.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm still using it for now...but this may just go back to Amazon.

My suggestion to try next: Amazon.com: Sound Blaster X1 Hi-res Super X-Fi External USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier for PC and Mac, Also Compatible with PS4, PS5, and Switch : Electronics

HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
The Sound Blaster X1 is capable of driving headphones with high impedances of up to 600Ω, even studio-grade ones.

Designed specifically to deliver powerful and pristine audio to your headphones, the super compact Sound Blaster X1 upgrades your audio quality instantly to high-resolution playback with its built-in AKM 4377 DAC. Coupled with the Ti/Burr-Brown INA1620 dual audio operational amplifier, the Sound Blaster X1 amplifies and delivers crisp audio to further enhance your listening experience. In simple terms, the Sound Blaster X1 acts as the middleman between your device and headphones to give your audio a clearer, louder and more impactful boost along with Super X-Fi Headphone Holography.

 

[BoomerD]

My suggestion to try next: Amazon.com: Sound Blaster X1 Hi-res Super X-Fi External USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier for PC and Mac, Also Compatible with PS4, PS5, and Switch : Electronics

I've seen those and their Soundblaster X-6. Both rely on the USB for power. I'm not sure I trust my pc to do that well.

 

[biostud]

I'be just taken a little listening session with my cans, and I don't think they sound harsh but they are on the dry/clinical side of the soundstage, they are not oozing warmth when playing.

 

[igor_kavinski]

they are on the dry/clinical side of the soundstage, they are not oozing warmth when playing.

Can you elaborate more please? What would "warmth" sound like?

 

[igor_kavinski]

I've seen those and their Soundblaster X-6. Both rely on the USB for power. I'm not sure I trust my pc to do that well.

Doesn't have to be PC. I use my Super X-Fi with ASUS Zenfone via the USB-C port.

 

[BoomerD]

Doesn't have to be PC. I use my Super X-Fi with ASUS Zenfone via the USB-C port.

I don't game or listen to music on my fone...other than via bluetooth headphones/speaker when I'm working outside or on my amazon dot while I sleep. (If Alexa wants to listen to me snore...fine by me.)

 

[biostud]

Can you elaborate more please? What would "warmth" sound like?

I guess it is hard to describe in an objective term, but the sound from my speakers in my stereo setup is more harmonic/relaxing listening to where the DT 880 will give you every detail, which in some way can be a little "too much" /clinical.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Hmm...I think I get it now. Yeah, the DT gives so much detail that focusing on everything all at once and with such precision kinda takes a toll on the neural circuitry connected to the ear. I never have to think so hard when I'm listening to stuff on the Tunai Piano or the Sennheiser GSP 300. But the DT is still worth listening to every once in a while. It's kind of an intense listening experience (with high quality material of course. Low bitrate crap sounds crap on it, even more crap than usual if heard on any other device).

 

[biostud]

Hmm...I think I get it now. Yeah, the DT gives so much detail that focusing on everything all at once and with such precision kinda takes a toll on the neural circuitry connected to the ear. I never have to think so hard when I'm listening to stuff on the Tunai Piano or the Sennheiser GSP 300. But the DT is still worth listening to every once in a while. It's kind of an intense listening experience (with high quality material of course. Low bitrate crap sounds crap on it, even more crap than usual if heard on any other device).

I only have one set of headphones, and yes I only listen to high bitrate music. My own library consists only of lossless music, and I use Tidal for streaming, which might not be lossless, but I was able to get it for half the normal price.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Tested the HE400SE just now. Maybe it needs to be broken-in because it sounds...nothing special. It sounds like I paid $25 for it.

In case anyone wants to check this out: https://www.psck.net/detail/25746

New beginning is the one to listen to.

Lyrics: https://ko-fi.com/Blog/Post/Ito-Chiaki-Lyrics-New-Beginning-G2G2P13X

Lot happening there, sound wise.

 

[CP5670]

I use a x-fi titanium HD source (with the EAX reverb effect) with a DT1990 headphone (with Dekoni velour earpads and a DT990 headband with a lighter clamp) and A20 amplifier. I mostly listen to game and movie music from over the years, and the game music is not always great quality. The x-fi processing does a lot to take the edge off low quality music. I've settled on this configuration after trying many different things. For games and movies, I generally use speakers.

The DT990 is definitely harsh and I use an equalizer to tone down that treble spike, but I like its sound signature otherwise. The DT1990 with the custom pads has finer detail and imaging without any of that harshness, and I can listen to it for hours. I was thinking of trying T1v2 or T1v3 but many people say this one is a better all-rounder for different types of music.