DT 1990 Pro + Enog 2 Pro + THX AAA 789

Would it be a good combination?
Currently I have DT990 and Enog 2 Pro and willing to upgrade to DT 1990 Pro or some other headphones
50/50 gaming and music

The combo will be fully functional, but IMO the THX amp (any THX amp) will not be a good match for the 1990. TBH, I don’t think THX amps match many headphones well, at least not for my ears. In general the THX tech is forward and brittle in the treble, doesn’t do Spatial recreation very well, and has timbre issues, but YMMV. IME the Schiit Asgard 3 is a superior amp than THX models for significantly less money. It also matches the “Beyer Highs”, it tames the sometimes too bright treble on the DT880 for example. It’s not a balanced amp but neither is the 1990 a balanced headphone. If you want the THX-type measurements and/or sound, the Schiit Magni Heresy is virtually indistinguishable from 789, 887, or 888, higher performing than 789 via single ended output, and only $99. Hope this helps :beers:

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I would completely disagree with this.
Just because something measures well doesn’t mean the implementation is okay. I had the Heresy and the THX 789 side by side and the Heresy sounded like it lacked all the dynamic range the 789 had.

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Personally I would disagree with that lol. Generally I would find the heresy superior in terms of treble accuracy and also more accurate timbre than the thx, with similar dynamics. Generally neither are really that strong in dynamic range to my ears anyways. Depending on the headphones the thx could have an advantage if they are very power hungry, but with the 1990 or 990 imo the better match is pretty easily the heresy if you wanted to take the measurement route. Honestly with the 1990 and 990 if you were concerned about measurements the topping l30 would be my pick here as it is a smoother amp than the thx or heresy and preforms almost just as well as the a90 imo.

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Topping A90 or even L30 would be a better choice compared to THX 789.

THX’s sharpness isn’t a sign of good measurements since A90 measures better.

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to add to whats already been said the 1990 also is only able to run single ended and the 789’s SE out is typically regarded as not great, which is pretty common for amps with both an XLR and SE out

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And personally i disagree with everyone here. Just plug the 1990 to an oven and you should be solid. Will give the headphone some extra warmth, should for sure smooth over some of the sharp treble

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Lol. Jose with quite the burn! :laughing:

as someone who has sat down with both of these amps with his 1990. Can easily agree on this that the asgard 3 is a hell of a lot better sounding for the 1990. THX over there made it sound even more aggressive and bright to the point of extremely fatiguing and in some cases sibilant. It also isn’t as good on the quality since THX is a balanced amplifier of which the 1990 is not a balanced capable headphone.

I would sooner say to pick up the archel over there with the enog for not only stack completion but bettter sound due to just how bad in my opinion the THX 789 pairs with beyers. As someone who is a huge beyer fan and has sat with practically the entire lineup one of my buddies swears by that thx amp as well as the THX 888 aka sp200. Highly recommended you switch the amp to something such as an asgard, archel, L30, something along the lines of warm yet slightly rolled in the treble to tame those highs. 1990 may not be as bright as the 990 but it can still easily become very sibilant especially when you have the A pads on as the treble is more forward in the mix with those pads unlike B pads where its back to a V signature so the treble isn’t as apparent due to the bass.

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According to that “measurements forum”, the SE out on the THX 789 is almost identical in performance to the balanced out, minus the large power difference. And the SE is plenty powerful enough for DT1990s.

That said, if you don’t need the versatility of the XLR connection, there are better-cheaper options.

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measurements are just a part of a larger picture, the SE and and balanced input measure the same on the liquid platinum as well and I can tell you first hand they do not sound the same at all. It’s pretty typical that amps with SE and Bal are designed with the balanced out in mind. While I don’t always agree with zeos even he admits the SE out on the 789 is not the best in his 880 review. Does the 789 have the power to drive the 1990? absolutely. Will it sound good? well that depends on the listener, but I’m of the opinion it could sound a lot better, even under that price point

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Ok. Don’t really hear the difference myself (in the Monolith 887); and I haven’t read of the lower performance before now, but if you say it’s a known thing, I guess it’s just me that didn’t know!

It’s not a massive difference tbh, not as bad as other balanced amps on se. Not exactly sounding almost identical like with the sp200 but only slight downgrade (would say less so than the magnius from memory so you might be able to call it negligible for the thx). But as you said previously if you don’t have something balanced there might be better options at a lower price point

as I understand it, the Cavalli amps in general are known to have careless implementation of the SE connection.

Magnius is fully differential balanced, which is going to mean a bigger gap between the two connections.

“Negligible” difference on the 789 is about what the measurements say (whole story or not).

Correct

Yep, the thx doesn’t have that issue since it’s not differential