I am looking for an upgrade/endgame in my Headphones, an open back that is amazing for Music, and good for gaming.
I found the DT 1990 Pro is a lot of peoples end game, and looks like it sounds great.
Honestly Tempted to Buy the HD 800 S, but man $1,500 for a headphone is hard to swallow.
I currently have the Schiit Jotunheim, and the SMSL SU-8 Dac, with balanced into my Jot.
My Current Headphones:
HD58X Jubilee (My Daily Driver, love these)
Audio Technica AD1000x (Highs kinda hurt at times, too bright for me I think)
Fostex TH-X00
Neumann NDH 20 (Returning since I don’t like the comfort, and honestly prefer open back)
EDIT: Leaning toward the HD 800 S, for that huge soundstage, and hopefully my endgame.
I heard, for the price compared to the Ananda, get the MASSDROP X HIFIMAN EDITION XX for $600 off of Massdrop. Since it is an extra $200+ for the Ananda.
I can’t really say about the edition xx because I haven’t tried them, but with HiFiMan you definitely want to get a warranty, and even demo the unit you’re purchasing if you can. If the frequency response graphs on massdrop are accurate, it looks like they have a lot more rolled off highs compared to both the 1990 and Ananda.
Yeah, I don’t have a place nearby to demo any headsets, trust me, I have looked and tried, so I have to go by reviews, recommendations, and research, which sucks, but it is what it is, so I am trying to find a good pair right now.
beeing an 1990s owner(and 58x/660s/ DT 770 Pro / AKG 701) - you might have a look at the T1 Gen2 for the perfect Beyerdynamic.
love my 1990s for the best looks of all headphones and espacially with the analytical pads for critical listening. If you want to focus on your music it´s fine.
For the fun listening you already have the 58x and the TH-X00
The BD T1 Gen2 is a tad wider in soundstage, has not the strong 8,5K peak like the 1990s and can be driven balanced
Ananda is one of my next purchases - but next will be Focal Elegia at the end of the year
Sendy Aiva sounds very interesting - from some reviews- but I don´t have a dealer in munich providing me a touch and feel + listening experiance at the moment
YouTuber Joshua Valour explained in one of his chats that he used an insert filter he bought on-line to tame the spike. My memory is that he said it was a filter for the DT 240 available on the beyerdynamic site, but I don’t find such a thing on line. If that’s a false lead, perhaps someone in the modding community will know what to use. Shame if people have to avoid such a fine headphone due to a single flaw.
the original DT 1770 is worse. But the Massdrop 177x Go becomes some soundtuning in which some damping (and other things) are used. So why not get some foam and try it out yourself, if it is a problem for you.
I joined the 177x Go Drop because of the soundtuning - wanted the original 1770s to be my taste(like 1990s are) so bad, gave them often a listen with different sources- also because I love my old 770s(for comfort, isolation and the subbase haha) - only the fixed cable is annoying. The sound is ok for what they are. - But that is not the point here.
with well recorded tracks you won´t have much of a problem with the 1990s
But high peaking female voices CAN disturb while instruments(cymbals for example) are less a problem, if the recording is decent.
The use of the analytical pads is helpful - more so because of less amount of base is good for the mids to stay the right amount and don´t get pushed in the back. So you can listen on lower power and get all details, if that makes sense.
If you use the “balanced” pads you get more base, the mids step back and you make the music louder to listen to the voices… and the highs peak because of bit to high volume - in some cases. Depends always on the genre and music quality. If you listen to John Coltrane “you want it darker” there is obviously detail over detail. Or Random Access Memories from Daft Punk - no problems at all.
Bruno Mars “24k” album is also very good recorded… no problem with any peaks - to me. My wife loves this album has better hearing. I am 42 and can hear about like an 36 old over 35k. She is 41 and her hearing is younger/better. She has no problems with the 1990s with this album - even with balanced pads.
If you listen to Alice Kristiansen “The One that got away” Cover - the highs are recorded like they are - even with rolled of HF you can hear some problems, but that is ok to me. Love this song and her voice with the 1990s.
I´m not a reviewer - i miss lot´s of verbs I could use in german. Sorry for the bad try to make it plausible
I wouldn’t recommend the Edition XX. There’s very few reviews around. But in metal571’s review , he said they were seriously lacking detail for that price. If your sensitive to treble, the 1990 might not be ideal. You might also consider Focal Elex. Look at this comparison video.
I’m honestly leaning toward the Hd 800 S, for that huge soundstage, and hopeful endgame for me. Any other recommendations would be welcome and appreciated.
The HD800S are great headphones (I have them), but they aren’t ideal at all for some music genres or poorly mastered tracks. Do to their relatively thin sound, I don’t like using them for metal. The upper mids and treble are also much more pronounced compared to something like the 58X. If you use an equalizer, this might not be an issue.
Before buying the HD800S, check out the reviews for the Mr Speakers Ether 2 ($2000). They are my current front runner for my next very high end headphone. Vlad (from the Verge) said they had even better detail while still having a smooth pleasant sound signature.
Has anyone who have heard the 1990’s listened to a pair of Grado SR325e? I know its a weird comparison to make but from what people are describing and listening to my SR325e, the overall signature is not that far off.
The 1990 has significantly better bass, imaging, soundstage, and high end. The grados are a bit sweeter and warmer sounding, but the 1990 is aggressive and more intense. Also I like the build better overall on the 1990. I would choose the 1990 over the grados 9 out of 10 times (if i wanted to relax I would use grados)
This is with the analytical pads on the 1990. The balanced pads bring up the bass significantly.
(Have no idea whether anyone actually wants visual/objective as well as verbal description, but I’m still having fun playing with my new toy. Plus, a certain forum member suggested some presentation changes that I want to show off.)
Yeah so some people find the 1990 sibilant because of the 8k bump, but you shouldn’t really have any issues if you don’t haven any issues with the grados
