Interesting. I half expect to put the 1990s on, put on one treble test track and pack them back up immediately. If that’s the case it’s a much lower risk than the focals as id have to find some used with unknowns involved 
I use all of my headphones for gaming, but the Elegia are amongst my favorites…they are better for gaming than most people realize.
If I’m cheesing it and want fun gaming, I can swap to my Atticus or Aelous for that.
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The 1990s come with 2 different pads. I know that one of them tones down the treble a tiny bit, so hopefully that will help if you run into sibilance or fatigue. Still decent headphones and I personally think they sound pretty decent on tubes as well.
Are tube amps or solid state considered better for gaming?
I have used hybrid tubes for gaming but prefer solid state
So, I got a case of the duck it’s and will be comparing them both
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So far they aren’t incredibly different from one another.
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What signal chain are you using them on?
Modius > thx789.
I’m noticing the clear is much smoother and handles mids and bass in a much more realistic way. The 1990 is showing its treble tendencies but it’s not nearly as bad as I was expecting, though I find mids sound a bit recessed in comparison.
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Going to chime in on the fear of the treble of the dt 1990s. I am not sure who is saying these are horridly sharp they really are not by any means… They are definitely a neutral bright headphone but not sibilant. If it is at all sibilant pair it with an amp that can dial back that treble to your liking, change to the balanced pads, or equalize them. They are truly a gamers dream headphone imo. Glad to see you got them for yourself to check them out. Hope you are enjoying them!
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This is subjective. I find them extremely bright and sibilant. The sibilance region falls from 4 to 10 KHz. The DT 1990 have one of the steepest peaks I’ve ever seen from 5 to 8 KHz, which backs up what I heard.
Totally agree, they’re not at all “bad” when it comes to treble. I would say all of my planars have more chance if being fatiguing than these.
This graph explains why everything else seems recessed in comparison to the high end
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Exactly…the mids are present, but the boosted treble overshadows it.
I find them not even close to too bright unless you are treble sensitive imo. T1, dt 990, and amiron home are far sharper to my ears. Switch the pads to the balanced and you will see some pretty noticeable changes to that peak. Change them to a dekoni elite velour and you will notice even better changes on that treble.
balanced in blue, dekoni elite velour in green, analytical in purple
You can help reign it in more by using an amp and dac that pairs well with brighter headphones to help dial in that treble just a bit more for more enjoyable listening.
perhaps this graph can help you fix the 1990 up to your liking. The pads swap can definitely help if the highs are too much for your liking.
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You’re honestly the first person I’ve ever heard say the DT1990 aren’t bright. If you like bright headphones that’s one thing, but calling them neutral is not accurate when the there is a treble peak that large. Switching the balanced pads only reduces that treble peak by 2.5 db. I’ll agree to disagree without writing a novel or dissertation.
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So far I feel like the clears have a bit of an edge (at 3x the price they had better) it comes down to resolution.
While footsteps are clear on each headphone, the clears render directionality in a more realistic way because the FR is much more even.
While the 1990s at by their specs should be harder to drive, I find I have the volume knob consistently higher for the clears. I’m not sure why this is but it’s not an insignificant difference.
This isn’t a fair comparison. I feel like gaming is the only area where these headphones could compare. And realistically I don’t think there’s a distinct advantage with going one way or another for gaming. I’m going to try to get another few sessions going on each of these before making a final decision.
Side note: the clear have a rattle in the left ear cup that is sometimes audible when moving my head. The seller is working on getting me another pair. The 1990s are tanks and have zero problems I have identified.
Not sure where you got the fact that I stated that they weren’t bright. I did mention that they are indeed a bright headphone. The treble peak is perfectly manageable. Agree to disagree.
The FR change with those pads is interesting. I don’t have enough time with them to try that out unfortunately
I can see where the analytical gets annoying though cause it does peak much like the dt 990 does. Balanced helps that alot but it’s due to this that I use the dekoni elite velour. It definitely helps a ton to sort that treble out. Other methods would be the DIY Kameleon amp or headphone filters which fix it quite significantly, or other setups that are just known to help and pair well with a brighter set of cans. The headphone is Neutral-Bright more technically it’s still a subtle V signature to my ears. Still bright but other frequencies are more towards neutral this is also changed upon changing the pads as you can see in the frequencies
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