Iāve got the 250ohm DT 990 Pros, running off the original Schiit Fulla (upgrade recommendations appreciated). Compared to the 990s, I find these to be a lot more intimate, but the imaging and accuracy is really great. I primarily do a 70/30 gaming/music and I play competitively so I was worried about less soundstage but itās been a non issue.
I need to give it another serious listen again, but first impressions after a few days of usage is that bass is definitely light on these. Thereās a specific range that punches well, but Iām not qualified to say exactly where that happens, and other than that theyāre audible but not as much as the 990s. I prefer the vocals on the Helios, and for extended listening, the treble is more pleasant.
Fitment, I have always found the DT 990s to be too tight. Iāve had them for about 2 years now as my daily drivers and their clamp never really loosened up for me. I find the Helios to be far more comfortable.
Honestly Iād put them at a pretty even level, and with the helios being easier to drive and less fatiguing, theyāre my new daily drivers.
If you have anything you specifically want me to compare them with Iād be happy to, to the best of my ability.
First off thats sweet thanks for chiming in and welcome to Hifiguides.
hmm, first off fitment wise you can actually stretch the band a little bit to release that clamping pressure. If you didnāt stretch them out of the box they can be fairly snug and in some cases like mine cause clamping force on the jaw line I would definitely look into ways of doing this to make it more comfortable for you. Havenāt been able to buy the helios juuust yet. Personally, I didnāt have that issue with the dt 990 pros as far as bass, while it definitely was very airy and light sounding on all spectrums of sound. The DT 990 naturally have a very large sound stage and due to the V signature makes them ideal in competitives. Honestly, after I switched to 600 ohms it definitely tightened up the V signature especially on the treble and tonality. treble became a lot better and it had a much more present bass now that I think about it so you could try there however, I did have some harsh clamp force in the premiums(though I have a larger head and large ears others have reported premiums are much more comfortable). After I switched to the Liquid Spark and 600 ohms the headphone really did come to life for me so your amp could also play an important part here, if possible I would say try alternative amps even if you can maybe go to some audio stores and try them for yourself.
Lastly, I did want to say thank you for the comparison. It was really nice to hear the difference between these two and I do look forward, now more so, to trying this headphone for myself later this year. I will say I am slightly shocked you find another headphone more comfortable than these as they are easily my top favorite pick for comfort right now so itās piqued my interest quite a bit and I was already sold on itās overall design.
honestly thats about what I expected but narrower kinda putting me off but the rear imaging improvement is nice do you have a 58x or a 4xx I fid the centre imaging on them to be quite nice. and would love some sort of comparison in purely imaging .
Yeah the Beyerdynamic are great for comfort. i have the 880 and its the most comfortable headphone i have in my collection. You say the 990 sound light and airy. does that also translate into thin sounding? thats one of the things i dont like about the 880ās and the reason iāll probably sell them. Sounded like they lack body. The Helios doesnt have that and has a very nice bass slam.
Well the thing about the soundstage is it can sound close and it can sound big too. it tends to get that from the music i think. very nice the way it does that
yes that would translate to thin. DT 990s has the worst thinning of the sound of the 3. Itās definitely noticeable as soon as you turn them on. Not to say their bad but its an acquired taste. Personally adore the 1990s over it cause it fixes that issue. 880s were niceā¦ but at the time I was looking form something involving competitive gaming and those definitely were not it though I will give it to that headphone for being a great all rounder despite also sounding thin. I think the best between those 3 if you want a general headphone is the 770s while being U shaped it didnt sound as thin as the other two did and the 177x just made it a hell of a lot better same with the 1990s. Though to be fair i never tried the T1 or i think it as the T5 being the other closed back heard treble issues were involved on those though. Good to hear it sounds like the helios is a strong alternative to a dt 990
I think theyāre worth the $130 I paid, and maybe up to around $200 max. Soā¦fairly priced, I guess. I donāt really have anything like them in the treble region, so the detail is a bit more in your face and easier to pick out than something equal or superior in technicality, but smoother or more laid back in the treble.
too much treble/harsh high mids causing it to sound incredibly bright and slightly tin sounding in some cases borderline sibilant or flat out sibilant comes into play here as well due to excessive treble. Wasnāt as thin sounding after I fixed up the dt 990s and the 600 ohm is definitely a hefty improvement on itās trebleā¦ like I have said several timesā¦ 600 ohm dt 990 with its liquid spark amp definitely tweaks it to be very manageable and makes it sound imo correctly as it should.
I tend to agreeā¦ I ordered a set from Drop 2 months agoā¦ No sign of them yetā¦ I thought of cancelling but may wait and if I do not like them at allā¦ I will sell them to somebody I feel the same way aboutā¦ Lol!
Those people are just crazy. Or they hadnāt given it burnin time like Kamigoroshi. Or maybe they dont like aggressive headphones. Anyway theres not that many showing up for resale
