I’m a composer primarily using headphones for work (writing and mixing music on them). I currently have a pair of HD 6xx, but I’m looking for a second pair that compliments them and potentially exposes weaknesses in my mixes that the 6xx aren’t catching.
Budget of around $500, currently considering:
DT 1990 Pro (or 990 pro?)
HiFiMan Sundara (little worried about QC issues though)
Audeze LCD-1
Any advice or other recs?
For studio, I think the 1990 pro or lcd 1 would be great picks imo, the 6xx is also actually a pretty good tool to check timbre and naturalness since it’s well known for that. What amp have you been using so far? And what type of music are you working with? Also what do you feel you are missing with the 6xx?
Currently using a UAD Apollo 8. So not a dedicated headphone amp, but the headphone outs have enough juice to power the 6xx without issue.
I wouldn’t say there’s something I’m missing with the 6xx, more just looking for something different so I hear my mixes from a new perspective. Similar to taking a mix to your car and hearing new problems in it.
My music has a pretty wide range. Anywhere from orchestral, to indie/ambient stuff with guitars, synths, and drums, to even big battle music. Varying dynamic ranges and instrumentation overall honestly.
Gotcha, then perhaps I would consider the 1990 as that will be a fair bit more impressive for spatial recreation than something like the lcd 1, it’s also going to be brighter neutral as well (with the analytical pads). The lcd 1 is good but imo I’m not sure if it’s what you are looking for.
The apollo 8 has pretty solid headphone outs so you should be fine
A lot of reviewers highly recommend the 1990 as studio headphones. I’d think they’d compliment the 6XX intimate warm neutral sig with their wide bright neutral sig. kind of opposites in someways
Hands down 1990 Pro. Different enough from 6XX, also they can play from pretty much every source better or worse cuz Tesla.
Thanks for the advice! Do we like the 1990s more than the 990s? I had someone tell me the 990s were warmer and have a wider dynamic range, is that true?
First of all 1990 is not an upgrade of 990.
They are completely different pair of headphones.
990 Pro is W-shaped, pretty amount of subbass, dropped mids and bumped treble.
1990 Pro are pretty damn flat with specific to Beyerdynamic treble spike.
So the 990 might have more naturally elevated subbass but I wouldn’t call it warm (although it depends on the impedance), its more of a v shaped headphone. The dynamic range thing is confusing because I would say it would depend on the impedance version but dynamics wise they are roughly similar from a good amp imo. The 1990 is more detailed and also better capable to recreate a space, and is a faster headphone with better separation too imo. The signature is more neutral bright with some extra energy in the treble that might bother some people as sibilant but imo that’s not my experience with them, but they don’t share the same tuning as the 990. Also overall build is better on the 1990 with also a detach cable, and comfort is around the same as the 990. I think if someone likes the 990 they will most likely enjoy the 1990 and see it as an overall upgrade but I don’t think it’s a direct upgrade, they are different headphones (but some aspects are similar like the beyer treble throughout most of the models)