From what I know there are a few high end stores in germany that have higher end headphones you can try out, the best judge of value would be yourself. Although with the current situation you will most likely have to wait to go try out stuff
What keywords do I have to type in on google maps to find such stores?
Can you also show me an example store in Germany?
Personally I canât really give you good examples, perhaps @Martin_Lesch or @German_Power would know of some good examples. I would look up the headphones you want to listen to, and try and locate some dealers listed on the manufactures site and see if they will let you demo the products
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Thanks, I went to the Focal Clear product page and I could locate the shops! Luckily, a shop is relatively nearby (~70min car ride) and will test it.
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Yes, for what you want, I would really look around and see what you can try, that way you can really determine how much you want to spend and what you plan to spend it on 
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Make sure you have with you and will be allowed to use music you are very accustomed to listening to. Also make sure the Clears will be connected to a good amp. And of course the Covid situation may complicate matters.
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I have a RNHP and a Hifiman Arya. I know your worried about build but at this level i dont think you need to worry. Also ive bought 3 Hifiman products and never had a problem. The RNHP 500$ is a excellent amp and will work well with the Clears.
But the Arya is considered great price to performance. Everyone seem to love it. Joshua Valor says its the best headphones hes ever heard. I chat on Zeos telegram chat and everyone there is crazy for it. Its an amazing headphone with great depth, has a lot of soundstage. is very similiar to the DT1990 and has huge drivers. Biggest planars around which give it a great presentation. Very comfortable too although the cups are large egg shape. I got mine off ebay used for 1100$
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I do like using my clears with the rnhp, itâs pretty nice
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diminishing returns, price to performance ratio and eqâing the beyers because of the treble. try buying the Koss KSC75, best price to performance ratio you will find, treble that is never too sibilant and no diminishing return lol
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Do you have personal experience with Koss KSC75 and DT1990? Can you compare them in terms of sound quality? How is the sound stage and imaging?
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Just realised that you are probably joking around.
I wrote that I would like to have a higher tier headphone with good price to performance ratio.
You are recommending me the Koss KSC75 which is priced 30âŹ.
Just in case if you are being serious, can you explain me why you think the KSC75 is higher tier than DT1990 in sound quality?
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The RNHP are available in Germany. Im trying to compare Arya to Clear.
The direct upgrade of the DT1990 would be the Focal Clear.
It seems that the Arya is warmer than Clear.
Joshua said the midrange of the Arya is forward but somehow transparent.
I fear its too forward for me, bc I had the HD58X and it sounded claustrophobic.
The bass if the Arya is warmish.
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Well i havent heard the Clear myself. but from the reviews i thought the Clear would be warmer to the Arya. The Arya has a lot of treble. Thats why i compared it to the DT1990. I think it may be the other way around from what your perceiving. @M0N should be able to tell us. he had them both
Also the sound stage on the Arya is very wide. i dont think the midrange will be to foward
Not all mid-range forward as a sound signature is created equal. The 58x is mid forward and has a very intimate soundstage, with the sound seeming to originate inside your head. Comparatively, something like the Arya is wider, giving more depth to the field of sound, so something could sound like it came from across the room, but can still have more mid (vocal) presence.
While likely it was a joke, the price to performance of the Koss stuff like KSC75, PortaPro, and KPH30i really canât be beat.
In the price range youâre looking at, the price to performance in pure sound quality per dollar may have already peaked, but overall quality/value doesnât have to. ZMFâs stuff for example, the sound quality is top shelf, but youâre also paying for a wearable work of art thatâs super comfortable as well.
The Quality of these headphones always struck me as strange. its not like its an over ear with lots of filters and materials to give it the sound it has. Yet its very impressive. Nice to have this in a light portable headphone. I wish Koss would get into making a high end over ear headphone. they certainly got the drivers for it.
Try the HEDDphone, if you want a direct upgrade with wide stage.
Projekt Akustik. De is a very good german online store.
You can get it there for 1699 Euro. Minus 50, if you subscribe to the newsletter
Available in mayâŚ
Heâs not actually recommending the KSC75. Just that it beats the DT1990 in terms of price to performance. As many others have said, price to performance ratio is not a good metric for higher tier headphones because lower tiers will always win.
Letâs just say we give headphone scores out of 100 on quality (just as an example as this doesnât reflect the real world). If a pair of $20 KSC75 are a 65 out of 100. And the $450 DT1990 is 85 out of 100. And the $600 Focal Elex is 95 out of 100. The price to performance ratio of the items would be as follows.
- KSC75 @ 3.25 quality points per dollar spent
- DT1990 @ 0.1889 quality points per dollar spent
- Focal Elex @ 0.1583 quality points per dollar spent
But yeah the DT1990 will be way better than the KSC75 in terms of actual build and sound quality. But Koss makes great price to performance headphones. The quality while lower than a lot of higher priced items, is amazing for the price.
And yeah as others have said, you wonât get a similar price to performance ratio as you go up. Itâs just mathematically impossible. You just want a higher tier headphone at a good price. Iâd still think of a price limit as a start (You wouldnât spend for example $60,000 on a pair of headphones i.e. Sennheiser HE-1). Go over options like: open or closed headphones; at a desk or portable; importance of power efficiency; importance of soundstage; importance of imaging; desired frequency response; etc. Then you can go over the headphones that fit these criteria and eliminate those that are regarded as a lesser tier headphone. Then find the one that gives the most performance for the price at the end (which will generally be the cheapest option of those left).
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I agree with M0N here. EQing generally worsens sound quality and can even cause clipping if you are raising certain frequencies. You are better off finding a headphone that naturally makes the response you like.
Also the Harman Target is not necessarily the best frequency curve for you. It can be if thatâs what you like. But the Harman Target is simply the average preferred listening frequency response across a good sample size of listeners. Itâs important for headphone manufacturers because it can gauge the average level of acceptance when sold to the population at large. However, individuals can prefer vastly different frequency responses.
Kind of like this, if you ask a population at large how they like their steak cooked. Medium is the most preferred option on average. However, I like my steak rare. My mother prefers herâs well done. Individually, we have different tastes. But if someone is going to make a bunch of people steak without knowing their exact preference, chances are that the steak will be best received statistically if he goes for medium⌠Forgive the food analogy, itâs 3am and I am fighting the urge to eat a early morning snack.
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All the Stores are closed right now.
Try to call them bevorhand and asks if they actually have the Headphone in Stock. I wouldnât trust the Website.