Took a gamble on Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 ohm. Have I been pranked?

[cryophonik]

Gear manufacturers don't spend $1 even on circuit for phones. It's not the product. I talked to Focusrite, and they did not even have specs for phones out on the TwinTrak Pro I had.

Good preamps, good setup with direct monitoring and a spdif for output. But no effort on phones part.

I don't even use phones out on any gear since then. I route line outs through patch bay to a Mackie Onyx mixer. Sounds good, real amount of volume as needed. A Yamaha drum module phones out does not have power to hear over hits on pads acoustically etc.

Yeah, that's been my experience, too. I've had almost no luck finding the specs (e.g., impedance) on headphones outputs for most audio interfaces, and most of the ones I've tried/owned in the past could not even come close to adequately driving my DT880s (600 ohm version). Whenever I tried, I had to peg the headphone output at max and could still hear ambient sounds (e.g., TV in the next room) over the music and they sounded pretty much the way the OP has experienced - i.e., tinny, harsh, and a very notable lack of bass frequencies.

I'm now using an Apollo X6 and Twin X, which surprisingly do power them quite well, but still not as well as my Drawmer MC2.1. There is a night/day difference in the DT880s when using an adequate headphone amp compared to a standard audio interface's headphone output, which simply are not designed to power high-impedance pro level headphones. It probably won't be as noticeable with a prosumer (e.g., 32-ohm) version, but there is a difference.

[AdvancedFollower]

600 ohms is a bit unusual, though. 250 is more common. With my DT 1770's and UMC1820, I have to turn down the Windows volume to 30% and set the physical headphone volume pot to about 30%. Anything higher and my eardrums would get blown out.

The most important thing is to get an audio interface with its own power supply rather than bus powered. Computer USB ports are usually 0.5A at 5V, which is just a trickle and not nearly enough to drive headphones.

[The Chase]

Strongly agree with everyone that headphones amps are disappointing on most mixing boards and interfaces. It's half the reason I just use my DJ mixer to control my monitors' volumes since I don't need a whole mixing board for the task and DJ mixers have monster headphone amps.

[roman.i]

I'm wondering if anyone has settled into these headphones after poor first impressions. Or if headphone break-in is a thing.

Took the plunge on these since the series been well-reviewed my whole life. To my surprise the treble is... like impossibly bad. I thought it must be faulty but I imagine a defect would only affect one driver.

Obviously the series and Beyers in general are known for being bright but I was expecting a more balanced/broad-sloped brightness and not a smeary/sibilant sharp peak at what sounds like 10khz.

Should I hear them out? Or try to sell them and crawl back to AKG?

I bought DT 770, swapped them in a store to a new pair under warranty, but they're still crap headphones. After a week decided to sell them because of the same issues.
Sold them and got Drop 6xx which are excellent.

[vitocorleone123]

I'm wondering if anyone has settled into these headphones after poor first impressions. Or if headphone break-in is a thing.

Took the plunge on these since the series been well-reviewed my whole life. To my surprise the treble is... like impossibly bad. I thought it must be faulty but I imagine a defect would only affect one driver.

Obviously the series and Beyers in general are known for being bright but I was expecting a more balanced/broad-sloped brightness and not a smeary/sibilant sharp peak at what sounds like 10khz.

Should I hear them out? Or try to sell them and crawl back to AKG?

I bought DT 770, swapped them in a store to a new pair under warranty, but they're still crap headphones. After a week decided to sell them because of the same issues.
Sold them and got Drop 6xx which are excellent.

If you have a rounder head and wear glasses… well, I found Sennheiser cans to hurt. Totally unusable for me.

It’s not just about frequency response.

I can wear the DT880s for hours until I give my ears a break. Comfort is never an issue. The clamps on them broke, though, and I had to order replacements.

[i need Help]

I'd personally never buy headphones without trying them out.

Neither would I if I had the choice. Texas has strict laws regarding headphones though. No trying them out and no returns.

The only places I've seen where you can just walk in and try out headphones are high-end boutique stores, not sure if they have special licenses or just eat the fines.

Sounds like you went to Guitar Center or some other music store lol? I was using the ol’ “Texas Law” trick back in 2010 when you think someone is on the fence and might return a mic/headphones/in-ear monitors/etc., or worse if you know from past experience that they essentially rent gear (ie buy, use, then return it).

The only law you’d be breaking is the “You’re screwing with my commission and paycheck” law, a capital offense in Texas lol.

“FYI due to Texas health laws, there’s no returns on this.” then you type a note on the receipt “Informed customer of health law” lol.

Also from an inventory POV you now gotta sell it open box at a blow-out price otherwise they'll sit there collecting dust.

[Constructed Identity]

Yea, hole lotta BS in this thread... Don't listen to anyone without personal experience.
I went from AKG headphones to this set a few years ago based upon comfort and trial (and price). The things I read said you are supposed to break them in for the treble specifically so I left them for ...I can't remember how long now... sit with music on. It must have worked because I still use these cans today and IMHO they are a decent all-around headphone.

[The Chase]

It's not BS, we all just perceive sound very differently. I'm not trying to call anyone's baby ugly here, I was just really surprised at the output of these. I'm a young autist weirdo with baby-ears who bought the wrong set of cans, life goes on. They're obviously still very nice and certainly far better work has been done through them then I could ever do.

[vitocorleone123]

Beyers are made for people over 45 or otherwise people with hearing damage in the upper treble. There are ways to mitigate it (certain headphone amps, EQ, pad wear, ear anatomy) but might as well just move on.

The DT-880 are supposed to be one of the more neutral beyers, and timbre-wise it still makes a saxophone sound like something straight out of 'Alien'.

Nope

[canadian_moose]

The 880’s are the ones you want for mixing duties.
The sonar works review backs this up:

https://www.sonarworks.com/blog/reviews ... view#price

[n9research]

Anyone dissatisfied with the sound of their cans should look into setting up an EQ profile before spending a bunch of cash. I use MFreeformEqualizer/VST3, but there are many other ways to do it. That's the reason I still use a 25 year old pair of HD580 (tricked-out with quality third-party lambskin earpads and a lambskin ZMF Pilot Pad), with zero desire to upgrade, regardless of price.

[t3toooo]

I sold the 990 Pro and bought both the 900 Pro X and the 700 Pro X

[SHall1000]

I sold the 990 Pro and bought both the 900 Pro X and the 700 Pro X

Why both?
How do they compare?

[t3toooo]

The 900 is open ( for mixing and mastering ) and the 700 is closed ( for recording/tracking )
Closed headphones are usually more direct= more air pressure but for longer sessions a open headphone is lighter on the ears. Also, the 900 isn't a headphone for listening loud
( although its possible ). With the 900 I always listen and work with low volume because that's giving me the best results.