Finally got my Beyerdynamic DT990 (56K warning!)

[Proton 0]

Wonder what will be the sound diff between 990/250ohm & 990/32ohm

 

Drooling over the 990 liao?

[Tristram 0]

Hi ralli`fto, your posts coupled with Mackie's in depth reviews (Many thanks!) have led me to to finally go test the Beyers @ Jaben, and thanks to Uncle Wilson's impeccable patience and service, I have got myself the DT990.

 

I initially tested the DT880 and found it very, very good, and was eager to see how the DT990 can top that... somehow, the new set of DT990 just did not sound right when I tried it on... using various sources, hiss and all, one side no sound... but when uncle Wilson went about and got a 2nd new set and I tried, I felt the oomph in the Celine Dion's tracks melting me. I just had to get it, My Precious. And btw, I am getting a LD2+ from the 4th MO. Just my worries about the tubes becos sometimes kids run around in my room, as I have a PC with games. I had wanted to try out the amps like Go-vibes V5, Icute, little country.. w/o the exposed tubes, but too short of time today.

 

Hi Qsilver, I found out I more deaf or the vol not as "power" on my LDM+ becos I have it at 3 -4 o'clock to appreciate the 250ohms.

 

Many thanks to Genocide too whom I'm glad to meet with, that I got to try the Grado 225i & the Hornet and Supermini 3 amps from. Really nice to know you and uncle Wilson today.

[ralli`fto 0]

Hi Tristram, so glad that my post was able to assist you in making a decision. I'm also pairing it with the LD2+ and it sounds good. Dun think those portable amps would be able to drive the DT990s properly unless you got the 32ohm set. Maybe you'll have to place the LD2+ away from your kids as it does get quite hot to touch. I guess you're enjoying your new PRECIOUS at the moment. Hope you're loving it as much as I do.

[zhapchit 0]

I almost bought the 990 also.. I was testing it with the Diana Krall live CD

And I nearly ordered it through BHphoto when they had the special price.

It's hard to resist it ...

 

 

Anyway... how about getting the XiangSheng 708? no exposed tubes... but it does get a bit hot after a while.

[Tristram 0]

I almost bought the 990 also.. I was testing it with the Diana Krall live CD

And I nearly ordered it through BHphoto when they had the special price.

It's hard to resist it ...

Anyway... how about getting the XiangSheng 708? no exposed tubes... but it does get a bit hot after a while.

 

Wat happened??? for your "almost and nearly"

 

Btw, I got the one with the lourves. The same tt ralli`fto got. No regrets as I am driving my LDM+ crazy with it.

 

I would love to try it, but dun seem to see any posting of MO or offer of it. And it seemed that tube amps need some technical know-how about DIY... I only know how to listen to music and songs. I may explore the chance of seeing/trying the XS708 if I were to go HK sometime not so soon. Or do you know of any good lobang?

 

U a nightbird too, huh?

 

Cheers,

Tristram

 

[Qsilver 0]

when uncle Wilson went about and got a 2nd new set and I tried, I felt the oomph in the Celine Dion's tracks melting me. I just had to get it, My Precious.

 

Hi Qsilver, I found out I more deaf or the vol not as "power" on my LDM+ becos I have it at 3 -4 o'clock to appreciate the 250ohms.

 

 

Yes DT990 sounds sweet isn't it?

If LDM+ can drive those nice DT990 thot not enuf juice, imagine if its a more powerful amp...

 

DT990 will be my next .... right after i get my "****" phone.

[zer061zer0 0]

Wat happened??? for your "almost and nearly"

 

Btw, I got the one with the lourves. The same tt ralli`fto got. No regrets as I am driving my LDM+ crazy with it.

 

I would love to try it, but dun seem to see any posting of MO or offer of it. And it seemed that tube amps need some technical know-how about DIY... I only know how to listen to music and songs. I may explore the chance of seeing/trying the XS708 if I were to go HK sometime not so soon. Or do you know of any good lobang?

 

U a nightbird too, huh?

 

Cheers,

Tristram

 

Might be interested to sell mine...

Convince me to...kekekekee

 

[zhapchit 0]

Wat happened??? for your "almost and nearly"

 

Btw, I got the one with the lourves. The same tt ralli`fto got. No regrets as I am driving my LDM+ crazy with it.

 

I would love to try it, but dun seem to see any posting of MO or offer of it. And it seemed that tube amps need some technical know-how about DIY... I only know how to listen to music and songs. I may explore the chance of seeing/trying the XS708 if I were to go HK sometime not so soon. Or do you know of any good lobang?

 

U a nightbird too, huh?

 

Cheers,

Tristram

 

The price. I got a 2nd hand Senn HD580 instead. Maybe one day i will tempted by the DT990 again

Not really that much DIY needed. Mostly tube rolling? Well it's like changing a light bulb

 

If have chance can let you try my XS708, then i can try ur 990 with my XS also

 

Yup. Night time is the best time to listen to music

 

By the way, when i use the LDM+ to drive my 300ohm HD580, usually it's between 10-12 oclock position, in a quiet room though.

 

[Tristram 0]

Hi Tristram, so glad that my post was able to assist you in making a decision. I'm also pairing it with the LD2+ and it sounds good. Dun think those portable amps would be able to drive the DT990s properly unless you got the 32ohm set. Maybe you'll have to place the LD2+ away from your kids as it does get quite hot to touch. I guess you're enjoying your new PRECIOUS at the moment. Hope you're loving it as much as I do.

 

Hi, guess I'll stick to the buy as cannot afford to stretch the spending too much so soon... btw, the kids are my nephew and niece. They do come on weekends or holidays as I am at their grannies place. The LDM+ drives the phones ok at about 3 o'clock position for me for the Celine Dion songs. Like the super transparency, openess and soundstage of this phone. I found that closed cans do not suit me and IEMs give me some symptoms of claustrophobia.

 

Do they really have a 32ohms set for DT990? Will those be as good at that impedance?

 

Ya man, luving MY PRECIOUS every second of it. Sama sama. Hahaha....

 

Wow, so many nightbirds here.

 

Cheers,

Tristram

 

 

[zhapchit 0]

i remember seeing the 32ohms version of 770 880 and 990 at meier-audio's website. http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/

[Qsilver 0]

Yup, they have 32/250/600ohm for DT770/880/990

But more expensive ...

Edited September 15, 2006 by Qsilver

[Mackie 0]

If you have an amp with ample power output, stick to the higher impedance versions of Beyer as the slew rate/damping factor is better than low impedance ones. However, the 32ohm option is ideal if one wishes to drive direct from portable source. Actually, I find that a portable PA2V2 drives 250ohm Beyer cans rather well but of course, a desk top amp will drive these cans better.

Edited September 18, 2006 by Mackie

[Tristram 0]

If you have an amp with ample power output, stick to the higher impedance versions of Beyer as the slew factor is better than low impedance ones. However, the 32ohm option is ideal if one wishes to drive direct from portable source. Actually, I find that a portable PA2V2 drives 250ohm Beyer cans rather well but of course, a desk top amp will drive these cans better.

 

Hi Mackie, Thanks for your advices here and everywhere. I have been reading them and learnt much from them. But may I know what is "slew factor" you mentioned? Me really limited audio-knowledge, sorry.

 

I really enjoy the new cans even though it does not accomodate my specs very well when wearing... comfortable as it is. I am surprised tt my 32ohms Senns 495 Silver needs to be driven as much as this 250ohm Beyer flagship to dish out decent music (at 3-4 o'clock position on the poor LDM+ too) due to its actual sensitivity being low @91dB/mW rather than what Senns stated on the specs). Of course the 495 is rather a mid-fi can only, but it is much lighter being all plastic, and just as comfortable and still enjoyable enough to keep since not much resale value anyway. Currently I use my Panny SL-CT 720 or my Akira DVD 2105 player as source, both needs the only amp I got until my LD2+ from the current 4th MO , I do not see much desktop amp as economic as the MO price for LD2+ at moment. Saw posts of the PA2V2 and wonder if I should get that some time in future or the Go Vibe V5 from Uncle Wilson. I am also keen on the cute and nice form factor of the Firestone Amps like iCute and the Little Country, but not now as the budget taken for the Beyer cans. Hopefully can manage to fork out for a better source soon.

 

Cheers,

Tristram

[Qsilver 0]

32ohm is good on the go, if amp batt give up halfway.

Still can use it thru headphone out.

[Mackie 0]

Hi Mackie, Thanks for your advices here and everywhere. I have been reading them and learnt much from them. But may I know what is "slew rate/damping factor" you mentioned?

 

 

Definitions

Slew rate: is a measure of an amplifier's ability to follow its input signal. The term is used to define the maximum rate of change of an amplifier's output voltage with respect to its input voltage. The unit of measure is volts per microsecond. To put it in more technical terms, Slew Rate is nothing more than a term used to describe how quickly the potential on a circuit node must change with respect to time. As far as slew rate having an effect on perceived sound, the real issue is slew rate limiting, which relates to an amplifier's ability to pass complex waveforms without clipping them, resulting in an open musical sound. Slew rate is measured by feeding an input signal that is too fast for the amplifier to cope with. So slew rate is an overload condition, and it should not happen at all for an audio amplifier.

 

Slew rate essentially addresses the amplifier's ability to pass high frequencies, where waveforms are very fast in "risetime." Slew rate is determined by the total impedance of the speaker, which we hope is something close to the 4 or 8 ohms written on it, with the added resistance of the speaker cable, divided by the output impedance of the amp.

 

The output impedance of modern amplifiers is low, often tenths of an ohm or even lower. Because the slew rate is the speaker impedance plus wire resistance divided by amplifier's actual output impedance, this can give you slew rates into the hundreds, sometimes even in the thousands.

 

Damping factor: which is load impedance divided by amplifier output impedance. If the speaker impedance is 8 Ohms, and the amplifier output impedance is 0.01 Ohms, the damping factor is 800. That's a simplification. The lower the amplifier's output impedance or the higher the impedance load, the higher the damping factor, and the tighter the sound is. A damping factor of 1000 or greater is considered high. As you might suspect, damping factor is most important at low frequencies, say 10 Hz to 400Hz. High damping factor equals tight bass.

 

Excerpts from the following sites:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:mq4Rji...us&ct=clnk&cd=5

 

http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/wir...-08.15.01.shtml

Edited September 18, 2006 by Mackie