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[PA] DT990 Pro, HD58x or Fidelio X2HR?

RonnieV
Go to solution Solved by rice guru,

For a pure gaming standpoint the 990 or the 58x wins. The 990 has the treble spikes yes but they help with locating footsteps or other details in games. Imaging with them are excellent like other beyerdynamic headphones with a wide soundstage giving you a very accurate placement where they are I play a lot of siege and this isy choise as say I'm playing anchor and defending a point a wide soundstage can help priotise and angle over being overwhelmed with sound  cues. The 58x is a more intimate headphone but imaging is excellent. It's very good when you need to know which direction to look at right away in a fast game like quake or black ops 4 where anyone can pop out of anywhere. 

 

The Fidelios a re great of games where you want complete emmersion wide soundstage very musical headphone for soundtracks. Not enough treble and too much bass for competitive. Imaging which is more important than soundstage is the weakest out of the 3 headphones. Instead of highlighting footsteps you get more explosions and your own gunshots

DT990 pro vs Sennheiser HD58x vs Fidelio X2HR  

12 members have voted

  1. 1. DT990 pro vs Sennheiser HD58x vs Fidelio X2HR

    • DT990 pro
      7
    • Sennheiser HD58x
      4
    • Fidelio X2HR
      1


Hi everyone

 

TL;DR: Which one is better for in game imaging (footsteps etc) and sometimes hip hop music (I already have headphones specifically for bass), I don't have an amp but DT990's are only 100EUR here so I could get one if I buy those. If you can't / don't want to reply, please vote in the poll :)

 

As you can tell by the title I'm trying to figure out what headphones I should buy. I've done a lot of research and the headphones in the title are the ones that match my preferences the best. I need headphones that I mainly use for gaming, being able to hear footsteps in cs:go or games like that is vital to me. Listening to music is still important but less so than being able to detect footsteps in game. I mostly listen to hip hop but bass isn't as important for this headset since I already own a pair of sony MDR xb950n1's that I use for listening to music. 

 

I have used the sennheiser 559's and I didn't like the sound of them tbh, I couldn't quite pinpoint the exact things that were missing but it felt like it had shitty clarity and maybe a weird sounding bass. I don't know if that matters because the HD58x's probably sound completely different but I thought I'd mention it.

 

I don't know if it's necessary but I've put a poll up as well in case some people want to chime in but don't feel like typing a reply.

 

Thanks in advance guys, I appreciate it!

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For gaming, I would go for the X2HRs. They have the widest soundstage, but all three are fine for casual/semi-competitive gaming. As for music, personally I would go for either the HD58x or X2HR. The DT990s have mediocre bass and mids, with a harsh, very bright treble which may be difficult to listen to.

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For a pure gaming standpoint the 990 or the 58x wins. The 990 has the treble spikes yes but they help with locating footsteps or other details in games. Imaging with them are excellent like other beyerdynamic headphones with a wide soundstage giving you a very accurate placement where they are I play a lot of siege and this isy choise as say I'm playing anchor and defending a point a wide soundstage can help priotise and angle over being overwhelmed with sound  cues. The 58x is a more intimate headphone but imaging is excellent. It's very good when you need to know which direction to look at right away in a fast game like quake or black ops 4 where anyone can pop out of anywhere. 

 

The Fidelios a re great of games where you want complete emmersion wide soundstage very musical headphone for soundtracks. Not enough treble and too much bass for competitive. Imaging which is more important than soundstage is the weakest out of the 3 headphones. Instead of highlighting footsteps you get more explosions and your own gunshots

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2 hours ago, rice guru said:

For a pure gaming standpoint the 990 or the 58x wins. The 990 has the treble spikes yes but they help with locating footsteps or other details in games. Imaging with them are excellent like other beyerdynamic headphones with a wide soundstage giving you a very accurate placement where they are I play a lot of siege and this isy choise as say I'm playing anchor and defending a point a wide soundstage can help priotise and angle over being overwhelmed with sound  cues. The 58x is a more intimate headphone but imaging is excellent. It's very good when you need to know which direction to look at right away in a fast game like quake or black ops 4 where anyone can pop out of anywhere. 

 

The Fidelios a re great of games where you want complete emmersion wide soundstage very musical headphone for soundtracks. Not enough treble and too much bass for competitive. Imaging which is more important than soundstage is the weakest out of the 3 headphones. Instead of highlighting footsteps you get more explosions and your own gunshots

Thanks Rice this reply is exactly what I needed! I do have a question though, what do you mean when you say the 58x's have a more intimate sound? Is the imaging and details more narrow than the dt990's? Thanks!

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7 hours ago, yalox said:

For gaming, I would go for the X2HRs. They have the widest soundstage, but all three are fine for casual/semi-competitive gaming. As for music, personally I would go for either the HD58x or X2HR. The DT990s have mediocre bass and mids, with a harsh, very bright treble which may be difficult to listen to.

This is so confusing, some people say the Fidelio's have the better soundstaging, some say they don't really have THAT good of a soundstage. It's like I can't find a definitive answer lol. I guess it is kind of subjective, I'll have to find a place to test the headphones myself. Too bad we don't have those in Belgium. Thanks for the reply!

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52 minutes ago, RonnieV said:

This is so confusing, some people say the Fidelio's have the better soundstaging, some say they don't really have THAT good of a soundstage. It's like I can't find a definitive answer lol. I guess it is kind of subjective, I'll have to find a place to test the headphones myself. Too bad we don't have those in Belgium. Thanks for the reply!

The soundstage is good the imaging and tuning are the problem they are not as good as the other 2

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1 hour ago, RonnieV said:

Thanks Rice this reply is exactly what I needed! I do have a question though, what do you mean when you say the 58x's have a more intimate sound? Is the imaging and details more narrow than the dt990's? Thanks!

When I say intimate I mean the soundstage and presentation is closer like everything sounds closer to you . The 990 Nas a wide soundstage but can also make things sound close to you when they need to be which to me is more Important than just wide. The 58x will make most things sound closer as that is how it presents it like there are fewer layers around you where sou d can be placed where with the 990 there are more layers there isore space around you where it can be placed. Sort of like if you were listening to a band the 990 makes things sound like your on stage and you can hear instruments all around you but if you were a 58x it's sounds as though you are the mic

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56 minutes ago, rice guru said:

When I say intimate I mean the soundstage and presentation is closer like everything sounds closer to you . The 990 Nas a wide soundstage but can also make things sound close to you when they need to be which to me is more Important than just wide. The 58x will make most things sound closer as that is how it presents it like there are fewer layers around you where sou d can be placed where with the 990 there are more layers there isore space around you where it can be placed. Sort of like if you were listening to a band the 990 makes things sound like your on stage and you can hear instruments all around you but if you were a 58x it's sounds as though you are the mic

So for both music and gaming you would pick the dt990 pro's over the HD58x's? I do really like it when I can tell the synths apart from the vocals and stuff. Also what amp would you recommend for the dt990's? I heard the creative sound blaster can drive them well https://www.amazon.de/Soundkarte-Doppelmikrofon-Array-konfigurierbare-Studio-Audiotechnologien-600-Ohm-Kopfhörerverstärker/dp/B00F8VB0IW/ref=pd_aw_sbs_147_1/262-1603851-0107618?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00F8VB0IW&pd_rd_r=697a99a5-c9a1-4e84-b8e0-cd44ee203d71&pd_rd_w=hTgWO&pd_rd_wg=ApaZi&pf_rd_p=ecf0cb80-06b1-4598-85b1-6d77c4f95871&pf_rd_r=XNWCHX2E4SDV2CXXK9FV&psc=1&refRID=XNWCHX2E4SDV2CXXK9FV

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1 hour ago, RonnieV said:

So for both music and gaming you would pick the dt990 pro's over the HD58x's? I do really like it when I can tell the synths apart from the vocals and stuff. Also what amp would you recommend for the dt990's? I heard the creative sound blaster can drive them well https://www.amazon.de/Soundkarte-Doppelmikrofon-Array-konfigurierbare-Studio-Audiotechnologien-600-Ohm-Kopfhörerverstärker/dp/B00F8VB0IW/ref=pd_aw_sbs_147_1/262-1603851-0107618?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00F8VB0IW&pd_rd_r=697a99a5-c9a1-4e84-b8e0-cd44ee203d71&pd_rd_w=hTgWO&pd_rd_wg=ApaZi&pf_rd_p=ecf0cb80-06b1-4598-85b1-6d77c4f95871&pf_rd_r=XNWCHX2E4SDV2CXXK9FV&psc=1&refRID=XNWCHX2E4SDV2CXXK9FV

Well that depends on the music you listen to. 

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2 hours ago, RonnieV said:

Also what amp would you recommend for the dt990's? I heard the creative sound blaster can drive them well 

Have several friends, who upgraded from that soundcard to a Schiit/Fiio amp. So, I would give it a miss.

 

Personally, I have X2HR-s and for gaming, I would go for DT990s. Sure, X2s are better all rounders, but lack precision needed in shooters. X2s are more comfortable than either one tho. 

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3 hours ago, rice guru said:

Well that depends on the music you listen to. 

I mostly listen to hip hop, the thing is that I can get the dt990's and a relatively cheap amp for 10 or 15 EUR more than the HD58x's without an amp. My on board sound card is garbage so I don't know if that matters, people say the HD58x's don't need an amp so idk really. 

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2 hours ago, PriitM said:

Have several friends, who upgraded from that soundcard to a Schiit/Fiio amp. So, I would give it a miss.

 

Personally, I have X2HR-s and for gaming, I would go for DT990s. Sure, X2s are better all rounders, but lack precision needed in shooters. X2s are more comfortable than either one tho. 

I've used crappy plastic "gamer headphones" for ages so I can handle a little bit less comfortability. The most important thing is being able to precisely locate people on fps shooters.

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1 hour ago, RonnieV said:

I mostly listen to hip hop, the thing is that I can get the dt990's and a relatively cheap amp for 10 or 15 EUR more than the HD58x's without an amp. My on board sound card is garbage so I don't know if that matters, people say the HD58x's don't need an amp so idk really. 

 I personally prefer my hip hop on the 990 or fidelio just cause of the bass. ofr the 990 though the fx audio dac x6 should be enough but it's more worth the money if you can buy like a schiit heresy or a fiio k5 pro to power them 

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1 hour ago, rice guru said:

 I personally prefer my hip hop on the 990 or fidelio just cause of the bass. ofr the 990 though the fx audio dac x6 should be enough but it's more worth the money if you can buy like a schiit heresy or a fiio k5 pro to power them 

Okay thanks! Would you pick the fx audio dac over the fiio e10k? They are the same price and I see a lot of people talking about it.

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18 minutes ago, RonnieV said:

Okay thanks! Would you pick the fx audio dac over the fiio e10k? They are the same price and I see a lot of people talking about it.

I would.  if you want the 250 ohm model the fx audio just has more power and similar performance DAC wise 

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5 minutes ago, rice guru said:

I would.  if you want the 250 ohm model the fx audio just has more power and similar performance DAC wise 

Okay thanks I think Im set, I'll try out the dt990's with the fx dac. If I don't like them I'll just return them and import HD58x's :) one last question kind of off topic but what do you think of "letting headphones burn in"? Is this just bs or does it genuinely help?

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1 minute ago, RonnieV said:

Okay thanks I think Im set, I'll try out the dt990's with the fx dac. If I don't like them I'll just return them and import HD58x's :) one last question kind of off topic but what do you think of "letting headphones burn in"? Is this just bs or does it genuinely help?

Depends. Science says it doesn't but I have only experienced it once in my life with my planars. But the 990 in my experience is just let your mind burn in to the signature. Give it some time listening to it.

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1 minute ago, rice guru said:

Depends. Science says it doesn't but I have only experienced it once in my life with my planars. But the 990 in my experience is just let your mind burn in to the signature. Give it some time listening to it.

Okay thanks my man, very informative and easily understandable. Really appreciate it!

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On 1/11/2020 at 2:42 AM, RonnieV said:

one last question kind of off topic but what do you think of "letting headphones burn in"? Is this just bs or does it genuinely help?

I dont see this as a factor in light cone (relative) drivers. Its more appearant on regular speakers with bigger cones/stiffer suspension/larger production variation. I have had a chance to experience PA papercone drivers side by side (brand new vs torn out of a used box). Used driver had more bass and less precision compared to a brand new one. 

 

I have not noticed any change in sound from the X2s (9 months of 2-4hrs daily)

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3 hours ago, PriitM said:

I dont see this as a factor in light cone (relative) drivers. Its more appearant on regular speakers with bigger cones/stiffer suspension/larger production variation. I have had a chance to experience PA papercone drivers side by side (brand new vs torn out of a used box). Used driver had more bass and less precision compared to a brand new one. 

 

I have not noticed any change in sound from the X2s (9 months of 2-4hrs daily)

Okay got it thanks! 

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/11/2020 at 12:42 AM, RonnieV said:

Okay thanks I think Im set, I'll try out the dt990's with the fx dac. If I don't like them I'll just return them and import HD58x's :) one last question kind of off topic but what do you think of "letting headphones burn in"? Is this just bs or does it genuinely help?

Have you received your orders? If so, what have you found?

I've been looking at the same headphones minus the HD58X - but now that has come onto the table. I ordered the DT990s and am waiting for the delivery; if I need an AMP, I'll get the FX Audio DAC-6 or whatever it's called. Like you, if I don't like them, I'll just return them and buy a different pair. Just want a heads up to what they're like if possible.

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On 1/10/2020 at 3:52 PM, rice guru said:

When I say intimate I mean the soundstage and presentation is closer like everything sounds closer to you . The 990 Nas a wide soundstage but can also make things sound close to you when they need to be which to me is more Important than just wide. The 58x will make most things sound closer as that is how it presents it like there are fewer layers around you where sou d can be placed where with the 990 there are more layers there isore space around you where it can be placed. Sort of like if you were listening to a band the 990 makes things sound like your on stage and you can hear instruments all around you but if you were a 58x it's sounds as though you are the mic

So with intimate you mean the audio is more in your head like it does closer to you?

DAC/AMPs:

Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amplifier

Headphones: Klipsch Heritage HP-3 Walnut, Meze 109 Pro, Beyerdynamic Amiron Home, Amiron Wireless Copper, Tygr 300R, DT880 600ohm Manufaktur, T90, Fidelio X2HR

CPU: Intel 4770, GPU: Asus RTX3080 TUF Gaming OC, Mobo: MSI Z87-G45, RAM: DDR3 16GB G.Skill, PC Case: Fractal Design R4 Black non-iglass, Monitor: BenQ GW2280

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Well in relation to soundstage yes I mean closer to you. You don't really get in your head with any of these headphones. Iems though  is when in your head really starts

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On 4/7/2020 at 4:35 PM, rice guru said:

Well in relation to soundstage yes I mean closer to you. You don't really get in your head with any of these headphones. Iems though  is when in your head really starts

Yeah, I noticed that on my DT770. With my both Amirons and other headphones it's not intimate. I haven't used my iem's anymore since the very first moment you recommended me the DT880 lol.

DAC/AMPs:

Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amplifier

Headphones: Klipsch Heritage HP-3 Walnut, Meze 109 Pro, Beyerdynamic Amiron Home, Amiron Wireless Copper, Tygr 300R, DT880 600ohm Manufaktur, T90, Fidelio X2HR

CPU: Intel 4770, GPU: Asus RTX3080 TUF Gaming OC, Mobo: MSI Z87-G45, RAM: DDR3 16GB G.Skill, PC Case: Fractal Design R4 Black non-iglass, Monitor: BenQ GW2280

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12 minutes ago, CTR640 said:

Yeah, I noticed that on my DT770. With my both Amirons and other headphones it's not intimate. I haven't used my iem's anymore since the very first moment you recommended me the DT880 lol.

Iems have a placein my heart for isolation adn straight up agression I love to listen to them but as much as I want them to improve soundstage wise until they do I dont think I will ever use them for gaming. 

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