Headphone upgrade

[spartaman64]

Budget - 500-1000 I'm not really sure where the diminishing returns really drop off a cliff so I'm keeping the budget a bit wide. I.E. I don't want to pay 100% more for 10% more performance.

Source - Monolith liquid spark, lg v20

Requirements for Isolation - Having isolation would be nice but only if I don't have to compromise a lot on sound.

Preferred Type of Headphone - over ear

Past headphones - I currently have a dt 990 pro and I really like it so maybe something a bit similar to them

What would you like to improve on from your set-up - More detail I guess

I prefer something that doesn't require a lot of EQ since I don't want to fiddle with EQs on my phone but I guess if its a really good pair then I guess I can just use my dt 990 pro for phone listening and the new headphones for computer listening.

 

Some headphones I considered:

beyerdyanmic T1 seems like a natural upgrade from the dt990 I also considered the dt1990 but I heard they are really similar to the dt990 and wouldn't be much of an upgrade. Some downsides is that I will probably be unable to run these on my phone and some people dislike the frequency curve of them.

LCD-2c I heard great things about these but apparently EQ is a must with them

focal clear A lot of praise for them but would stretch the budget and might not be "worth it"

hifiman ananda I heard these a good but hifiman doesn't have the best build quality so they can break.

[NinJake]

So if possible you prefer closed back headphones? What genres of music do you listen to? What do you like about the dt990 pro?

[Entropy.]

28 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

Budget - 500-1000 I'm not really sure where the diminishing returns really drop off a cliff so I'm keeping the budget a bit wide. I.E. I don't want to pay 100% more for 10% more performance.

Source - Monolith liquid spark, lg v20

Requirements for Isolation - Having isolation would be nice but only if I don't have to compromise a lot on sound.

Preferred Type of Headphone - over ear

Past headphones - I currently have a dt 990 pro and I really like it so maybe something a bit similar to them

What would you like to improve on from your set-up - More detail I guess

I prefer something that doesn't require a lot of EQ since I don't want to fiddle with EQs on my phone but I guess if its a really good pair then I guess I can just use my dt 990 pro for phone listening and the new headphones for computer listening.

What genres of music do you listen to? 
You might want to take a look at the Massdrop x Focal elex headphones. They're open-back, however, and fairly heavy. Maybe try reading this, see if you like what you read: Massdrop x Focal Elex - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org (head-fi.org)
Your liquid spark should be able to drive them, however you're running it off of a lg v20, so does that mean you're traveling? You might be able to go with something like the Focal Celestee, they should be even easier to drive, but aren't super light. Both headphones are around 420-460g iirc, the sony wh-1000xm4's are like 260g. These are closed-back, as well. These are on the higher-end of your budget, and depending on your situation might not be the best picks. Here's some reviews for the Celestee: Focal Celestee Review - Best New Closed-Back Headphone in 2021? (headphones.com)
Focal Clear MG and Celestee review - Headfonia Reviews

Obviously take those reviews with a grain of salt. These headphones are fairly neutral iirc, and don't excel in soundstage, rather they focus on imaging. These look to be very premium headphones, but might not excel in some situations. However, their sound doesn't seem to be offensive at all in any situations, and usually seem to be quite pleasing. 

 

[spartaman64]

Just now, NinJake said:

So if possible you prefer closed back headphones? What genres of music do you listen to? What do you like about the dt990 pro?

i listen to a wide variety of music but i guess EDM and jpop makes up a majority. and yes closed if possible but I know closed headphones usually have a worse sound stage etc and I rather have that. I like the detail, sound stage, and the warmer sound of the dt990

[NinJake]

2 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

i listen to a wide variety of music but i guess EDM and jpop makes up a majority. and yes closed if possible but I know closed headphones usually have a worse sound stage etc and I rather have that. I like the detail, sound stage, and the warmer sound of the dt990

I can't give any recommendations in that price range as I haven't personally tried anything. I can say the benefit of closed back headphones is you generally get a better bass response which is pretty nice for EDM. I'll leave 500-1000 dollar recommendations to others.

[Entropy.]

9 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

i listen to a wide variety of music but i guess EDM and jpop makes up a majority. and yes closed if possible but I know closed headphones usually have a worse sound stage etc and I rather have that. I like the detail, sound stage, and the warmer sound of the dt990

Okay, so you're looking for a bit of a warmer sound. There are some open backs that have good sound stage, detail, and have decent bass, off the top of my head the meze Empyrean's do that really well, except they're like $3000. I dunno, the Focal x Massdrop elex's might still work for you.The focal radiance headphones I know have pretty nice bass response (better than the celeestee's despite how on paper they look reasonably similar), but they're $1300, and are Bentley co-branded.  I'll be searching for some other headphones that might meet your criteria, I'm not sure how many are actually are out there. 

[spartaman64]

8 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

What genres of music do you listen to? 
You might want to take a look at the Massdrop x Focal elex headphones. They're open-back, however, and fairly heavy. Maybe try reading this, see if you like what you read: Massdrop x Focal Elex - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org (head-fi.org)
Your liquid spark should be able to drive them, however you're running it off of a lg v20, so does that mean you're traveling? You might be able to go with something like the Focal Celestee, they should be even easier to drive, but aren't super light. Both headphones are around 420-460g iirc, the sony wh-1000xm4's are like 260g. These are closed-back, as well. These are on the higher-end of your budget, and depending on your situation might not be the best picks. Here's some reviews for the Celestee: Focal Celestee Review - Best New Closed-Back Headphone in 2021? (headphones.com)
Focal Clear MG and Celestee review - Headfonia Reviews

Obviously take with a grain of salt. These headphones are fairly neutral iirc, and don't excel in soundstage, rather they focus on imaging. These look to be very premium headphones, but might not excel in some situations. However, their sound doesn't seem to be offensive at all in any situations, and usually seem to be quite pleasing. 

 

I listen to pretty much everything but a lot of EDM and jpop i guess. The lg v20 drove my 250 ohm dt 990s pretty well and if they can't drive the new headphones I can just use my dt990 with them so not a big consideration as long as the liquid spark can. I'm not really planning to travel I just sometimes like to listen to music while I do stuff around the house. I actually looked at the bigger brother of that headphone the focal clear since I saw a lot of great stuff about it on reddit the only thing stopping me is obviously the price lol. But yeah I'll definitely consider the elex and celestee.

[Barn1356]

40 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

Budget - 500-1000 I'm not really sure where the diminishing returns really drop off a cliff so I'm keeping the budget a bit wide. I.E. I don't want to pay 100% more for 10% more performance.

Source - Monolith liquid spark, lg v20

Requirements for Isolation - Having isolation would be nice but only if I don't have to compromise a lot on sound.

Preferred Type of Headphone - over ear

Past headphones - I currently have a dt 990 pro and I really like it so maybe something a bit similar to them

What would you like to improve on from your set-up - More detail I guess

I prefer something that doesn't require a lot of EQ since I don't want to fiddle with EQs on my phone but I guess if its a really good pair then I guess I can just use my dt 990 pro for phone listening and the new headphones for computer listening.

 

Some headphones I considered:

beyerdyanmic T1 seems like a natural upgrade from the dt990 I also considered the dt1990 but I heard they are really similar to the dt990 and wouldn't be much of an upgrade. Some downsides is that I will probably be unable to run these on my phone and some people dislike the frequency curve of them.

LCD-2c I heard great things about these but apparently EQ is a must with them

focal clear A lot of praise for them but would stretch the budget and might not be "worth it"

hifiman ananda I heard these a good but hifiman doesn't have the best build quality so they can break.

I have never personally had a budget anywhere near that, but I use the dt770, and there is an upgrade path to the dt1770 pro or dt1990 pro depending on if you want open or closed back. If you like the dt990, it may make sense to try one of them. In the uk there around £500, not sure how much they are where you are.

[Entropy.]

3 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

I listen to pretty much everything but a lot of EDM and jpop i guess. The lg v20 drove my 250 ohm dt 990s pretty well and if they can't drive the new headphones I can just use my dt990 with them so not a big consideration as long as the liquid spark can. I'm not really planning to travel I just sometimes like to listen to music while I do stuff around the house. I actually looked at the bigger brother of that headphone the focal clear since I saw a lot of great stuff about it on reddit the only thing stopping me is obviously the price lol. But yeah I'll definitely consider the elex and celestee.

The elex is *extremely* similar to the clear. There's minor differences here and there but nothing big. Drop just has a knack for cutting headphone prices in half - for example, the *ahem* hd6xx. Also yeah, the v20 has a pretty good audio setup, but ohmage isn't the only factor involved when driving headphones, I'm not sure how much power the 990's need. 

[spartaman64]

Just now, Barn1356 said:

I have never personally had a budget anywhere near that, but I use the dt770, and there is an upgrade path to the dt1770 pro or dt1990 pro depending on if you want open or closed back. If you like the dt990, it may make sense to try one of them. In the uk there around £500, not sure how much they are where you are.

yeah i considered the dt1990 but I heard from other people that it and the dt990 are too similar for it to be a good upgrade path.

[spartaman64]

5 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

The elex is *extremely* similar to the clear. Drop just has a knack for cutting headphone prices in half - for example, the *ahem* hd6xx. Also yeah, the v20 has a pretty good audio setup, but ohmage isn't the only factor involved when driving headphones, I'm not sure how much power the 990's need. 

[Psittac]

I just have to throw the HarmonicDyne Zeus into the mix, I got them a couple weeks ago and have barely had a desire to switch back to something else.  They are very detailed and clear with excellent imaging sound stage and separation plus they're under your budget, could get another item in the chain or get another pair of can's that you've always wanted to try.  My philosiphy is try many cheaper things instead of one expensive thing so your philosophy might be different.  Oh I think they'll run on a phone, haven't tried that yet.  But they are rather open so poor sound isolation.

 

*the Zeus is so.... so comfortable.  Also have you tried different pads with your 990? Might want to toy with that first, they can drastically change the sound signature, maybe it'll be something you enjoy for only $35-55 per swap.  Here is a dekoni pad swap guide for the 1990

[CTR640]

6 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i listen to a wide variety of music but i guess EDM and jpop makes up a majority. and yes closed if possible but I know closed headphones usually have a worse sound stage etc and I rather have that. I like the detail, sound stage, and the warmer sound of the dt990

Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless and T5p.2 have wide soundstage despites being closedbacks. I own them both and they are not that typical in-your-head sound.

 

You want the warmer sound of the DT990? What about the Beyerdynamic Tygr 300R? I see you're from the US, right? The Tygr tends to be out of stock a lot of times. Maybe Amiron Home? The Amiron Home is a better headphone to drive despites 250ohm so your LG V20 should be just fine.

 

Since you already have a good headphone, there is no "upgrade". You're expanding your headphone collection to pick depending on your mood and content. I have 6 headphones next to my dac/amp and I pick one depending on my mood. Is it diminishing return? To me no because I know Beyerdynamic and Klipsch makes great headphones. But IMO, there is no really reason to justify the high prices. I wanted the Focal Radiance but the Bentley logo is silly and the earpads on each cup are not the same, you gotta thank the quality-control for that... Get a affordable headphones that sounds like the DT990. How much is the 990? $140-200?

 

What about the X2HR? @Tigerleonmade a review about the DT990 and X2HR.

[spartaman64]

2 hours ago, CTR640 said:

Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless and T5p.2 have wide soundstage despites being closedbacks. I own them both and they are not that typical in-your-head sound.

 

You want the warmer sound of the DT990? What about the Beyerdynamic Tygr 300R? I see you're from the US, right? The Tygr tends to be out of stock a lot of times. Maybe Amiron Home? The Amiron Home is a better headphone to drive despites 250ohm so your LG V20 should be just fine.

 

Since you already have a good headphone, there is no "upgrade". You're expanding your headphone collection to pick depending on your mood and content. I have 6 headphones next to my dac/amp and I pick one depending on my mood. Is it diminishing return? To me no because I know Beyerdynamic and Klipsch makes great headphones. But IMO, there is no really reason to justify the high prices. I wanted the Focal Radiance but the Bentley logo is silly and the earpads on each cup are not the same, you gotta thank the quality-control for that... Get a affordable headphones that sounds like the DT990. How much is the 990? $140-200?

 

What about the X2HR? @Tigerleonmade a review about the DT990 and X2HR.

i want something warm like the 990 but i feel like a lot of the other beyers are too similar. since i still have the dt990 i want something different enough. and idk i feel like people think theres enough improvement between a 500-1000 dollar headphone and a 150 dollar headphone to call it an overall upgrade even if maybe not everything is better

[Tigerleon]

5 hours ago, CTR640 said:

Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless and T5p.2 have wide soundstage despites being closedbacks. I own them both and they are not that typical in-your-head sound.

 

You want the warmer sound of the DT990? What about the Beyerdynamic Tygr 300R? I see you're from the US, right? The Tygr tends to be out of stock a lot of times. Maybe Amiron Home? The Amiron Home is a better headphone to drive despites 250ohm so your LG V20 should be just fine.

 

Since you already have a good headphone, there is no "upgrade". You're expanding your headphone collection to pick depending on your mood and content. I have 6 headphones next to my dac/amp and I pick one depending on my mood. Is it diminishing return? To me no because I know Beyerdynamic and Klipsch makes great headphones. But IMO, there is no really reason to justify the high prices. I wanted the Focal Radiance but the Bentley logo is silly and the earpads on each cup are not the same, you gotta thank the quality-control for that... Get a affordable headphones that sounds like the DT990. How much is the 990? $140-200?

 

What about the X2HR? @Tigerleonmade a review about the DT990 and X2HR.

 

[Tigerleon]

5 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i want something warm like the 990 but i feel like a lot of the other beyers are too similar. since i still have the dt990 i want something different enough. and idk i feel like people think theres enough improvement between a 500-1000 dollar headphone and a 150 dollar headphone to call it an overall upgrade even if maybe not everything is better

As CTR said. The X2HR's are a headphone you should check out. They are warm and a bit "dark" they still have that little elevated treble and good bass that isn't overpowering. They require almost no EQ and they are extremely wide in their soundstage. Imaging is a bit worse left and right but they are good in the front and back imaging imo.

[CTR640]

7 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i want something warm like the 990 but i feel like a lot of the other beyers are too similar. since i still have the dt990 i want something different enough. and idk i feel like people think theres enough improvement between a 500-1000 dollar headphone and a 150 dollar headphone to call it an overall upgrade even if maybe not everything is better

I have 6 Byers here and none sounds similar. And wether the big difference in price is big in "upgrade" is nonsense.

The Tygr 300R is like a Amiron Home with DT880 in one headphone with smooth peaks that are not ear-piercing. The Amiron Home is warmer than the Tygr but damn, both are amazing! I do have one headphone and this is probably the last most expensive and it's the Klipsch Heritage HP-3. Treble is damn sparkly and vivid and bass is great too and the design is pure joy too. The included wooden box and the cool 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter :3

 

Headphones "upgrades" are not like GPU's or phones. They are about the sound. It doesn't matter the price, if it costs 5000$ and you don't like it, then you simply don't like it. If it costs 200$ and you like it, then you like it. The term "upgrade" is nothing but bullshit because this hobby is entirely subjective. Not to mention about the designs too. Heritage HP-3 is the most sexy pretty thing to me, the Tygr 300R looks damn cool, Amiron Wireless Copper looks sexy in black and copper and the T5p.2 has an elegant and slick look. The 3 latter fits in your budget. The Heritage HP-3 has been discontinued but you could try Amazon or eBay. Your feeling about people thinking there is enough improvement between a 500-1000$ headphone is wrong

 

So you want warmer sound, then probably:

Amiron Home

Tygr 300R

X2HR

 

Others can add more to the list.

[rice guru]

10 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i want something warm like the 990 but i feel like a lot of the other beyers are too similar. since i still have the dt990 i want something different enough. and idk i feel like people think theres enough improvement between a 500-1000 dollar headphone and a 150 dollar headphone to call it an overall upgrade even if maybe not everything is better

I wanna say the LCD 2 c would be a good pick. Warm , nice bass,  good to ality main complaint seems to be that some people found it dark. To me it's not dark just smooth and the treble ain't boosted so people with hearing loss can't seem to pick up details. The focal elex is also an option but many seem to complain about the timbre. If you want to nearly max out your budget the beyerdynamic t1 mk2 is one of the most direct upgrades you can make to the 990

[rice guru]

having asked around  as this price range is not my forte. other headphones I was told to also suggest is a possible source gear upgrade first along with a headphone upgrade. but headphones that were also suggested are the campfire cascades, hifiman edition X, sony mdr Z7  are also pretty well reccomended for good warm sounding options. and if you wanted something easy to run a t1 mk 3 would be a good headphone even though everyone says the t1mk2 is just significantly better but the t1 mk 2 a amp upgrade is pretty well reccomended. and so far the LCD 2 classic/ pre fazor seem to be pretty well regarded as a good warm option

[PhyphenT]

I REALLY enjoy my Drop + THX Panda over ears and after reading your replies on this thread think you might too! worth a look for sure

[CTR640]

With great headphones and audio gear, comes great wallet

[spartaman64]

On 3/20/2021 at 10:11 AM, rice guru said:

I wanna say the LCD 2 c would be a good pick. Warm , nice bass,  good to ality main complaint seems to be that some people found it dark. To me it's not dark just smooth and the treble ain't boosted so people with hearing loss can't seem to pick up details. The focal elex is also an option but many seem to complain about the timbre. If you want to nearly max out your budget the beyerdynamic t1 mk2 is one of the most direct upgrades you can make to the 990

yeah lcd2c was my top pick but people say that EQ is a must for them and on my phone EQ apps always seem to be buggy. if its much better than other headphones in the range then i would get it but it doesnt seem quite like the case. and idk maybe i would be fine with or even like the default tuning but a lot of people seem to hate it and I cant try these headphones so that makes me a bit worried.

 

also i set the top end of my budget based on the beyerdynamic t1 but yeah its almost more than im willing to spend. its one of those things where i can afford it and id probably enjoy it but id still feel a bit guilty about it and wonder if i could have gotten a better value elsewhere. and the 600 ohm is a bit worrying. maybe the liquid spark can drive them but I have no confidence in my phone lol. like i said I could just use my dt990 on my phone but ideally I want a headphone that i can use on both.

 

the thing that made me want an upgrade in the first place is looking at people talk about the focal clears but ofc those are too expensive for me lol. i didnt know about the elex until broken brought it up and after looking at some reviews on youtube im pretty sold on them since they all say they are really really close to the clears. and one thing that interests me is the dynamics is apparently really good which thinking about it is something i wish i had more of.

[Eschew]

Hey there.

47 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

i didnt know about the elex until broken brought it up and after looking at some reviews on youtube im pretty sold on them since they all say they are really really close to the clears.

A word of warning on the Massdrop x Focal Elex's: a good number of Elex's suffer from clipping issues (around 95-100 db) and left/right driver failures. Focal's left the QC/customer support for the Elex's in Drop's hands and/or is "pretending it's an intentional feature" (Quote & Elaboration: Reddit), and Drop doesn't seem intent on fixing it's problems. Also, Drop's RMA replacements seem to be returned Elex's, not new stock.

• Focal Elex - Mechanical Clipping in Slomo on Reddit.
• Does Focal Elex have QC problems? on Audio Science Review (Forums).
• Massdrop x Focal Elex Headphones Review 1 on Drop.
• Massdrop x Focal Elex Headphones Review 2 on Drop.

 

Can't comfortably say much in the way of headphone recommendations. I was in a similar spot ($500+ budget for open-back headphones), but with different music preferences, I think (preference for treble and vocals, plus some "punchier" bass). Looked at secondhand Focal Clears, Focal Elexs, AKG Pro Audio K712s (+ Fostex Amp), Sennheiser HD 660S's, and ended up going with open box HIFIMAN ANANDAs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯