DT 1990 Pro for any reasonably well produced death metal record.
DT 1990 Pro for any reasonably well produced death metal record.
I have the Qudelix 5K, which is more or less the most popular Bluetooth amp/dac in this community. Its main advantage is that is has full parametric EQ built into the mobile application and browser extension, which means that you can use EQ with pretty much any device.
And yes, it can be used wired as well. It comes with two cables, an usb c to usb c and an usb a to usb c, so you can basically connect it to any device that has a usb c or usb a port. When I am at my desk I mostly use my Fiio K5 Pro amp/dac, but the Qudelix 5K is a super versatile device, I used it quite a bit with my laptop when I was working away from my desk and had no problem driving my other headphones.
I’m having the same epiphany now that there’s been an EQ profile uploaded for the DT770 32 ohm version (pleather pads) on the Qudelix. It’s insane how good they sound EQed to Harman. I was really surprised because I don’t generally EQ my other pairs to Harman.
have them in my flair but for some reason it doesn’t appear on the mobile app.
I have DT1999, 770, Edition XS, LCD-2C, Elegia, HD600, and Grado SR325x
Now depends on what you mean by better. Sheer detail retrieval I would say that the only ones that are inferior to B3 are the HD600 and the Grados. Otherwise each pair provides a different type of presentation to music, especially relevant as I listen mostly to metal where production style varies wildly even for records within the same sub-sub genre (like dissonant death metal and such).
But yea, the Blessing 3 was the first pair where I truly felt I could listen to anything without the need to switch to something else. Sounded great no matter what music I threw at it. But that only lasted for a month, after that I went back to using my headphones mostly and I haven’t even used my B3 portably in a while because I found an amazing EQ for my DT770 (32 ohm version has a short cable and is very portable) and I’ve been using that on the go non-stop since.
Enjoy, they are an awesome pair of IEMs. It took me about two-ish weeks to fully notice the improvements coming from EQed Letshuoer S12 Pro, and for a month or so I was so addicted to the B3 that I was considering selling my entire headphone collection.
Those recommendations are abit of a meme. The most hilarious is when they are recommended stuff that’s reasonably common around here, like HD800, Arya, LCD-X, etc. and then OP is surprised pikachu face. Can’t blame them tho, if you are coming from a different hobby like gaming, where an RTX 4080 costs like 1200, you’re probably coming here totally not expecting relatively common headphones like the HD800 to cost literally as much as a 4090.
If it’s meant to break, it will break at some point. Going by the anectdotal accounts of folks who had Hifimans break, they will likely break early or within the first year or so. If it doesn’t break early, it will probably last quite a few years if cared for reasonably well, just like other analog devices.
I’ve had my Edition XS for 7ish months now. They aren’t my most used pair, but I did drop them once from desk level and they were fine. I can’t imagine a cable tug would do much unless they are already compromised in one way or another.
I have a Motorola Edge 20 Lite. The retail price in my country was around 215 dollars. It’s crazy what you get for that money nowadays. The camera is pretty garbage but otherwise it hasn’t stuttered once, the battery lasts up to two days, and the display is nice. It does have a 3.5mm input with a decent dac, but I’m using my Qudelix for EQ convenience 99% of the time.
When it comes to the bass, it really depends on what type of music you’re using as reference. If you are listen to genres that use traditional instrumentation, I too think they have plenty of bass for that, and quite enough for a very satisfying listen. However, for modern genres that make heavy use of the subbass regions for various effects and atmosphere, the HD600 can be quite anemic. It also depends what other pairs you’ve used in the past. For me it took listening to the Elegia with a 6db low shelf @200hz + a tube amp and an LCD-2C EQed with a 10db low shelf @105hz to fully understand why people consider that HD600 lack bass.
But you know, overall I agree, I feel like the whole HD600 lacks bass thing is a bit overblown. Sort of similar to exagerrations about soundstage in open backs. Being inside a concert hall my ass, it still sounds like the sound is coming a couple of centimeters away from my ears, even with an Edition XS.
I doubt it was their amp, it was likely their sound preference because they ended up getting the LCD-2C instead.
I own both the DT1990 and LCD-2C, and I consider them equals. They are my bright/dark combo so to speak. Overall my Hifiman Edition XS has better all rounder potential compared to both, but I still end up listening to those two more often.
The DT1990 is an amazing pair if you enjoy that type of sound signature and good imaging. I bought them full price and I don’t regret it at all.
There have been days when I wore them for 10+ hours (work from home, and listening to the same pair after that for leisure) and never had an issue. I only have mild discomfort when my body is generally sore from some other type of physical exertion or when I am sick.
And also, you probably know this already, but the LCD-2C is more or less the polar opposite of the DT 990 in terms of sound signature. If you haven’t had a lot of experience with different cans in the past, it may take quite a bit of time for your brain to adjust (I had a similar experience going from DT 770 to LCD-2C).
I love this hobby but I’d pick vision in a heartbeat, not even a contest.
Just give them a week or two ;). This should be recommended to pretty much anyone who’s getting their first hi-fi pair. I have 7 headphones and 3 IEMs and had to go through this process with each to various degrees.
I had a similar experience when I ordered the B3 and the Chu 1 for the spring tips, which I tested against my Letshuoer S12 Pro.
But give them a couple of weeks. At this point I can notice the difference between B3 and Letshuoer S12 Pro very easily. The S12 Pro is still great value, especially when EQed, but the B3 is easily more precise in terms of imaging and about 30% wider in terms of headstage imo.
Yup, I have it paired with the Spring Tips and it takes EQing from my Qudelix 5K like a champ. Not sure why these got such a luke-warm reception overall compared to other IEMs, they are highly competent in all areas and respond very well to EQ. Perhaps people were expecting more. I never owned the B2, but most people seem to agree that the B3 is an improvement, but not too big of an improvement.
Heavily EQed Focal Elegia with a tube amp. That slam is on another level.
They can come up with a headphone that most people would consider perfect, say great extension on both ends, good slam/dynamics, wide soundstage with precise imaging and instrument separation, and someone, somewhere, will still complain that it doesn’t sound intimate and that they’d rather listen to the HD600.
How many of them do you use regularly? I have quite a few myself usually switch between at least 3 on a daily basis as I work from home. Sometimes I am doing “focus weeks” where I try to listen almost exclusively to a pair.
I started with the Letshuoer S12 Pro as my first IEM and it is arguably the reason I went down this rabbit hole and own 7 headphones now and 3 pairs of IEMs.
Don’t start with a planar driver as your first IEM.
An Oculus Quest 2. I just want to dip my toes so I’m hunting for a good second hand deal. I mostly want to play Half Life Alyx and RE4, then have it around for fun when friends come around.