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Aeon RT or X Open/Closed vs DT1990 Pro, Options around $500

Disco

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I've been looking into the Aeon RT (Or the X) or the DT1990 Pro to replace my Tygr300R, and complement my HD6xx and ATH AD2000X. I like the overall sound signature of the Tygr's, but would like tighter bass with more punch (or slam?), and a more natural, detailed high end. Better instrument separation would be great as well. The high end on the Tygr's has a very artificial digital sound to it, often times it's very apparent when someone is hitting an open hi-hat. My 6xx and AD2000x's do not have this problem. I've tried messing with EQ and Oratory's presets but couldn't get it to my liking. I read the 1990's have different drivers than the Tygr's, and that the Tygr's have the same drivers as the 990's.

Someone suggested that the problem was the amount of treble that Beyer Dynamic's have, and not a quality of treble problem. So I could likely have the same issue with the 1990, but I could try to EQ them as well.

I've also never tried Planars before, and have read good things about the DCA Aeon RT and X here on ASR. Not sure if I would get the open or closed. I will be using these for both music and gaming, but sound stage isn't too important to me. Other than sound stage, how does open/closed versions affect the overall sound? I listen to basically every genre of music, but a lot of prog metal and other metal (Between the Buried and Me, Opeth, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Killswitch Engage).

I am using a FiiO K5 Pro DAC/Amp

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any help, opinions or even suggestions for other headphones are greatly appreciated!
 

Helicopter

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I would love to try Aeon. I am not impressed with Beyerdynamic. From those options, I would definitely go DCA.

But first I would try some equalization. I use the free Equalizer APO with PEACE GUI on my PC. I am not sure it can fix Beyers, but it should get you good results with HD6XX.

Also, I suspect the tygr is better than 1990 in terms of taming signature brightness already since tygr has those felt pads or whatever they call them.
 

Snoopy

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Focal Elegia for $399 +Dekonis elite sheepskin Stellia pads.
 

Hewbacca

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New Closed Aeon X owner here, I use the same DAC/Amp as you too, and have HD6xx. These have relegated the HD6xx to the headphone wall, they sound noticeably better to me, particularly the clarity and detail. I EQ both so tonality differences are largely irrelevant to me, but if pressed I would say the HD6xx are probably a bit more neutral sounding, however I could listen to the Aeons without EQ with no issues.

The Open and Closed Aeon X seem to go on sale for ~$380 at Drop periodically (I picked mine up at $379) so I would wait for that, around black Friday maybe, but I highly recommend DCA from what I've seen so far.

Also for what its worth, apparently the open Aeons do a fair bit of isolation from what I've read, so if you are on the fence maybe go open. However, it seems like DC himself likes working with closed, evidenced by their flagship Stealths being closed and unavailable (so far) in an open option. DCA seems to break the mold a little with closed, where there aren't tradeoffs with spatial soundstage but you still get the isolation, privacy, and improved bass response.
 

don'ttrustauthority

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I have the DCA Aeon RT closed which is an amazing headphone. It comes with 4 tuning pads so if the treble is too sharp you can replace the pad to absorb that part of the spectrum. I haven't played with them as I have like the tuning it came it the most. I would say it's a more fun headphone that the Stealth. If portability matters at all, save up for the $900 Aeon 2 which collapses into a wee l'il thang.

If you come across an Audioquest NightOwl or NightHawk, they were overpriced at $700 but fair at $400 used when they were dq'd. Now you can probably find pairs for $200 - $250 if you can find someone who is willing to sell.
 

Jose Hidalgo

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I use the free Equalizer APO with PEACE GUI on my PC
Feel free to try my new EAPO GUI (check my signature). It's aimed at listening sessions, especially with headphones, and PEACE's developer helped me with it. It can of course work with PEACE, you just should avoid running both GUIs at the same time.

If you come across an Audioquest NightOwl or NightHawk, they were overpriced at $700 but fair at $400 used when they were dq'd. Now you can probably find pairs for $200 - $250 if you can find someone who is willing to sell.
Prices on second hand Audioquest headphones tend to increase, because they're not longer manufactured and they're bound to become collector items due to their unique qualities (exceptional build and comfort, great sound when EQed - emphasis on "when EQed"). I myself have a pair of Nighthawk Wood and a pair of Nighthawk Carbon (among other cans). ;)
 

Xii-Nyth

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I would love to try Aeon. I am not impressed with Beyerdynamic. From those options, I would definitely go DCA.

But first I would try some equalization. I use the free Equalizer APO with PEACE GUI on my PC. I am not sure it can fix Beyers, but it should get you good results with HD6XX.

Also, I suspect the tygr is better than 1990 in terms of taming signature brightness already since tygr has those felt pads or whatever they call them.
yes I only had the tygrs for a few weeks before returning them since they just did not agree with my head, (or at least I thought, turns out 50% of it was probably because I was wearing my hair brushed back and the stands went the other way)
and I can tell you, the treble is great, everthing about how the tygrs sound was overally pretty great, they made up for all the shortcomings on my dads 598se and old sr225. neither here or on rtings there is a test of them but im confident they would follow the harman curve pretty well

edit: totally missed that OP had the tygrs

continuing my story
while I had them, why trying to relieve the pressure on the top of my head I noticed they sounded even better, at least for what I was listening too at the time, when the bottoms were spaced further apart (I used usb flash drives xD) I noticed the same shape on the hifiman pads which are the same dimensions as beyers, and I had the fenestated pads from dekoni recommend to me so I had been planning on re buying them in the bundle with the mic and then getting those pads

then covid hit and they were all out of stock so I just ended up getting a headset for the time being since I needed a mic (the one on my old one were stolen at school a few years earlier)

thats when I found out its just my old headset was amazingly comfortable because this new one even with almost an identical design just didn't quite feel as good and the pressure on the top of my head was still there (which is when I found out it was my haircut for discomfort on the top of my head) as for the sides to this day my old ones still feel slightly better so it likely wasn't just wear in alone

anyways I saw the aeons, saw how people were praising their comfort, the pads were shaped like my idea and are shaped to an actual ear, they measured well. since I still need to buy a dac and amp for 200, and the pads after shipping to canada are like 80, it ends up being 700$ usd vs ~500$ usd, so it doesnt seem to big, and I can better justify in my mind spending 200$ on a dac and amp on 500$ headphones than 200$ ones.

only drawback is now I cant bundle on the fox mic for 100$, shoot..

so Im sitting here waiting for now either for a sale or for amir to measure the open variant of the rt & x variants, or for some supa tygr to come out or something - idk if they are planning on doing an incremental improvement on them or something, but one of the reps on instagram replied to a suggestion I made on a minor thing which the type of hinge they used, and was told "I may get my wish" which led me to believe they at least considered moving to a xxxx year version business model or something.

tldr I am in the same boat

oh right I also noticed the elex on sale for 550 and they end up right in between the 2 in terms of measurements but have qc issues and a bad return policy, so I ruled those out jsut like fidelio x2hrs back in the day and topping products about a week ago
 
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Snoopy

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tldr I am in the same boat

oh right I also noticed the elex on sale for 550 and they end up right in between the 2 in terms of measurements but have qc issues and a bad return policy, so I ruled those out jsut like fidelio x2hrs back in the day and topping products about a week ago


If you go by reviews on the internet about quality issues you will probably never buy anything ever again.
 

Xii-Nyth

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If you go by reviews on the internet about quality issues you will probably never buy anything ever again.
that is a very good point,

after the earlier ones it just seemed like a wire breaking off since 1 side was just completely not working all of a sudden with no inbetween, according to the reviews on massdrop's page. So I'd just resolder it myself.

then I saw a guy on youtube who had 3 pairs, 1 the driver died even though the cables were soldered on fine, another one had a channel imbalanced (measures not just his ears), then his friend had one with the same problem so he measured that too and it was also bad.

if they had a good return policy/warrenty, id just get them and send them back whenever it happened

as for the x2hrs I dont actually know hwo their return policy is, but I liked the tygr 300rs in that price range anyways
 
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