[MorrisL]

Here on Head Fi, you can find literally hundreds of pages and thousands of comments full of gushing words of appreciation for DT 880. The complaints are so few and insignificant that it makes you feel like you don't even need to audition it before a purchase. 
 
But when you look up DT 990, even with the bigger sound-stage and the extended, crisp bass, it is simply dwarfed in comparison, if you look at the amount and the tone of all the prose dedicated to both of these phones. And whenever classical music is mentioned as a preferred genre, the advice on this forum is always DT 880. 
 
Why is there so little love for DT 990? And why is DT 880 preferred as a classical music choice, given its relatively smaller sound stage and the relatively thinner bass? After all, who decided that bass isn't all that important in classical music, especially the kind of lively, textured bass that you hear from DT 990?
 
I just had to spark this discussion.
 
P. S.  I am mainly speaking about the 250 ohm PRO versions of these headphones, which are all I have had experience with.

 

[pp312]

  Here on Head Fi, you can find literally hundreds of pages and thousands of comments full of gushing words of appreciation for DT 880. The complaints are so few and insignificant that it makes you feel like you don't even need to audition it before a purchase. 
 
But when you look up DT 990, even with the bigger sound-stage and the extended, crisp bass, it is simply dwarfed in comparison, if you look at the amount and the tone of all the prose dedicated to both of these phones. And whenever classical music is mentioned as a preferred genre, the advice on this forum is always DT 880. 
 
Why is there so little love for DT 990? And why is it preferred as a classical music choice, given its relatively smaller sound stage and the relatively thinner bass? After all, who decided that bass isn't all that important in classical music, especially the kind of lively, textured bass that you hear from DT 990?
 
I just had to spark this discussion.
 
P. S.  I am mainly speaking about the 250 ohm PRO versions of these headphones, which are all I have had experience with.

 
 
I presume you mean, why is the 880 preferred as a classical music choice? Answer: for classical a more neutral, even frequency response is preferred. The 990 has a considerably elevated bass and slightly more elevated treble. There's no law that says you can't prefer the 990 for classical, but many hundreds of attentive ears have come to a different conclusion. The 880 is certainly not lacking bass, only a mid-bass hump; the bass is there when called for. As for the treble, for me the 880 would be the perfect classical phone if not for the treble peak, but I compensate quite adequately by using an integrated amp and employing those audiophile anachronisms known as tone controls. Works surprisingly well.
 
Not sure from your post if you've directly compared the 880 with 990. If so, let you ears decide and ignore dissenters.      

 

[MorrisL]

(Thanks for the correction.)
 
I did get a chance to listen to both side by side at a musical instruments store, but (maybe the loud store environment wasn't ideal) I couldn't see why anyone would choose DT 880. The natural openness and, with that, the deep beautiful bass that I heard from DT 990 Pro was too much of a good thing to miss out, had I chosen 880. 
 
I will give you that one drawback on 990 though; its sizzling treble. But it's easy to tame with an eq. (I even installed a simple eq extension on Chrome and even the sound on Youtube videos is now under control.) But even then, lots of people say 880 itself is treble heavy enough. 
 
The enthusiasm on these phones is just not proportional, I feel. 880 appears to be king, while 990 (often sold as low as $149!), being made with the same driver and sporting a perfect sound stage is treated like it's some second-rate RadioShack headphone. Wasn't this the flagship before T1?

 

[Gagarin]

The 990 really has a crazy treble. I even think the 880 has a little bit of a sibilant treble as well. However, my ears are very sensitive.
 
Personally, with classical music, I would go for the 990, but mod it with some felt on the back of the driver, or EQ the treble down. The rumbling bass is incredible when listening to Yo Yo Ma's cello solos, or Also Sprach Zathustra, Hall of the Mountain King, etc. The 990 is also cheaper, allowing you to spend more on the amp as well.
 
A good amp for general use (and classical) is the Fiio e17. 
 
In the end, I chose to keep the 880 over the 990, because I didn't want to deal with the treble.
 
However, I still lust for the Audeze LCD-2/3 with ANY music genre.

 

[pp312]

Just as an addendum to my comments: I think you've exaggerated the difference in  appreciation level between 880 and 990, at least outside the classical music circle (which isn't very wide here anyway). There's heaps of praise to be found for the 990 everywhere, not to mention censure of the 880 for being boring and sterile (or maybe we're reading different threads). And as for why anyone would choose the 880 over 990, not everyone wants rumbling bass when that bass was not on the recording in the first place. I certainly don't, and I don't want exaggerated bass obscuring, as it tends to, midrange detail.
 
As you say, the two phones use the same driver. The loading and damping, however, are quite different, and in the headphone world such details make all the difference. (Hell, people here claim to be able to pick 'significant' differences between the 250 and 600 ohm DT880, while others, like yours truly, can't hear any difference at all). I personally haven't compared 880 and 990, but I find the 880 extremely well balanced (after whacking the treble peak on the head) and certainly don't require an extra helping of bass and treble. In fact the biggest fault with the 880 is its slightly recessed midrange.
 

 

 

[Frederose]

I recently purchased a pair of 990 after having carefully listened to both of them, on the same amp (Valhalla 2) and I think, like all audio gear, that it's down to your own taste. A tube amp with the 880 made the treble absolutely unlistenable to me, with a level of bass that left me unsatisfied. But the 990 really did the trick for me. Good, deep bass, a little high on the treble (I like it that way) and plenty of mids. The 880's reputation is becoming a bit too much, don't discard the 990, just listen to them. 

 

[dabtpa]

I have the 990 pros and love them. I am not familiar with the 880s. If the are closed back then the sound signature will be dramatically different than the 990. Most classical music afficienatos prefer a semi-open headphone for the sound stage, clarity and 3 dimensionality it presents.  

 

[pp312]

  A tube amp with the 880 made the treble absolutely unlistenable to me

 
Really? That certainly flies in the face of received wisdom. Maybe you could elaborate.

 

[Frederose]

With the original GE's tubes, the 880s highs were a bit too much, not too loud but they stood out in a more aggressive way than the 990 IMO. Since the bass and the mids were way more neutral than the 990s, the fact that the treble stood out that much really spoiled my listening experience. That effect was less apparent when I tube rolled for some old '75 Amperex, but still, I liked the 990s better. 

 

[witt]

The 880s are the more balanced HP. The biggest gripe with the 990 is the treble spike when the 880 was already a tad trebly itself. That's pretty much what's consistently mentioned as what at issue with the 990s.

 

[AdamTR]

Forget both and get the DT-150..

 

[theodoro]

I don't know what are you saying but the DT990 pros sounds awesome to me and there are never harsh listening to well recorded albums. I do notice some fatigue when i listen to metal or "cheap" electronic music, but i never had any complains listening to classical music or any well recorded album. 
I have never listened to DT880s and they might sound better just because of their neutrality, but the DT990s are still awesome headphones. 
My only complaint about the DT990s treble is that have a metalic sound. That's normal at cymbals etc, but sometimes can be a bit unnatural.

 

[MrTechAgent]

880s are just exceptional , I think you should give the DT150s a shot as well.
 
The 880's grain free , crystalline presentation is excellent for classical , top notch response and resolution.

 

[Strangelove424]

   
 
I presume you mean, why is the 880 preferred as a classical music choice? Answer: for classical a more neutral, even frequency response is preferred. The 990 has a considerably elevated bass and slightly more elevated treble. There's no law that says you can't prefer the 990 for classical, but many hundreds of attentive ears have come to a different conclusion. The 880 is certainly not lacking bass, only a mid-bass hump; the bass is there when called for. As for the treble, for me the 880 would be the perfect classical phone if not for the treble peak, but I compensate quite adequately by using an integrated amp and employing those audiophile anachronisms known as tone controls. Works surprisingly well.

 
These echo my feelings about the DT880. They are incredibly neutral, and by doing so open up all the frequencies for an accurate presentation. The only downside is the 8kHz peak, which as you phrased it so well, can and should be "whacked down". Audiophile aversions to EQ seem kind of silly to me, considering the amount of tone control that goes into actually making the music. It is what it is I guess. Once you do the EQing this becomes a sumptuous headphone (especially for classical) and you get a sense of everything going on in a track. Nothing sticks out at that point, which I guess could give them the "boring" tag. Personally, I'd rather have the spectrum presented evenly, and from that smorgasbord spectrum of sound, pick out the parts of the music that seem interesting to me at any given moment.      

 

[Frederose]

Really well put, I should have tried them with an EQ. Maybe I would have a different opinion.