Yeah, I might have accidentally "corrected" the headphones by running them through the monitor. Ended up getting a cheap DAC and they sound great again.

I’ve seen a few reviews on YouTube that say the amp/dac paring is important for the Diana’s.

It's preferences

Nice! Glad to hear it.

Ended up getting a cheap DAC and all my problems were solved.

You do not need to spend thousands in ANY area of headphones -- cans and source gear -- to get anything to sound decent.

My JDS Labs Atom+ DAC/amp stack was $220 new and has 1 watt of clean, uncolored power at 32 ohms, almost four times the 250mw your amp provides.

Understand this fact about audiophile gear: The connection between cost and quality is not proportional AT ALL. There is a SERIOUS amount of diminishing returns once you surpass the $1,000 level for cans and gear.

Sure, a $4,000 headphone will sound better than a $400 headphone. But 10 times better? No f*cking way.

Exactly. Anyone who says the Momentum 3 have a "slight bass lift" must masturbate at the altar of Beats nightly. The M3's have punchy, elevated, bloated bass -- without a doubt.

The OP is used to "excited," consumer-oriented sound signatures you get with wireless over-ear cans from Sony, Bose, Beats, Sennheiser and others. It's V-shaped, with booming, bloated bass, scooped-out mids and hot, crispy, sibilant treble.

That elevated bass creates the sensation of punchy dynamics, while the hot treble creates the sensation of "clarity" or "air." Neither is accurate, but it's a parlor trick of tuning that manufacturers of consumer-oriented headphones use, and the marketplace apparently loves it.

I sound critical of this sound signature. Yeah, it's not my preferred profile. I'm more of a "neutral with some Cajun spice lightly sprinkled on" kind of listener. But there's nothing wrong with a V-shaped signature if that's what you like.

Of the headphones I listed, I think the Audeze LCD-2C, the Focal Elex and the Meze 109 Pro are closest to the "dynamic, musical" signature you seek rather than pure neutrality or a microscope into all the tones of the song.

Those three headphones still all sound much better than a Sennheiser M3 because the mids actually are present and not muddied by the bass or deep-fried by the treble. But their sonic DNA shares strands with consumer-oriented headphones, while cans like the Diana TC and 800S do not.

I have DT990 edition 32 ohm too. Using them with Fiio KA1. Just watched that scene, and it doesn't sound dull whatsoever.

I have purchased 32ohm version specifically so I don't have to get dac/amp however I found them very quiet with my phone. Its better with KA1 but still not great. Barely any headroom with volume.

yeah i think its very possible your amp isnt enough. they have issues and do need EQ but i dont think they should sound like what you are describing? im not sure what sennheiser momentum you had but if its the momentum 3 then it does have a high bass hump. it could be possible that you are used to that and need some time to adjust.

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I don’t understand the benefit to any headphones that don’t have a good balance of dynamics. Like, so much of music is that.

Perhaps ambient, classical, jazz could benefit? I didn’t realize there was this much nuance to this hobby!

Amazing response, thank you!

My issue is I come into headphones as a pop song producer and just a general enjoyer of music with clear dynamics.

It’s just so odd to me how flat these headphones sound. So much of music IS dynamics so I don’t understand what I’m missing here in the listening experience.

Is it clarity? My Momentums may have heavier bass but I really have to say, the detail is fantastic too.

To me, the Diana’s main issue is the flatness, lack of dynamic and general quietness (I’m not sure how else to describe it).

Is the real issue just not having a strong enough driver/amp? It seems INSANE to me that now I have to spend thousands more to get these to sound decent?

Jeez, what have I gotten myself into!! Haha

I agree. I heard good things about the audio technical ones and some beyerdynamics but my ears didn’t fit in one and the other was OKAY…nothing special and I maxed out the head band size…big heads suck

I was leaning towards Sennheiser HD800s.

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Don't get an MM-500 for just music enjoyment. They're designed for mixing and mastering, with no colorization of the sound. It's designed to be flat, a magnifying glass only of what was recorded.

You say you record and mix music, so the MM-500 could be good for that purpose. but I think you would be better off buying a good $300 mixing headphone for your composition work and then a quality $1,500 headphone for musical enjoyment. Goldilocks doesn't really exist in audiophile headphones.

While that sounds pure and honest on the surface, most of us want some sort of sugar or spice added to our frequency curves. Pure can be beautiful; it also can be boring or expose recording warts you don't want to hear.

First, Abyss makes overrated, overpriced products. It would be one thing if one site or reviewer questioned their wonky measurements and distortion, but too many do to ignore it.

Second, you're taking a MASSIVE leap from a pair of $300 Momentums to a $3,000 pair of headphones. Way too big, to be frank.

Start smaller. It's cheaper, and it's a better way to discover what you really want.

There is no instant gratification, Goldilocks headphone unless you truly know what you want and have done the research to indicate the headphone matches that preference. You didn't, and that's OK, but you never would have bought the Diana TC if you did. Plus, the Diana TC are VERY hard to drive, so I bet your amp lacks the power to elicit peak fidelity and enough volume.

It sounds like you want more of a V-shaped, aggressive sound signature with more bass. I recommend these cans in the $500-$1,200 price range:

Meze 109 Pro (Rich bass, bright treble. Very comfortable and well built.)

Focal Clear (Original, not MG)

Focal Elex (Punchy, aggressive, detailed)

Audeze LCD-2C (Warm, rich bass, aggressive midrange that puts vocals front and center, rolled-off, less-detailed treble. Needs EQ to sound its best.)

Audeze LCD-X (My daily driver. Better, more balanced tuning than the LCD-2C, but still nice bass. Excellent detail throughout. Needs EQ to sound its best.)

Sorry if my words above come off harsh. But you did the headphone equivalent of jumping from a passenger car to a Formula One car with no in-between steps. That method is more likely to end in disappointment.

Feel free to ask ANY questions, dude. Good luck with your audiophile journey.

Some people have that fuck U money

They're closed back, and have a 1/4 inch connector in the box.

Not sure what the listener Pro sounds like, but the Radiance have good, punchy bass - I'd recommend trying to go listen to some options if possible though, as what se people love, others think is just meh, haha.

Are they open or closed back?

1/4 inch cable?

And do you know how well the sound compares to the listener pro?

I have the Focal Radiance and they work well for gaming/footsteps and sound good with music etc.

They don't seem to have the issues earlier Focals had either.

I love my Stellaris but the cable they came with felt a bit skinny compared to the size of the iems, so I went with this Openheart Cable ! It brings a really nice feeling to the touch without being too bulky or stiff, and the colors are wonderful, they supplement nicely the Stellaris with their blue weaves and gold contacts. As for the Spring Tips, I like the confort they bring but I may swap the the Clear Tips later, for now these tips feels good and not fatiguing.

*Bonus : the comic book you see behind is one of my favorite series (Low reader - Doggybags) if you like horror stories, it’s the way to go

Hmm. I have the DT-990 Pro 250 ohms. I compared the frequency profiles in Sonarworks SoundID Reference and according to their readings, the 990 32ohm has an even more extreme treble spike.

I like these headphones but I had to do a mod where I inserted 1 layer of felt and 2.5 layers of Bounty paper towel. The result is incredible. Taming the highs allows the bass to come through clearly and they're great.

Did you buy your 32 ohms used? And high frequencies can have a different meaning. My 990 250ohms spike around 9-10khz pretty sharply, but it sounds neutral-ish up to that point.

For comparison, my MDR-7506s have peaks 3-5khz and then another lesser so up around 9-10khz. So in some ways the 7506s sound brighter than the 990s.

So if you're thinking of 5-6k as high frequencies, that might explain why it's lower than you expected. These headphones get weird higher up than that, I think.

Out of all the headphones you chose the abyss? Strange choice.

DT990 emphasizes the bass and treble too much that it makes the whole midrange (where most instruments, foley, voices, etc are) feel distant and hollow sounding. It's not a balanced sound. That was my experience with them.

The DT880 is more balanced but also has a similar flavour of sound since it uses the same driver. I still have mine but I've slightly dulled the treble with a disc of felt to bring out the high mids more, they're pretty great now.

If you want a balanced mid/treble I would maybe look into getting something like that, or the Sennheiser HD560S or AKG K612, but if you want a bit more bass like the DT990 then I recall the Shure SRH440A and AKG K245 having that.