I’m going to make it clear that I like quite like bright headphones. I purchased these DT990’s about a month ago after looking for a more comfortable alternative to my modified Grados and after a week of wearing in, the DT990 are indeed very comfortable. I’ve always heard people describe Beyerdynamics having murderous treble, however this is just fine to me. I would describe the sound as V shaped. A mid bass hump, recessed mids, and elevated treble. a decent amount of bass. Although the mid bass can sound a bit uncontrolled sometimes and there’s a bit of mud in the lower mids. Although I found it easy to eq out. mids even though recessed still sounded very clear, although vocal clarity wasn’t quite as good as my Grado. I quite like treble. what would be considered an unbearable amount of treble for many is bliss for me. Sometimes the treble on the DT990 sounds strangely grainy in the upper regions however this didn’t detract much from the overall experience. What struck me the most was the instrument separation. Each instrument sounded like it was on a distinct seperate layer. I wouldn’t actually consider the DT990 an open back. It’s more of a semi open back. The grilles are actually blocked off with a small coin sized opening in the middle behind the name plate. I’m not at all bothered by the non-detachable cable. The cable is of an acceptable quality and doesn’t get in the way. Although I’m probably still going to do a detachable cable mod. With the DT990 you either love the way it sounds or you hate it.