"tinnitus triggering" is a great way to put it. I didn't even have them at a high volume and had ringing ears. That scared me away from them quickly!

I did that mod posted by an acoustic engineer... A layer of felt and a few plies of Brawny paper towel. Made a world of difference. They are usable now without that issue.

People cringe a little when they hear of that mod -- but there's actually similar material inside the headphones already. Just not enough of it to tame that 10db bump at 9hz which is really insane if you think about it.

The DT-990s can be great for old recordings of classical music and genres that don't have a lot of high frequency energy... But modern pop is like a knife in the ears.