I recall DMS himself admitted in a video that he regretted selling ATH-R70X.
I haven’t watched the video but others here comment it was likely said as a joke.
Audio-Technica are not bad IMO. They’ve made good and bad, expensive and cheap models. Some where successful, some weren’t. Each audio product is a compromise. I see no reason not to audition any ATH model when looking for new headphones.
generic set of headphones with “normal” everything
That would be K371 for me and they’re my favorite closed back.
Personally I don’t find K371 to have any significant drawbacks and it sounds “normal”. Not too bassy, not lean, not dark in the treble but not over-emphasizing treble detail at the same time.
Soundstage is good if that’s how the track was mixed with soundstage in mind (my favorite Solar Fields tracks sound wide and almost “holographic”, while poorly mastered music sounds narrow).
I feel that my Samsung Galaxy Buds2 also don’t have significant drawbacks. They’re not shouty in the upper treble and on my head, I don’t get the 8 kHz peak that measurements show, bass is not overblown etc. They’re a little too treble-happy to be considered neutral, so it’s not a reference headphone like the K371. But not bad in any way for me.
Lack of power is often simply a volume limitation, or in rare cases, non-linear distortion (a certain harshness to the sound. You can check how increasing levels of THD sound like in a test site like https://www.audiocheck.net/testtones_thdFull.php)
More likely, when in Bluetooth mode, your headphones apply digital signal processing, most often to improve channel balance (to compensate for one cup having the electronics etc.) but also to tune the sound further.
It’s an especially prominent effect in many ANC headphones, where the microphones are used to determine what correction to apply to the sound go get the intended frequency response. If same headphone is connected passively, none of this processing is working and whatever improvements could be made via DSP are gone.
Does you headphone have an app with equalizer? If yes, see if you can boost the treble in the bluetooth mode.
Is the statement in this post a description of your experience or are you quoting someone?
Bluetooth can sound transparent and while AAC is not as good as LDAC, it’s used with a high bitrate in iOS. Sure, there is some high frequency cut-off, but from what was measured in this article, it does go to almost 19 kHz on the iPhone 7.
It’s further explained in that article how Android phones often automatically use lower bandwidth in AAC to reduce battery usage. For those devices, even the simpler SBC codec gives better results, since it’s running at a higher bitrate.
In any case, the most important aspect of a headphone in terms of how good it sounds to you is the frequency response, the relative balance of how loud each frequency is played by the headphones. Once you have headphones with a frequency response that you like, the AAC compression artifacts, even when audible, shouldn’t ruin your fun.
And as others said, you can always use a dongle. Even the cheap ones usually exceed CD quality signal.
Maybe try using EQ to the DT1990 before buying a new headphone?
You’ve paid serious money for this one and if you like their look and feel, why not try to make them sound pleasing?
Here are suggested setting for Analytic Earpads and Balanced Earpads.
If you’re new to the concept of parametric equalization or Harman Target, look it up. It’s really worth it.