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That's disappointing to hear, but sadly not uncommon. These last few years have highlighted how much all companies (and industries overall) have had to find ways to save on costs, which inevitably get passed down to consumers. I'm sure in the coming years we will hear more stories about how pandemic and post-pandemic era products (especially electronics) have disproportionately higher failure rates than before, but I digress.

Assuming your old pads are still salvageable with a good cleaning, I would opt to swap those onto the new pair, but I would also give the new pair time to wear in regardless. Otherwise, my recommendation for a full sounding headphone, particularly for metal, would be the Focal Clear OG - but be forewarned that it is significantly more costly.

You can still get the normal version with the grey pads though. And the pads are cross-compatible.

I doubt you're going to find something that sounds very similar to the DT990 as they are especially know for one of the most pronounced variants of the beyer-peak and a lot of people aren't too keen on that treble.