This review, to me is too negatively biased. I find the HD 490 Pro to be an excellent headphone, very neutral. The Sonarworks and RTINGS reviews of the HD 490 Pro provide a much different set of opinions from this review. The Sonarworks review is effusive in the ability of the HD 490 Pro to not need EQ to enjoy the sound.
I have used AutoEQ with the HD 490 and Foobar2000, which works rather well. The Sonarworks EQ with TIDAL also works well.
The electronics connected to the HD 490 also make a significant difference with its sound. I noticed that the HD 490 sounds quite a bit better with the Topping D900/A900 than it does with the other DAC/Headphone setups I have on hand. The difference is less noticeable with the HD 650 or the HD 660 S2 using the D900/A900. Obviously, the driver/pad combo is more sensitive. Given that this is a Pro headphone vs. a audiophile headphone, this makes some sense to me.
Reviews of headphones in general are very subjective at best. It never ceases to amaze me how there is such a wide variance of opinions regarding headphone reviews. The same headphone can be loved by one reviewer and disliked by another.
Caveat Emptor.