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Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250 Ohm & DT770 Pro 250 Ohm

twsecrest

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Soundmagic HP200 open headphones, like an improved DT990.
Soundmagic HP151 closed headphones, like an improved DT770.
 

solderdude

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Has anyone here compared these together? Sound-wise, are they identical?

S.

They differ substantially.

There are even audible differences between various DT990's and DT770's
 

solderdude

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The DT770 I owned sounded great in the beginning. Impressive bass not bleeding into the mids, piercing treble. The last part has easy fixes.
Until after a a while I began noticing it had a 'one note bass'. This started to bother me and sold it. Later I heard/measured another one and found the same. As long as one doesn't hear it or isn't bothered it is one of the cheaper sturdy closed headphones around.
The DT990 does not have this issue for me and with some EQ is even better.
 

3125b

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Emphasis on various. Beyer needs to figure out another naming scheme, it’s a mess with all the 770, 880 and 990 models.

On topic: I don’t really like either. They have some things going for them, are sturdy, repairable and cheap. However I find especially the 990 overly sharp and both all in all not as good as the 880 Edition with a similar driver at a similar (20€ more or so, not too much) price point. The Pro versions do have high clamping force and a infuriating spiral cable on top of that, making them unpleasent to wear for me.
I‘d get one of the 880 Edition models, in Germany the 880 Black Special Edition (slightly upgraded with nicer materials ... one of like eight different 880 at the moment) is always on sale for 139€, wich I think is the best value headphone Beyer offers. There‘s nothing I don‘t like about it considering the price.
 

solderdude

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Yep, the naming is a mess.

Indeed the Edition versions are more pleasant to wear, the pro versions with their higher clamping force and spiral cables are more usefull for professionals (monitoring) that also (have to) move around and don't want to trip over 3m long wires or have the cable run into castors.

The treble peak is easily cured.
 

solderdude

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They have been in production for over 30 years and changes have been made. Also there are several different impedance drivers that not only appear to differ in impedance only. There are several kinds of editions as well. There are ones with different clamping forces etc. There are different looking models that because of their different looks also have different sonic properties.

I never understood why Beyer did not differentiate between all the different 'models' by adding a suffix other than its impedance.
 

solderdude

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the 880 Black Special Edition

The DT880 Black special edition is more similar to the DT990 than the 'normal' DT880 with the silver pads.
dt880be-vs-dt990pro.png
 

audiofool

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Yep, the naming is a mess.

Indeed the Edition versions are more pleasant to wear, the pro versions with their higher clamping force and spiral cables are more usefull for professionals (monitoring) that also (have to) move around and don't want to trip over 3m long wires or have the cable run into castors.

The treble peak is easily cured.

Thanks to your excellent review site I am going to try Beyerdynamic next. Some have said that the 600 ohm versions are higher resolution, maybe lighter voice coil or is the difference between the 250ohm and 600ohm versions simply frequency response? Also, can the head clamping force be reduced on the PRO models by simply bending them?
 

twsecrest

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Thanks to your excellent review site I am going to try Beyerdynamic next. Some have said that the 600 ohm versions are higher resolution, maybe lighter voice coil or is the difference between the 250ohm and 600ohm versions simply frequency response? Also, can the head clamping force be reduced on the PRO models by simply bending them?
I would suggest passing on the DT770/DT880/DT990 headphones, there are better headphones for the same price, also 600-Ohm headphones are just not practical.
 

Thalis

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The DT770 I owned sounded great in the beginning. Impressive bass not bleeding into the mids, piercing treble. The last part has easy fixes.
Until after a a while I began noticing it had a 'one note bass'. This started to bother me and sold it. Later I heard/measured another one and found the same. As long as one doesn't hear it or isn't bothered it is one of the cheaper sturdy closed headphones around.
The DT990 does not have this issue for me and with some EQ is even better.

Would you also say its had a "one tone bass"? I had the same experience with the Senn HD280 Pro new version. The bass sounded the same for most genres of music on whatever amp I have but that has changed once it was fed from the L30.
 

audiofool

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I would suggest passing on the DT770/DT880/DT990 headphones, there are better headphones for the same price, also 600-Ohm headphones are just not practical.
I have owned 600-ohm headphones in the past, I agree they are not as compatible due to the power requirements. Claims of higher resolution for the 600 ohm versions has me interested. Often I have seen output from headphone amplifiers showing better noise and distortion figures with 300 ohm headphones compared to lower impedance and I wonder if the claimed improvements with 600 ohm versions is simply improved amplifier performance.

Always open to suggestions for better headphones for the same price? I do a lot of DSP to deal with EQ and HRTF issues so I require low distortion and resonances before absolute frequency response. Comfort and reliable part availability are also important to me.
 

solderdude

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Some have said that the 600 ohm versions are higher resolution,

I would say this is a myth. FR differs somewhat. DT880 BE (250 Ohm) with grey pads vs DT880-600
dt880-600-vs-dt880-be-grey-pads.png

Same rig, same enclosure, same pads so easy to compare.
 

solderdude

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Would you also say its had a "one tone bass"? I had the same experience with the Senn HD280 Pro new version. The bass sounded the same for most genres of music on whatever amp I have but that has changed once it was fed from the L30.

The DT770 I owned and the one I measured had 'one note bass' to me. Most don't hear it this way. When someone plays a ladder of bass notes I hear the same note but instead of different notes I hear notes varying in loudness with about the same frequency. No idea why.
 

Thalis

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The DT770 I owned and the one I measured had 'one note bass' to me. Most don't hear it this way. When someone plays a ladder of bass notes I hear the same note but instead of different notes I hear notes varying in loudness with about the same frequency. No idea why.

Gosh ok i was imagining its the kick drum tone or note and not the actual basslines. Cos that's what was happening in my case... all the kick drums sounded the same which was weird
 
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