Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro MKII and DT 1990 Pro MKII announced

[DeDovla]

Beyerdynamic announced DT 1990 Pro MKII and DT 1770 Pro MKII:

• Cost: 550 Euro
• New headband design (cut out at the middle for more comfort)
• Slighltly different design (letters resemble the DT 770 Pro X Legendary Edition)
• New Tesla.45 Driver with an impedance of 30 Ohms and sensitivity of 110dB/mW (in the datasheet of DT 1990 Pro MKII it says 94dB/mW or 110dB/V)
• Reduced 8kHz peak (not disclosed by how much it was reduced, but good news nontheless; They are using the acoustic disc same/similar to DT 900 Pro X)
• Balanced and Analytical pads renamed to Producing and Mixing on the DT 1990 Pro MKII (probably to be less confusing to people and follow the Sennheiser 490 Pro trend)

More details:

DT 1770 PRO MK II: Premium Tesla Studio-Kopfhörer I beyerdynamic

Der DT 1770 PRO MK II ist ein Premium-Studiokopfhörer mit Tesla-Technologie für Recording, Monitoring and Editing. Sichere dir jetzt die Flexibilität auf Profi-Niveau!

www.beyerdynamic.de

DT 1990 PRO MK II: Premium Tesla Studio-Kopfhörer I beyerdynamic

Der DT 1990 PRO MK II ist ein Premium-Studiokopfhörer mit Tesla-Technologie für Recording, Monitoring and Editing. Sichere dir jetzt die Flexibilität auf Profi-Niveau!

www.beyerdynamic.de

 

[LunaRay]

maybe this will be for beyer the same as 660s to 660s2

 

[Carlo2AC]

Hope it doesn't sound as horrid as the DT 177X

 

[DeDovla]

maybe this will be for beyer the same as 660s to 660s2

I think they definitely did take a page from Sennheiser's book with this release. Really nice that they listened to people regarding the treble peak.

Hope it doesn't sound as horrid as the DT 177X

Never heard the 1770/177x GO but I think 1770 v2 is going to have less treble than those two due to the acoustic disc. Otherwise, I don't really know what to expect with that one, I guess the rest will stay mostly the same.

 

[LunaRay]

wondering if they will be great companion for hd600, because for me now hd600 + dt1990 gen1 perfect combo for mixing (with sonarworks), I wonder in what way they go with mk2

 

[DeDovla]

There are some reviews out, but this one has at least some measurements around the 12:30 mark. I am a bit confused but in auto-translation he says that on the DT 1990 Pro v2 pads with fewer holes have more bass which should not be the case as those are analytical/mixing ones (could be a translation error). I am also surprised to see that even with the acoustic disc, the new model is producing even more highs above 10kHz and the 8kHz peak is barely attenuated on these measurements. A positive thing is that distortion is even lower in the bass than the predecessor, which should make EQ-ing even easier (although I never had a problem with the original DT 1990 and EQ).

 

[IXOYE]

Same shallow and uncomfortable pads as the predecessors... no thank's.

 

[DeDovla]

Here are some squigs (from gadgetrytech) on DT 1990 Pro MKII vs DT 1990 Pro:

(EQ on the picture is Amir's EQ for the OG DT 1990 Pro)

Some subjective thoughts on the graphs: So far I'm only a bit confused by this 2.7kHz dip (I don't see it in other headphones nor did it stand out as an issue on the v1 - it followed the Harman curve pretty good). Otherwise we can see that 8kHz is lowered by about 4dB when using the mixer/analytical pads - might be enough for some, while others might want 4dB more of reduction (or more?). For Balanced/Producing the peak is narrower, but still similar in amplitude. Also, to my personal preference, I like to see that the 4.5kHz area is about on par with Amir's EQ for the v1 since I feel this improves the spatial qualities (when applying Amir's EQ) at least to my ear. Above 8kHz I will not comment as the fixture used to measure is probably innacurate above that, it will be needed to listen to the headphone to assess if there is more "air" (which I sort of doubt because of the acoustic fleece disc they placed).

Judging by the graph, I think that whoever owns v1 and has an EQ preset that doesn't cause distortions/clipping, will not have the need to go to v2. Price-wise it's okay, could be a bit less. Another benefit of the v2 is that it is more sensitive.

 

[Limopard]

@solderdude got the DT 1990 mkII covered. Excellent work, as always. It rather seems like a side- than an upgrade to me and it raises the question, if one should rather buy a mk I for the currently lower price, and maybe add two of the felt pads.

 

[solderdude]

@solderdude got the DT 1990 mkII covered. Excellent work, as always. It rather seems like a side- than an upgrade to me and it raises the question, if one should rather buy a mk I for the currently lower price, and maybe add two of the felt pads.

That is what I would recommend. The only reason to go for the mkII is if you need the 10dB higher efficiency.

The DT1770 PRO mkII might be coming my way too.

 

[Limopard]

Looking forward to the 1770 mk II review...

 

[DeDovla]

That is what I would recommend. The only reason to go for the mkII is if you need the 10dB higher efficiency.

The DT1770 PRO mkII might be coming my way too.

Thanks for the detailed review as always @solderdude !

 

[Curupira]

Hope it doesn't sound as horrid as the DT 177X

That headphone was one of my biggest disappointments in audio and a cautionary tale for me on the realization that some rave reviewers clearly have no idea of what is a good pinna reconstruction...

 

[solderdude]

Looking forward to the 1770 mk II review...

Took a while but finally up, mostly due to figuring out the much needed modifications...

DT 1770 PRO mkII

Beyerdynamic back to measurements home published: Dec-20-2024 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wigg…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

With modifications it sounds excellent.

 

[Limopard]

Thanks a lot. No need for me to scrap my old 1770.

 

[Curupira]

Took a while but finally up, mostly due to figuring out the much needed modifications...

DT 1770 PRO mkII

Beyerdynamic back to measurements home published: Dec-20-2024 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wigg…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

With modifications it sounds excellent.

Excellent review. The closed Beyers make me wonder if their engineers are that actively concerned with FR or just overall tonal balance, as almost all of them feature weird dips and peaks and, on the bassier ones, abrupt bass shelves. They do seem to be applied enough in regards to proper damping and tuning accessories (the new damper, the optional earpads) though.

Also, why do the toilet paper mod requires cutting it "cross" shaped? Is there tangible difference from just cutting it completely round diffusor sized?

And 115dB@1V, ouch. Seeing someone recommending amplification for these in the future will be funny.

 

[solderdude]

Also, why do the toilet paper mod requires cutting it "cross" shaped? Is there tangible difference from just cutting it completely round diffusor sized?

The toilet paper only needs to cover the driver.
When it also covers the damping paper (acoustic resistor) clarity is lowered.
The 'cross' is more or less so it stays 'in place' when putting on the disc and the ring.

I have to say ... once modified (and filtered) it sounds really very good and prefer it over the HD620S

They go twice as loud as the original 250ohm version (10dB louder) at the same volume setting.
Downside is the cable resistance for the coiled cable is way too high (audible effects in stereo imaging) and the headphone is very output resistance dependent.
Same goes for the 1990-mkII.
Also too bad the headband padding can not be replaced and you need to order an entire headband when the pleather falls apart.
For pro gear I would expect easy replaceable headband padding (DT770 or DT700 style), if only for sanitary reasons.

Way too expensive though.

 

[Limopard]

The headband padding of the old 1770/1990 is still available and should fit the new ones too. Changing is a bit tricky, you need to unscrew the hinges. It takes a bit of trial and error to make sure that the cable from L to R has the same length on both sides since no correction is possible once the screws are tightened. One of the tasks where I wished I had a third hand. Did it twice, once for a worn pad, once for a broken cable.

 

[Limopard]

Excellent review. The closed Beyers make me wonder if their engineers are that actively concerned with FR or just overall tonal balance, as almost all of them feature weird dips and peaks and, on the bassier ones, abrupt bass shelves. They do seem to be applied enough in regards to proper damping and tuning accessories (the new damper, the optional earpads) though.

Seems to be a tough task to design a decent closed back headphone. I tried a few and the old DT 1770 is (together with the ATH-MSR7b) still the best compromise - if EQ is available. Without EQ they are both acceptable but not really good.

All the others I tried seemed more or less flawed to me:

Shure SRH 840 - overall decent, a bit fat sounding, heavy, sweaty
Shure SRH 940 - I could live with the forward, trebly sound, but the headband isn't just prone to breaking, it's more adequate to call it "crumbling"
Beyerdynamic T 70 p - where are the mids?
Soundmagic HP 100, 150 - a bit bright, the soft touch surface gets sticky quite fast.
Sennheiser HD 569 - needs to be heavily EQ'ed do sound halfway decent

 

[chelgrian]

Seems to be a tough task to design a decent closed back headphone. I tried a few and the old DT 1770 is (together with the ATH-MSR7b) still the best compromise - if EQ is available. Without EQ they are both acceptable but not really good.

All the others I tried seemed more or less flawed to me:

Shure SRH 840 - overall decent, a bit fat sounding, heavy, sweaty
Shure SRH 940 - I could live with the forward, trebly sound, but the headband isn't just prone to breaking, it's more adequate to call it "crumbling"
Beyerdynamic T 70 p - where are the mids?
Soundmagic HP 100, 150 - a bit bright, the soft touch surface gets sticky quite fast.
Sennheiser HD 569 - needs to be heavily EQ'ed do sound halfway decent

What about the various Dan Clark Audio models?