beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro Headphone Review

[madig]

For years I listened to audio on my DT1990 and DT770, but recently went for the Truthear Zero (Red) as my daily drivers because they just sound "right" to me in a way that the other two don't. Occasionally, I try to go back to the DT1990 but always immediately notice that it sounds... "hollow" is how I would describe it. Amir's and oratory1990's EQ presets do not change this impression. Anyone know what I mean and what to do about it?

I remember always having to adjust Beyerdynamic's sound signature, it never sounded right at first, but I never thought about it. When I put on the first generation T1 for the first time, the sound was so weird (I remember thinking "green tinge all over the sound") that I was utterly disappointed.

 

[LunaRay]

I use them with wavelet on andorid to flatten them, and my god they are so piercingly precise and sharp at high end and low-end, sounding god tier. But my ears ring for few days after ( I don't listen at high volumes lol)

 

[dananski]

I use them with wavelet on andorid to flatten them, and my god they are so piercingly precise and sharp at high end and low-end, sounding god tier. But my ears ring for few days after ( I don't listen at high volumes lol)

I've used them with eq for a few years, which does cut the highs right down, but still there's that ringing afterwards. I guess there are some peaks that still cut through. I've recently slapped a -10.5dB high shelf on at 10kHz to kill it off. Can barely hear anything up there anyway so I'd prefer it just be silent. It helps a bit with the ringing, but I think my ears are better off simply using literally any other device I have to listen to music. It's a shame because they sound really good from 20hz to ~8kHz.

 

[solderdude]

The question is what EQ as the problem area for the ringing is exactly at and above the frequency range where fixtures are not reporting correctly (substantial errors) so any EQ based on such measurements is incorrect.

I am very sensitive to HF issues and have no problems with DT1990 treble response because of the way I correct for that rather huge peaking.

 

[dananski]

Yeah, it's worth mentioning the specific eq config.
I've used these:
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/Au...r-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/Au...r-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)

I prefer the latter. Like you say, the fixtures don't report the high frequency response correctly, so these both just use a 10kHz shelf for the highest band. I expect it's a compromise that lets you hear some air but doesn't completely get rid of the peaks. I find taking that shelf down further helps me. I lowered the 8kHz and the bass a bit too for my taste.

How are you equalising the treble to deal with the peaks?

 

[roladyzator]

Yeah, it's worth mentioning the specific eq config.
I've used these:
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/over-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/crinacle/GRAS 43AG-7 over-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)

I prefer the latter. Like you say, the fixtures don't report the high frequency response correctly, so these both just use a 10kHz shelf for the highest band. I expect it's a compromise that lets you hear some air but doesn't completely get rid of the peaks. I find taking that shelf down further helps me. I lowered the 8kHz and the bass a bit too for my taste.

How are you equalising the treble to deal with the peaks?

You can try to find each peak using a tone generator, like this one:

Online Tone Generator - generate pure tones of any frequency

www.szynalski.com

Move the frequency slider until you find a sudden increase in volume.
Then, try a filter with Q=5 or 6 and gain = -6 dB or so with the frequency being more or less the center of the elevated frequency range.
Do this until moving the frequency slider over the offending range results in less volume variation.

After that, you can fine tune your filter with pink noise or music (adjust gain and Q until it sounds best).

Another way to find areas worth equalizing is playing music and taking notice of offending sounds.
Add a filter with Q=1.4 or even 2, with gain of 6 dB or so and change its frequency. At some point, whatever was wrong in the sound for you would become much louder and then you'll now this is the frequency range that needs to be adjusted.

 

[solderdude]

Yeah, it's worth mentioning the specific eq config.
I've used these:
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/over-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/crinacle/GRAS 43AG-7 over-ear/Beyerdynamic DT 1990 (balanced earpads)

I prefer the latter. Like you say, the fixtures don't report the high frequency response correctly, so these both just use a 10kHz shelf for the highest band. I expect it's a compromise that lets you hear some air but doesn't completely get rid of the peaks. I find taking that shelf down further helps me. I lowered the 8kHz and the bass a bit too for my taste.

How are you equalising the treble to deal with the peaks?

-5dB is not enough at 8kHz and a shelve is incorrect as it removes 'air'.

I use a passive filter to address the issues above 6kHz.

 

[dananski]

You can try to find each peak using a tone generator, like this one:

Online Tone Generator - generate pure tones of any frequency

www.szynalski.com

Move the frequency slider until you find a sudden increase in volume.
Then, try a filter with Q=5 or 6 and gain = -6 dB or so with the frequency being more or less the center of the elevated frequency range.
Do this until moving the frequency slider over the offending range results in less volume variation.

After that, you can fine tune your filter with pink noise or music (adjust gain and Q until it sounds best).

Another way to find areas worth equalizing is playing music and taking notice of offending sounds.
Add a filter with Q=1.4 or even 2, with gain of 6 dB or so and change its frequency. At some point, whatever was wrong in the sound for you would become much louder and then you'll now this is the frequency range that needs to be adjusted.

Ah ok, by listening. As indicated before I can't really hear that high anyway, all it gives me pain and ringing . But I have used the same technique before for lower frequency eq. Good advice for LunaRay though, and in general.

 

[pablolie]

Ah ok, by listening. As indicated before I can't really hear that high anyway, all it gives me pain and ringing . But I have used the same technique before for lower frequency eq. Good advice for LunaRay though, and in general.

i have never once heard 'ringing' or 'pain' because of a device. if i did, i'd attribute it solely to bad SPL choices.

 

[dananski]

i have never once heard 'ringing' or 'pain' because of a device. if i did, i'd attribute it solely to bad SPL choices.

Partly, yes, but SPL from long ago rather than at the time of using the headphones. I'll warn anyone who'll listen that hearing protection at gigs is a must. I think there must be more to it than that though, since at any given SPL the ringing is worst with these, vs a fair bit with noise cancelling headphones I've used, and barely at all otherwise. Anyway, on headphones I listen very quietly in general and always have.

Edit: In the post you quoted I was only talking about the eq-by-ear method, saying high frequencies are inaudible to me, so turning up a tone generator trying to hear them to construct eq just brings me pain and no sound - regardless of device, audibility threshold is above pain threshold.

 

[audiofromaustria]

-5dB is not enough at 8kHz and a shelve is incorrect as it removes 'air'.

I use a passive filter to address the issues above 6kHz.

The same passive filter as on your homepage?
I use AU Graphic EQ from the Mac OS.

 

[solderdude]

The filter is quite a bit wider and deeper than the EQ in the plot.
8kHz, Q=1.0, -7dB

 

[audiofromaustria]

@solderdude thanks - I will test them soon.
In Apples AU Graphic EQ I can enter values using the keyboard, and store this.
Audirvana Beta is testing its own EQ
JRiver Media Centre has many options.
But did you sell this as LRC filter? Sometime I use an CD Player without any computer.

 

[solderdude]

Yes, I make those filters and indeed they can be a blessing when EQ is not possible.

 

[audiofromaustria]

Has anyone measured the effect of these two pads compared to the original:

Akustikscheibe für MMX 300 Pro

Akustikscheibe

Scheiben Set MMX 300 PRO / MMX 330 PRO / DT 770 PRO X

www.beyerdynamic.de

Akustikscheibe DT 1990 Pro MKII
https://www.beyerdynamic.de/p/akustikscheibe-dt-1770-1990-pro-mk-2

I am interested in the differences over about 2kHz and both pads.

Is there any significant difference between the acoustic discs of the DT1990MKII and the MMX 300 Pro?

@solderdude you did, but both?

 

[pablolie]

Just got the fantastic JDS Element 4, and went for the PEQ recommended in post #1... but that sounded somewhat unbalanced and "boomy" to me, so I toned it all down a notch or two - and this sounds very enjoyable to me:

 

[staticV3]

Just got the fantastic JDS Element 4, and went for the PEQ recommended in post #1... but that sounded somewhat unbalanced and "boomy" to me, so I toned it all down a notch or two - and this sounds very enjoyable to me:

View attachment 495556

I recommend giving these a try:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

making sure that you use the profile that matches your ear pads.

Once you've copied the parameters into JDS Core, the PDFs include instructions how to adjust the presets to preference.

 

[Guetta]

@amirm could you take a look at the new DT 1990 PRO MK II?

They’ve redesigned the drivers, and reported distortion levels during normal listening conditions seem significantly improved. Also worth noting, they’re now rated at 30 ohms.

 

[Geert]

@amirm could you take a look at the new DT 1990 PRO MK II?

They’ve redesigned the drivers, and reported distortion levels during normal listening conditions seem significantly improved. Also worth noting, they’re now rated at 30 ohms.

DT 1990 PRO mkII

back to Beyerdynamic back to measurements home published: Nov-17-2024 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks a…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

( @solderdude )

 

[1122333]

I originally had the 2nd-gen DT1990 Pro, but I’ve since sold it. I used the money from the sale to grab a dead-stock 1st-gen DT1990 Pro plus two pairs of genuine original earpads.
I did some quick and simple measurements on both headphones. Bear in mind my measurement gear and testing environment aren’t ideal, so please take these results with a grain of salt. I ran the tests at a pretty low volume, so the graphs are a bit jittery and unsmoothed. I also threw in my HD650 as a baseline comparison—all measurements were taken at roughly the same output level. I organized the curves like this in REW just to make side-by-side comparison easier.

The main reason I dumped the 2nd gen is its vocal performance. The midrange vocals feel slightly recessed, and I get this weird breathy, leaky articulation on sibilants. I’m not sure if it’s a shifted peak around 3kHz or just inconsistent treble fluctuations, but the entire upper end sounds like a mess of sharp, metallic shards with practically no damping at all.

The 1st gen is bright too, but its treble is a clean, sharp, precise kind of brightness—like a scalpel. When I’m mixing on the 1st gen, every track just opens up effortlessly. I can pick apart individual timbres and tiny details with almost no effort.

The 2nd gen just doesn’t give me that clean resolution. Everything sounds coated in that fragmented, metallic treble harshness, which masks fine details across the board.
To be fair, the 2nd gen does have better low-end response. Compared to the HD650, it barely has any noticeable bass roll-off at all.