beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro Headphone Review

[Curupira]

does it really suck?

It has fundamental flaws that, RELATIVELY to other options inside it's price bracket, makes it not a good option, i.e, not recommendable. It doesn't sound broken, otherwise it would receive the broken panther, rather, it sounds perfectly fine once you EQ down the treble, but it's still unremarkable, specially at $500.

 

[nab1828]

You listen at around 115 dB? Are you insane? This is either BS or you have severely damaged hearing, and none of your reviews can be taken seriously. 115 dB will damage your hearing within minutes.

 

[Robbo99999]

I don't usually pipe in on headphone reviews (I think this is my first) but I'd think this is a good example of when to EQ based on the bass. I know they are already pretty low sensitivity cans but dialing down everything over, say, 50 Hz, to create the desired curve might be the better way to go. That let's the bass play in it's sweet spot.

That's the same thing as adding boost filters to the bass and then adding a Negative Preamp to cover the bass boost, it's the same result - it doesn't matter which way round you do it, same result. I think that's what you're getting at.

 

[kelesh]

The "best" Beyerdyamic is the old DT150 with DT100 pads. It takes out the bump in the upper bass and smoothen the treble peaks as well.

There are also those who reverse this and use DT100 with the newer DT150 pads Are the ones you are referring to (faux) leather or velour?

 

[pablolie]

Distortion profile wise it seems like same Tesla driver fitted as in previously tested Beyerdynamic Amiron Home. Thanks to Amir now anyone can see which one has better out of box FR tuning. Six Beyers reviewed so far and all had high distortion rise past 94db..

Just wondering how many forum participants listen at 114dB SPL... I think you'd better worry about other stuff than headphone distortion... :-D

 

[AuricGoldfinger]

I have some DT990 Pro 250 Ohms bought about 10 years ago. Hate the treble above say 7kHz, it’s my gripe with them. They do need bass EQ, but with that they sound quite good. I recall my distortion measurement was much lower, except at sub-bass frequencies.

 

[juliangst]

Anything getting near 90dB average is painful for me. With an additional crest factor of 10dB the Beyers would still not get above 1% distortion for any frequencies except low bass.

Am I getting something wrong here? Are those 104dB and 114dB measurements of any real value or just for finding out the theoretical limit of headphones?

 

[pablolie]

...

Am I getting something wrong here? Are those 104dB and 114dB measurements of any real value or just for finding out the theoretical limit of headphones?

I can confidently state distortion levels at that SPL have zero significance for me. No one would hear a difference for long. Might as well spend time at a busy airport runway if you're into that.

 

[Robbo99999]

Just wondering how many forum participants listen at 114dB SPL... I think you'd better worry about other stuff than headphone distortion... :-D

I don't listen loud, and couple of years ago I measured my typical & loudest listening levels on my miniDSP EARS of my K702 EQ'd headphones. Following is Typical Listening Level, and this is after EQ and after conversion to a GRAS Style Measurement - so is basically I listen to music with a certain amp setting and then I just do a 0dBFS (full scale) sine sweep measurement at the same amp settings:

So that's 84dB at 1kHz, but there's also about +8dB bass EQ built into that, so the bass level is the equivalent of 84dB + 8dB = 92dB. So a 92dB measurement of an unEQ'd K702 if you imagine Amir doing his distortion measurements, then Amir's 94dB distortion measurement would be applicable for the bass region of my headphone in terms of what kind of maximum distortion I can be seeing in the bass.

But then I also measured my K702 headphone at the loudest amp settings that I use, and I got the following (and just by the by this measurement hasn't been converted into a GRAS style measurement which is why it looks different & odd) (remember this is on miniDSP EARS measurement rig):

So that's 87dB for 1kHz and then you add the +8dB bass boost to give you 95dB, so again for me there the 94dB distortion line measurement of Amir's would be the most applicable when it comes to the bass.

So from my own points of view Amir's 94dB distortion measurements are the most applicable and for headphones that require in the region of +8dB bass boost. I think I've found that I don't listen loud. From my own view points & measurements of my max listening levels I can't imagine anything greater than 104dB being the max useful ceiling for headphone performance in my own case, in terms of Amir's measurements, and with 94dB being the most relevant. So I do agree with you on the 114dB point, certainly when it comes to my own use of headphones.

 

[carsknivesbeer]

I use the DIY-Audio-Heaven passive inline filter with these which drop 8K seven db and found it to be worth it. I find the build and comfort great.

 

[Martin]

The DT1990 Pro ($399 refurbished from Beyerdynamic-usa on Ebay) was my first foray into headphone upgrades about 5 years ago. I previously had a pair of Sennheiser HD598 ($169 new). The DT1990 were very nice and a step up from the HD598 but they only whet my appetite for better headphone sound. Listening to higher end headphones at the Florida Audio Expo began my next quest which ended with my headphone comparison (posted here) and my current Audeze LCD-3 ($850 used). I still love the LCD-3 and do not plan to replace them unless I fall into a pile of money.

I did not use EQ at the time but found the DT1990 a very competent midrange headphone. I found them on @solderdude's website.

Martin

 

[SteveC]

That's the same thing as adding boost filters to the bass and then adding a Negative Preamp to cover the bass boost, it's the same result - it doesn't matter which way round you do it, same result. I think that's what you're getting at.

Yeah, basically. In this case don't turn up the bass...turn down everything else.

 

[kemmler3D]

Huh, interesting. Not a truly terrible result but I guess people are disappointed. I have some DT770s (got them maybe 10 years ago at a yard sale for $50), and as I recall they sound a bit dull. Now seeing the measurements from there, no surprise.

My favorite Beyerdynamics I ever heard were actually the DT 240s, an on-ear model. Anyone know if they have been measured somewhere?

 

[MacClintock]

I had them a while ago and thought I got the holy grail of best value headphones ...
Ah, times before ASR were wild.

Same here, but I even had them after I discovered EQ and such. Traded them in anyway, but I, like some others here, never was able to hear high distortion let alone static. It seems that these tests by Amir are really quite extreme, pushing to the absolute limit.

 

[Curupira]

Yeah, basically. In this case don't turn up the bass...turn down everything else.

I'd have the same result, as you would turn up the volume back to hear the other frequencies better.

 

[solderdude]

My favorite Beyerdynamics I ever heard were actually the DT 240s, an on-ear model. Anyone know if they have been measured somewhere?

DT240 Pro

back to Beyerdynamicback to measurementshome published: Feb-06-2022 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

 

[CedarX]

How was the headphone cable @amirm? Was it noisy on human contact/impact or dead silent?

@Doodski I have seen elsewhere that you like to add (EQ) some wild “zing” to your headphones…
Have you tried, or do you own one of these? How do the Beyer’s work for you?

 

[Doodski]

@Doodski I have seen elsewhere that you like to add (EQ) some wild “zing” to your headphones…
Have you tried, or do you own one of these? How do the Beyer’s work for you?

Dang you nail'd it. I am really tweaked by these DT-1990 Pro. They might fit with the bleeding top end requirement for me but the distortion won't work.

 

[Arashi_Tsunade]

I see and continue to see the Akg k371 sold for little money do much better than many headphones on the market

 

[kemmler3D]

DT240 Pro

back to Beyerdynamicback to measurementshome published: Feb-06-2022 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Wow, what a fool I've been! I only heard them at CES which is a very noisy environment, so maybe the hyped response worked for that. And, to be honest, I bet a lot of cans at that show were vastly worse. I just remember being pleasantly surprised that it wasn't another disaster.