Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro Review (headphone)

[LevityProject]

I've been using a pair of DT990s for a while - affordability was the main driver for my original purchase. The stock tuning on these is not reference quality. Out of the box, There's too much upper bass, not enough sub bass, dark midrange and shrill upper treble. The measurements on the box confirm this.

I do like these headphones with corrective EQ. But I've had to chase it for a long time and developed custom curves that fix all of the frequency response issues except the lowest sub bass. Anything below about 30hz can't be reproduced on these.

Nothing can fix the distortion, which to me is the biggest issue. It's hearable even at lower listening volumes. Is it still enjoyable? Yes, it can be for music that has a lot of distortion already. It gives rock tracks some extra grit that is interesting and not at all bad. But Is it reference class? No. No way. It does not faithfully reproduced music.

Reference class headphones should at minimum have extremely low distortion so that they can take EQ. The DT990s fall apart on this metric.

Once you hear true reference class headphones like a pair of senheiser HD650s or on the budget side even a pair of truthhear x crinacle zero, zero 2, zero red or zero blue in ears, there is no going back.

 

[pablolie]

I've been using a pair of DT990s for a while - affordability was the main driver for my original purchase. The stock tuning on these is not reference quality. Out of the box, There's too much upper bass, not enough sub bass, dark midrange and shrill upper treble. The measurements on the box confirm this.

I do like these headphones with corrective EQ. But I've had to chase it for a long time and developed custom curves that fix all of the frequency response issues except the lowest sub bass. Anything below about 30hz can't be reproduced on these.

Nothing can fix the distortion, which to me is the biggest issue. It's hearable even at lower listening volumes. Is it still enjoyable? Yes, it can be for music that has a lot of distortion already. It gives rock tracks some extra grit that is interesting and not at all bad. But Is it reference class? No. No way. It does not faithfully reproduced music.

Reference class headphones should at minimum have extremely low distortion so that they can take EQ. The DT990s fall apart on this metric.

Once you hear true reference class headphones like a pair of senheiser HD650s or on the budget side even a pair of truthhear x crinacle zero, zero 2, zero red or zero blue in ears, there is no going back.

If one wants to EQ, I'd guess dialing off bass extension under 20Hz would help. The 1990 claim 5Hz.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Personally I find that these EQ well (yes, even down to c.20Hz) at lower volumes.

 

[LevityProject]

Personally I find that these EQ well (yes, even down to c.20Hz) at lower volumes.

But They objectively don't eq well. The distortion from 20hz to almost 200hz is obscene and becomes worse with EQ. That's not to say I don't enjoy them - I do. They just aren't reference quality headphones.

 

[solderdude]

If one wants to EQ, I'd guess dialing off bass extension under 20Hz would help. The 1990 claim 5Hz.

They do ... but the cutoff point depends on the used pads (A or B) and applied target though and it depends on where one references the cut-off point to (1kHz ?).

Not all DT 990 are created equal either. The 'DT990' has been in production for over 30 years and depending on the year of manufacture, pad condition etc the frequency response will differ as well.
In short a DT 990 does not exist, many differing DT 990 exist and they differ in frequency response as well as looks and even build.

Below 3x a 'DT 990 Pro'

and to top it off the latest iteration the DT 990 PRO X

In the end we cannot speak of a 'DT 990' as there are many 'DT 990' (as well as many DT 770 and DT 880)
All of them have 'mount Beyer' treble peaks, similar build and all of them show high amounts of distortion in the bass at higher SPL.
The newer drivers (STELLAR.45) are a bit better when it comes to compression (odd harmonics) but still have rather high second harmonic distortion in the bass.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

But They objectively don't eq well. The distortion from 20hz to almost 200hz is obscene and becomes worse with EQ. That's not to say I don't enjoy them - I do. They just aren't reference quality headphones.

The key phrase in my post is ‘at lower volumes’. If an un-EQd pair of headphones doesn’t distort (20Hz-20kHz) at say 96dB, and you turn the volume down to 86dB, then no frequency will distort any more than they did at 96dB if EQ for any frequency is kept <10dB.

Clearly there’s some distortion at 20-200, but it’s not as bad as at higher volumes. Ultimately, these are not for bass heads. But there are many here who use bookshelf speakers without a sub who can forgo the lowest frequencies.

And I never said they were ‘reference quality’.

 

[l3xtown]

Да, так и есть... но точка среза зависит от используемых площадок ( A или B ) и примененной цели, а также от того, к какой точке относят точку среза (1 кГц?).

Не все модели DT 990 одинаковы. DT990 выпускается уже более 30 лет, и в зависимости от года выпуска, состояния накладок и т.д. частотная характеристика также может различаться.
Короче говоря, DT 990 не существует, существует множество различных DT 990, которые отличаются как по частотной характеристике, так и по внешнему виду и даже по конструкции.

Меньше, чем в 3 раза «DT 990 Pro»

и в довершение всего, последняя версия DT 990 PRO X

В конце концов, мы не можем говорить о «DT 990», поскольку существует много «DT 990» (а также много DT 770 и DT 880).
Все они имеют высокие пики «гора Байер», схожую конструкцию и все они демонстрируют высокий уровень искажений в басах при высоком уровне звукового давления.
Новые драйверы (STELLAR.45) немного лучше с точки зрения компрессии (нечетные гармоники), но все еще имеют довольно высокие искажения второй гармоники в басах.

Dt1770 Vs Dt900 pro x?

 

[solderdude]

open vs closed.

Take into consideration that closed headphones almost always have wildly varying bass quality/quantity when you can't get a good seal.

Only used closed headphones when you can get a good seal (no glasses or hair between the pads and skin) and need isolation.

and ... please post in English. Very few ASR members can read Russian.

 

[l3xtown]

открытое против закрытого.

Примите во внимание, что закрытые наушники почти всегда имеют сильно различающееся качество/количество басов, если вам не удается добиться хорошей герметичности.

Используйте закрытые наушники только в тех случаях, когда вы можете обеспечить хорошую герметичность (без очков или волос между подушечками и кожей) и вам нужна изоляция.

и... пожалуйста, пишите на английском. Очень немногие члены ASR умеют читать по-русски.

Yes. Ok

 

[solderdude]

Your quotes still appear in Russian so most ASR members still won't know what you are responding to.

Hint: when quoting switch off translation before you hit the 'quote' button.
And.. please use one thread for replies about the same subject.
THIS ONE preferably:

Bayerdynamic DT1770 VS DT1990 VS DT900 PRO X?

Hello. Can you please tell me which headphones are better for writing arrangements, production, beats, and easy mixing: the dt1990/1770, the dt1990/1770mk2, or the dt900 pro x? Some people recommend the 1770 because it doesn't have a sharp top and has plenty of bass, but is this true? And which...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

open vs closed.

Take into consideration that closed headphones almost always have wildly varying bass quality/quantity when you can't get a good seal.

Only used closed headphones when you can get a good seal (no glasses or hair between the pads and skin) and need isolation.

and ... please post in English. Very few ASR members can read Russian.

My reading glasses have very thin arms. I find they don’t break the seal on any of my headphones.

But other glasses can make things very difficult.

 

[solderdude]

Yes, highly glasses (arms size and shape) as well as head-geometry dependent.
Also most open headphones are hardly affected when seal is broken.

 

[LevityProject]

I'm curious why this measurement thread is still going. I used these for years, and liked them after tuning. But the midrange in these is smeared. I suspect because of distortion.

Personally I find that these EQ well (yes, even down to c.20Hz) at lower volumes.

This is literally not possible on these. It's a physical limitation. You are hearing harmonics.

 

[LevityProject]

I have precisely tuned these headphones using every available technology I can find. While it turned put ok, they are still not truly reference class. Even with extremely detailed tuning efforts.

I honestly have much less expensive in-ears that after choosing the right gels and doing some light tuning crush these headphones handily.

 

[Shrek6]

I have precisely tuned these headphones using every available technology I can find. While it turned put ok, they are still not truly reference class. Even with extremely detailed tuning efforts.

I honestly have much less expensive in-ears that after choosing the right gels and doing some light tuning crush these headphones handily.

Have you tried Toilet-modding them? It’s where you put them in the toilet