Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro Review (headphone)

[wwenze]

I owned the DT 990 and this review is dead on. Some of the absolute worst garbage cans on the market.

My peeve is that for the number of people who listened to Beyer DT house curve and said "wtf", there seems to be a same or greater number who say these are the most accurate phones used in studio monitoring.

Disappointing. I own a pair, never really look for them. May I ask why too many headphones have a sagged frequency response between 3 and 20 kHz? Some sort of resonances of the diaphragm (larger that the typical tweeter)? Would it help to place a bass/midrange larger unit and a coaxial tweeter in the ear-cups?

You mean the zig-zagging? Yea that is cone breakup, just like with speakers.

I'm also thinking of how a tweeter would be nice.

 

[vkvedam]

Oops

 

[stalepie2]

It's interesting to see a review like this. I've been thinking of getting them recently. Reviews online are usually very positive. For instance, most of Sweetwater's are total raves: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...open-back-studio-headphones/reviews?sb=rating Their reviews for the 880 and 770s are also usually raves. A number of professional reviews usually like the 990s, too. This old one says it has virtually no distortion: https://www.reviewed.com/headphones/content/beyerdynamic-dt-990-pro-headphones-review-715

 

[posvibes]

For Equalizer APO users:

Thanks for these conversions @sweetchaos much appreciated.


For more info, see List of Amir's Headphone PEQ filters.

 

[dmac6419]

It's interesting to see a review like this. I've been thinking of getting them recently. Reviews online are usually very positive. For instance, most of Sweetwater's are total raves: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...open-back-studio-headphones/reviews?sb=rating Their reviews for the 880 and 770s are also usually raves. A number of professional reviews usually like the 990s, too. This old one says it has virtually no distortion: https://www.reviewed.com/headphones/content/beyerdynamic-dt-990-pro-headphones-review-715

No distortion in mine,they have a U shape, either you like it or eq it to your liking

 

[vkvedam]

@amirm how about measuring Yamaha HPH-MT8? I have the version before these (MT220) and I stopped buying headphones after that.

 

[JohnBooty]

I'm not sure what possessed me to buy these. Uncorrected, they sound bad to me just like Amir described. Somehow they sounded good to me when I demo'd them at the store.

Using Oratory1990's PEQ corrections, though? Absolutely love them.

Interestingly, Oratory's corrections don't look too much like Amir's.

So my listening experience is objectively quite a bit different than Amir is reporting. Oratory takes a few more dB out of that midbass hump, and boosts the deep bass significantly. Those were the most glaring problems to me. @amirm -- I'm curious about your reasoning there. You're showing a 5dB surplus at ~150hz relative to the target curve but you only take 2dB out via EQ. Thoughts?

edit: Thanks to the comparison posted below, I see the net result of Amir vs. Oratory1990's corrections are roughly the same in that 150hz region.

You also don't boost the deep bass at all, but I assume that's because you were running out of headroom and having excursion issues? I think you like to listen to headphones a *lot* louder than I do. I have to crank these way past my comfort zone to get these headphones to pull those kinds of shenanigans.

 

[War Penguin]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and provide us your measurements. I agree with everything said in this review there is definitely very noticeable and audible distortion when turning up the volume. Powered by the headphone amp inside the creative Soundblaster X G6 the unit just comes off sounding anemic. I tried the eq provided and it definitely helps reduce the brightness of the headphone without completely destroying the soundstage. Unfortunately to my ears, there is a substantial loss in dynamics making a lot of music sound lifeless. This might just be the case with my particular setup, as it alread substantially colors the sound (Parasound HCA-800 II (Amp) + Phillips AH280 (Pre)). On the subject of equalization one important thing to note when using roon especially with these treble cannons is the sample rate filter settings can substantially influence the sound. I am referring to the Sample Rate Conversion Filter and Sigma-Delta Modulator under sample rate conversion settings.

These settings impact the sound on anything from speakers to headphones but it very noticeable on the dt990 probably thanks to their boosted top end. This change in sound will happen even if the Sample Rate Conversion setting is disabled and the signal path in roon is lossless with a purple light. Just thought I'd mention this as the DT990 sound considerably more bearable using Precise, Minimum Phase with a sigma-delta modulator of 5th Order (Clans). Why these settings have any effect on the sound in roon I do not know as there is no conversions happening and certainly not to DSD for an SD Modulator to come into play, yet it does.

 

[sweetchaos]

Interestingly, Oratory's corrections don't look too much like Amir's.

Here you go...
Beyerdynamic DT990 (fresh earpads) Oratory vs Amir PEQ:

 

[Billy Budapest]

I always thought Beyerdynamic were ear-bleeders in the treble. Now I know why.

 

[War Penguin]

Here you go...
Beyerdynamic DT990 (fresh earpads) Oratory vs Amir PEQ:
View attachment 109805

Thanks for posting that comparison, fyi to anyone looking to use the oratory curve boosting the sub-bass region like that causes significant amounts of distortion on these headphones very quickly as you begin to increase the volume.

 

[Billy Budapest]

The legendary murder treble of beyerdynamic. Suprised by the bass eq problems though , figured it would do better there.

Murder treble. Accurate description.

 

[Billy Budapest]

One down from the trio. Hd 650 proved itself already. Now its time for k702

Yes, I’d like to see the K701/702/7XX tested too. I had an Austrian-made K701 for years. I bought an Audeze LCD-2 as a replacement when it first came out. Big mistake.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

It took all of a few seconds to want to rip the DT 990 off my head as I always start with female vocals and this headphone shred the vocals to pieces. And proceeded to drill into your head with those shards!

Yop, this mirrors my brief exposure to the DT-990 of my friend.

I much prefer the DT-880. It's my "general Workhorse" can, because I can wear that for 12hrs and forget it's there, compared to the Clear whose weight pains me after ~3hrs.

I concur about the distortions, 880 does not like loud bass either. Still it "fails" more gracefully than the Clear who just hits Xmax.

You also don't boost the deep bass at all, but I assume that's because you were running out of headroom and having excursion issues? I think you like to listen to headphones a *lot* louder than I do. I have to crank these way past my comfort zone to get these headphones to pull those kinds of shenanigans.

Well, he did state that it occurred at "not everyday volumes" so yeah: he listens loud when testing.

Also keep in mind, he has ridiculously trained ears (see his recent YT interview). So he will hear the bad stuff way, WAY before you and I will be able to.

 

[xema]

Try dt880 250Ω.
Almost all Beyer's pro series are rubbish.

 

[amirm]

You also don't boost the deep bass at all, but I assume that's because you were running out of headroom and having excursion issues?

Yes, I had one in there but it just caused too much distortion for very little gain. Even before it ran out of excursion, it would create that warbling effect which I did not like. At lower volumes it was better so you can put some in there. I actually tried many different filters there and all had similar results.

 

[imagidominc]

Yikes. I wonder how the DT 1990s are gonna perform, as that headphone is touted by many well-known audiophiles.

 

[xhattan]

This version of the DT990 is horrible. But the 600 ohm version is another story. Great bass and, though still a bit bright for my ears, not harsh at all. I also own the DT800 600 ohm and don’t like them.

But to assume that the T1 v2 ( don’t know about the v1) will sound like any of its lesser brothers is a profanity. It’s like comparing the Sennheiser 598 with the HD800. The T1 are the best headphones I’ve ever heard (with Beyer A1 amp) and sound nothing like the 990 Pro’s. They use TESLA drivers, for starters. I’m really curious as to how they would measure, but I’m sure they wouldn’t get a headless panther.

 

[DavidK442]

Since finding the Audiosciencereview website I can’t bare to read purely subjective reviews. Time after time “go to” products and manufacturers are shot down in flames by real measurements. All the hyperbole and 5-star ratings are just a complete waste of time.
Thank you for the work you do.

 

[stalepie2]

Rtings also rates them well for distortion:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#329/4029

and consider them more neutral than the HD6XX.

The measurements Inner Fidelity did on the 880s also showed low distortion (not sure if Tyll did 990s or not, but it is the same driver).

The treble peaks are supposed to be less on older pads vs new ones:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gryfjs3i30c7r5h/Beyerdynamic DT990 (new earpads).pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/afcv3lfncnl9mwk/Beyerdynamic DT990 (Old Earpads).pdf?dl=0