276°
Posted 20 hours ago

beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO Open Studio Reference Headphones

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

While I find the scale of the sound is not as large, the soundstage is more compressed and the bass may not be as powerful in the lowest frequencies as the Lyr 2, this amazing little FPGA DAC/amp works wonders with the DT 1990, keeping its powerful bass while making the sound signature as effortless and as smooth as can be.

The DT 1990 Pro’s are aimed more for studio use, which I am unfamiliar with–they might be amazing for that application. After a couple of weeks of gathering all sorts of information about reference headphones in the market, I decided to go for the Beyerdynamic's DT-1990 Pro. The timbre of the midrange was also very good; it was very natural, and a great improvement over the DT 990 Pro’s slightly metallic timbre. This is really the only stumbling block for the DT 1990 in my opinion, and I think it is simply due to the age of the design in an era where headphones are getting more advanced with their ear chamber designs (think Sennheiser HD700 or HD800, and the Audioquest Nighthawk). While the DT 1990 Pro are by no means light, the headband and earpad design make them comfortable to wear for extended periods.

In terms of comfort, the weight is not really an issue since the materials used in the ear cups (especially the analytical ones) and the band are of very high-quality. Evaluating the sound quality of the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro is a bit of a challenge as it's actually two different sounding headphones.

The clamping force is strong so I personally stretched it a couple of times to loosen that grip and they are perfectly fit now. Still, I think that amplifiers like the Liquid Spark and JDS Labs Atom will be more than enough to drive these cleanly.The DT1990 is great for classical music, and for me, especially important, for symphonic heavy metal. From what I've gathered in audio forums, sibilance usually connotes a sound characteristic that triggers our ear sensitivities (person dependent) - similar to some people who can't tolerate high pitched glass tones or metal clunks.

This spike will affect some people more than others, however, there is no denying that the spike is there and it is rather large. They extend pretty low, maybe not into the rumbling territory, but at the same time manage to keep the bass clear and defined. I find the entire midrange to have a very good tonal balance, it was full-bodied and had an adequate amount of presence in the region between 3k to 5k.There is this raspy/sizzle/lispy quality in the treble that can't be completely removed, but the balanced pads lowers this by a good margin - although not entirely fixing it. For midrange, the DT1990 is more linear, while the M70X has this extra weight on upper-midrange that gives female vocals more body (once I EQ'd the treble down). The headphones are also open-back and show off that fact with intricate offset cuts into the side of each ear cup.

I am not going to comment on the sound differences between the pads as it is so long since I listened to the “Balanced” set. Until I moved to the DT1990, I was using the AT-M40X for mixing at home, and because I had used them so much, I knew how they translated on to other systems. It’s not often a headphone reveals details about a song that we haven’t heard before but that’s exactly what the DT 1990 Pro did for us. The only complaints I have for comfort is that the clamp force on these is a little high out of the box, and it put a bit of stress on my jaw. The sound is a little colored in the treble which may result in producing slightly darker mixes if this feature is forgoten.It doesn’t invite you to sit back and relax, it makes you sit up straight and think about what is happening, and this can get very fatiguing if it is not something you want to do at that moment. I thought that with the balanced pads the bass sounded a little bloated, and it also emphasized the upper bass elevation. Power and precisionPower and precision are critical requirements when it comes to sound reproduction. The pace, rhythm and timing of the DT 1990 Pro are truly addicting and, if you’re like us, it’ll be tough to resist the urge to tap your toes along with the music while they’re on your head. You exactly hear where specific instrument is in the track, you hear if their microphone they recorded it with was properly set, you hear if mastering of the track simply sucks or not.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment