Well, well, well,,,, I never thought I would be in a thread like this. Ten years ago I decided to get into this hobby after going many years without any serious headphones of any kind. I bought the DT770 Pro while on a business trip to Seattle and grabbed an iPod and was off and running. As I tried more stuff, I soon tired of the treble and also found them over heating my ears a bit too easily. Off they went to a friend who liked them. Then came AKG K550, same thing (I am a slow learner).
Over the next 9 years I tried all kinds of stuff, owned over a dozen decent mid-fi cans. Most of them purchased while I worked at BestBuy's IT department and got a nice employee discount ordering headphones from Magnolia. They didn't carry beyerdynamic, and I didn't miss them, no big deal.
I tried a few more beyer models at meets and audio friends. Still didn't miss them at all, and even though I was singing the praises of the HD700, I still thought beyer had lost their way as I could not handle the treble balance. I did eventually tire of the HD700 as well, but I thought they at least had a stronger set of redeeming qualities.
I was convinced I would never buy another beyer headphone, and comments from another "friendly" forum complaining about QC was icing on the cake.
Then this thread...
And then I really liked the new look...
Early feedback was very encouraging, and I do like German design, engineering and manufacturing.
Trigger pulled.
I am on day 6, they have been run in fairly well but just on a Dragonfly 1.2 as I wait for a new amp to arrive soon. I love them, but they take me right up to the edge of the cliff. A few songs get harsh for me, but for the most part they are a nice compliment to my current favorite headphone: AQ Nighthawk
Maybe I shouldn't play favorites as there are times that I go for the DT1990 over anything else I have right now (including EL-8 Open). I was pleasantly surprised on all my favorites (my taste runs all over the place). And then by accident I hit play on Hall & Oates remastered version of "Out of Touch". I now have an entirely deeper appreciation for that song. I am really digging the balanced pads and the way the DT1990 approaches bass, with nice slam overall, a slight mid bass punch, and a real sense of order and tightness throughout the entire bass spectrum. I think the Nighthawks may in fact go a tad lower but it is hard to tell with the music I have been listening to, but nothing I have listened to has quite the sense of control that I am feeling with the beyers.
I do think they are just tad bright, but not uncomfortably so, and I am very biased here as I have become a very treble sensitive listener over the last few years, but I would not describe them as V-shaped since the vocals and presence region is right up there with the bass and treble, which helps everything sound fairly well balanced to me. The resolving power of the tesla drivers are put to good effect and I hear great layering and gurgling of well recorded analog synthesizers and keyboards, wonderful string sounds and bell tones. I like the imaging but would not describe it as particularly wide or deep, just very good and really well delineated. They just sound tight and accurate to me, much like a good planar magnetic, but at this price point, smoother and more organic with a natural bounce and better dynamic range. Note, when I say bouncy I am not talking about loose bass, I am talking about a very slight roundness that along with good pace and tone and tight dynamics with good attack and release all come together to make this a decent studio tool (not really qualified here, but some experience) and a great audiophile / home music lover solution all at the same time.
I don't know if these will make it into the long term "hold" category for me quite yet as I am working really hard to find happiness with 5 headphones or less, and would love to get that down to 3 if possible. But who I am kidding, I will be lucky to to reclaim my sanity just getting down to 5. My new everyday stay out of the way winner is the R70x, my easy chair choice is the Nighthawk, my office/travel solution is the PM-3, my new desktop rockstar is currently the DT1990, and my current but rarely used reference is the EL-8 which will soon be traded up for some TBD (looking at Elear, HD800S, or Ether Flow). When I think about what I like and what I am searching for across all of those things it seems like the DT1990 is actually doing a really great job of keeping up with all of them. Easy to handle, great design and build quality, not heavy, not prone to heating up, nice case and extras, fantastic bass, smooth and detailed mids, crisp but not harsh highs all very neatly laid out on a clear stage. I am so glad I gave beyer another chance. The DT1990 is a real rock star. But holy g*%$d%#$*&^ m*#$%@& f*(&^ beyer!!! You really should have given us dual entry cables with this beauty.