Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO // DT 1990 PRO MK II -- Impressions Thread

[Chastity]

So, yesterday, I received this beautiful 1990.
I've wanted these for a long time, and I'm not gonna lie I mainly purchased these for the attractive design (to me at least) . I love the industrial look and feel for some reason, and I think these are one of the best looking cans out there.

Straight out of the box, the sound was not what I was expecting. YIKES!!
They sounded pretty recessed in the mids, and overall, too v-shaped for my liking. And they sounded fairly narrow and congested compared to the T1.2. On the other hand, the upper register didn't bother me like some have claimed and they certainly are not sibilant to my ears. However, the treble region in the T1.2 is much more "sweet" and pleasant to my ears than the 1990. To me, there's nothing "balanced" about the balanced pads. After a few tracks I switched to the analytical pads, and immediately, the sound was more to my liking, and more balanced overall.

So far, I think the T1.2 is more capable set and better suit my tastes. That's not to say these are bad. In fact, far from it. I just prefer the T1.2s more and that's a personal preference thing.

Try the Analytic pads. The stiffer Balanced pads come preinstalled.

 

[KPzypher]

Try the Analytic pads. The stiffer Balanced pads come preinstalled.

That is what I'm using now.

 

[SuperFreak]

Well, it's been a month and there has been no comment on the sound with the mod I suggested. I guess you guys don't like it.

 

[Progressive J]

Hey everyone, a few days ago I purchased the DT1990.

I've been looking for a good pair of open-backs during the past month and had chance to demo a few ones at a local store. Unfortunately, of everything I was interested in, they only had the HD660S and Sundara available for auditioning. HD660S was too much on the warm side, has no soundstage and the build quality reminded me of the HD6XX. The Sundara was nicer, but the presentation was rather chill/laid-back for my tastes and it's a huge gamble due to quality control issues. I like a fun, lively and energetic headphone (and durable too), and the DT1990 seemed to suit my tastes more. DIY-Audio-Heaven's review sold them on me.

So far the DT1990 seems like a great all-arounder, especially good for anything exciting like rock. I was initially worried because I previously tried the DT990 Pro once and I hated them, but thankfully the DT1990 is much better. Currently using the A pads, could not stand the B pads -- they reminded me of a DT990 on steroids. Build quality is fantastic and definitely feels more premium than any Sennheiser headphone. Detail retrieval, speed, separation of instruments and imaging are really good too.

I too want to get the best out of my DT1990, but I do not want to make it overly warm, bassy-sounding; I prefer the sound to be more "honest". I've tried Oratory1990's latest preset but it became too dark/muffled for my tastes. So far his old preset over AutoEQ has been the most "balanced" I've heard so far and I use it whenever the treble becomes too hot, but I'm still not fully satisfied. For reference, I also use a DUNU DN-2000J equalized with InnerFidelity's EQ settings, which I just love due to it's excellent speed, articulation, impact and clarity.

I've been checking the rest of the thread and I've got some questions...
- There's a stealth revision of the DT1990 with even more treble. Is there a way to figure out which one would be mine? The box they came with is the black new one with orange writing and that "your beyerdynamic"/"Tesla Technology" branding, so I suppose this is the one? Serial number of my DT1990 is 64655.
- Which "upgrade" would be more worth it: the Amiron Wireless foam disc + the Analytical pad, or the Dekoni Elite Velour pads? I'm personally leaning towards trying the latter option, mainly due to Solderdude's measurements over DIY-Audio-Heaven, but also because they seem more comfortable than the A-pads and SuperFreak's experiments without a foam disc. On the other hand though, I'm afraid of the Dekoni pads reducing the midrange and making them sound more like a closed-back...

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Well, it's been a month and there has been no comment on the sound with the mod I suggested. I guess you guys don't like it.

I'm very interested in trying your mod! The way you describe it makes it sound fascinating to say the least, but I'm also curious about the Amiron foamies, so I currently feel undecided... I don't make music nor mix/master myself, but I do like to hear detail, which is why I'd rather go for the Elite Velour over the Elite Hybrid. But you claim the latter pads are more balanced/better for simply listening music? I take it you can't EQ the bass back when using the Elite Velours on without the foam disc?

 

[Chastity]

There's a stealth revision of the DT1990 with even more treble. Is there a way to figure out which one would be mine? The box they came with is the black new one with orange writing and that "your beyerdynamic"/"Tesla Technology" branding, so I suppose this is the one? Serial number of my DT1990 is 64655.

There's no change in the hardware, it's just a change in the boxing.

Which "upgrade" would be more worth it: the Amiron Wireless foam disc + the Analytical pad, or the Dekoni Elite Velour pads? I'm personally leaning towards trying the latter option, mainly due to Solderdude's measurements over DIY-Audio-Heaven, but also because they seem more comfortable than the A-pads and SuperFreak's experiments without a foam disc. On the other hand though, I'm afraid of the Dekoni pads reducing the midrange and making them sound more like a closed-back...

I would suggest the Amiron-Wireless foams + A pads. You can use those without any need of EQ. Using the Dekoni pads are more comfy, but you will need to EQ to restore some of the lost signature sound.

 

[CP5670]

I've been using the DT1990 as my daily driver for a while now. The Elite Velour pads are well worth it, somewhere in between the A and B pads sound wise, and far better than either one in terms of comfort. They are less rigid and negate the DT1990's clamp. They have the soundstage of the A pads with some (not all) of the bass of the B pads. The treble peak is also smoother, although I didn't mind it with the regular pads.

Has anyone used the A or B pads on other Beyer headphones? I have an older DT990 and the pads have gone flat (as they always do after a while). The A pads look the same size as the DT990 pads but I can't get them to slip on.

 

[arielext]

Has anyone used the A or B pads on other Beyer headphones? I have an older DT990 and the pads have gone flat (as they always do after a while). The A pads look the same size as the DT990 pads but I can't get them to slip on.

All pads are the same size, but in case of the DT1990/DT1770 pads you need to help the plastic slip a bit. You can either stretch or heat it a bit (blow dryer for example) and it will slip over. Personally haven't tried the DT1990 pads on anything else but they are the same size (and have the same issue as the DT1770, which I do have).

 

[SuperFreak]

I'm very interested in trying your mod! The way you describe it makes it sound fascinating to say the least, but I'm also curious about the Amiron foamies, so I currently feel undecided... I don't make music nor mix/master myself, but I do like to hear detail, which is why I'd rather go for the Elite Velour over the Elite Hybrid. But you claim the latter pads are more balanced/better for simply listening music? I take it you can't EQ the bass back when using the Elite Velours on without the foam disc?

Removing the foam pad removes a veil, but it also increases the volume from around 1KHz up. With the foam removed and the Elite Velour pads the sound is extremely detailed and fast. However, the bass is quite light. With the foam removed and the Elite Hybrid pads (which increase the bass), the sound is very balanced. I highly recommend this setup with no EQ, however I do prefer the sound with a 2 dB cut in the bottom octave. When there is a lot of energy in that region, they resonate and muddy up the sound a bit without EQ. They will still sound great without EQ, but not as great.

I wasn't able to make up the bass with EQ using the Elite Velour. They are about 5 or 6 dB more efficient with the foam removed. That is a lot of bass to make up with EQ.

 

[audiobomber]

Here's my mod for the DT 1990 Analytical earpads. It's a cotton makeup removal pad I stole from my wife's dressing table, thin cotton batting, sewn around the edge. I cut an approximately 1" diameter hole in the center, so as to only impact the high frequencies below 13kHz. The image shows one pad in place, one uncut, and a third cut to show the thickness. It does exactly what I had hoped, removes the slight tizziness or sibilance sometimes heard in the high frequencies. I believe this would also work with Balanced pads.

 

[SuperFreak]

Here's my mod for the DT 1990 Analytical pads. It's a cotton makeup removal pad I stole from my wife's dressing table, thin cotton batting, sewn around the edge. I cut an approximately 1" diameter hole in the center, so as to only impact the high frequencies below 13kHz. The image shows one pad in place, one uncut, and a third cut to show the thickness. It does exactly what I had hoped, removes the slight tizziness or sibilance sometimes heard in the high frequencies. I believe this would also work with Balanced pads.

How does that sound with the Elite Velour pads? I bet you could use the Dekoni Foam Drop was selling.

 

[audiobomber]

How does that sound with the Elite Velour pads? I bet you could use the Dekoni Foam Drop was selling.

Yes, I expect this would work with Dekoni Foam. but it costs virtually nothing to try the makeup pads. You can buy a hundred at the pharmacy for $1.99.

 

[Progressive J]

There's no change in the hardware, it's just a change in the boxing.

Sorry, I was referring to DIY-Audio-Heaven's graphs. Could it just be a result of the pads/foam in the later production model?

I would suggest the Amiron-Wireless foams + A pads. You can use those without any need of EQ. Using the Dekoni pads are more comfy, but you will need to EQ to restore some of the lost signature sound.

I understand, thanks for clarifying. Seems like the Amiron foams is the simplest update to the DT1990; having to EQ to restore some of the Analytical signature after swamping the pads comes across as somewhat counterproductive IMO. I do want to tame the treble a tad and improve the sound, but not at the cost of detail, imaging, energy, etc. The bass boost and recessed mids of the Balanced pads just made them sound hollow and muddy.

Removing the foam pad removes a veil, but it also increases the volume from around 1KHz up. With the foam removed and the Elite Velour pads the sound is extremely detailed and fast. However, the bass is quite light. With the foam removed and the Elite Hybrid pads (which increase the bass), the sound is very balanced. I highly recommend this setup with no EQ, however I do prefer the sound with a 2 dB cut in the bottom octave. When there is a lot of energy in that region, they resonate and muddy up the sound a bit without EQ. They will still sound great without EQ, but not as great.

I wasn't able to make up the bass with EQ using the Elite Velour. They are about 5 or 6 dB more efficient with the foam removed. That is a lot of bass to make up with EQ.

Thanks for providing more informatation. The way you describe the Elite Velour pads without foam makes me think of the AKG K702, which is relatively bass light. Out of coincidence I stumbled around this video today, which is interesting as it seems to line up with your experiments (and also shows how to safely remove the foam, which I was a little scared of). The default foam disc has two layers and seems to be blocking some of the higher frequencies coming through, so it makes sense they light up and volume increases a tiny bit after removing them, in addition to improve detail and separation. Since both the Dekoni pads come with a mesh cover, that makes this mod viable as you can protect the drivers instead with that and use different pads to change the sound signature.

The Elite Hybrid pads are 88€ over Thomann, which is... a bit steep vs Elite Velour's 54€, but your comparison against the Analytical pads is too hype to pass up... Worst case scenario, I can always return them back.

Sorry for asking, but would you mind providing your EQ preset/settings for the Elite Hybrid pads without foam? That way other users could try it as well.

 

[Chastity]

Decided for fun to drag out my DT-1990, and remove the foamies, and try out the Hybrids. (Why not, I have them here) I do like how they sound, tho it's not the Beyer House sound, but it's not too bad w/o EQ. With foamies, the Hybrids need EQ to shine. Using my EQ to restore the Beyer A pad sound, the setup gets a bit more aggressive, and I get more of that analytic detail and intimacy. Just my $0.02

Going back to Foamies 2.0 + A pads, I find the presentation to be smoother and a touch more diffused, and less stringent. I'm going to leave them like this for now, as I prefer this to the foamless setup, plus I want to protect those drivers.

Interestingly, the DT-1990 w/o foams sound a bit like the M1070 w/o EQ. I had to re-acclimate to the M1070 w/ EQ again.

 

[Wintersun2015]

Do you guys think the Schiit stack(Heresy/Modi +) is enough for these beauty ?

 

[Stevko]

Do you guys think the Schiit stack(Heresy/Modi +) is enough for these beauty ?

yes.
and HEl 2 has enough power too