[Me x3]

 
As short as possible take on: who am I and why am I here (for those interested) -you can skip this!
 
 My name is Agustin and I'm from Argentina (by convention: somewhere in the south of the world). I'm now 23 years old. I've been listening to music since I was a child when my father bought a pair of Infinity Sm115 speakers. I was so impressed by its sound quality that I started with this hobby even without knowing it.
 I've joined Head-Fi some years ago when I got a pair of AKG K44 that I really enjoyed. After that, I've tried and bought a lot of different headphones, some IEMs , some amps and some speakers. Most of my time here was spent reading reviews and comparisons, finding nice albums, reading the sound science forum and sharing my two cents in the Help forum.
 In my journey through the audiophile world I've found that recording quality is as important as the reproduction system itself, and after all, I always find pretty useful to keep in mind that a chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
 I'm not strictly interested in 'what the artist or the recording engineer intended', but I'm really interested in what I enjoy the most. That said, I tend to prefer those headphones and speakers labeled as pretty neutral by the audiophile community, but I'm not a devoted fan of a certain sound signature because there are very different recordings out there, and some sound great with neutralish systems, and some don't.
 
 
Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250 Ohm & Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro 250 Ohm
 

 

 

 

Amplification:
 
 I was quite skeptic about amplification at first, because by doing some simple math you can get the idea of the little power that even those 'hard to drive' headphones need to go quite loud. It's even easier to get the same skeptic feeling after plugging 250 Ohm headphones into a laptop or small amp like Fiio E6, and finding that they can go pretty loud.
 In my experience, these headphones need proper amplification to show their full potential, it is possible to enjoy them 'unamped', but there's a noticeable difference when comparing properly amped vs 'unamped'. Most of the times, proper amplification is not only about power but also how clean and defined the signal results after going through the amplification step.
Both my Fiio E10 and E07K are capable of driving these headphones just fine. Using only the DAC part of a Fiio (Wolfson WM8740) to feed a Yamaha A-S500, and plugging these Beyers into the headphone out you get more power than using E07K/E10 amp section and also a slighlty warmer presentation with fuller bass and often even clearer and smoother treble.
 I'm pretty sure my journey through the amplification world is not over yet, and I'm sure these Beyers are not at their full:100% potential but for now (and for the sake of this comparison) I find that the system I've used for testing works quite well. It's probably not the most analytical setup, but yet very musical and a good match for this Beyers at home.
 


 

 

DT880s & DT990s & Music
 
 I have my Beyers since a year ago, I've bought both new at the same time. Both have had a lot of head time by these days, I've been listening and enjoying a lot of amazing albums (including some vinyls, some binaural and some extended resolution albums) through them.
 
Some examples:
 
-Tsuyoshi Yamamoto albums
-Diana Krall albums
-James Newton Howard & Friends
-Roberta Flack (Killing me Softly - 1973)
-Jennifer Warnes (Famous Blue Raincoat)
-Nils Lofgren (Acoustic Live - 1997)
-Andrea Bocelli (Passione)
-Sophie Zelmani albums
-Halie Loren (They Oughta Write a Song - 2009)
-Acoustic Alchemy (Against The Grain)
-Pink Floyd albums including The Division bell (2014)
-Hans Theessink Band (Bridges)
-Buena Vista Social Club
-Pink Martini albums
-Supertramp albums
-Quadro Nuevo (Tango Bitter Sweet)
-Yo Yo Ma albums
-Vivaldi The Four Seasons (different albums)
-Bach (Brandenburg Concertos)
-Beethoven 5th, 7th, 9th Symphonies (different albums)
-Mstislav Rostropovich - Bach Cello Suites
-YoYoMa (Soul of the Tango)
 
And many, many other very nice sounding albums, mostly from classical, jazz, female vocal and acoustic music, but also some nice recorded stuff from other genres like:
 
-Yellowcard (Ocean Avenue Acoustic)
-Virgin Black (Elegant and Dying - 2003)
-Elliott Smith (Either-Or)
-Beck (Sea Change - 2002)
 

 

 

Comparison:
 
 Both Beyers are open sounding with fast decays and a very detailed presentation. Both have nice extension at both ends of the spectrum and in my opinion they easily outclass most of the headphones I've tried in terms of sound quality and technical capabilities.(Takstar Hi-2050, Shure Srh840, Pioneer Se-A1000, Yamaha HPH-200, Fidelio L1, etc.)
 
 I partially don't agree with those just claiming that DT990s are DT880s with boosted bass and treble, that's the lazy way of comparing them. I found that both are quite different headphones and both have their strong points.
 
 DT990s have more bass quantity and more treble, but also have bigger soundstage and more textured (vibrant) lower midrange. At the expense of neutrality you get that surrounding bass and crystal clear treble that bring a lot of boring recordings back to life.
 
 On the other hand DT880 sounds much more neutral, its bass is faster and higher quality, and its midrange has clearly more presence, in hand with the smaller soundstage, DT880s are definitely more intimate sounding. They are still on the bright side, but have softer treble and you don't get the shinny feeling of DT990s with the vast majority of recordings.
 
 Subjectively talking, when playing some very good recordings through DT990s properly amped I can get a sense of palpable presence of the music, while this 'effect' is not as apparent on DT880s despite being more intimate.
On the other hand, with some very good recordings DT880s can simply dissapear, you still can't 'touch' the music, but the music is there, and the headphone feeling is not.
 
 With some recordings, DT880s are plain boring to my ears, with some others, DT880s sound so right that make DT990s sound wrong.

 Both are detailed in their own way. DT990s with their textured lower midrange (that work very well with cellos) and its shinny but clear treble. DT880s with their neutrality and control, that allow you to find new sounds and flaws all across the spectrum each time you use them.
 
 These Beyers expose their potential with high quality recordings, mostly those from audiophile labels. That said, (as you could imagine) DT880s are slightly more forgiving of sibilant/over bright recordings, while DT990s are more forgiving of recordings with poorly recorded midrange, and those lacking bass quantity.
 
 In terms of build quality, I have no complaint, both are really solid, and while I feel (my) Dt990s have the edge in terms of comfort, both are very comfortable, so nothing to complain here as well. Both are solid picks for people looking for comfortable headphones, that could last for years and decades.
 

 

Do I recommend this Beyers?
 
 Both are amazing performers in my opinion with great price/performance ratio. Those open minded music lovers like me can't go wrong with any of them because there's plenty of recordings that sound very well through them, some shine through DT990s, some shine through DT880s, and some shine with both (just in a different way)
 
 For studio application both are very good but DT880s have the edge specially for people making music due to its neutral nature.
 For those who are very sensitive to treble and plan to listen to low quality recordings, mainstream or highly compressed digital files (youtube?), I suggest looking elsewhere. There are safer options like Philips Fidelio headphones.
In contrary, for people who normally listen to high quality music, I suggest trying these headphones, don't let all the "DT990 harsh!!!" fool you. It's often hard to believe how smooth DT990s can sound with quality music.
 
 It's hard to say: for rock pick that, for jazz pick the other, because different recordings sound different and different people might prefer the same music in a very different way, so I'll pass on that for now.
 

 
 
Feel free to ask whatever you want and share your views!
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Me-x3

 

[Me x3]

Fixed!

 

[Bleu]

Great article! Thx mate!

 

[pp312]

It's a very nice review even without a clear conclusion (which we always hope for, don't we?). I was especially interested in your apparent satisfaction with the Yamaha A-S500 integrated. Most people think they must use a dedicated HP amp or they lose all street cred, so cudos to you for sticking with a qood quality integrated. (I use the 880 pro with a Marantz PM6004 and get great results). I'm often amused to read in people's signatures that they have something like the S500 or 6004 but use a Fiio 009 or similar out of the tape outs. I think, 'Why the hell don't use you the integrated, or at least try it? It probably sounds better.' Nope. They've read somewhere that a speaker amp is always going to be a compromise and that's that.
 
Congratulations on the effort you've put into this review (with pictures yet!). You deserve more money.
 
(What, you're not getting paid? Disgraceful!) 

 

[MorrisL]

Thank you for this informative and much needed comparison! As pp312 noticed, it doesn't have a "clear conclusion." And that's precisely what makes it more admirable to me. A comparison of headphones on head fi is often accompanied by an unnecessary call for a preference one way or the other. It's like the reviewer has to present everything in terms of winners and losers. More often than not, that is irrelevant and unhelpful (unless you're comparing MDR V 150 to DT 150 or something like that). Not the case here, and thank you again for that.
 
Since I'm only interested in classical music, I wonder how you experienced the Beethoven symphonies you mentioned on DT 880 vs the DT 990. 

 

[Me x3]

  Thank you for this informative and much needed comparison! As pp312 noticed, it doesn't have a "clear conclusion." And that's precisely what makes it more admirable to me. A comparison of headphones on head fi is often accompanied by an unnecessary call for a preference one way or the other. It's like the reviewer has to present everything in terms of winners and losers. More often than not, that is irrelevant and unhelpful (unless you're comparing MDR V 150 to DT 150 or something like that). Not the case here, and thank you again for that.
 
Since I'm only interested in classical music, I wonder how you experienced the Beethoven symphonies you mentioned on DT 880 vs the DT 990. 

 
You're welcome! And thanks for your thought about comparisons with and without a clear conclusion. I appreciate it. I've spent quite a lot of time in the Help thread, and it happens very often that people pick 2 or 3 headphones and come here to ask which one is better, and they really want the simplest possible answer ("Pick that one"), but most of the times there isn't a general answer for that kind of question, especially when technically similar headphones are involved.
 
Beethoven Symphonies:
 
When many strings sound together in a concert hall, the sound becomes 'big and magnificent', the hall is filled with sounds all over the spectrum and there's a sense of energy flowing. I'm quite sure you have experienced this in the past.
DT880s approaches this quite well to my ears, while DT990s fell short due to its slightly recessed midrange.
 
There are some micro-details in the treble that you could miss using DT880s, but it's a lot easier to pick macro-details with DT880s.

 

[Me x3]

  It's a very nice review even without a clear conclusion (which we always hope for, don't we?). I was especially interested in your apparent satisfaction with the Yamaha A-S500 integrated. Most people think they must use a dedicated HP amp or they lose all street cred, so cudos to you for sticking with a qood quality integrated. (I use the 880 pro with a Marantz PM6004 and get great results). I'm often amused to read in people's signatures that they have something like the S500 or 6004 but use a Fiio 009 or similar out of the tape outs. I think, 'Why the hell don't use you the integrated, or at least try it? It probably sounds better.' Nope. They've read somewhere that a speaker amp is always going to be a compromise and that's that.
 
Congratulations on the effort you've put into this review (with pictures yet!). You deserve more money.
 
(What, you're not getting paid? Disgraceful!) 

Thank you! Glad to read that you like this thread!
 
Mostly based on things I've read here, after I got my Beyers I didn't used the headphone out of my A-S500 for at least a month, supposing that both Fiio E10 and E07K should outclass the headphone out of the integrated amplifier. Well, I couldn't be more wrong.
One day I plugged my DT990s into the Yamaha and start listening to Rain by Hans Theessink Band, and I started raising the volume and couldn't believe how well it sounded. That was like getting new headphones for me. At home, I've only used the DAC functionality of my Fiios since that day, and each time I have to go portable, I miss how this Beyers sound at home.
 
Some time ago I've heard some people giving some praise to the A-S500 headphone out, even with planars like LCD-2.
I'll probably buy a powerful dedicated headphone amp in the future, and I'm pretty sure that the headphone out on this integrated amp will give it a good fight.
 
I haven't got a chance to listen to the PM6004, but I've read great things about Marantz, and I'm pretty sure you are getting great sound quality pairing it with your DTs!
 

 

 

[MorrisL]

 
Beethoven Symphonies:
 
When many strings sound together in a concert hall, the sound becomes 'big and magnificent', the hall is filled with sounds all over the spectrum and there's a sense of energy flowing. I'm quite sure you have experienced this in the past.
DT880s approaches this quite well to my ears, while DT990s fell short due to its slightly recessed midrange.
 
There are some micro-details in the treble that you could miss using DT880s, but it's a lot easier to pick macro-details with DT880s.

Thank you again. One thing I understand from the comments you've made (here and elsewhere) is that the preference between 880 & 990 will vary not only when different genres (classical, rock, pop...) are considered but also between individual recordings of works within the same genre. If a piece is mastered to sound dark and warm, DT 990 might be a nirvana inducing experience. On the other hand, if it's mastered to sound relatively flat or bright, then it might sound annoying like it so often does with the piercing treble. The only sensible thing to do (if we don't want to buy 10 or more headphones for every type of sound) is then to start using eq and not feel guilty about it.  

 

[Me x3]

  Thank you again. One thing I understand from the comments you've made (here and elsewhere) is that the preference between 880 & 990 will vary not only when different genres (classical, rock, pop...) are considered but also between individual recordings of works within the same genre. If a piece is mastered to sound dark and warm, DT 990 might be a nirvana inducing experience. On the other hand, if it's mastered to sound relatively flat or bright, then it might sound annoying like it so often does with the piercing treble. The only sensible thing to do (if we don't want to buy 10 or more headphones for every type of sound) is then to start using eq and not feel guilty about it.  

Yes, that's my point about recordings. It's not wise to expect that two recordings of different instruments, made in different concert halls (or studios), recorded with different microphones and techniques (and lastly, processed by different engineers), sound too much alike.
 
I don't think it's posible to EQ 880s to have bigger soundstage, or to EQ 990s to have 880's bass, because frequency response is not the only thing that matters. Sometimes a little mod in the cups can make some things that are very difficult (or imposible) using equalizers, but you end up with a different hedphone...
 
Anyway. I guess it's possible to get some improvements using a well engineered parametric EQ. I've tried a free version of ElectriQ, but didn't like it very much. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with it. There are also some high quality external equalizers with many bands, but you can buy one or two quality headphones for their price.
 
Some people use 'warm' as a synonym of 'dark'. To me dark/bright is about treble relative to the rest of the spectrum, while warm/cold is about bass and lower midrange with respect to the rest of the spectrum.
In that sense, I find that DT990s are indeed warm and bright sounding, so I tend to prefer them with those recordings with fast, tight bass and neutral/darkish treble.
With those already warm recordings you could end up with too much warmth (this could be pretty engaging for progresive house music, but not that great for some jazz)
 
Wanting 10 or more headphones is not the real problem, the real problem is not having enough money to buy them all!

 
I tend to listen to those recordings that I like the way they sound with the equipment I'm using at the moment. Then I simply avoid really bright and/or ultra compressed recordings when I'm using my 990s and enjoy the rest of the music. I never feel really restricted because as I've stated in the main post, I know a lot of albums that sound very well through DT990s.

 

[squareznboxez]

Thanks for taking the time to review these 2 models!  I recently purchased the 990pro 250ohm, and am waiting on delivery of a 2nd hand 880pro 250ohm, so I am very glad to hear there is someone else appreciating the differences between the two, and that i'm not crazy seeing value in owning both
 
I went with the 250ohm due to the level of amplification was able to afford these cans - I went with a Fiio X5/E12 stack and feel that it is a great pairing capable of capturing 80-90% of the airy and sparkly magic of the 600ohm paired with more expensive amps/DACs - I also found resemblances with the top end balanced HD800s running out of the HDVD800 amp

 

[Me x3]

  Thanks for taking the time to review these 2 models!  I recently purchased the 990pro 250ohm, and am waiting on delivery of a 2nd hand 880pro 250ohm, so I am very glad to hear there is someone else appreciating the differences between the two, and that i'm not crazy seeing value in owning both
 
I went with the 250ohm due to the level of amplification was able to afford these cans - I went with a Fiio X5/E12 stack and feel that it is a great pairing capable of capturing 80-90% of the airy and sparkly magic of the 600ohm paired with more expensive amps/DACs - I also found resemblances with the top end balanced HD800s running out of the HDVD800 amp

 
You're welcome!
DT990s have a pretty special sound presentation, that's often really engaging. I've even heard of people owning both T1s and DT990s.
 
It would be great if you can share some impressions once you get your DT880s!

 

 

[SunshineReggae]

What a great point to say that it changes with recording how good the headphone works. It is almost never talked about in this forums, but recording matters so much it is not funny. Because you can't control it. And yes even when recording is good, some will work better with warm HD600 and others will work better with colder sound of DT880. But do you want to keep separate headphones for different recordings I dunno. That is not something I would like. It is the question what works for you.
 
And another note: it is funny that DT880 has AUDIOPHILE reputation. DT990 does not, not so much anyway. But they are both equal performers, mostly a matter of taste it seems. So that makes you wonder doesn't it.

 

[pp312]

  And another note: it is funny that DT880 has AUDIOPHILE reputation. DT990 does not, not so much anyway. But they are both equal performers, mostly a matter of taste it seems. So that makes you wonder doesn't it.

 
Well, not really. It's perfectly fine to like a headphone for its particular qualities, but there is still such a thing as accuracy. The 880 is clearly more accurate, which is the reason some find it colourless and sterile. It works best in genres where you're trying to re-create the original sound, say in a concert hall. It may not be the first choice for more popular styles where more bass or a more forward midrange (for vocals) are desired. I don't doubt the 990 is a delightful experience with certain recordings (I've never heard it), but with that broad bass/lower mid hump it's never going to get the gong for accuracy.  

 

[Me x3]

  What a great point to say that it changes with recording how good the headphone works. It is almost never talked about in this forums, but recording matters so much it is not funny. Because you can't control it. And yes even when recording is good, some will work better with warm HD600 and others will work better with colder sound of DT880. But do you want to keep separate headphones for different recordings I dunno. That is not something I would like. It is the question what works for you.
 
And another note: it is funny that DT880 has AUDIOPHILE reputation. DT990 does not, not so much anyway. But they are both equal performers, mostly a matter of taste it seems. So that makes you wonder doesn't it.

It is not funny! That's true! Specially when positioning speakers, once you've found the sweet spot for "Chan Chan" by Buena Vista Social Club, you switch to 'Spanish Harlem' by Rebecca Pidgeon and it sounds... bright !!, and so on...
That's the way it is. Nothing to do about it!

 

   
Well, not really. It's perfectly fine to like a headphone for its particular qualities, but there is still such a thing as accuracy. The 880 is clearly more accurate, which is the reason some find it colourless and sterile. It works best in genres where you're trying to re-create the original sound, say in a concert hall. It may not be the first choice for more popular styles where more bass or a more forward midrange (for vocals) are desired. I don't doubt the 990 is a delightful experience with certain recordings (I've never heard it), but with that broad bass/lower mid hump it's never going to get the gong for accuracy.  

 

I think both could be right! It depends on how we define 'Audiophile headphone'
 
If tonal balance accuracy is the most important thing, then DT880s should have an audiophile reputation and DT990s shouldn't. Then most Grados, included the very expensive ones shouldn't have an audiophile reputation due to its subb bass roll off, mid bass hump and often boosted treble, HD650s shouldn't due to its darkish treble, etc...
(Source and amp are also very important: HD650s + bright amp could be more balanced than DT880s + bright amp)
 
I strongly agree that DT880s present sound in an accurate and almost colourless way, I guess HD600 are pretty close too.
 
That said, tonal balance accuracy is often not the only thing that matters, and the perfect target response for headphones is yet to be found. And after all, we all have different hearing capabilities due to our body shape, age and other biological structures.
 
In my view, there are also some other factors that play an important role in the headphone experience such as soundstage, imaging, instrument separation, micro details, etc. That's why it is possible to find a lot of audiophile people that think that HD600 are more neutral than T1, HD800 or even the Abyss headphone, but most of them also agree that those outclass the HD600 in terms of general sound quality.
 
Lastly, comfort is also an important factor to me (but also a pretty personal thing). Sitting at a concert hall, or sitting in front of a nice pair of speakers is a comfortable experience most of the times, so very uncomfortable headphones with a stunning tonal balance, fail to recreate the 'audiophile' experience you could get without headphones.
 
On DT990s reputation (my guess):
 
Nowadays there are many many poor quality recordings out there: over bright/over compressed/low dynamic range/loudness war. Most of this recordings sound harsh through DT990s, except maybe with the right tube amp. There are also some audiophile bright recordings (those that maybe shine with HD650/LCD2) that doesn't sound very natural through DT990s
 
DT990 Pro version can be found pretty cheap these days, and then many people with very little experience (or knowledge) about audio get them and use them without proper amplification, and without nice quality recordings. Sometimes people just want open headphones with big bass and big soundstage for gaming and mainstream music, and get DT990s Pro instead of the more appealing (but also more expensive) Fidelio X1.
 
I guess that if HD800 were priced 150 dollars instead of 1499 dollars we might be able to find a lot of people claming that it lacks bass and that it's too bright. Not trying to say that DT990s are on the same level as HD800, don't get me wrong. This is just an example to expose my point here.

 

[SunshineReggae]

All I wonder about is how it is possible for people to enjoy DT990 treble. I own DT880 and treble is HUGE. Even when I EQ it down it is still a huge presence. And then you wanna say that DT990 have even more of it? I fully believe you that it can sound good, that is not the point. I believe that, but I can't imagine it .