[daltonlanny]

Hello,
I am in the process of buying and collecting vintage headphones mainly from the mid to late 1980's to early 1990's such as the AKG K340, AKG K240, Beyerdynamic DT 990, Sennheiser HD 540 Reference II, Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation II, etc.
Has anyone out there ever did a head to head comparison between any of these?
If so, how do they compare in the bass, mids, and highs?
Soundstage and imaging?
Resolution, detail, timbre, etc.?
Finally, what are the best sounding replacement earpads for the vintage Beyerdynamic DT 990, and where can they be obtained?
And, which sounds overall best on the AKG K340's, pleather or velour replacement ear pads?
Thanks for your help, opinions, and information.

 

[daltonlanny]

Anyone?

 

[aluweer]

Old DT990 is pretty nice, better than modern version IMO. You can use standard and good sounding beyer pads 990V or 990VB with it.


 

 

[daltonlanny]

Which sounds best on the old vintage Beyerdynamic DT 990'so the silverish 990 V or the black 990 VB replacement earpads?

 

[aluweer]

Which sounds best on the old vintage Beyerdynamic DT 990'so the silverish 990 V or the black 990 VB replacement earpads?

Both are very good, I prefer black VB version.

 

[MrTechAgent]

The vintage 990s use a different membrane , similar to the DT100 design , I'm not sure how the current EDT990V pads will sound with them.

 

[daltonlanny]

Thanks alot for replacement earpad info on the Beyer DT 990's.
Again though, has anyone out there compared the vintage Beyer DT 990's to the vintage Sennheiser HD 540 Ref. 1 or Ref. 2, HD 560 Ovation 1 or 2, or AKG K340, or owned multiple ones from that era?
Thanks.

 

[Claritas]

For K340, I prefer K271 velours to stock pleathers but only because they give me a better seal, which is especially important with a closed headphone. So whatever gives you the best seal comes first, regardless of earpad material.

 

[daltonlanny]

Received a pair of vintage 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT 990's from the late 1980's yesterday from an Ebay seller in Germany.
Although they need new ear pads, they sound very promising.
They are very clean, clear, detailed, and have exceptional top end extension.
They are comparing very favoraby with my 2 pairs of Sennheiser HD 540 Reference II's.
Looking forward to hearing them with new earpads and foam discs that I currently have on order from Amazon.

 

[Storydog]

I am owning some classic Hifi-Headphones and can write in the next days about it.
 
This Headphones are in first line of the interests of the threadstarter:
 
Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro(early version with 600 Ohm and Pro-Version to the old Hifi-DT 990)
Sennheiser HD 530 II(direct below the HD 560 II, and obvious with the same driver as 560 II)
MB Quart QP 95
 
The AKG K 240 Sextett(MP) is older than the named era.
 
In second line there are. Beyer DT 75, DT 331 und DT 211 TV.
 
This are normally the right earpad for the old DT 990(Hifi + Pro) 
 
http://www.beyerdynamic.de/shop/hah/spareparts/ohrmuschelsatz-29.html

 

[Storydog]

I am owning some classic Head-Phones and can write in the next days about it.
 
Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro(600 Ohm) from early 90s.
MB Quart QP 95
Sennheiser HD 530 II
 
And further:
AKG K 240 Sextett Cardan(MP)
Beyer DT 331
Beyer DT 75
Beyer DT 211 TV
Sennheiser HD 33
 
The right ear-pads for old DT 990 are normally.
 
EDT 990 VB - Artikel-Nr. 904 163 from Beyerdynamic Service.

 

[daltonlanny]

Question :
I Ordered the Beyerdynamic DT 990 VB black velour ear pads for my vintage late 1980's headphones. The package came with came 1 pair of new earpads and a pair of relatively thick foam/cloth discs that fully covers the driver with no holes in them.
The vintage 990's that I bought have a different disc.
The disc is round felt like material that has a round hole in the center of each, and I can see the small silver metal driver covers on the inside where the pads go.
For best sonics, do I keep the round felt discs with the round holes in the middle, or use the solid discs that came with the new earpads which completely hides the small metal driver cover?
Did these particular model vintage 990's come from the factory with the felt discs with the round holes in the middle, or did they come with the solid discs which hid the drivers?
Finally, we're the original earpads on the late 80's, early 90's DT 990 made of velour or pleather like material?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Storydog]

Currently I still have the old velours earpads(the new earpads will be assembled in this autumn).
 
On photos in the german hifi-magazines(Stereoplay for example) from 1986 to 1990, when DT 990 und DT 990 Pro tested, the pads are in black velours everytime. 

 

[daltonlanny]

  Currently I still have the old velours earpads(the new earpads will be assembled in this autumn).
 
On photos in the german hifi-magazines(Stereoplay for example) from 1986 to 1990, when DT 990 und DT 990 Pro tested, the pads are in black velours everytime.

What about the discs that are under the pads?
In the photos, can you see the small silver metal grill that goes over the driver, or is it and the driver completely covered by a foam or felt disc?

 

[Storydog]

Tomorrow I will show after the magazines.
 
For my own, I replace the old pads in this autumn.
New Pads are since a certain time here, the old looks not so bad for this age(when still the first?).
But I bought the DT 990 used over Ebay Germany in November 2010.
 
Formerly owner bought him new in 1994.
But changing the pads may be a good idea.