Just Dug Out My Old Beyerdynamic DT990's!! Holy Frak!!!

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koshman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just stuffed the old pads a half an hour ago and i must say I'm very happy with the difference. The bass is still quite strong, but very well defined and doesn't intrude into the midrange any longer and the whole sound is much more balanced. I will probably still buy the velour pads in the future, but I have no more complaints for now, these certainly are very nice sounding headphones especially for the price they go for on Ebay. Need to listen some more...

How and with what did you stuff them?

 

[koshman]

I used simple cotton wool, probably not the best material, but I didn't have anything else at the moment.
I cut the pads from the lower side (the net) in two places (6, 12 o'clock) and used small scissors to get the cotton wool inside. I tried to make the stuffing as even as possible. I didn't cover the holes with anything yet, may stitch them later. Probably will.

 

[lecky]

I Just put brand new grey 990 pads on and there seems to be an improvement over the worn old 990 grey pads - the instrument separation and placement seem a bit better, and the mids are a bit warmer, for the better. I can't hear any down side.

It was really tough getting the new pads on, the fit is very tight, so I don't want to A-B too much against the old pads, instead I'm A-Bing against the K340s and the difference that I recall between the 990s and the 340s as opposed to what I hear now. The comparison is listening to Stravinskys Histoir du Soldat Suite on The Original Jacket Collection: Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky, which highlights the differences between headphones very well.

I can really recommend new 990 pads - worth the money.

 

[catachresis]

Hey, I have a serious question for you fortunate owners of the DT-990 *Classics (Pre-Pro). Seemingly-all of the DT-880 *Classic, Studio, and Monitor models prior to the 200* Pro-line were 600 Ohms. Were the DT-990 variants before 200* divided between 600 Ohm and 250 Ohm versions? I can't find any old Beyerdynamic spec. sheets: is there any rhyme or reason to which of the DT-990s were 600 Ohms and which 250 Ohms? Many thanks for your replies.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey, I have a serious question for you fortunate owners of the DT-990 *Classics (Pre-Pro). Seemingly-all of the DT-880 *Classic, Studio, and Monitor models prior to the 200* Pro-line were 600 Ohms. Were the DT-990 variants before 200* divided between 600 Ohm and 250 Ohm versions? I can't find any old Beyerdynamic spec. sheets: is there any rhyme or reason to which of the DT-990s were 600 Ohms and which 250 Ohms? Many thanks for your replies.

Here are some DT990 models mentioned with specs and pictures. I'm not sure if it will help.

 

[Calypso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Were the DT-990 variants before 200* divided between 600 Ohm and 250 Ohm versions?

I have been wondering the same question. Apparantly only the 600 ohm version is beeing mentioned, when the DT990 1985 version is discussed.
A funny thing is, that it´s actually only 560 ohm

.

 

[hjf]

I have the Beyerdynamic 990's bought new in 1992. Is it likely that they are 600 ohms?

 

[nickchen]

Quite.

 

[REB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calypso /img/forum/go_quote.gif A funny thing is, that it´s actually only 560 ohm .

It is? Good to know that. Even Beyer says it used 600 ohm drivers (which may be convenient shorthand for 560 ohms I guess). What do the tech specs say?

 

[catachresis]

I got a pair of these, and they are truly remarkable. I haven't tried the classic DT880s yet, but these are airier (--but of course!) than any of my closed Beyers. They have glorious mids, which isn't surprising, but, though the bass response is slightly accented, I don't find it to be cloying. I took out the rotted layer of foam and removed the fibrous skein of fabric that covered the inner radius of the metallic driver. Then I applied my now usual doughnut of suede around the exposed driver to soak up some of the stray inner resonance.

And they don't sound treble-shy at all. They sound fabulous, in fact. They have that strong Beyer grip on the tones that weeds out the grain and hash that you hear with the Grado SR225s (even my very nice woodied ones), and though they aren't as sparkly or cavernous as the AKG K500s, they are more intimate and engaging in many respects. I can see myself enjoying these very much for acoustic jazz and every other sort of acoustic music short of symphonic classical. Strangely though, they don't have the iron grip on electric guitar that I hear in the obscure but wonderful DT480s.

. . . and unlike the DT48s, these are *no tears* headphones. Guaranteed not to shcrunch po' baby's widdle head. (I swear, I like the sound of the DT48s, and I'm no wuss, but by flat-padded pair are *so* tight and *so* in-your-face, that in the end I just can't care that much about timbrel accuracy. They frackin' hurt.)

But I see now how much I depend on the availability of the bass-boost/tone control on my M^3 amp. If I had to judge cans simply as they came right out of some arbitrary jack of some arbitrary amp, I'd have very much more narrow and inaccurate opinions of what these headphones are capable of.

 

[vid]

Holy crud, did I just pay 46 euros for these? Tell me I didn't.
 
Seriously, why would I in any conceivable way want to buy current-generation dynamics for 200 euros when I can get very near the same with these vintage DT990s for a quarter of the price?
 
The pads are totally flat and, when I ripped out the cloth-like discs that cover the cups in order to wash the previous owner's fragrance off them, they shrunk a bit and don't cover the corners anymore, and I don't even have the headband attached, yet these cans still sound brilliant.
 
They easily beat my vintage K 141s, which I thought quite nice for 40 euros.
 
The sound is very full and detailed, the old 141 sounds cheap in comparison. Quite a bit of bass, not that tight but not totally sloppy either. No sign of any veil. The treble may actually be a slight bit harsh, though; and I think I sometimes hear distortion with high notes – but it could be one of the drivers on my pair acting up.
 
I'm definitely putting down more money to get new pads for these (and, hopefully, they still sell those "foam" discs so I can replace them too). Man, it really is a silly thing to get phones like these for so little money. It's basically a PX100 + 10 €.
 
(It seemed like my Auzen Bravura drove the DT990 a bit more easily than it did the equally-600 ohm 141, but this might also be a symptom of the 141 being a bit darker overall.)

 

[Tiemen]

^
"I'm definitely putting down more money to get new pads for these"
 
And that's were the trouble starts and you know why you paid only 46,- Euro. Beyer doesn't make those ear pads anymore.
So you either have to stuff them, or try alternative pads.
Whatver you do, don't buy the DT770 closed velour pads, because they suck on the old DT990.

 

[vid]

I read in another thread that part number 926.679 might do the trick for the old 990?
http://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt990_ersatzohrpolster.htm
 
Of course, Thomann has a minimum order of 25 euros + 12 euros for shipping, so the pads would still cost close to 40 euros.

 
I'll try replacing the foam in the old pads with some cotton wool, too.
 
I think I'll also need to replace those black foam (or, rather, felt) discs that were under the pads with a DIY solution. Since it does appear to be some sort of simple felt with no special acoustic intricacies, I guess just any kind of felt of similar thickness from an arts and crafts store would do it as a replacement?

 

[vid]

I stuffed the pads with cotton wool. The soundstage benefited, of course, but the sound got a bit more bassy, something of which I'm not a fan. I may try and reduce the amount of cotton, but the pads took a bit of a beating and I don't think they will stand up to much more tinkering, so buying new ones isn't a radical proposition at this point.
 
Still, the soundstage got quite nice and wide, not too far off from that of the K 601 – although the DT990's sound in general is less analyzing as far as instrument separation goes.  I feel that the 990 is more concerned with producing a blob of sound which contains the individual instruments somewhat blended together while the 601 wants to keep each instrument separate. The 990 sounds more lush as a result.
 
I also replaced the felt under the pads with just regular felt (in striking orange) from an arts and crafts store. If I use felt that's about as thick as the original, the sound gets very bassy. With thinner felt it's less bassy but more sibilant, which is no good. I may try punching holes in the thicker felt or something.

 

[vid]

I decided to put the original felt back in. It must be a special Beyerdynamic thing, the regular felt I tried would not give similar results. The thicker felt made the bass overpowering, regardless of having holes, and the thinner felt was too sibilant. The original Beyer felt is just right, not too bassy and not too trebly.
 
The Beyer felt pads did shrink a bit whilst I was washing them, but not too badly, and in any case I don't have a better replacement as of now.
 
Oh, and the distortion I mentioned earlier, that was a symptom on one song only. The drivers on this pair are (luckily) distortion-free apart from that one song.