[squeakez]

Just putting my 2 cents in. I had both the 880/600 and 990/600 for about a month and had a lot of time to compare them. First of all I love the 880/600 and thought I should give the 990/600 a try. I guess we all hear differently but I didn't think the 990 could hold a candle to the 880. Everything about the 990 did not appeal to me at all. The imaging especially was inferior to me. It just didn't have that "It" factor that the 880 has for me. Keep in mind I only listen to EDM so YMMV depending on what you listen to. I returned it.

 

[ElSilvestre]

Sorry but I don't understand your colloquial phrases... I guess you don't like the 990's sound signature. I just wanted to comment that the 880 is nothing more than a 990 with felt, and that there are differences beyond the signature.

 

[squeakez]

Sorry about the colloquial phrases. All I can say is the felt in the 880/600 must be some magical felt because it makes me very happy. And no, I don't like the sound signature of the 990 at all.

 

[CJG888]

By and large, I dislike the sound signature of the DT990. However, at a Hi-Fi show in Shanghai many years ago, I heard the 990/600, driven by an RSA Dark Star (remember those?) and a high end vinyl front end (VPI, IIRC). The sound was quite stunning.

So, maybe the 600 Ohm drivers make the difference! Certainly, the frequency extremes were under control (something that can’t be said of the 250 Ohm version).

 

[mvule]

Yeah perhaps the 600ohm drivers make a difference for the 880's too (haven't heard the others but have read the highs are more controlled with the 600ohms).

Certainly haven't heard those infamous Beyer highs people talk about with my pair of 880's but it is amp dependent due to them being pretty neutral/revealing.

Talking of vinyl, I have recently got into it and have no regrets...so far!

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I start with my personal preference after several days of A/B testing. The 990 600-ohm is a technically better headset, the felt covering the 880 driver reduces the volume of the bass and treble, subtracting detail throughout the entire spectrum, taking out air and some of the scene as well.




As for the scene, the 880s are a bit claustrophobic compared to the 990. Also, the filter in front of the driver makes the ears closer to the headset.

I understand most of what you are saying, but just not quite sure about the first part i have quoted. Have you tried without that foam disk over the driver? You would have to take them apart for this. The only thing having that there will do is soften the treble a little, I can't see how it will have any impact on bass at all. An example is that inside speakers, they use foam/felt near the bass port to help absorb other frequencies, but the bass doesn't suffer at all.
In fact I still find the lower treble - upper mids too sharp on these. I actually put an additional foam disk in each ear pad. Even after adding these, the bass certainly doesn't decrease in volume. I am guessing that without either of these layers of foam, the treble would be pretty unpleasent, but the bass would be the same.

I also had a slight issue with how little space in the ear cups there were. I either like my ears not to rest against the material covering the driver at all, or have it very obvious. My ears are very flat against my head, and with no added disks inside, my ears just touch it ever so slightly and that seems to get them really hot. The foam disks have reduced the slightly harsh spike as well as improving comfort.

 

[ElSilvestre]

I understand most of what you are saying, but just not quite sure about the first part i have quoted. Have you tried without that foam disk over the driver? You would have to take them apart for this. The only thing having that there will do is soften the treble a little, I can't see how it will have any impact on bass at all. An example is that inside speakers, they use foam/felt near the bass port to help absorb other frequencies, but the bass doesn't suffer at all.
In fact I still find the lower treble - upper mids too sharp on these. I actually put an additional foam disk in each ear pad. Even after adding these, the bass certainly doesn't decrease in volume. I am guessing that without either of these layers of foam, the treble would be pretty unpleasent, but the bass would be the same.

I also had a slight issue with how little space in the ear cups there were. I either like my ears not to rest against the material covering the driver at all, or have it very obvious. My ears are very flat against my head, and with no added disks inside, my ears just touch it ever so slightly and that seems to get them really hot. The foam disks have reduced the slightly harsh spike as well as improving comfort.

I have tested in the opposite direction: adding a felt to the 990's driver, and also doing light subtractive equalization. With the filter I have noticed that the treble level decreases and the bass loses some attack. With the equalization I have practically managed to replicate the sound of the 880s with a low pass filter in the treble and also reducing part of the bass, looking at the FR of the 880s.

This, added to the information we have about the use of the same driver in the 770/880/990 line, leads me to think that the 990 is a pure version, and the others are adapted versions. (This is not bad at all, I understand that the relaxing sound of the 880 is preferred, I turn on the equalizer when I want it).

Regarding the previous comment, the 250 ohms version (at least of the 990) is horrible, nothing recommended, except for gaming use only. The 600 instead deserves a chance, IMO.

 

[CJG888]

Maybe the DT770/600 also deserves a chance (if you can find one!)...

I’ve done everything I can to my DT770/250s, including the full Custom Cans damping mods, but the frequency balance is still a great big “V”...

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I have tested in the opposite direction: adding a felt to the 990's driver, and also doing light subtractive equalization. With the filter I have noticed that the treble level decreases and the bass loses some attack. With the equalization I have practically managed to replicate the sound of the 880s with a low pass filter in the treble and also reducing part of the bass, looking at the FR of the 880s.

This, added to the information we have about the use of the same driver in the 770/880/990 line, leads me to think that the 990 is a pure version, and the others are adapted versions. (This is not bad at all, I understand that the relaxing sound of the 880 is preferred, I turn on the equalizer when I want it).

Regarding the previous comment, the 250 ohms version (at least of the 990) is horrible, nothing recommended, except for gaming use only. The 600 instead deserves a chance, IMO.

I still think that unless you take the DT880 600ohm apart, you can't really confirm that the felt is the reason for reducing both the bass and treble. Just adding felt to the others you say you have tested won't prove this unless you identify exactly where and how the felt has been installed on the DT880s as well as using exactly the same sort.

From what I have read, I think it is pretty well known that the 990 has more bass than the 880. I don't believe this is to do with the material covering the driver - it will be more to do with how open the grill is on the back and most of all, the tuning of the driver. I think you are correct about them having the same driver, but if the most open of the 3 is the DT990 and that has more bass than the DT880, there has to be some tuning going on there so I'm not sure is the most pure out there. Each has been designed for different tastes. The DT880 is the only one to have been described by the manufacturer as "neutral" though in fact so if anything that in a sence could be seen by some as the more natural and pure sound. Everyone can have their preference, but I do seem to get the impression tha most find the DT880s are more controlled, detailed and overall better, even if they have comfort problems and still have that known beyer spike in the treble.

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com/dt-880-pro.html

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com/dt-880-edition.html

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dt880-vs-dt990-comparison-review.526839/

A lot of points, especially about the fit and comfort inside the ear pads are very similar to your views in this review, but many do have a different view on the sound, which as I said, we all can have our opinion on.

 

[ElSilvestre]

I've opened both, and from what I've seen the felt would explain most of the difference in sound, the one used in 990 is very similar to the one found in 880. I bet there is no different tuning and the differences in dB in the frequency ranges are due to the felt and to a lesser extent to the housing. As well as the differences in clarity, detail and air.

Theoretically a closed housing increases the bass, although by opening the 990 and 880, we can see that both are strictly semi-closed.

About the opinions, Im close to Mad Lust Envy... but I understand that the safe choice is 880.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I used to own and loved the DT880/600 ohm variant. I had the chance to listen to a DT990 at that time and I felt that the 880 was quite a bit better sounding. The 990 sounded congested in comparison. The extra bass energy in the 990 was not well controlled and it simply made the 990 sound unbalanced. That was quite a few years back mind you. I would be curious to listen today to the two headphones and see if my impressions held.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I've opened both, and from what I've seen the felt would explain most of the difference in sound, the one used in 990 is very similar to the one found in 880. I bet there is no different tuning and the differences in dB in the frequency ranges are due to the felt and to a lesser extent to the housing. As well as the differences in clarity, detail and air.

Theoretically a closed housing increases the bass, although by opening the 990 and 880, we can see that both are strictly semi-closed.

I'm still a bit puzzled how the felt can possibly reduce bass - unless adding it to the DT990s for your test somehow effects the seal of them. As I mentioned earlier, pretty much all decent speakers use quite a large amount foam/felt that absorbs the mid to high frequencies and just allows the low end to come out the bass port. The felt doesn't reduce the quantity of bass, more the quality and how controlled it is.

The bass port on my Tannoy Mercurs V1.

With such an incredibly thin layer of felt on the DT880s, I really doubt that would do anything at all to the bass. As I also said, I've inserted an additional 2 disks of foam like I pictured earlier in this thread. They came with a set of ear pads for some other headphones. They are basically identical to these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thin-Thi...hash=item3a925fbddc:m:mTvlKEiFayGG8wu10ValdvA

From my careful listening, all these do is soften the treble spike just slightly, and make no change to the bass at all. That just gives me the impression that the felt built in already covering the driver won't be related to the bass reduction.

Beyerdynamic clearly state that the DT990 are "open" and the DT880s are "semi open" and given the difference in bass people are describing, that makes me pretty certain that they will be tuned differently. Another reason for me thinking this is that if you had an identical driver in the DT770 tuned the same way as one of the open backed headphones in this range, the bass would just be overwhelming and totally out of control as it wouldn't have the space to breath. I am certain they would need to tune it differently to suit the design of each.

My Akg K550s for example are fully closed back and actually have quite a similar sound to my DT880s - with the pads that come with them. Sharp high end and a deep, but not very heavy low end. If you swap ear pads on these, the DT880s have the most overwhelming bass on any headphones I've heard. The K550s then totally loose their bass and sound like a pair of tweeters on your ears.

I know these are different headphones, but it still makes me think that the DT series have all been tuned differently rather than a piece of felt between the drivers on the 990s and 880s being one of the main reasons for a difference.

 

[Sefelt103]

I recently modified my Beyerdynamic DT 880/600 headphones by adding a single ply of toilet paper cut into a circle (same diameter as the foam inserts). I generally never modify headphones:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/modifying-headphones.919229/

I was just curious and this is a reversible modification. I am still assessing the effect. They do seem less glaringly bright but as ever it's hard to assess whether the sound quality has deteriorated. As I have a spare pair of the circular foams I could try adding them. I didn't because as they appear to be a sandwich of two thin foam circles I thought the thinner but less durable toilet paper might alter the sound less. Sometimes headphone manufacturers use the same driver and alter the acoustics by altering the earcup, grille or earpads for different models. I've never heard Beyerdynamic's DT 990 and sometimes wondered why the open backed version had more bass. I've also read often that the 250 ohm versions only suffered a small loss in definition compared to the 600.

 

[rben20]

How does the 880/600 compare to the DT 1990 Pro? Was hoping I could get the 600 ohm (black edition) but from what I could see it doesn't seem to be available anymore.

 

[dgozalie]

Hello

my friend review DT 880... please check it out
https://orronoco.blogspot.com/2020/06/beyerdynamic-dt-880-review-compares-to.html