Beyerdynamic DT 990 Premium 600 ohm HiFi headphones

Ear cups are nice velour and are very large and comfortable. Headband is soft leatherette with thick cushioning. However the headband has a reputation for going kind of bad over time. So I'd look into removing and replacing it early rather than when it's leaving nasty black goo everywhere. These headphones are a bit on the heavy side, so the headband could be wider for better comfort. However, they feel lighter on the head than they would seem to at first glance. The headclamp is fairly loose even on my large head, so comfort is overall excellent. Build quality is otherwise excellent except for one area. The sliders holding the earcups on suck. Neither side stays reasonably locked in place, and I find myself re-adjusting the headphones every time I put them on, because their own clamp force pushes them back in. They are hard to pull out in a reasonable way as well. I always feel like I am putting unnecessary wear or torque on my nice cans. I solved the problem by putting them in place then putting a thick wrap of electrical tape around the stem to block it from sliding in. It works great. So a cheap Beyerdynamic headband and some tape and boom, very solid and high wear headphones. Beware, if you get the 600 ohm version of these, you better mean it, because these babies take SERIOUS power to truly drive properly. The 600 ohm/80mW capable amp in my Sound Blaster ZxR took them to listenable levels for youtube and they sounded decent for games and movies. Music, however, was an entirely different matter. The ZxR really strained with pretty much all sources and couldn't really maintain a listenable volume for a lot of stuff. Also, the overall fullness of sound in all music was very lacking. I upgraded to a Schiit Asgard 2 headphone amp with over twice the power output of the soundcard at 600ohm/190mW. The sound quality was much improved. However volume was not a large jump, so turning it to near max for 24/7 use was still a requirement. Not for cranking them but just for basic listening. The poor Asgard could barely do it despite its great power with the rest of my headphone collection. I eventually moved up to a Schiit Valhalla 2 OTL tube amp with over twice the output of the Asgard 2 at 600ohm/450mW. It was finally enough to power these babies at full tilt, and they handled the power beautifully. These are by far some of the best high volume headphones I've ever listened to. It wasn't worth the cost of learning their needs, but dang do they put that power to good use! Awesome sound pressure and articulation. Indescribable at higher volumes. Their titanic power handling ability is an immense asset with a truly capable amp to back them up! Treble response is incredibly sharp and detailed on these cans. When I moved to the tube amp it had the side effect of taming the frequency spikes somewhat. I still had to use a very minor(-1 or -2dB) EQ change to drop their upper treble to comfortable levels. I don't think there's any real sibilance or screech but they are just incredibly sharp and emphasized. Definitely worth noting that the source makes a huge difference here. Some of my warmer vinyl recordings require no EQ at all. Likewise really well produced music is less likely to have huge issues. Gaming and movies as well really benefited from the extra treble response and detail, and I could generally get away with leaving the EQ off. Modern pop though, and metal, and a lot of other noisy, trebly music was just a little too hot on these without EQ. Not a major issue as there are plenty of fast, easy, and reliable EQ methods out there. However, the real saving grace is that the unpleasant spikes are in a very small range, and were very easy to tune out on both the SS and Tube amps. I prefer not to EQ headphones when I can help it, so it was great that they needed so little. Detail is uncompromising in the extreme. Absolutely revealing and resolving with superb precision! The timbre, response, and quality of it are incredibly pleasing to my ears. Like actual physical pleasure. Their tone is just awesome and energetic. I can handle the slightly hot treble because the amount of nuance and texture these reveal is astonishing! Simply amazing. I have never heard the like in any other headphone. Mids are a little recessed and dry but are nearly as fast and energetic as the treble. Very flat with a little growl. Not particularly smooth or refined but excellent detail and nothing is ever lost to the other frequencies. Vocals are perfect and instrument reproduction is near lifelike. Well produced music sounds INSANE on the DT990s. Their lack of warmth helps the mids maintain composure in exceptionally challenging music. However, there is always that glossy sheen on the incredibly bright treble hanging over the mids. The DT880s, AKG K712s and other headphones of this class handle mids with a more natural tone. Bass response is exceptional but nowhere near as overpowering as others seem to imply. Very snappy and tight response. Extension is good and deep without trying to reach too low. A little flubbiness on the lowest notes but otherwise great texture and definition. They give a satisfying thump, but their real strength is in the audible spectrum; mid and upper bass. Just incredibly full and well-defined low end. These are great for following bass guitar tracks, or for movie soundtracks, and work amazingly for classic rock. These aren't the fastest cans out there, but they are energetic and musical. A good amp helps with their bass response and quickness a bit. As far as open headphones go these probably have the most bass emphasis I've heard. Maybe not the most articulation or detail but plenty of oomph. Conclusions: Despite their intense energy and power, these can get pretty fatiguing after long listening sessions. I can use these fine for hours as daily headphones, but they can very quickly make my ears tired if I am not careful with the volume. I would more readily recommend these if they didn't basically require you to be a treblehead to get real enjoyment out of them. Their stock treble always has that potential for harshness, despite the incredible detail. For me, that's a blessing. For others, it maybe a curse. I would recommend the large majority of users steer clear of the 600 ohm and 32 ohm versions of these headphones. They both present challenges to driving them. The 250 ohm is enough and just about any proper amp will drive them with ease. The 600 ohm may have slightly better overall response and tone at high power, but the difference in usability is huge. I have since sold my 600ohm model and moved down to the 250ohm, and am much happier.

Have had these for about a month. Though the burn-in may not have entirely finished but the sound signature is clear enough. At a first glance these may not look as gorgeous as Senn's of AKG's, but the real thing is more than I would expect, they have this particular circular shape in all aspects of the product that makes them spectacular from any angle. The manufacture is sturdy. The clamp and ear pads are very comfortable, surpass AKG Q701 and equals if not better than HD600. I often wear them for over 2 hours listening--and after the music stops I often forget its existence and keep wearing them for a long time. The first impression on their sound is not well worth exclaiming, the treble is indeed there, and mids are a bit recessed. I'm not a big fan for vocal except for some lyric songs though. But the treble seem to smooth little by little. And also an upgrade of amplifier (specifically, Lehmann Rhinelander) made significant improvement. So good source and amp are recommended, and perhaps you could throw some high-end amps to make them even better (That's at least what I feel). I listen to a lot of classical, and I find these cans suit most of them very well, perhaps especially late romantic genre and 20th century works (e.g. Shostakovitch), because their sound is an energetic and passionate one, with an exact sound-stage and many details. Occasionally I listen to some electronic, and they performed better than any cans I had before (Q701, HD600 for a short period). That's quite easy to understand though. The high seems to fit a bit better with brass than with strings, presumably due to the treble-ish tuning. The mids are NOT recessed, they are just not intentionally pushed forward as most other phones do, which is considered a plus for me, since I prefer large orchestral works. The bass is by far the best I ever had. The amount and speed are just right, and also incredibly deep. The whole body of music is quite full, so yes, if you continue listening to Allegro works over an hour (which is after all unlikely) there can be some fatigue. Comparing to Senn's HD600, these are 'faster' in the lower part and also more 'crispy' in the upper part--maybe not as natural and smooth though. That's a trade-out you have to choose.

About 6 months ago, after seemingly endless amounts of research and saving money, I decided to step up my listening experience from "better than iPod earbuds" to "legitimately decent" and bought a Fiio E9 (to go along with the E7 I already had) and an AKG Q701. I enjoyed the Q701, but it very rarely knocked me over with the beautiful pristine quality that everyone seemed to be talking about in reviews. But it was better than what I had before, so I was happy. But just recently, on somewhat of a whim, I decided to buy the Beyerdynamic DT990 600-ohm model - the headphone that I was, for a long while, going to purchase 6 months ago until I changed my mind and went with the slightly cheaper Q701. I mostly listen to rock music, so the DT990 always intrigued me, but the reports of too much treble turned me off. I tend to be somewhat sensitive to treble, and vocal sibilance (harsh "s" and "t" sounds) can kill my listening experience. The DT990 is a mixed bag, but it's hard for me to say that it isn't a *gorgeous* mixed bag. All of what everyone else says is there is indeed there - the strong bass and the strong treble. This colors the sound, of course, but the effect is in many cases nothing short of stunning. The music feels more alive and more rhythmic. Doing A/B tests with the Q701 and the DT990, the Q701 has more midrange but feels flat, with no noticeable improvement in detail or soundstage to my ears that seems like it should come along with that flatness. The DT990's soundstage is fantastic - although the Q701 is much-heralded for its soundstage, I always felt it wide but not quite accurate. Vocals always sounded somewhat behind your head instead of in front of it. The DT990 doesn't have this problem, and it creates a much better and more accurate sense of room than the Q701. Also, because of the DT990's boosted treble, it sounds like it often has more detail and definition than the Q701 - sort of like lifting a thin veil from the upper registers of sound. This perception of detail is particularly noticeable in drums, which sound amazingly lifelike and more propulsive in the DT990 than in the Q701. As a guy who can't get enough of a good drum sound, the DT990 is musical bliss. I've noticed a huge strength of these headphones is in classic rock recordings - the added propulsion (which comes as a result of the added bass and treble as well as the inherent high level of detail of the cans) revitalizes a lot of classic rock, and brings their often superb mixes to life for me. Where the DT990 falters, though, is in some modern rock recordings. Whether due to vocal mixes that are too high or just plain bad mixing/engineering/mastering/producing/whatever the hell it is when they were making the album, sibilance and treble become an issue. I was absolutely pumped for the new Gaslight Anthem record "Handwritten" (great band, go buy their albums), but after ripping the CD to my hard drive (Apple lossless bitrate) and using the DT990 to listen to it for the first time ever, the treble was just too much. Every "s" sound grated my ears, which grew fatiguing very quickly. This isn't inherently a problem with the DT990 - in fact, I listened to "Handwritten" on the Q701 and the sibilance was still prominent and only very slightly lessened. The Q701 is a bright headphone as well to a certain extent, but brightness doesn't equal harsh distortion. The problem is in the recordings which are too often overproduced to sound good and loud on the radio - a medium that inherently maims all frequencies, but especially bass and treble. So producers boost the bass and treble to come across stronger on the ol' car radio, but that boost is far too much for decent headphones which are designed to portray music accurately (without the distortion of the radio). The bass often isn't too much of a problem, because big bass usually doesn't fatigue your ears - but enhanced treble on the radio becomes distorted treble on headphones, and there's your sibilance and ear fatigue. Many good modern rock recordings don't have this problem - the Black Crowes "Before the Frost" album sounded better than I've ever heard it without any distortion at all, along with many many others. But any modern rock recording made to have that glossy modern sound probably will be fatiguing on the DT990s (and most headphones for that matter except for darker ones like the Sennheiser HD650, or so I'm told). So the treble is a mixed bag. Usually it sounds amazing and causes a song to sound far far better than I've ever heard it before (including on the Q701), and sometimes it sounds not so great because it won't hide vocal sibilance and distortion on some cymbal hits on bad recordings, and may even somewhat accentuate it. As the cliche goes, it's all a matter of preference. I may have been griping a little too long about the treble there, but don't get me wrong. This is a stunning headphone on good recordings that gives me that "wow" factor that the Q701 never seemed to give me. I'll be keeping the DT990 and either selling or shelving my Q701s - I really don't see much advantage the Q701s have over the DT990s, but they might be better for listening to some jazz or classical pieces. But the DT990, moreso than the Q701, is what music is about for me. It sounds alive, and propulsive, and it makes me feel the music and form a better connection to it. Overall, this headphone improves the experience of listening to music - an experience that, for people who care about music, can mean everything. (Note: They're also ridiculously comfortable - I'm putting that here at the bottom because I'm not skilled enough to fit it in somewhere that it would make sense in the body of the review. The plush earpads are luxurious and much softer than the already-soft Q701 earpads. Clamping force is just right and extremely comfortable, and the padded headband is wonderful. Plus, it all looks totally rad with its metal construction. Kudos Beyerdynamic.)

By far the most precise, dynamic, comfortable, and balanced headphones I've ever tried, especially after ~150hrs of listening. For just under $200, absolutely a fantastic value. I tried the DT880s and it was clear the 990s here are noticeably better. Without using an EQ, all ranges sound fleshed out and clear/clean. The treble is very present but also very smooth. The bass is just right, punchy and precise but balanced so as to not overpower or muddy the experience. The mids have been said to be a little empty, and while I agree the mids aren't the strongest frequency for these headphones, I don't think they're lacking enough for me to be upset about it. Incredibly comfortable, the pads feel velvety but not so expensive that I feel bad about setting them down on my desk. Great build quality, pretty light chassis and a comfortable clamping force. The speaker swivel mechanism does make me feel I need to be a little extra careful to not snap them off by accident just based on the design, but the material is sturdy enough to where I'm really not worried. The sound stage on these are also fantastic as an open-back headphone. You won't think you're listening to speakers, obviously, but it's large and open as it should be and gives plenty of room for the sound to feel deep. I paired these with a Schiit Stack (yup), which drives this 600ohm model perfectly. I'm using a Modi 3+ DAQ, a Loki+ EQ, and an IEMagni Pre-Amp/Amp, all connected to my PC (Mortar Titanium B450M MOBO) via the S/PDIF optical port. Plenty of adjustment and the power is just right, max volume is barely tolerable for more than 30 seconds but doesn't distort or generate any noise. Not using an amp will make you very disappointed, it's really worth the money. Makes these headphones sound like at least one class above their stock level. I'm looking forward to enjoying these for a long time!

The Beyerdynamics DT990/600 is a work of art. The only mar to this construction is the metal arms that go into the headband can twist and make a popping noise, makes me wonder if they slip out of the track. But no worries so far, just don't twist the cup, it does not turn sideways or anyways but up and down. On the inside of the metal adjustment band there are dots to line up and once adjusted the headband doesn't come unadjusted easily. Set it and forget it. The velvet sleeves fit over my ears but do rest on my earlobes. They cause me no discomfort but YMMV. I can wear these headphones forever and have forgotten they are on my head. The headband is very comfortable for me. The sound quality of these are just fine. They are not flat sounding, they have a u shaped curve that accents the bass and treble. Some say this leaves the mid's recessed. I knew this coming in. Personally I find I can hear the mids just fine but if you want in your face mids, get Grado's. Some say the highs are too in your face, I'm 53 and have average hearing loss so I knew I needed the bumb in highs, you may not like the highs coming from these cans, but they are great for me. The bass is the best thing about this set of cans, but I may be a bass head. At Head-Fi.org there is a how to EQ your headphones that works for any headphone, it may work wonders for all your headphones (for some ear canal resonance distortion?) I find that I can hear every sound with great separation and detail. I don't find a great sound stage in these cans, no matter to me, when things are suppose to warble between left and right it does it well. This is where the cans get good to me; they make my head bounce, my feet tap and make me want to dance, but I'm scared the headphones would fly off. No headbanging with these, they will come off. I listen to prog rock mostly and the DT990/600 do some serious rocking, you won't be disappointed. IF, big IF you amp the DT990/600. It must be amped to realize it's potential. It needs a FiiO E9 at least. I have my set amped by my Pioneer receiver. Just coming out of your computer or mp3 player you will be disappointed. Even out of the headphone amp on my Auzentech Forte 7.1 soundcard, which is supposed to handle 600 ohm headphones, the volume will not satisfy me. So I connect it digitally to the receiver and let it amp it. I can recommend the Beyerdynamic's DT990/600 if you use an amp with it, and like bass and treble. The mids are just great, but if you don't like treble these might not be for you. Ditto if you don't care for bass. I understand they are great for classical, but I have no experience in this. But if you like music and want to rock, or want to 'dig into' the micro sound and hear every separate note, then these are the headphones for you.

Consider this headphone if you want an exceptionally well built, light, comfortable headphone with an amazingly open and dynamically active sound. It has been almost two months since I got them and so far they have become my favorite. I hope that this review will provide you the needed information. The Sound: The tonal set is not very neutral due to the somewhat pronounced bass and treble. Even so, the bass is well controlled, tight and very effective unlike some other sets which I have had the opportunity to try which tend to be overblown and loose. This however, has an effect on the midrange, which although very detailed and responsive at times sounds overshadowed by the treble (for the purists, perhaps a better choice would be the DT-880 Pro or the AKG 701, 702...). The highs are quite pronounced as well but very pure and subtle, and without being harsh or nervous. The soundstage is wider than any other set I've tried before, but well-rounded at the same time. Construction & form: The headphone is handmade in Germany with exquisite build quality. The headphone has a rough, industrial look to it which I really like. There are no useless parts here or any glossy finish, but a very pure, motorized looking style with high quality matte aluminum elements. The DT-990 is almost featherweight, the ear cups are very yielding, soft and comfortable, and finished with rich - velvet like material that wicks moisture away. They come in a big leather case with a mini jack plug and a screw-on ¼" plug. Summary: The DT-990 is one of the best dynamic headphones in its price class. As I mentioned before, if you are more into a natural tonal balance I recommend the AKG. Compared to the Sennheiser (HD595/HD650) the DT990 has a livelier, more dynamic sound to it with the two signature tonal characteristics: exceptional bass and upper treble response. Build quality for both is exceptional. This is my first BeyerDynamic product and I am impressed. The sound that comes out of these headphoes is amazing! A word of advice: The DT-990 is an open-back headphone which means a lot of sound leakage.Look elsewhere if you require a close-back, noise canceling headphone. If you choose the 600 Ohm version, an amplifier is a must. I am using a NuForce Icon HDP and the pair works wonderful. 100+ hours of burn in is recommended.

These headphones are so great. They have the most comfortable cushions I've ever felt on headphones. I am going to pick out specific pros and cons I've learned throughout my experience with these so read other reviews if your looking for reviews on how they sound for low/mid/highs. PROS: Very comfortable cushions. I use these for the PC 24/7. The only sound card people should use with these headphones is the Asus xonar essence stx. When you turn on the 7.1 surround sound in these headphones, it sounds like the music is playing live in front of you. And since that sound card has a built in headphone amp, you dont have to buy a separate one. But my setup is: Headphones-->FiiO desktop amp-->asus sound card. Sound quality is the best I have ever heard and the best place to hear music is Grooveshark because their songs are such high quality.(better quality = less static) CONS: I have my sound card amp set up for the 64-300 ohms (600 is too much)It sounds perfect on grooveshark songs, but if I listen to other songs in lower bitrate/quality these headphones are so good you can hear the static. Now this can be fixed by changing the amp setting to 0-<64 ohms setting then you won't hear the static anymore for crappy quality songs, but the quality will go down but by barely. Even though these are the most comfortable cushions, after several hours they will start to hurt really bad, so you have to keep fidgeting them around your ear to place they haven't touched. Other thoughts: You can pull the ear cushions on/off very easily to clean/remove hair or dust from the headphones to prevent static. Make sure you buy the asus xonar essence stx sound card with these headphones or else you won't hear the awesome 7.1 surround sound open stage version of music, which is frankly pretty sad. These headphones def. sound 1000000x better with that soundcard then it would with any desktop amp combo. Music sounds so lame and tame without it even WITH these headphones, but together they make your ear orgasm.

I purchased my DT990 600ohm headphones February 2018 and they still work beautifully. A lot of research went into finding a set of headphones that were comfortable while wearing glasses as many out there are not. They are very comfortable; they do not press my earpieces into my head causing pain or anything as others that I have had in the past. Their sound quality is amazing and allows me to immerse myself in the music that I am listening to. I used them on my computer and even game with them even though they do not have an attached microphone because my separate standalone microphone works beautifully with it. A few months after I had initially purchased them, I had a wire problem, but I contacted Beyerdynamics and they were very prompt and friendly to work with having me send my headphones so they could take a look at them. They corrected problem with the cord wiring and got my headphones back to me quickly. They’ve been going strong for 4 years now and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Sometimes it would be nice if they were wireless, but even that is not a big deal because the cord is a decent length. As with all headphones the only thing that I have to do now is replace the ear pads because after 4 years of use and wear, the velour material that is soft and comfortable about the skin is slightly discolored and worn due to skin oils. That is just normal maintenance though, Beyerdynamics sells replacement ear pads and I am ecstatic because I can just replace them like for like and do not have to switch to plastic-y, pleather after-marked ear pads that start peeling and leaving flecks on the skin as they do so. IF you are looking for high quality in terms of both sound and comfort, these are an excellent choice to go with. I do not regret this purchase at all and would purchase them again in a heartbeat.

Beyerdynamic 483966 DT 990 Premium 600 ohm HiFi Headphones I own this headphone AND the DT 990 PRO 250OHM headphone. I really think in my opinion these are the best OPEN CAN headphones for the price range. I bought a bunch of other ones in the price range before and ended up very unsatisfied. Example: Philips Audio Fidelio X2HR, Audio-Technica ATH-AD500X , Sennheiser HD 599. None of those were acceptable to me. My ears just really gravitate to BeyerDynamics GT990 series headphones so why not just buy it again ? I bought this one because I wanted to use it for just dedicated music listening on my hifi stereo. I use the 250ohm "pro" for computer usage for mastering multitrack recordings (note not for actual recording since they leak a LOT due to openback design, but for mastering songs). HEre is my main obvservations between these "premium 600ohm" vs "pro 250ohm": 1. These are lighter on the head 2. These have straight cord rather than coiled 3. The obvious GREY vs black open back look 4. These are 600ohm , and require a good headphone amp to drive them -- my stereo has a really good discreet headphone amp and they sound amazing -- without an amp, you will find them somewhat quiet. The 250ohm require less power to drive them and actually can be used direct to phones too 5. This 600hm version sounds just a TOUCH crisper than the 250ohm version --- if you dont like clinically crisp sound, then you will not like them. 6. To be honest, I find for some reason the "airyness" or "open" "wide" sound stage is better on the 250ohm version (?) It 's likely i have not broken them in enough but at first listen, thats my gutt feel. After a good 50hours maybe i'll feel differently. 7. This comes with a very nice case If you dont know what the DT900 series sound like in general? I will describe them as extremely open and "airy" , very wide 3D sounding headphones. They are not the flattest response but thats not what i want in music listening. It's an exciting musical headphone, very forward treble crispness. Not heavy bass but very well balanced bass and just enough mid end presence to make vocals sound right up there. Comfort-wise, I've yet to ever complain wearing them for an entire 8hour work day!! NEVER gets hot around the head. Never fatiguing because it is very light. Portability isnt the forte since it doesnt really fold. It's too bad the cord isnt replaceable though. I'm really happy with this and i highly recommend giving this a shot if youre around the ballpark of ~250-350 price range and looking for an openback set.

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Sounds good, fit well and are comfortable for long use. Not too heavy. Cable is a good length and well made. As this is the 600 ohm one, you need an amp that can drive it properly.

Um es gleich vorweg zu nehmen: der offene 990er war für mich Liebe auf den ersten Beat. Er hebt sich klanglich von den beiden Modellen 880 und 770, die ich ebenfalls zum Vergleich hatte, deutlich ab da er den Bassbereich - insbesondere auch sehr tiefe Bässe - viel stärker in den Vordergrund holt. Dabei wirkt der Bass aber trotzdem noch relativ präzise und "wummert" nicht planlos durch die Gegend, ist aber auf jeden Fall recht dominant bei diesem Modell. Ein weiterer Pluspunkt ist das breit aufgestellte Klangfeld. Der Ton ist nicht direkt im Kopf, sondern kommt irgendwie von überall - als wäre man in einer Blase aus Klang in die man am liebsten noch tiefer eintauchen möchte. Insgesamt wirkt die Musik auch "sphärischer". Damit meine ich aber absolut nicht, dass diese hallt oder ein Echo hat, sondern irgendwie mehr vor sich hin schwingt und lebendig wirkt, was vermutlich dem starken Bass zu verdanken ist. Ich finde es zudem recht erstaunlich, dass der Klang so offen und gleichzeitig doch irgendwie gezielt am Ohr ist. Das ist wirklich schwierig zu beschreiben, hört sich aber sehr angenehm an und verleiht der Musik das gewisse etwas. Durch die Betonung des Bass wirkt der 990er zudem sehr warm und wie schon erwähnt auch lebendig. Die Höhen geben sich im Vergleich zum 880 und 770 nicht wirklich viel. Die Mitten sind leicht schwächer aber fügen sich noch relativ harmonisch ins Gesamtbild ein. Vielleicht könnten diese geringfügig stärker sein. Dieser Mix aus starkem Bass, leicht nach hinten versetzten Mitten und wieder relativ normalen Höhen ist auf Grund der daraus resultierenden Frequenzkurve die Badewanne von der man auch an anderen Stellen immer wieder mal liest. Im krassen Gegensatz zum 770er ist die Musik unabhängig von der Trageweise immer identisch. Selbst wenn man den Kopfhörer langsam von den Ohren wegzieht merkt man keine übermäßig starke Veränderung in der Klangfarbe. Es wird einfach nur leiser. Sehr schön ist noch die sehr differenzierte Klangdarstellung über das gesamte Spektrum. Während viele gerade günstigere Kopfhörer gerne dazu neigen alles in einem Einheitsmatsch auszugeben kann man hier wirklich Bass und Höhen deutlich getrennt voneinander wahrnehmen. Ein Hi-Hat behält also z. B. auch bei einem starken Bass noch das typische Zischen und wird nicht nach unten gezogen. Der Tragekomfort ist sehr angenehm und man vergisst nach einer Weile förmig, dass man Kopfhörer trägt. Das Anschlusskabel ist mit 3 Metern ausreichend lang und wirkt robust. Am Kabel selbst ist ein 3,5mm Klinkenstecker; ein Adapter auf 6,3mm liegt allerdings bei. Ebenso gehört zum Lieferumfang noch eine praktische Transporttasche mit Lederüberzug, die innen mit ausgeschnittenem Schaumstoff den Kopfhörer hält und beim Transport vor Stößen etc. sichert. Mit seinem ausgeprägten Bass und dem vergleichsweise weiten Klangfeld, dass hier einfach das gewisse etwas liefert, ist der 990er meiner Meinung nach das Spaßmodell aus dieser Reihe. So mancher wird ihn wahrscheinlich als viel zu basslastig einstufen. In dem Fall ist er dennoch eine Überlegung Wert wenn man ggf. den Bass leicht rausdreht, denn die anderen Eingenschaften bleiben weiterhin erhalten. Wer sich jetzt fragt wo die Vor- und Nachteile der 600 Ohm Variante liegen - hier ein kleiner Ausflug in die Technikwelt: an der Membran, die den Ton erzeugt, befindet sich eine gewickelte Spule aus Draht. Dieser Draht ist bei Kopfhörern mit geringer Impedanz von z. B. nur 32 Ohm relativ dick während er bei Kopfhörern mit hoher Impedanz sehr fein ist - so wie bei dem hier rezensierten Modell. Der dicke Draht besitzt also einfach einen geringeren Widerstand als der dünnere Draht. Für den Klang ist der springende Punkt, dass der dickere Draht "schwerfälliger" ist da mehr Masse bewegt werden muss, wohingegen bei einem hochohmigen Kopfhörer die Spule leichter ist und feinste Signaländerungen besser herausarbeitet. HiFi Enthusiasten greifen aus diesem Grund lieber zu hochohmigen Kopfhörern. Falls jemand jetzt denkt "super, da nehme ich doch direkt die 600 Ohm Variante", der hat die Rechnung ohne seinen Zuspieler gemacht; womit wir dann beim Nachteil der 600 Ohm Variante angekommen wären. Auf Grund der hohen Impedanz benötigt der Kopfhörer vor allem mehr Spannung um sein ganzes Potenzial entfalten zu können. Geräte wie normale MP3 Player oder auch einfache Soundkarten im PC verfügen jedoch nicht über eine derartige Leistung. Der Klang wirkt dann in seiner Dynamik stark beschnitten (durch Versuche selbst ermittelt) und auch die maximale Lautstärke ist sehr begrenzt. Wer mit der 600 Ohm Variante liebäugelt sollte also einen geeigneten Kopfhörerverstärker sein Eigen nennen. Wer erst jetzt realisiert hat, dass er möglicherweise noch weiteres Equipment benötigt, muss das Portmonee aber nicht unnötig strapazieren. Den DT990 gibt es auch als 32 und 250 Ohm Variante, wobei vor allem letzteres ein interessanter Kompromiss ist, den man z. B. mit einem preiswerten Verstärker vom Typ Fii0 E11 kombinieren kann. Wer das ganze nur am PC nutzen möchte kann auch zum Modell E10 greifen. Ich selbst verwende übrigens den Verstärker Corda Jazz von Meier Audio.

I bought the 600 Ohm version since my headphone amp can drive it. Buy a 250 Ohm version for other home hifi. The detail I hear is unsurpassed and the soundstage is vast. Made a great choice.