beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition 600 Ohm Open-Back Stereo Hi-Fi Headphones

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.

I have been using dt990 600 ohm edition for a month now, so i am able to give my opinion in an honest way. Prior to dt990 i was using hd650 and neumann ndh20. These dt990 are in a different league alltogether. They have massive soundstage compare to 650 and even neumanns, detail, treble,sparkling top end and even bass are on different level. They are so spatial, that i could not listen back to hd650 at all. There is no sharp treble as sometimes mention in the others reviews. They are very very balanced soundwise and very light and comfortable too. I am thinking now of buying dt 1990 pro as my ultimate set of headphones, knowing how good dt990 is and thinking about those tesla drivers of 1990. I also need to mention, that my audio source is of high quality, bryston bda-2 DAC and SPL phonitor 2 headphone amplifier and also yamaha a-s1100 integrated amp. All of these parts plus dt990 premiums give me audio nirvana, i can listen to my music non stop and i am in my music heaven. From Mark Knopfler, through Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cheryl Wheeler, Celine Dion, Koto, all the 80s hits between others, sound terrific if, of course, it has been mastered proper way in the studio, without any clipping and distortions. Any mistakes from the mastering will be very easy picked up by the headphones too. In a few words,top quality sound.

The final upgrade to my system - see my other reviews. My old Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros (250 ohm) are 35 years old and the cable connecting the two headphones has become stiff, has split and is held together with insulation tape. They still sound great....I decided to buy the 600 ohm version also because this model is less tight on the head and doesn't have the coiled cable. To be fair, when the pads are new they are quite stiff and so they are not as comfortable until they are broken in a bit. Having said that with the other improvements to my system these have a wonderful sound, much sharper and defined than my old pair with a less pronounced bass end but still plenty of it. They will need some "running in" but very pleased with thr sound which is no doubt significantly enhanced by the cable choices on my system.

Coming from a semi professional background in gaming, with a small Interest for listening to music, these headphones are great! For an affordable price, you get quality sound, ultimate comfort headphones that you forget you’re wearing. They fit perfectly and are very adjustable. If you’re looking for something tried and tested that won’t fail you and will last beyond the scope of simple “gaming” headsets or cheap IEM’s I couldn’t recommend them enough. The audio quality is simply amazing. I am hearing things I’ve never heard before and the experience is just exceptional. The clarity and fullness of the sound is awesome and I wish I had made the switch sooner.

Quite honestly these are the most comfy headphones I have ever owned, its like having your ears cupped by angles who then sing to you. Build is excellent, very solid, cable is just the right length. Comes in a nice soft carry case. The sound? Literally breath taking. I am hearing things in songs I've listened to for years that are new to me, the soundstage is like being there. Very happy across all genres of music, and this has also shown me that I don't need excessive amounts of base to enjoy music, in fact I have discovered a whole new world where everything is clear and every instrument is discernible. In short amazing value for 170 pounds. Make your ears happy and buy a pair.

Best headset I ever had. The bass and treble are nicely done, it lacks a bit of the sound between however since I got those I barely use my speakers anymore. In games I am able to say from which direction the sounds come from. While watching movies all the sounds both main and background are really nicely balanced which is something I never noticed so well before. I could re-experience music with those headphones. For the first week my head was sore from wearing those probably due to their weight but this isn't any issue any more. I was really happy to see the quality case in which these headphone arrived. I diffidently became a fan and will again be buying Beyerdynamic products in the future.

I've never been into Audiophilic headphones, or got what the buzz was about getting expensive headphones. But these DT 990's really make me appreciate what it's all about, I can now hear instruments in some of my music I wasn't even aware of, it's almost like I'm listening to some songs for the first time again, but this time, they're are being heard the way they were meant to be heard. The base on these is clean, not too overpowering, but just enough to give you that oomph. The vocals and strings on these also sound pretty amazing, I have a feeling I won't be touching my old headphones ever again. I'm using the Creative G5 AMP/DAC, though not the best out there for these cans, they are adequate for now, but I'd say if you've got the cash and want the best experience, I would recommend the Schiit Modi and Magni DAC and AMP. They're American made, and they are top quality for their price. Just make sure you pick the UK plug before you order them. Playing games on these is also pretty incredible, the directional audio is on point. I've played racing games, FPS shooter (BF4) and these headphones are so much better than those "gaming" headphones, and without the fake 7.1 virtual surround feature, these headphones are best experienced in stereo. EDIT: I've had these for a few months now, and like a few others, I've begun to notice my left cups have a little rattling to them, and the right cups crackle sometimes. None of my other headphones exhibit this, so it has to be exclusive to these. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, as the DT 990 Editions are the best headphones I've used otherwise.

I bought the 600 ohms version, once connected to an amp, they sound fantastic and build quality is metal not cheap plastic they are so comfortable, you know you're getting great headphones with build and sound quality 100% great, with this brand you know your getting a good pair of headphones, i love this brand, they've been around for years

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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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.

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.

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.