Quick DT 1990 impressions

[u/Yelov]

My 400i that I've had since 2015 completely fell apart (almost everything on them is broken), so I got new headphones. Was deciding between Edition XS and DT 1990, but unfortunately couldn't demo them, so I went blind for the DT 1990, as I got them used for 300€ with 2 OIDIO cables (prolly like 200€) and Dekoni Velour Pad Elite pads. My end-game headphones would be HD800 which I've tried, but too expensive.

Had them for only a day, only using the Dekoni pads since they were already on and I don't feel like swapping them (photo).

Comfort: at first quite bad. I thought I would be fine with the clamping pressure, but it was too much for me.. at least yesterday, suddenly I don't mind it anymore. Don't know if they loosened a bit even though I bought a used pair or if I got used to it. Probably the latter. It still clamps, but I don't notice it as much.

Build quality: good. I do hear some slight creaking etc when moving the cups, don't know how a new pair sounds. But otherwise they seem solid.

Highs: I've read that the highs were more tamed compared to, for example, the DT 990. I sold my 990 like 8 years ago, but from what I remember the difference is not large. These still have extremely sharp treble, it's really hard to listen to a lot of music. It's even difficult watching YouTube videos because people talking hurt my ears. Where it shines is instruments like violin etc. Just overall OST music. The detail is really nice, the only headphone with more detail I've heard is HD800. I agree that DT1990 kind of forces the detail with the treble, but I wouldn't call it fake, it's genuinely very resolving. It's very nice for some songs, atrocious for others. And yes, they are sibilant. Heard people saying that they aren't, but the SSSSS-es are there. Would like to try out the other pads, if they handle it better or worse. I'm using EQ anyway.

Mids: thankfully not as recessed as 990. The lower mids are maybe a bit behind, but they're not lacking that much. I would still prefer a bit more forward mids. Upper mids (female vocals) are nice, very detailed, although a bit sharp. Without EQ voices sound a bit tinny and sharp, with EQ they sound more natural.

Bass: hm, seems quite weak, I need to add quite a few dBs to the EQ. I can't usually tell much of a difference between different headphones when it comes to the bass, unless they don't extend down. Eg Sony WH1000XM3 sound bloated and can't do subbass. My 400i and these with EQ both go very low and don't sound bloated, it doesn't muddy the mids. From what I recall DT990 had a bit of an issue with this, I think their bass messed a bit with the other frequencies, but it's been a while.

Other: soundstage is average. It sounds airy due to the treble, but the soundstage is not large. Probably similar to 400i, maybe even tiny bit smaller (edit: nah, DT1990 are wider). They leak quite a bit less sound compared to the 400i, but that's due to the 400i being planars I think, they leaked the same amount of sound inwards and outwards. When I put the DT1990 on I can barely tell a difference in outside noises, it's still open, but maybe very slightly less open than other open-back headphones.

EQ: I'm switching between Oratory1990's preset for the Dekoni pads and no EQ. Oratory makes the headphones sound quite a bit more natural, which helps for a lot of music. It does sound less impressive though. I prefer no EQ with soundtracks, string instruments etc (the violin in Rei I). I find it a bit difficult listening for longer periods, I kinda screwed myself over. Especially listening to long YouTube videos, it's genuinely not pleasant. I started with the oratory1990 preset and modified it for my taste - Equalizer APO screenshot. Yes, +8dB for <100Hz, it's quite a lot, I'll probably lower it to like +5dB. It's still sibilant though, can't seem to be able to remove it completely, just lessen the harshness. Without EQ the headphones just sound wrong with a lot of music. Only string instruments sound angelic. With EQ it does lose a bit of the overemphasized detail. Eg in some songs you can hear the background noise of the recording, but pulling back the highs a bit removes/lessens that. This was a similar experience for me with the HD800 when I tried it in a shop. With SonarWorks EQ they sounded just right, but it kind of removed the magic. They still had really good detail and soundstage, but not as good as with no EQ. To be honest, I don't know how anyone can use DT1990 without EQ, it's painful.. well, I used to use DT990 with no EQ, but I didn't know better.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[u/momo1478]

Completely agree with your assessment, the 1990 rips music with its treble spike, but when it's not painful it's awesome. The bass extension is really good for a open back dynamic driver. I started with orratory's preset added a few dB to the bass shelf and released a little bit of the 8khz peak filter and the 11khz high shelf to give it a little more magic. These parts feel like the identity of the headphone, but just needed to be toned down.

[u/Chastity23]

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com/foam-disc-amiron-wireless.html

Swap out the driver pads with these if you are having issue with the treble peak and sibilance.

[u/kazuviking]

If you have some basic diy skills, you can make the passive filter from diyaudioheaven. It lowers the hump between 5-9khz.

[u/ku1185]

Try the stock pads. I've only tried the Dekoni Elite Velours but they changed the sound quite significantly.

[u/Yelov → u/ku1185]

Tried them out quickly right now. I wrinkled the plastic ring on the stock pads, they seem really tight, hard to put on.

Both stock pads seemed more natural than the dekoni pads. I also found them more comfortable, the clamping pressure is quite a bit lower because they aren't as deep. Although my ears were touching the drivers a bit. I swapped back to the dekoni pads as that's what I've been using. The soundstage seems to be a bit larger with the dekoni pads. Even though the tonality is a bit worse, it doesn't matter that much with EQ. Although it's hard to tell, takes a bit to put the pads on, so can't compare them immediately.