[$179.99 on Amazon, purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) and renewed for $109. These are the open-backed version of the DT 770 Pro (MSRP $160). Available in 80 and 250 Ohm versions.] [March 2023]
Update September 2025:
I really liked these headphones; they were the second real pair of audiophile-style headphones I’d ever owned, and at that point I hadn’t heard many pairs of well-tuned, non-consumer headphones. In the last two and a half years, I have rectified that problem, and oh boy have these suffered in comparison. I thought these would potentially replace the 6XX as my daily desk driver, and the reality is that I haven’t used the DT 990 for anything other than conference calls in years until I picked them up last week for a re-listen.
A couple of quick updated listening notes:
- The bass is weirdly hollow; this may just be a result of the wonky treble unbalancing everything but what was a strength is not to my ears anymore. This is particularly true of the midbass, which starts to interfere with the low mids (including male vocals).
- The treble … wow, this treble is *SPARKLY* and unpleasant on about half of the things I listened to with them. Cymbals in particular are harsh and a bit clicky in places where they shouldn’t be.
- The microdynamics aren’t great; on “Angel (Blur Remix)” neither the bass bell tones nor the treble chimes have any depth, hit, or bend.
- The soundstage remains pretty good left to right, but is virtually non-existant front to back.
Volume notes (to get to comfortable listening levels for me, between 60-65 dB):
- 85% volume on the North American Apple Dongle
- 9:15 on the Nitsch Piety/Schiit Magni
Updated Scores:
Cost-agnostic: 4 out of 10 Denalis
Cost-sensitive: 5 out of 10 Denalis]
[Tl;dr: I really like these headphones. They’re not headphone I’ll carry around with me, but I’m pretty sure they’ve dethroned the Massdrop x. Sennheiser 6XX as my go-to/daily driver at my desk in my home office. They greatly benefit from external amplification, but they’re even pretty acceptable sounding with a cheap iPhone dongle. Color me impressed, especially at the price.]
Scores:
Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis
Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis
Intro.
I picked up the DT770 Pro (the closed back version of these) when I started a new job that required me to be in the office a lot (mid-pandemic). I particularly wanted them to be able to block out a lot of office noise, and they worked pretty well and I mostly liked the sound. However, unless I’m in a super noisy environment or a completely silent one, I generally prefer the sound and comfort of open-backed over-ear headphones and I’ve been intrigued by these for a couple of years. Back in January they popped up for sale around $100, so I decided to take a flyer on them.
Sound.
Excellent, especially at this price range. Stereo separation is clear without being distracting. Dave Matthews is sitting just left of center on “So Much to Say”, and you can feel the percussion shifting around in the back. Dynamic range is very good, as is general resolution and clarity. The horns on Brasstrack’s “Intro” are bright and sharp without being harsh or painful, and the bass is clean and bouncy. I used these at my office desk for a few weeks, and I was surprised by how frequently I thought I heard a noise behind me, only to discover it was just a part of the mix I’d never heard before.
Be warned, these are headphones that will punish badly mastered tracks or albums. Born Gold’s self-titled album sounds terrible through them as a result, sounding muddy and out-of-sync.
These headphones (especially the 250 Ohm version) will really benefit from an external amp to drive. The sound is noticeably more muted when using a thumb drive DAC/amp like a Dragonfly or an Apple dongle/DAC, though weirdly enough I think they do better paired with a lower-powered Schiit Hel 2E than the Asgard 2.
Treble: Super-clean and precise. Some people complain about sibilance in the treble or a little harshness, but I don’t hear it at the volumes I’m typically listening at.
Midrange: excellent. These are really good headphones for vocals. Little Simz’ voice on “Gorilla” (a track you should listen to!) is clear and forward without dominating the mix. Karen O’s voice cuts through on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Spitting off the Edge of the World” despite the lush and jam-packed mix, which can be challenging for some headphones. You get real bounce and precision in “Why We Speak” by Robert Glasper, featuring Esperanza Spalding. Bassier male voices like Gang of Youths’ David Le’aupepe don’t get quite as much separation and clarity, but are still quite pleasant.
Bass: The 990 Pros are studio-style headphones so bass doesn’t get a particularly noticeable bump, which I really appreciate. Bass is present without being overpowering, and you can hear some nuances that get lost with other headphones. For example, I can hear more movement in bass-heavy tracks like Doja Cat’s “You Right” or H.E.R.’s “Damage” or Ghost’s “Bad Choice.”
Noise canceling.
Non-existent. Open-backed headphones mean you’ll hear an awful lot of your environment (and in a quiet enough one, your neighbors might hear your music too).
Build
Controls. None. (not uncommon for wired headphones)
Connectivity. 1/8” jack only, with an included ¼” adapter. Non-detachable 1M curly cable that extends to 3M.
Comfort. They’re really comfortable. My current glasses have a habit of digging into my ears and temples without headphones on, which can make tight headphones pretty painful after a short time. The way these are constructed makes them very comfortable and able to maintain a good seal without high-pressure.
Construction. These have a very similar design to the DT990 Pros. Light and made mostly of plastic without feeling cheap, with a very nicely padded top bar and soft cloth ear cups, both of which are pretty easily removed and replaced with a number of after-market options. They do not fold, and with a non-detachable cable, they’re not super easy to transport. Clearly designed for use at a desk or in a fixed location rather than while out and about.
Appearance. A stylish, classic studio headphone look. I like the black slats and the contrast to the white speakers and grey earcups.
Value.
[Update: I’d rather pay a little more for a better pair of headphones. Hell, Hifiman has a number of better pairs cheaper on their site right now, though I would never personally chooes to buy directly from Hifiman at this point.]
These are an older model, so are often available on sale, renewed, or both. At $109, these were an absolute steal.
Comparisons.
[Update September 2025: These aren’t … bad headphones, but the ~$200 open back market is crowded and I would prefer most of the other things out there over this: the Sennheiser x Drop 6XX, the Fiio FT1 Pro, the PC38X/PC37X, Hifiman’s HE-4X/400se, etc. are all better options with a more pleasant tune to my modern ears.
I stand by the comment about the 770, though; I know that people really like that headphone but for me it’s painful and harsh after a few minutes of listening. ]
In my collection, these compare most directly to the Massdrop x Sennheiser 6XX as high-resistance open-backed headphones. It surprises me to say this, but I think purely from a sound standpoint, I prefer the DT990s over the 6XX. At least with the Hel 2E as the amp, the sound is richer and fuller and more precise (though the gap drops substantially when I move to the Bifrost/Asgard 2 stack). The 6XX is a better form factor for me, particularly on the go (and the ability to disconnect and replace cables is huge!), and I think the treble is slightly better balanced on the 6XX, but I’ve been finding myself gravitate towards the DT990s when I’m at my desk.
The other natural comparison is to the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, the closed-back version of these headphones. The 990s blow them out of the water, sound-wise. I generally like open-backed headphones a lot more than closed-backed, and these are not an exception. I’m guessing the 770s will end up in my desk in the office where I want a little more isolation from the environment, as I cannot imagine a situation in my home office where I’d go with them over the 990s (or the 6XX for that matter). They were mostly collecting dust even before I got the 770s.
Overall.
These are a great headphone, especially at their price point. They seem to play well with inexpensive DACs/amps, and though I do think they really benefit external amplification, they’re mostly surprisingly good-sounding when plugged into an iPhone using Apple’s (oft-maligned) inexpensive dongle (though treble gets a bit splattery at even moderate volumes). They’ve been plugged into the Hel 2E on my home office desk more or less constantly since mid-January, and I think that won’t change anytime soon.
#reviews #headphones #overear #cans #beyerdynamic #dt990pro
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