It isn't often that I update my main studio headphones. In fact, I've had my trusty AKG K240M 600 ohm cans now for nearly 1/4 of a century (that kinda makes me sound old!).
My AKG cans are by no means high end headphones and not intended for critical mixing and mastering decisions. They are simply robust, reliable, general purpose workhorses which have served me very well.
Over the last 30 odd years, I've had the opportunity to audition high end headphones from various well established manufacturers but never took the plunge being happy to focus that budget on my main studio nearfield monitoring system instead.
last week however, I decided to take the plunge and invest in something substantial and much more specialized as a critical reference tool than my K240M cans, the new Beyerdynamic DT1990 250 ohm semi open back "mixing and mastering" headphones. I got a really good deal on these which included the matching A20 headphone amplifier and the DT1990s for less than the regular price of the cans alone. How could I pass that up?!
With much anticipation, they arrived at my studio and I promptly unpacked them, skimmed through the manual and plugged them into my RME Fireface UFX via the A20 amp and fired up REAPER. With great expectations, I placed them over my ears and loaded up some reference material......
A few HOURS later and I was still listening intently! These cans are absolutely stunning and reveal every fine detail with finesse and microscopic accuracy. This is what German precision is all about to me!
These cans come with two sets of interchangeable ear pads marked A (Analytical) and B (Balanced). They are shipped with the B pads in place which have a gentle low end boost.
When I listened to one of my newest mixes with these pads in place, I noticed some low-mid boxiness on the acoustic guitar part which I hadn't detected with my main monitors and wasn't sure if it was the pads or my mixing. I saved a copy of the REAPER project and did a few tweaks to the copy. Then I played it back on the main monitors and it did indeed sound cleaner.
I then decided to switch over to the A pads which Beyerdynamic themselves recommend for critical mixing and mastering work. Much to my surprise, the low-mids and low end were still just as punchy but more neutral and accurate. I've since kept the A pads in place.
To sum up the characteristics of these cans that jump out most to me it is their sheer transparency and detail. Bass is true to what is actually there and is tight, punchy, extended and accurate right down to infrasonic regions. The midrange is clean,open and transparent and the high end is detailed and crisp without being at all harsh or sibilent. The transient response of these cans is simply incredible as is the stereo image which extends beyond the ears rather than being "inside the head" as is common with many headphones, even in the high end category.
Build quality is stunning too. They are made of high grade steel and aluminium with comfortable padded headband and velour ear pads and their appearance is all class. They even SMELL expensive! Yes, I love that "new gear" smell! They are comfortable even after HOURS of use. I couldn't take them off and just wanted to listen to everything all over again! In fact, I listened and listened until I started nodding off from lack of sleep!!
One thing that did surprise me was the results when plugging the 1990s directly into my Samsung Galaxy S6 phone. This phone has quite decent sound quality as far as portable devices go but it isn't exactly a powerhouse in the output level department. My AKG K240M phones struggle to achieve enough level even at maximum volume. This is no surprise given the low cost, consumer level output chips in mobile phones are not designed to drive high impedance headphones. They simply don't have the required voltage swing capability to do so.
The Beyers though are also relatively high impedance so I wasn't expecting much from them either. However, much to my surprise, at full volume they are capable of dangerous long term listening levels and the phone actually sounds surprisingly good indeed playing back some of my flac library. Not surprisingly though, because these cans are so revealing, they reveal the main area this phone does have a weakness and that is in the transient response department. It doesn't have the same snap as the RME through the A20 does but I wouldn't expect it to. It is an apples to oranges (or perhaps Toyota to Bentley) comparison. However, it is still a sheer joy to be able to have such stunning sound quality on the go anywhere I'd also be comfortable taking the DT1990s.
As far as mixing with these cans goes, they are actually very good. The mix decisions I have made so far translate on the main monitors and other speakers far better than mixing with most cans. As mentioned earlier, I was able to pick up on areas that needed refining and the refinements were an improvement on my main monitors too.
Some of you might have tried out my headphone mixing and monitoring REAPER FX chain (see the link in my signature) and when used with the DT1990s, this works VERY nicely. I have set up a fine tuned version of this chain now especially for these cans (I'm using the Blue Ripple Sound Upmixer and Binaural Decoder in place of the ATK one) and I find that not only do I enjoy mixing with this combination immensely but I just love listening to ANYTHING through the combination. I feel like I'm sitting in front of a pair of B&W 800 Diamonds in a world class mix room!! And I'm not exaggerating! I have had the pleasure of listening to some of my mixes on 800 Diamond series monitors.
These are not cheap headphones by any stretch. The regular price for the cans alone in Australia is a little over $1100 and adding the A20 amplifier brings that total closer to the $2K mark. The bundle deal I got was UNDER $1K for both.
Even if I paid full price, I would still consider these a bargain for what you get sound quality and build quality wise.
If you take your audio production seriously and are on the lookout for a new pair of semi open back studio cans, you would be crazy to overlook these gems if they are in your budget. If not, listen to them anyway and save the cash. You won't regret it!
If you need the isolation and lack of acoustic leakage of closed back designs, perhaps consider the DT1770s instead. Open back cans do tend to give a wider sound stage than closed back designs though and tend to be more transparent.
The Beyerdynamic DT1990s with the A20 amplifier are a ten out of ten combination in my opinion!