My first post will be a review of the famed DT990 headphones from Beyerdynamic. These are the 250 ohm version, which I purchased off newegg when they were on sale for $109.99.

Often people seem to wonder what kind of headphones they should buy in the $100-200 price range. When I bought these I intended on upgrading from the Sony MDR-7506s and the Logitech G633 Artemis headset, which I had been using for music and gaming, respectively. I had gotten the latter intending to use the microphone, as I play Counterstrike:Global Offensive, and I also needed directional sound. Being blinded by pretty lights, I had mistakenly sprung for the G633 rather than the DT990s. Amusingly enough they worked well for what they were meant for, but after owning a functional pair of DT990s, I can now say that the G633s have been blown completely out of the water (funny story, the first pair of DT990s I got were actually defective in the right ear, and it took me a month before I decided to buy them again).

Do note that the audio review I’m doing is based on the DT990s being connected to a Marantz 2220B receiver. The audio files I’m listening to are in FLAC also.

Let’s get this out of the way: the box is nice. It’s constructed of sturdy cardboard with a matte surface, and in one of the side panels (geh, I didn’t take a picture) there is a cutout where you can see the headphones awaiting their unboxing.

There isn’t much to be found inside the box itself: a simple drawstring bag, a couple pamphlets, and the headphones themselves. While it is a nice thought from Beyerdynamic to include a bag, they don’t really offer any protection and wouldn’t help the headphones tough out a commuter’s daily travel.

Do note, and this is one of my main cons with the headphones themselves, that the audio cable is plastic and it is not detachable.

The headphones themselves are plastic, though the headband is made of metal. The plastic is evidently high quality, and you can feel that kind of sturdy construction.

Here I took off the headband cover, which seems to be some plastic material with padding inside, connected to the metal headband just by clasping over it. It keeps the wire connecting the two headphones in place, and also provides a rather comfortable place for the top of your head to be pushed against when you wear the headphones. The velour earpads are also extremely comfortable, and the headphones themselves are light enough that you almost forget that they’re on your head after a while. I’ve even had the moment where I look around my desk to reach for them, intending to listen to some music, then finding that they’ve been on my head the whole time. Note that the headphones do clamp down on your head pretty tightly, though they’ve gotten looser over time. I also have a relatively small head so they don’t bother me, but if you have a robust cranium it might be in your interest to purchase a different pair of headphones if this is a worry for you. That said, I was initially skeptical that that these would be comfortable given that the headband is rather pathetic, but I quickly got used to how that felt, and overall the DT990s certainly do not lose to the MDR7506s, G633s, or the ATH-M50s that I had in the comfort department. Going back to the bit about the cable – it is rather annoying that the cable is not detachable. I had purchased this headphone case from Vectron intending to carry the DT990s with me to school every day, but alas no matter how I tried to fit the headphones in, the cable would stick out. I’m not a fan of arcing the cable in any way to make it fit, so I decided that I’d just bring earbuds or my 7506’s with me to school instead. What a shame.

Now that the first impressions are done, let’s move onto the bread and butter: the sound quality itself. Above you’ll find the graph I shamelessly stole from this post on reddit. Before I purchased these I certainly feared this legendary treble spike, but I convinced myself that I’d be able to get over it…and I did. Perhaps my ears are not as sensitive as others, but the treble spike does not bother me at all. In fact, I quite like the V-shaped sound of the DT990s, they are a fun headphone. They may not be the best headphone if you want accurate sound, and I can also say that I’d be able to understand if somebody were severely bothered by the treble, but I have to say that they are enjoyable for me personally to listen to my music with. Here are some of the tracks that I listened to to test these:

Above and Beyond Acoustic – Alone Tonight Above and Beyond Acoustic – On My Way to Heaven ClariS – Click TK Ling – Unravel Karajan/Berlin Phil – Bruckner Symphony no. 8 Pollini/Abbado/Berlin Phil – Brahms Piano Concerto no. 2 David Roth – Vincent Madeon – Home Madeon – Finale Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster – To Zanarkand Ed Sheeran – I See Fire

I also played about 200 hours so far of CS:GO using these headphones, as I did purchase them for gaming also. I realize that some of these tracks may not be considered “excellent recordings” or the best songs to test headphones with objectively, but it’s music that I will be listening to and ultimately the headphones are mine, so 😉

Admittedly, the treble is fatiguing. When listening to ClariS’ “Click” and also the two Madeon songs, the higher pitches are very blatantly pushed into your head, and messed with me a little bit, in the sense that I thought I was going to get a headache from the treble completely earfucking me. Not going to lie, the graph above is very real, the treble spike is not a myth. With that said, after a solid 10 hours or so of listening to anything and everything with these, it’s almost as if my ears got used to it. I imagine that some will feel the same as me, and will become desensitized to it, some will not. Perhaps saying that defeats the purpose of the review, in which case you can consider this a masturbatory block of text, which is what I intended for it to be anyway.

I believe the 990s are also considered a rather bassy pair of headphones. For this I had to turn to another couple songs – the theme from Warcraft written by Ramin Djawadi, for example. I do enjoy the bass on these. They’re existent and punchy, but not to the point where they’re overwhelming and artificial, like I would argue many fashion headphones or my previous pair of G633s would be. However, I must say that the bass was weaker than I had originally expected – perhaps I have been spoiled by my speaker system + subwoofer, and had been expecting too much. They are noticeably better in that department than the previous headphones I had been using though – you can certainly feel the punch whereas with shoddier audio it just exists in a muddier state, mixed in with the rest of the track.

The mids are rather recessed, as is to be expected given the sound signature graph we’re provided with, plus the reputation of the headphones themselves. I used to use the earpods that iDevices would come default with, and listening to “Click” on those was rather enjoyable as all of the mid-range electronic music that wasn’t meant to stand out made the song fun, even if it took away from the vocals. This is very clearly missing that, and the resulting V shape makes the DT990s a fun, but rather specialized pair of headphones.

When it comes to gaming I have no complaints. The soundstage is excellent, and any artificial “Dolby 7.1 surround sound” that gaming headsets have to offer cannot really compare to the combination of sound quality and soundstage that you get out of these. Really, if you want a pair of headphones for gaming – get these, or something similar. Don’t waste your time (or money!) with gaming headphones. I only had one complaint during my time using these to play CS:GO – which was that the loud CLICK of the AK-47 as you spray it just so happens to hit that fuck your ears range. Fortunately, Valve has updated the game to use new sounds and the new AK no longer shreds my eardrums.

Do note that you will need an amplifier to drive these. Without them the aforementioned problems may be even more prominent. I am not an expert on headphone amps and I won’t pretend to be, as I am using a speaker preamp. However, I am confident that my receiver’s headphone jack is amping these properly, as there is a significant difference when I use my phone or my PC’s 3.5mm jack to drive these as opposed to when I use the Marantz receiver.

The good: Comfort, sound quality, sound stage (great for gaming!), fun V shaped sound signature, looks sexy as all hell.

The bad: Headband is rather flimsy, mids could be more pronounced.

The ugly: No detachable cable, making portability a problem if you worry about damaging these.

Verdict: For under $200, there really is nothing to be said. These are a fantastic pair of headphones. Whether you want to use them for gaming, music, or just general use, they’ll fit your needs. The treble can be uncomfortable for those with more sensitive ears, but if you can become used to it like I (and I imagine, many others) have, then they’ll be sure to satisfy your needs, and exceed your expectations. If they come around at $109.99 on newegg again, snag a pair! They’re worth every penny.