beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition 250 Ohm Hi-Fi- Headphone

So this is an out of the box review of the 990 edition, so first 24 hours of ownership.I am a bit of a headphone nerd so can tell pretty quickly if I’m going to like a pair of headphones. I currently own AKG 702 & 7xx, senn HD6xx and Philips X2HR headphones so I am comparing the 990’s to those directly.I bought the “edition” version as I wanted a straight cable and the few other tweaks they’ve made to make them more “home friendly”.Build and design: so they look cool, better in person and feel well built (much better than AKGs for example). I would’ve liked the shells and grills to be metal but this would increase cost and weight so not necessary and purely aesthetic.Comfort: these are very comfortable. When you first put them on they don’t feel like they are going to be as comfortable as people make out but very quickly you forget you’re wearing them. I would rate them right up there on comfort out of the box. Most people rave about 650/6xx being comfortable, rubbish, those things hurt unless you’ve got a peanut sized head or you stretch out the headband which is easy to do. These need no “breaking in” in the comfort dept.Sound (most important bit): these are right up there with the best at under 500 dollars/pounds. They seem to tick all the boxes and combine all the best bits of the other headphones. They have plenty of bass but not too much, clear highs and have an airy feel to them or “wide soundstage” for all the audiophile nerds out there.Negatives: I have got the 250 ohm variant and they are a beast to power. I have the 300 ohm 6xx and the 990’s are harder to power than those. I have a zen DAC currently which powers them ok but I’ve had to crank it to over 2 O clock on the DAC to get a good volume level (I do listen to metal so quite loud). The zen isn’t the most powerful so your mileage may vary but a headphone amp is a must for these. Go for the lower resistance headphones if you don’t want to buy or do not have a headphone amp.I love these headphones and they are definitely going to be keepers. My 702’s have already been packed away!

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.

Im leaving these 4 stars as both my pairs came with a defect that had a small loose piece rattling about the right earcup but i will say that this has long been fixed.I loved the sound out of these, i would say fun sounding and crystal clear, really easy to listen to for long sessions and they feel like wearing a cloud yet are built like a tank as all bayers are. Spare parts are also easy to come by if you plan on keeping these for years to come.

I was looking for headphones to mix vocals, electric guitar and some acoustic instruments using software on my Apple Mac + iPad + iPhone using an audio interface (for which I use the sensational iRig Pro Duo… best thing I ever bought). I live in a flat so am unable to turn up the volume on my speakers/monitors without annoying the neighbours, so needed to buy some open-back headphones. Unfortunately I can’t tell an “audiophile” from a unicorn or a “soundstage” from my elbow, and I do not understand the abstract terms used by experts to describe sound coming out of headphones. I was also unable to find any shop that would let me listen to the sound on any of the headphones. And the descriptions/advice form experts on the various online forums was conflicting to say the least.In desperation I did what every newbie would do… I put my faith in the “Top 10 Open Headphones” lists on various websites, all of which had the DT990 Pro at No. 1. I ignored the two most common criticisms made against it, i.e. that it has piercingly uncomfortable high frequency response (“treble”) which will give you sore ears, and that it has weak low frequency response (“bass”) so you will not be able to enjoy most forms of modern music. I didn’t care much for the latter as these headphones are not intended for listening to mindless thumping beats - there is enough cheap rubbish you can buy at a fraction of the price if your only concern is how high the headphones can go on the “oomph-oopmh” scale.So I ordered the DT990 Edition 250Ω, and MAN they sound amazing! I was half expecting a hissing treble fest with tinny bass, but these headphones just blew it out of the park for me. Despite not owning a DAC/amp, the bass is (how shall I describe it) “punchy” and there is quite a lot of it! And the treble is right where it should be, even for my sensitive ears. To my pleasant surprise, when I plug the headphones directly into my iPad Pro 12.9, the sound above 85% volume is way louder than my ears can bear. I definitely don’t need an amp with my iPad Pro to use these headphones. The volume isn’t as high when plugged directly into my iPhone 6 and I could certainly make use of an amp there. But when I plug these directly into the my (2011) iMac audio out port, I can’t turn the iMac volume past the 50%-55% mark without destroying my ears! It turns out my iRig Pro Duo has a built in DAC/amp with 150Ω output which makes the headphones really loud on my iPad Pro, and I can finally use them on my iPhone to full effect as well.I have not experienced sound from expensive headphones so I don’t know what these £500+ headphones sound like. They probably sound twice as nice as the DT990s. But who cares? After listening to my DT990s I don’t think I want to listen to any other headphones, whether they cost £10 or £10,000.In case you’re wondering what the difference between the various DT990 versions is… I listened to the DT990 Edition 250Ω, Edition 32Ω and Pro 250Ω, all at the same time with all my devices, but I chose the DT990 Edition 250Ω in the end.* I prefer the Edition 250Ω over the Pro 250Ω because (a) I find the Edition 250Ω straight cable easy to move around especially when playing guitar, and (b) I find the Pro 250Ω clamping force to be strong to the point of slight discomfort. I could not detect any difference in their sound quality. In fact the Edition 250Ω sounded more “open” due to the reduced clamping force.* I prefer the Edition 250Ω over the Edition 32Ω because although the latter goes higher in volume, at higher volumes the Edition 32Ω sound seems not to hold up (at least to my inexperienced ears) as linearly as the Edition 250Ω. The Edition 250Ω on the other hand seems to maintain the overall spaciousness (I think that’s what experts call “soundstage”?) and the sound does not distort even mildly, no matter how how I turn up the volume.* I just love the overall feel and sound of the Edition 250Ω… feel and sound is ultimately a personal thing!I am really glad I didn’t pay too much attention to the horror stories on forums related to these headphones. These are surely the last open headphones model I will ever buy.