Featuring an open-back design, alongside Beyerdynamic’s innovative Tesla drivers, the impressive DT 1990 Pro headphones are perfect for all applications, listening, mixing and even mastering. That said, it’d have been great if Beyerdynamic would have included mini-XLR connectors on each earcup to easily switch to a balanced cable set up, but it’s understandable why the company went with a singled-ended set up: Having a single replaceable cable is less of a hassle for professional audio engineers. The bass and midrange response isn’t nearly as accurate as with the DT 900 PRO X, but Audio-Technica’s headphones are half the cost.

MAXIMUM COMFORTThe perfected design of the DT 1990 PRO combines innovation with decades of expertise in headphone technology. Both are open phones, however when you put DT1990 on your head it better filters the space and noise floor around you, the best to describe this is like you sit in very nice sound dampened and quiet cinema room. When I first tried the DT1990 they sounded harsh on one instrument in one track and I thought 'oh this is what people talk about', but since then they've sounded smooth as silk. This may not be something great for work since it tries to grab your attention with the emphasized treble and bass punch. I am not going to comment on the sound differences between the pads as it is so long since I listened to the “Balanced” set.The over emphasis on the higher frequencies make hi-hats and cymbals sound unnaturally present, so many people loathe Beyerdynamic’s boosted treble response. The driver in the DT 1990 Pro actually has very good excursion, giving the bass an enjoyable, immediate impact. I feel it lags only by a hair when compared to my other planar headphones, but this point isn't very noticeable and better represented by an impulse response graph comparison. The amount of cushion takes off some of the moderate clamp force, but only time will tell before the foam loses cushioning. The mid range is a little bit forward, but that's exactly where the Tesla driver shines: they provide astounding clarity and speed, making mix work very accurate.

In any mix you can clearly hear each element play, you can distinguish exactly from where the sound is coming from. I don’t think there’s such case with 1990 Pro because to me it sounds like Beyerdynamic really cranked audio production aspect to 11. Whereas other headphones (such as the Sundara or the HD6XX) are similar to listening through a nice set of HiFi speakers, the DT1990 Pro is like listening through a set of very revealing studio monitors in a well treated space.The ear pads don’t change how the drivers sound, but if you opt for the “balanced” pads (the one with a bunch of holes on the back) you will get a slightly more emphasized low end than the analytical ear cups. For music listening and enjoyment, they would not be on my go to list, and while they are my most used headphone, they are not my pick when wanting to sit back and relax to some tunes. If you want to run these headphones balanced, you will have to rip out the interconnect wire, and drill into the ear cups.

They extend pretty low, maybe not into the rumbling territory, but at the same time manage to keep the bass clear and defined. On the other hand those heights are very very very detailed with very low distortion, what makes it incredibly precise and analytical while listening. The DT 1990 Pro, especially with Analytical pads, is designed for professional users, who want to hear everything in the mix. For frequency response reference, you can see the RAW measurements for both Analytical and Balanced pads from autoeq graphs.With a robust and easily adjustable smart headband and aluminium end piece, the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro headphones provide a performance that's bound to last a lifetime thanks to its elite craftsmanship! The Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro are brilliant headphones that deserve room in any music lover’s headphone collection. It's a bit of an inelegant solution, but it helps noticeably in keeping the drivers away from my ears. Those headphones just approach every single tune just like your CPU in a computer does calculations. Fairly linear, but there's a small hill going up 200Hz that sort of makes the midrange warmer than neutral.

The timbre of the midrange was also very good; it was very natural, and a great improvement over the DT 990 Pro’s slightly metallic timbre. The DT 1990 PRO Tesla headphones' optimized spatial sound reproduction makes them a reliable reference for mixing and mastering applications. The Amplifier/DAC used in this review was the JDS Labs Element II connected via USB to my desktop computer. For decades now, professional users all around the world have placed their trust in beyerdynamic studio headphones.You can sit in them for long hours without any sort of pain or headache and that’s all because of huge amount of foam in headband as well as very big velour pads. peak, but it also made the entire midrange sound far too recessed, so I personally did not like the way it sounded; especially when taking into account the elevation in the bass that those pads provided. I have found on one review including measurements that one (not sure I can say other brand name here in review) specific pads remove the poisonous 8khz peak and it is very true! Listeners who want excellent sound quality in a slightly more portable package that costs less than the DT 1990 PRO should get this. In comparison to other Beyerdynamic headphones, it is not as bad on the DT1990 Pro as other Beyer offerings.