HeadphoneOverreview

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII

Name: Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII
Brand: Beyerdynamic

The 8 kHz peak was narrowed, not tamed — and whether that is “finally manageable” or “still Beyer” is the whole review.

24 sourcesUpdated 2026-09-11

$699Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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The short version

What to know.

An open-back studio headphone tuned close to neutral with a slight upper-bass warmth on the stock pads and a narrow peak around 8 kHz. Sources broadly agree it is built like a tank and repairable, images precisely, resolves and slams well for a dynamic driver, and is now easy to drive; the midrange reads natural to most and faintly scooped to a few. They split on the treble — measured as narrower but barely lower than the original's, and heard either as bright-but-clean or as still fatiguing without EQ — and on whether the $700 package is worth it against cheaper rivals. Comfort is good for most, with a real minority defeated by the clamp and weight.

About this product

The second-generation DT 1990 PRO launched in late 2024: a 30 Ω, 114 dB/V TESLA.45 driver behind a black fleece acoustic disc, a fontanelle-recess headband, a denser grille, and two velour pad sets now called “Producing” (20 holes, a touch more bass) and “Mixing & Mastering” (4 holes, flatter). Not the original 250 Ω DT 1990 PRO of 2016 — which has its own overreview and is discontinued — and not the closed DT 1770 PRO MKII it shares a driver with, nor the cheaper STELLAR.45 DT 900 PRO X.

Beyerdynamic's DT 1990 PRO MKII is the centenary-year rework of the studio open-back the company has sold since 2016: same made-in-Heilbronn metal frame, hard case, two cables and two pad sets, but a new low-impedance TESLA.45 driver that plays about 10 dB louder from the same source, distorts less, and — by the maker's own account — reproduces highs “a little more smoothly than its somewhat brasher predecessor.”

That last claim is what every reviewer went looking for, because the original's ~8 kHz spike is one of the most argued-over things in headphones. What came back is the most measured $700 headphone of its year: at least five labs and two hobbyist rigs graphed it, most people agreed on the build, comfort and stage, and then split — cleanly, and along a line the measurements explain — on whether the treble problem was actually solved.

A good fit for

Mix, edit and master work where a bright, revealing top end and precise imaging are the point
Competitive gaming and detail-first listening, especially for people who already like the Beyerdynamic sound
Owners of the original who want the same tool that also runs off a laptop or phone
Anyone who EQs or will fit a treble filter — the rest of the headphone rewards it

Think twice if

You are sensitive around 8 kHz and don't want to EQ — the peak is still there
You want warmth, weight or a relaxed long-session listen out of the box
Clamp and headphone weight bother you; 376 g and a firm spring-steel band are part of the deal
Your source has a high output impedance (many receivers and some interfaces) — the 30 Ω driver shifts tone with it
Value is your first filter — the HD 490 PRO and DT 900 PRO X undercut it heavily

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

2 / 12topics divide opinion

5 Strong agreement5 Mostly agree2 Divided opinions

Common ground6

Tank-like, made-in-Germany build with nearly every part available as a spare — the pad swap is the one fiddly bit
Precise imaging and channel separation, for mixing and for games alike
Resolving, fast and dynamic for a dynamic driver, with low measured distortion and no compression at volume
Easy to drive at 30 Ω — phones and interfaces reach loud levels, though a low-output-impedance source keeps the balance honest
Bass is tight, extended and lightly warm on the stock pads; the Mixing pads flatten it by about 3 dB
A wide, well-organised soundstage, even if RTINGS finds it is the tuning rather than the pinna doing the work

Points of contention4

Treble: the ~8 kHz peak measures narrower but only a decibel or two lower than the original's — heard as bright-but-clean and finally manageable by one camp, and as sharpness that survives EQ by the other
Value: a complete buy-once studio package to some, an overpriced fix-it-yourself tuning to others, and the $100 US price rise sharpened the argument
Mids: natural and clear to most, a shade presence-recessed to a careful few
Comfort: plush and secure for the majority, but the clamp and weight produced real returns

A closer listen.

12 topics · 2 divided

Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Choose a topic

Tonality

Leans positiveMostly agree

Reviewer sentiment14 supporting sources

CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Most sources land on “neutral with a bright tilt” — flat-to-warm through the bass and mids, then the Beyer treble. The lab-minded sources call the shape studio-correct below 5 kHz and wonky above it; the sceptics say it still needs EQ before it is honest. The stock Producing pads add roughly 3 dB of bass and low-mid warmth over the Mixing pads, which is the only tone control you get.

“The overall sound signature of the DT 1990 PRO mkII could be called ‘neutral’ when using the (stock mounted) ‘producer pads’.”
DIY-Audio-Heaven (solderdude)

“the beyerdynamic open‑backed model has a gently ‘scooped’ tonality in comparison, with a broad treble boost starting around 5kHz and extending well above 10kHz complemented by a slight bump in the ‘upper bass’ region”
Sound On Sound (Sam Inglis)

“The DT 1990 Pro MkIIs are bright, lively headphones with a boost in the treble, a smaller boost in the bass, and an overall huge sound.”
SoundStage! Solo (Geoffrey Morrison)

“Highs are somewhat wonky and quite a ways off of both our Headphone Preference curve and Studio Curve.”
SoundGuys (Christian Thomas)

Measured

RTINGS files it as a flat sound signature (bass −2 dB, treble −1 dB against its target). On the GadgetryTech data, compensated to Harman 2018 and normalised at 500 Hz, the Producing pads sit within about 3 dB of target from 100 Hz to 6 kHz, then +8.6 dB at 8 kHz. DIY-Audio-Heaven adds the catch of a 30 Ω driver: on a 120 Ω headphone output the balance shifts noticeably toward the bass and low mids, which the 250 Ω original never did.

Link to this topic

Treble

Leans criticalDivided opinions

Reviewer sentiment21 supporting sources

CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split, and the split is the review. Every rig finds the classic ~8 kHz peak still there — narrower than the original's and only a decibel or two lower at its apex. One camp hears sharpness and fatigue that survives EQ and says treble-sensitive buyers should keep walking; the other hears a bright but clean, non-fatiguing top end that is finally manageable next to the original. Which side you land on tracks your own 8 kHz sensitivity, your pads, and how long you listen.

Measured

Two hobbyist rigs agree closely: on GadgetryTech's KB006x the Producing pads peak at +11.9 dB (8.1 kHz, relative to 500 Hz; about +8.6 dB against Harman 2018) and the Mixing pads at +9.2 dB, against +13.7 dB for the original's Analytical pads on the same rig; Exound's rig reads +10.9–12.1 dB at 7.9 kHz versus +13.4–13.6 dB for the original. What changed most is the shape: the original's second shoulder at 7 kHz (+10 dB on both rigs) is gone, so the MKII's peak is a third-octave spike rising from roughly 0 dB at 7 kHz and back to +5 dB by 9 kHz. SoundGuys' B&K 5128 sees the same spike (“more narrow than it looks … due to smoothing”), RTINGS reads treble fluctuations that swing from under- to over-articulated, and DIY-Audio-Heaven's passive in-line filter takes the peak down about 5 dB.

vs. listeners — The measurements explain both camps rather than picking one. A narrower peak with the 7 kHz shoulder removed sounds less sibilant and less “ragged” than the original — hence “finally manageable” — while an apex only 1–2 dB lower still lands squarely on the 8 kHz band many ears flag as harsh, hence “still Beyer.” Beyerdynamic's own FAQ says only that 8 kHz was “slightly attenuated,” which is what the graphs show. DIY-Audio-Heaven adds a second-order point: the response above 2 kHz is more ragged than the original's, so after EQ the original's treble is the smoother of the two.

Where it splits

still the Beyer peak — sharp, prominent, needs EQ or a filter62%

“Above 7kHz there still is elevated treble resulting in sharpness (home audio).”
DIY-Audio-Heaven (solderdude)

bright but clean — not fatiguing, and a real step down from the original38%

“although you might expect to find that treble emphasis a little fatiguing, in practice it really isn’t”
Sound On Sound (Sam Inglis)

Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked 2026-09-22

Design

Type: Open-back over-ear
Drivers: 1 × 45 mm dynamic (TESLA.45)

Electrical

Impedance: 30 Ω
Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW≈ 109.2 dB/V
Frequency response: 5 Hz – 40 kHz

Connection

Cable: Detachable
Connector: 3-pin mini-XLR
Plugs supplied: 6.35 mm

Physical

Weight: 376 g

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from north-america.beyerdynamic.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 24

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of 2026-09-11

What to keep in mind 5

A read of where the reviews land as of September 2026 — opinions, prices and the field all keep moving.
The treble is the one place where careful people graphing the same headphone reach opposite verdicts on how it lands, and an 8 kHz peak sits differently in every ear. Audition it if you can, and know that EQ or a filter is part of how many owners live with it.
Owner star ratings skew positive and come from people who chose to buy it; the Reddit sentiment here covers a few dozen users, and several of the strongest opinions came within days of launch.
What you hear depends on the pads (the two sets differ by about 3 dB in the bass), on your source's output impedance, and on clamp and head size — comfort in particular split along body lines.
The US price moved from $599.99 to $699.99 during the review period, so older reviews were judging a cheaper headphone; Thomann ships it from Germany for less.

Where to buy Product & retailer links

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII Amazon

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Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII

How the score adds up

What to know.

A good fit for

Think twice if

Agreement &
disagreement.

Common ground6

Points of contention4

A closer listen.

Tonality

Measured

Bass

Measured

Mids

Measured

Treble

Measured

Soundstage

Measured

Imaging

Measured

Detail

Dynamics

Measured

Comfort

Measured

Build

Isolation

Value

Specifications.

Design

Electrical

Connection

Physical

Sources 24

Limitations & method.

What to keep in mind 5