- I need clarity and headphones that don’t hide my sins when mixing
- Going from closed to open is a big improvement
- However, open headphones and vocal recording do not mix
One of the best things about being an adult is that you don’t need to ask Santa for Christmas gifts: you can buy them yourself. And that’s exactly what I did with my latest audio upgrade. As a holiday gift, I just upgraded my work headphones to the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro, and I’m glad I did.
I already had a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones, the DT770 Pro. I use them for recording music and mixing and they are very good. But the DT990 Pro are even better because they have an open back. That makes a big difference when it comes to making music and also listening to it.
As someone who writes about music and reviews audio gear, I’m a little spoiled: I have a pair of headphones on hand to review that cost more than 10 times the price of my Christmas gift, so I’m not short of good sound options.
But the best headphones aren’t necessarily the fanciest or the most expensive: They’re the ones that do what you want for the price you want to pay. And the price I wanted to pay was well below £200/$200.
What’s good about the DT990 Pro?
Don’t get me wrong. The DT770 Pro are fantastic headphones, making them a popular choice for musicians and producers. But while they and the DT990 are sonically similar, the move from closed back to open back makes a big difference in terms of the soundstage, which feels wider and more detailed.
When you’re listening critically to your mix, that’s really helpful, because it allows you to detect things that other headphones may hide.
The other big difference I have noticed is in comfort. My previous Beyerdynamics are great, but the DT990 Pro is better. They feel a little looser (many headphones fit quite snugly on me because I have a head the size of a planet) and the earcups feel softer. I’ve already done some very long shifts using the new headphones and practically forgot I was wearing them.
The big downside to music is that closed-back headphones leak water, and since I listen at a fairly high volume, they leak a little. batch. That makes them a poor choice for recording vocals because everything you hear comes right back to the microphone. But of course, I already have the solution: I simply change them for the DT770s when I’m recording voices.
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