Efficiency. . . . . . . . 9. . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 7 The sound dampening or acoustic chamber in DT1990 is also MUCH better than DT990. 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. Decent extension, but rolls off much faster to my ears at ~50Hz. Fairly linear, but there's a small hill going up 200Hz that sort of makes the midrange warmer than neutral. However, this is not as accentuated as the BP, so it has a *hint* of warmth, but still fairly linear overall.

Un altro grandissimo aspetto positivo delle dt1990pro è la costruzione, sono veramente fatte bene, hanno un corpo robusto con l'archetto e l'esterno in metallo e le parti a contatto sono ammorbidite molto bene, i pad sono davvero comodi (anche se quello con pochi fori non mi fa impazzire come suono). L'archetto non mi stringe e riesco a tenerle anche per ascolti molto prolungati (5-6 ore) Bei einem Freund habe ich dann noch die Beyerdynamic DT 770 Edition testen können und kam hier zu dem Fazit, S-Laute hören sich sehr schön und weich an, dafür ist der restliche Klang aber etwas dumpf und es fehlt ihm dieses gewisse Etwas an Klarheit, wie es der Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro hat. If you wanted more bass if you were coming from something more neutral - then yes you will get more of that. And if you're like me and wanted more sparkle on the highs - then yes that will be clear here too.That said, *on balance* this is THE best headphone out there. You do need an amp or audio-interface to drive it though.

Why buy the top tier models? You buy the top models so that you don't have to upgrade when your depth of perception improves. Many audiophiles spend a lot of time and money buying various headphone amplifiers and DAC's trying to improve on something that can't be improved. And then there's the so called "burn in" (break in) period. That's when audiophiles spend hours listening to a new pair of headphones until their minds fully adapt to the offending coloration component. You can avoid all of this by choosing a high transparency headphone. If you buy an integrated amplifier with tone controls, you then have the pleasure of tone adjustment along with no headphone compatibility issues.These are balanced to sound best played at live levels, sounding thinner if played at softer audiophile levels. My DT 1990 Pro was delivered ahead of schedule last Saturday morning, and I was pleased right away with it’s look and feel. They had the sturdy build similar to the DT 770 Pro, but with slightly more heft (370 g vs the extremely light 270 g DT 770 that is ideal for musicians in action). The cable is removable, and both straight and coiled cables are provided. They also give two options for velour earpads, one for analytical listening and another that’s balanced with slightly more emphasized bass and rolled off treble. The pads seem a bit softer and more comfortable than the 770 Pro, and my AKG K701. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to me that these are velour, and not leather or lambskin. I don’t care if they feel like your ears are being cuddled by tiny baby otters, I would never buy headphones that don’t at least give a non-animal skin options. So I will never own a Focal as long as they use lambskin, but kudos to companies like Audeze (who offer vegan pads) and beyerdynamic.