Beyerdynamic DT1990 Earpads Measurements

The Beyerdynamic DT1990, a German-engineered open-back headphone built for professionals and audio enthusiasts, brings an exceptional sound quality and signature. For those that have a little bit of money to spend, you’ll gain great value from these high-quality, desktop headphones. 

At Dekoni Audio, were avid about helping those passionate about achieving the best possible listening experience—whether it’s improving comfort or tweaking the sound signature to your pleasure. In this post, we’re going to discuss the measurements we recorded with our very own DT1990 headphones with our high-quality Elite, Choice, and Platinum style earpads for the Beyerdynamic DT and AKG K series headphones.

First things first, we have our Elite sheepskin earpads. Like all of our Elite style earpads, these earpads contain high density, slow-rebound, and soft memory foam, designed to create a tighter seal that conforms easily to the shape of your ears.

With our soft, supple sheepskin material wrapped around the dense memory foam, you can expect an increase in comfort, isolation, and sound stage. 

In terms of the measurements, we recorded an overall similar shaped frequency response compared to the stock pads, with a 5 dB deviation from stock. The most noticeable change is a smoother transition between bass and mids around the 2 kHz range. Keep in mind the dip in the midrange between 1kHz and 5 kHz was designed to help reduce the blare in the vocals.

It’s important to note that because our earpads offer a tighter seal with the Beyerdynamic DT1990 open-back headphones, you’ll hear a noticeable increase in the bass response, as opposed to closed-back headphones.

With the addition of small perforations to our solid sheepskin material, we wanted to create earpads that can create a cleaner and more airy sound stage for the user.

Much like our solid sheepskin earpads, our fenestrated sheepskin is very similar to the stock pads in terms of shape. In the graph, however, you’ll notice the transition from the bass to mids is a bit more abrupt. On the other hand, you can see that transition to the higher frequencies is more gradual. This “shelf” makes the midrange sound more distinct from the lows and highs. These pads are a great option for those looking to add a little more volume to the treble relative to the bass.

Designed to be soft and breathable, our Elite Velour earpads are made with a much tighter weave and higher thread count than typical velour pads you may find elsewhere. We designed these pads so that they react much like traditional leather material. This allows the headphones to retain the bass frequencies and isolation seen in most velour pads, while improving the comfort and coolness of the earpads.

In the graph, you can see that there is no decrease in the bass — in fact moves along similarly to the fenestrated sheepskin earpads’ sound signature. However, it has just a little bit less energy in the lower mids.

Looking to mix things up? Our Hybrid pads, constructed with a combination of our Elite Sheepskin, Fenestrated Sheepskin, and Velour earpads, bring out the best qualities of all of our materials.

With a sheepskin outer ring and velour face, you’ll notice improved isolation and comfort. Add fenestrated sheepskin to the inner side of the earpad, you will also notice an increase in the neutrality of the sound signature.

In the graph, you can see that there is an increase in amplitude and linearity in the midrange. There is also a smaller contrast between the 4kHz and 6 kHz valleys and peaks compared to stock. This is similar to our Fenestrated Sheepskin but with a bit more mids presence.

Next in store are our Choice style earpads. Our Choice earpads come with the same added boost with our high density, slow-rebound, memory foam, designed to increase the comfort and seal around your ears. The only difference being our Choice earpads are made with synthetic, vegan-style outer materials.

You’ll notice that both our Choice Leather and Suede earpads have a very similar signature to each other, as well as our Elite Sheepskin earpads. However, it should be noted that due to the increase in lower-frequency content,  the peak in the higher frequencies (around 9kHz) will be less prominent to the listener.

Much like our Elite hybrid earpads, our Choice hybrid pads are a combination of both Choice Leather and Choice Suede. In these earpads, you’ll find Choice Leather along the outer ring, Choice Suede making up the face, and Choice Leather with fenestration along the interior side.

As shown in the graph, with these earpads, you will hear a noticeable difference in the lower frequencies with an added boost, more emphasis on the midrange, and a slight increase in the higher frequencies.

Released in 2016, our legacy Platinum Protein Leather series is the original Dekoni premium Ear Pad line. However, you will now find these earpads on our Earpadz.com website.

These earpads are our economical alternative to skins, as it is made from eggshell protein. These earpads have a  thinner build and a more even grain structure than the Sheepskin. 

As you can see from the graph, it forms a very good seal, changing the overall tilt of the response curve towards a bass-emphasized, treble de-emphasized signature for a more relaxed sound.

Above, you’ll see a graph showing how each different pad compares with the stock pads, side-by-side.

And there you have it, a little insight on how our earpads hold up with the famous Beyerdynamic DT1990 headphones. Of course, these aren’t the only Beyerdynamic headphones our earpads fit. These earpads fit a number of different Beyerdynamic headphones, as well as other headphones such as the AKG K series.

Check out this fit chart, available under all of our earpads, to see which headphones our earpads can fit.

Interested in spicing up the look of your headphones while improving the comfort? Check out our Limited Edition Beyerdynamic earpads, which come in an interesting blend of our materials, including flannel with three different color schemes.