The T 90 is the first high-end headphones with a completely open design utilizing our revolutionary Tesla technology. Only headphones of this kind can bring across the feeling of closeness and transparency – nothing stands between sound enthusiasts and their music. The perfect music experience in undisturbed surroundings. With the T 90 being tuned to spontaneous listening enjoyment, the music fan can immediately immerse himself in the sound. The T 90 combines the neutral analytic sound of the
List Price: $ 699.00
Price:
Sound great, but listen to a set before you buy,
The T90s can sound great; but they have some potential flaws. Because of this, and considering their relatively high price, you would be wise to listen to them before you buy. I own many headphones: the T90s are now my favorite headphones for listening to rock or jazz.
SHORT REVIEW:
The T90s sound great when they are matched with a high-quality headphone amp that has sufficient power to drive these 250 ohm headphones. You will NOT be happy with the T90s if you intend to plug them directly into a computer, iPhone, iPod, or the “Phones” jack on a receiver. The T90s will also under-perform (perform poorly) with low-powered amps. For a computer, iPhone, low-powered amp, etc., you will be much happier with 32 ohm headphones.
LONG REVIEW:
If you are a “bass head” you will probably appreciate the T90s (of course, true “bass heads” have a speaker system capable of 130 dB). Folks who listen to rock, rap, modern pop, hip-hop, funk, R&B, and/or club will probably love the T90s: the sound is full and the bass is accurate and plenty (without being boomy). However, some highly sensitive folks who enjoy instrumental music and vocals might be disappointed with the T90s: the slightly uneven midrange frequency response can make vocals and some instruments sound a wee bit unnatural (this is subtle: most folks will never notice it).
Facts of Life:
– You really need a decent headphone amplifier with the T90s. An iPod, iPad, or a “Phones” jack simply do not have sufficient power to drive the T90s to their best sound. If you use the T90s with a lower-cost headphone amplifier, you might conclude that they are “bass light”; yet when the T90s are connected to a good headphone amplifier, the bass is magnificent.
– With an impedance of 250 ohms at 1000 Hz, these headphones will not work well when connected directly to an iPod or computer. For that application forget the T90s and look for a headphone with a nominal impedance of 32 ohms or less.
– These are “open” headphones. Please don’t wear the T90s at the office: folks around you can hear them playing and will think evil thoughts about you.
From the professional reviews I have read, most folks seem to love the T90s; however, I highly recommend that you listen to them before you buy, using your own equipment and a wide variety of music.
The first time I listened to the T90s I thought: “Wow! These are amazing! Listen to that bass guitar!” For that first song, the T90s sounded truly awe-inspiring and significantly richer than my Sennheiser HD-650 or AKG K701 headphones. Unfortunately, as I listened to more albums, I perceived some shortcomings.
In this review, I shall compare the T90s only to my Sennheiser HD-650s and my AKG K701s. My headphones are driven by an excellent headphone amplifier with a matching digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a crossfeed circuit. I also tested the T90s with three other headphone amplifiers. For sound tests, I mostly used CDs and LPs; however, I sometimes used an iPod connected to the headphone amp (all lossless or 320 kb/s MP3 files). The T90s had more than 500 hours of burn-in (use) prior to my listening tests. I used a very wide selection of music for testing; however, I focused mostly on rock, blues, orchestral, acoustic guitar, and vocals.
Pros:
– The T90s have high resolution with wonderful fullness, detail, and clarity. When you hear it, you will join me in saying, “Wow!” I am not an audiophile, but to use an audiophile term: the T90s are far more “transparent” than the Sennheiser HD-650s or AKG K701s.
– The bass is great: while it can be over-prominent (see “Cons”), it is in no way boomy. The T90s can reproduce the sound of an electric bass guitar better than my HD-650s, and much, much better than my K701s. Since I really like accurate bass guitar, this is very much appreciated. You may not get great bass performance without a decent headphone amplifier (i.e., if your headphone amp doesn’t have sufficient power to drive the T90s, they are going to sound bass-light).
– The T90s are very, very comfortable to wear; the ear pads are especially nice. The T90s are a little bit more comfortable than the HD-650s and far more comfortable than the hideously uncomfortable K701s.
Cons:
– With some recordings, the T90s can produce an over-whelming bass. I mean, I love bass, but this is way TOO MUCH. The bass can be so over-emphasized, it drowns out other instruments and vocals. This occurs infrequently (only on a few specific recordings), but this phenomenon makes the T90s unusable with a few of my albums.
– The midrange sometimes sounds slightly unnatural with the T90s. This is very subtle: most folks will never notice or care. Vocals, especially female vocals, are noticeably “off” just a little. In a similar fashion,…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
Simply Fantastic cans, best I’ve heard. Detailed, lively, all-day comfy.,
I compared the T90 to:
– Beyer DT880 600 Ohm
– Sennheiser HD650
– Sennheiser HD280
Comparisons made with the following setup: Mac itunes – FiiO e07k DAC – Schiit Asgard 2 AMP – Audioquest green cables.
I consider the HD280 to be great for $99, with miles and miles of crazy BASS but muddy and lacking in detail compared to the T90.
The DT880 is super accurate, has great detail but almost no bass and is sterile and lifeless compared to the T90. I liked the sound of the HD650, warm, fluid, detailed but not as detailed or energetic as the T90. Also the HD650 were not comfortable… an hour of wearing them and my head hurt. The Beyer T90 I can wear all day with no discomfort. They are so light and comfy.
I prefer the sound of the Beyerdynamic headphones with a warmer, loose sounding amp like Schiit makes. I tried these with a FiiO e09k desktop AMP and the sound was cold and sharp.
I
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyerdynamic T90 and A 20 Amp – Perfect Match.,
Was this review helpful to you?