Beyerdynamic T90 Review

How’s this for a starting line – the Beyerdynamic T90’s embody the very essence of the word “exceptional”. There’s been very few headphones that I’ve listened to that have given me the joy that the T90’s provided from the time I put them on until I was exhausted with pleasure from listening to them for extended periods of time. I’ve listened to the very best that Beyerdynamic has to offer in terms of their home “pleasure”, or Premium line, and I’ve got to say that the T90’s definitely belong in that lineup. As a matter of fact, here’s the situation. the Beyerdynamic T1’s are absolutely the best set of headphones I’ve personally sampled to date, BUT, they are for a specific type of listener…someone who is into classical, vocal, jazz, or the more “sophisticated” listener. I’m not trying to label people as idiots who listen to rap, R&B, etc (I listen to those genres as well), but the T1’s are definitely more for more refined listening. Now I know this is a review about the T90’s, but bear with me as I’m setting the stage for a tremendous compliment to these headphones that cost half of what the T1’s go for. Here’s the thing about the T1’s, while they’re flat out incredible for critical listening, they fall a little flat in the more popular genres – Pop, Hip Hop, Rap, etc. It’s not that they don’t sound good, as they do, it’s just that they aren’t in their wheelhouse there – the bass isn’t peppy enough and it just doesn’t feel right listening to those genres with the T1’s.

In steps the T90’s. The T90’s are to date, my favorite all around set of headphones. First, they sound 95-97% as good as the T1’s in most regards for critical listening experiences. They are just incredible. You’d be hard pressed to pick out the differences in sound from one to the other when listening to classical music, jazz, etc. There are differences, don’t get me wrong. There’s a reason the T1’s cost 2x as much, however, the T90’s excel at so much. You want to kick back and listen to some jazz? By all means, the T90’s will take you to the club where it was recorded. You want to listen to the latest Kanye and go to the club in your very own listening area, check. You want some hard rock that is food for your ears, you got it. There was literally NOTHING I listened to on the T90’s that didn’t just teleport me when the tunes turned on. Listening to the likes of Nickel Creek or Alison Krauss was simply stunning. You want to feel what it’s like to have them in the room with your own private auditioning, then you really don’t need to look any further than the T90’s with a quality media player and a decent amplifier. I sampled a wide array of music using my iPhone 3gs as well as a variety of amplifiers from the Fiio E11, the PA2V2, the Fiio E17 and others. Simply put, if you have a quality amplifier (and it doesn’t have to be break the bank kind of money) then you can literally put away your thoughts for the day and drift off into a sea of blissful audio reproduction.

As I stated before, the T1’s are the best I’ve heard, but the T90’s are my favorite all around headphones. For less than half the price of the T1’s, being more versatile and yet still sounding nearly as good even in the T1’s arena, these are actually a bargain at their price. Now, don’t get me wrong – they’re not inexpensive and I can absolutely see where it’d be difficult to drop down the cash needed to acquire this set of headphones, but I’d venture this simple guess…if you ever put them on, you’d find a way to save up for these babies, and once you got them, it would likely put that audiophile ADHD gene to rest. Simply amazing headphones. I’ve recommended them my fair share of times and to my knowledge everyone has come back to tell me of their new found love.

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About Allen Underwood

3 Responses to “Beyerdynamic T90 Review”

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  1. Ralf says:

    Hi Allan,

    as always, thanks for your amazing reviews. I love them. I saw on one of the stickers the word: “Erlkönig”.

    That is used in german mostly for the car industry and refers to a: disguised prototype (car)

    So, indeed, you have a rare prototype in your hand as far as I can tell.
    Cheers,
    Ralf

  2. Luigi says:

    Hi Allen,
    compliments for your clear and comprehensive review!
    I would like to ask your advice: I am undecided about purchasing a Bayerdynamic T90 or a Sennheiser HD 700 Whereas they have a price antrambe important and I do not have the opportunity to try them. I would like to use the headset with Fiio E12 in mobility and FiiO E09K at home, do you believe that they are just amps?
    Thanks for your attention.
    Luigi

    • Hi Luigi, I’ve not tried the HD 700 yet but my guess is you’ll have audio nirvana with either set of headphones. AS far as the amplifiers, in my experience, yes, those two amps will more than get the job done. The only thing I’d mention though is if you went with the E09K + the E17 or E07K, then you’d be able to fine tune the sound coming out of your E09K as well with the built in equalizer. But yes, the E12 is a fine amplifier – one that I really enjoy.

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