beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) vs beyerdynamic T90 (2012)

The beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) is a great Open-Back Headphone for its $158 asking price.

The beyerdynamic T90 (2012), however, is merely passable at its $2021 price point. If you're considering buying a Open-Back Headphone in the $1,300 range, you might want to check out some of its competitors.

The beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) has managed to impress reviewers from some of the most highly trusted sources on the internet, including SoundGuys and Rtings. It performed great in their in-depth hands-on roundups - it was awarded the "Best comfort" title by SoundGuys and "Best Open-Back (Wired)" by Android Central in their respective Open-Back Headphone roundups. That's high praise, especially when coming from such high-quality sources.

Taking a look at the beyerdynamic T90 (2012), it got featured in roundups from two reliable sources that conduct their own testing - Head-fi and CNET - but it fell short of earning a top spot in either.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both Open-Back Headphones, including Head-fi, preferred the beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) over the beyerdynamic T90 (2012).

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) was liked best by Head-fi, which gave it a score of 9.5, while the beyerdynamic T90 (2012) got its highest, 9.2, score from Head-fi.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Open-Back Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Open-Back Headphones being 7.8 out of 10, whereas the beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) and beyerdynamic T90 (2012) managed averages of 8.1 and 8.7 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (2004) vs. beyerdynamic T90 (2012) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.