This is a review and detailed measurements of the Beyerdyanamic DT150 (250 ohm) closed back headphone. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $210.
I am sure one of the forum historians will tell us but I think this is a 20+ year old design and it shows it. The plastic feel of the cup surrounds doesn't inspire any feeling of luxury. Fortunately it wears light and comfortable with its large cups and average weight:
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitment on the measurement fixture was easy.
Beyerdynamic DT-150 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
As usual, the target in dashed blue is a good speaker measured in a standardized room (and filtered). Compared to that, we have good compliance with DT-150 between 300 Hz and 3 kHz. Deviation outside of that is large though with copious amount of bass/midrange and uneven response above 3 kHz. Looking at the difference between our target and measured response we get:
To get a proper response, we need to pull down everything above 0 dB line, and pull up what is below (with care) using parametric filters.
Distortion is bass centric which is good news as we have too much energy there which we will be reducing with EQ:
Group delay just shows some messiness around the bass resonance:
Impedance is nominally what is stated but varies some:
Consider this a "high impedance" headphone and focus on a headphone amplifier that can deliver voltage. On that front, the DT-150 is more power hungry than our average headphone:
Combined with high impedance, you will not have much luck driving it with average portable device/phone without an amp.
Beyerdyanamic DT150 Listening Tests and Equalization
Due to good mid-frequency response the first impression is not bad. It is not until you listen a bit more that the bass boominess enters the picture, forcing me to reach for equalization tool:
Bass deviation requires a different curve than a single PEQ filter I implemented so what is there is not exact. At first I just went with that and let the extra energy in deep bass be but that was too much so I put in a shelving filter there. I then filled a hole and brought down the higher frequencies. I don't EQ above 8 to 10 kHz but if you are young, you may need to pull them down as the peaks indicate excess energy.
With all the filters in place, the sound became nice and open. My reference tracks were now enjoyable to listen to. Note that I did not get much of any spatial effects, none that jumped out at me anyway. So the improvement is limited to tonality here.
Conclusions
Vast majority of headphones I measure have bass deficiency. So I am always surprised when I see the opposite as in the DT-150 here. Fortunately it is a "good problem to have" with EQ being quite effective. If you can implement equalization, then the tonality can be salvaged. What you do about the look and the feel of the product, I don't know.
Overall, I am not going to recommend the Beyerdynamic DT-150. You can pick up a lot of modern headphones at similar prices that sound excellent and feel great.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I am sure one of the forum historians will tell us but I think this is a 20+ year old design and it shows it. The plastic feel of the cup surrounds doesn't inspire any feeling of luxury. Fortunately it wears light and comfortable with its large cups and average weight:
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitment on the measurement fixture was easy.
Beyerdynamic DT-150 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
As usual, the target in dashed blue is a good speaker measured in a standardized room (and filtered). Compared to that, we have good compliance with DT-150 between 300 Hz and 3 kHz. Deviation outside of that is large though with copious amount of bass/midrange and uneven response above 3 kHz. Looking at the difference between our target and measured response we get:
To get a proper response, we need to pull down everything above 0 dB line, and pull up what is below (with care) using parametric filters.
Distortion is bass centric which is good news as we have too much energy there which we will be reducing with EQ:
Group delay just shows some messiness around the bass resonance:
Impedance is nominally what is stated but varies some:
Consider this a "high impedance" headphone and focus on a headphone amplifier that can deliver voltage. On that front, the DT-150 is more power hungry than our average headphone:
Combined with high impedance, you will not have much luck driving it with average portable device/phone without an amp.
Beyerdyanamic DT150 Listening Tests and Equalization
Due to good mid-frequency response the first impression is not bad. It is not until you listen a bit more that the bass boominess enters the picture, forcing me to reach for equalization tool:
Bass deviation requires a different curve than a single PEQ filter I implemented so what is there is not exact. At first I just went with that and let the extra energy in deep bass be but that was too much so I put in a shelving filter there. I then filled a hole and brought down the higher frequencies. I don't EQ above 8 to 10 kHz but if you are young, you may need to pull them down as the peaks indicate excess energy.
With all the filters in place, the sound became nice and open. My reference tracks were now enjoyable to listen to. Note that I did not get much of any spatial effects, none that jumped out at me anyway. So the improvement is limited to tonality here.
Conclusions
Vast majority of headphones I measure have bass deficiency. So I am always surprised when I see the opposite as in the DT-150 here. Fortunately it is a "good problem to have" with EQ being quite effective. If you can implement equalization, then the tonality can be salvaged. What you do about the look and the feel of the product, I don't know.
Overall, I am not going to recommend the Beyerdynamic DT-150. You can pick up a lot of modern headphones at similar prices that sound excellent and feel great.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/