Our Sound Designer Patrice tested Beyerdynamic’s professional studio headphones for monitoring and recording in compact over-ear design. Enjoy reading his review and in addition you’ve got the chance to win a pair of DT 240 PRO headphones. Good Luck!
Beyerdynamic surely is one of the most well-known headphone companies out there. I had the pleasure to test their newest addition to the popular DT Pro series.
The DT 240 Pro is introduced as a professional studio headphone for monitoring and recording purposes and with a price tag of only $99 it is the most affordable representative from this series. So I tested these properties and I am happy to share my results in this review.
Specs:
| Operating principle | Closed |
| Type | Dynamic |
| Design | Over-Ear |
| Frequency response | 5 – 35 kHz |
| Nominal Impedance | 34 Ω |
| Max. SPL | 119 dB |
| Weight | 200 g |
| Cable | 1.25 m (coiled cable) |
| Connector | Mini stereo jack (3,5 mm) incl. ¼“ adapter (6,3 mm) |
| Accessoires | Textile pouch |
| Price | $ 99.00 |
First Impression:
When I was unboxing the headphones I had the feeling that this is the most light-weighted over ear headphone I’ve ever come across. Compared to other over-ear models the size is quite small, making them very suitable for on the go. The construction seems very solid. For the use in the field, it is essential that the headphones can withstand some rough handling as in our BOOM Library recordings sessions you often have to quickly grab your stuff to capture just the right sound. On top of that, the recording environment often is very dirty, muddy, snowy or even explosive so durable equipment is very important here 😉
So I did some careful bending, pushing and pressing and this endorsed my first impression.
When attaching the curled cable to the headphones it locks tight and as a very practical benefit you can attach the cable either to the left or the right ear piece. The soft ear pads and the adjustable headband complete the overall good wearability.
I then started testing by listening to some of my favorite music productions. As a matter of fact, these little headphones do actually sound quite big. A voluminous bass is one reason for that. But we’ll get to the sound later.
Recording and Monitoring:
I put the DT 240 Pro in my recording bag and went on an outdoor recording session. This is actually where I think they are best suited for. They seem to be made especially for our recording bag. If you have a sharp eye you can spot them 😉
You can rotate the ear pads by 90 degrees so that the headphones become very flat and suit easily in a bag. This is a must-have feature when you go out in the fields because space is limited. After a while I had the feeling that I’m not wearing headphones at all. The curled cable is really solid so you do not have to worry about it tangling around. The length of the cable is perfectly measured, not too short and not too long.
Last but not least they do a great monitoring job. The noise cancellation is very good for its size/price and you can easily assess what you are recording. The output and max SPL is more than sufficient. I decided that from now on I will always carry them with me as my backup headphones.
In the studio:
I compared the DT 240 Pro with my trusted Shure SRH-840 that I’m working with for several years now. Besides that I made a direct comparison with the Sony MDR-7506, Sennheiser HD-25 and Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro and 880 Pro. To be honest this is a bit unfair as some of these are from a different price range and have another design, but I wanted to go all the way and see how they would perform and after all they belong to the Beyerdynamic Pro series.
In terms of transparency and frequency response they are not in the same range as the others (surprise). I’m missing some high frequencies and spatial depth. Good point is that by increasing the volume the sound does not distort or shape to the extreme. Generally they sound a bit too „hi-fi“. So for professional mixing and mastering I would suggest using other models from the DT Pro series and Beyerdynamic themselves do not praise them for that purpose either. For long monitoring sessions and pure listening experience the enhanced bass and smooth highs are just right.
Conclusion:
The Beyerdynamic DT 240 shines best when used for monitoring. Be it outdoors on a field recording trip or inside the recording room. And of course they are great for use with mobile devices to listen to your favorite music. The size and weight are a big advantage.
RAFFLE
Win a pair DT 240 PRO headphones of Beyerdynamic.
How? Simply like our Byerdynamic review & raffle post on Facebook until 22nd of May.
The three winners will be announced and contacted at the end of May.
Good Luck! 🙂
