The Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω) is 600Ω at 96.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (600Ω) is 600Ω at 102.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.
The DT 990 Edition (600Ω) needs 6.0 dB more than the T1 2nd Gen (600Ω) to reach the same loudness — 2.5 mW against 0.63 mW.
| Specification | DT 990 Edition (600Ω) | T1 2nd Gen (600Ω) |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 600 Ω | 600 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 96.0 dB | 102.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 98.2 dB/V | 104.2 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 2.5 mW | 0.63 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 1.23 V | 0.62 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 2.0 mA | 1.0 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 75.00 Ω | 75.00 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 266 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω) printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much. For Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (600Ω) the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.
14 of the 280 sources have the power for the T1 2nd Gen (600Ω) but not for the DT 990 Edition (600Ω) — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 11 more.
266 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω) and Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (600Ω). Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Beyerdynamic never published — what that maker publishes, counted.