£89 / $130 / €99, beyerdynamic.com

Beyerdynamic’s Pro range of wired headphones is something of a studio staple, from the DT 770s at £159 all the way to the 1990s at around £540. Now, the German manufacturer has released its most compact and affordable Pro model to date, the DT 270 Pro. Priced at just £89—or $130 in the US—they are a closed-back model designed for recording and monitoring. But does that competitive price come with a bunch of compromises?

• READ MORE: Sendy Audio Egret headphones are serious planars that happen to look the part

With so many wireless headphones on the market it’s worth noting why musicians and producers—or indeed any creators—would want to take the wired route, and why wireless doesn’t feature much in the pro audio world. Firstly there’s no battery to recharge. More importantly, the audio you hear is uncompressed and latency-free, which generally isn’t the case with wireless unless you have a specialised model that uses its own USB dongle. Essentially, wired is more convenient and conveys all available audio data when you’re working on tracks.

The 270s are incredibly light at just under 200 grams, with a mainly-plastic build that nonetheless feels sturdy. The cups fold flat for easier storage, though the headband doesn’t fold down like on some more expensive models. You get a soft carry pouch in the box and a coiled cable that can attach to either cup, which is a nice option to have. There’s a 6.3 mm adapter supplied and also a 3.5 mm to USB-C adapter, which is essential these days as so many devices have dropped the traditional headphone port.

Beyerdynamic recognises that people are as likely to be making music on a phone, iPad or computer as using an audio interface or mixing desk. There’s no DAC in the headphones so the USB adapter is a simple conversion from digital to analogue by your device. Their low impedance of 45 Ohms means they can be easily driven at full volume by lower power devices like smartphones.

These are technically over-ear headphones but the cups are definitely on the smaller side – certainly smaller than the brand’s DT 770s, which feel more encompassing. My ears are fairly average in size and the cups fit me fine; though my earlobes aren’t quite fully inside the cups, the pressure of the headband is not so great that it’s uncomfortable. Generally, long listening sessions are pleasant. If you have had issues with sizing of over-ears in the past however, it’s conceivable you might find these a little restrictive. Most people, though, are likely to find the size sufficient. They also feature velour pads—apparently unusual at this price point —as well as a padded headband, both of which make a positive difference to their comfort, especially over longer sessions.

The closed-back design makes the 270s ideal for tracking and monitoring. Open-backs tend to be more neutral but leak sound, unsuitable for recording with mics in the room. It’s also less important that headphones like this are super-accurate in the way that mixing or reference models need to be. As such, the 270s are best described as vibrant and immediate rather than neutral. That’s not a criticism – in fact when you’re tracking or monitoring you actually want the vibe of the music to come through, for energy and inspiration. The accuracy of perfecting the mix comes later, at another stage in the production process.

How to quantify ‘vibe’, though? There’s a ton of low end, especially considering their small size, with a low frequency response reaching down 5 Hz. It’s not overwhelming, and you’re not going to feel like the bass is taking over, but there’s power there for sure and when you switch to a mix-focused model later you’d be looking for a bit more restraint. At the top end there’s reproduction up to 24 kHz which isn’t as high as the 1770s (40 kHz) but feels crisp, and plenty in these smaller cups.

Mid range is prominent, almost on the edge of being too much at full volume, but without ever quite tipping over into harshness. Elements in that frequency range like vocals and guitars really cut through on these headphones – again, this is advantageous for recording as they tend to be lead lines of one sort or another and need to be clear and audible, even more so than when you’re mixing. Tested with a range of commercial tracks from 50s jazz right through to 2000s rock and contemporary electronic, the headphones burst with life – again they’re not neutral, reference models, so don’t expect that.

Another thing that stands out about the sound of these cans, apart from the energy and presence of their frequency reproduction, is the high level of separation they exhibit. Elements of a mix are very distinct; lead vocals cut through, as mentioned, but backing vocals and any kind of panned sounds are clearly identifiable too, much more so than on even a quality pair of wireless earbuds, for example. I wasn’t prepared for the separation to be this convincing on such an affordable model. This is a benefit when recording because you’re taking your playing and performance cues from other parts within the track and you need to be able to hear them clearly.

These are highly capable headphones for any creators of music, podcasts or video, offering punchy, loud and vibrant playback for recording and monitoring. The DT 770 Pros are more expensive at £130 but don’t come with the USB-C adapter and crucially are larger, making the 270s the perfect choice for more compact setups or working on the move. Don’t come here expecting neutral, super-accurate mixing headphones—AKG’s K371s might be somewhere to look for that—but what the 270s do, they do exceptionally well.

At this price, I can’t identify any real problems – a metal build would add to the weight, a hard case to the cost. If you’re in the market for an excellent workhorse pair of monitoring headphones to use with any device or in any location, the DT 270 Pro is the model to beat.

Key features

• Over-ear, closed-back headphones
• Jack and USB-C connectivity
• 5 Hz – 24 kHz frequency response
• 194g weight
• 45 Ohms impedance
• Velour pads, padded headband
• Coiled cable
• Connect cable using either cup
• Soft carry case

The post Beyerdynamic’s DT 270 Pro are the best monitoring headphones you can buy on a budget appeared first on MusicTech.