Planars - what to expect and which ones?

[Paulq]

I consider myself very lucky to have 3 pairs of what are, to me, very high quality over ear headphones in the Denon AH-D7000, Shure SRH1540 and the Beyerdynamic DT990. I love all of them.

However I want to invest in another pair that, like the above three, I will keep for a long time. Given that two of them are closed and one open my initial inclination was to equal things up and buy a second set of open backs like the HD650 or 'something' from AKG if I can be convinced that they won't be too bass light for me.

Which got me thinking about planars. Heard a lot about them but never heard any so would welcome any views on their generics sound signature as opposed to non planars. Are they detailed, bass heavy/light? How would they fare with rock music?

Finally what are a good entry pair? HE400 or 400i? Oppo PM3? I'd be running them out of my NJC amp.

Thanks.

 

[dalethorn]

I consider myself very lucky to have 3 pairs of what are, to me, very high quality over ear headphones in the Denon AH-D7000, Shure SRH1540 and the Beyerdynamic DT990. I love all of them.

However I want to invest in another pair that, like the above three, I will keep for a long time. Given that two of them are closed and one open my initial inclination was to equal things up and buy a second set of open backs like the HD650 or 'something' from AKG if I can be convinced that they won't be too bass light for me.

Which got me thinking about planars. Heard a lot about them but never heard any so would welcome any views on their generics sound signature as opposed to non planars. Are they detailed, bass heavy/light? How would they fare with rock music?

Finally what are a good entry pair? HE400 or 400i? Oppo PM3? I'd be running them out of my NJC amp.

Thanks.

Based on my experience with the Mad Dog and ZMF, the Alpha Dog, and the LCD2, I wouldn't expect much on the low-price end. Planars are excellent bass reproducers because the large plane driver is somewhat like an electrostatic in producting bass detail. But on the high end, they generally don't do well. Maybe one of those, maybe in the higher price tiers, has some modification beyond the main planar driver, to improve the treble accuracy.

 

[Paulq]

Ok so I think I narrowed it down to a choice between HD650's, Oppo PM3's and HiFiMan HE400i or HE560's. All would be driven by NJC Audio DAC and Monitor II Headphone amp and I am looking for planty of definition and weighty (not bloaty) bottom end. As an indicator the bass from the D7000's and DT990's is about what I am after.

Any views?

 

[rich51080]

I would go for the HE400 - amazing detail retrieval and amazing soundstage. Great value cans in my opinion.

 

[Paulq]

I would go for the HE400 - amazing detail retrieval and amazing soundstage. Great value cans in my opinion.

Thanks for replying - seems a bit difficult to get views and advice on planars. Are the HE400 better than the HE400i? Head-Fi seems split on that one.

 

[rich51080]

I only heard the HE400 and they are amazing. I cannot comment on the 400i unfortunately as not had a listen.

 

[Paulq]

Thanks Rich.

Last night I was nosing around and they are serious contenders. However I spotted the Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 2 also and apparently they have a slightly warmer sound than the en 1 (which was already excellent). I am a big fan of beyer stuff - anyone heard the new ones?

 

[paulkebab]

I found the sound to be more accurate and detailed, and layers are unravelled with apparent ease. Bass is excellent and top end is sweet. They can also be driven ridiculously loud without distortion with no change to the sound presentation. The PM3's weren't out when I was in the market, and I honestly thought I was going to walk away with Audeze LCD3's but they were nowhere near what I wanted. A close second to the PM1's were the Fostex TH900, and I mean close. For me, the top end was a touch too bright and I think I would have found them fatiguing after a while. I listen mainly to rock, a bit of techno and electronica, I threw many tracks at the test sessions and it was when some Ozric Tentacles was put on I just laughed..literally, it was amazing. The Oppo's comfort factor finally swung it for me. I haven't heard any of the gear you listed, but planars are amazing and I have no regrets over mine.

 

[Paulq]

Thanks for thr eply - sometimes getting input on certain subjects can be quite difficult.

My main concern over planars is the bass as most of the appriasals of them talk about 'accurate/clean/detailed'. I like the bass on all of the cans I have at the moment and have previously not bothered with the likes of Grado, AKG's and DT880's because the bass simply isn't full enough for me.

I suspect I won't be able to afford PM1's but am looking at the HE-400i or maybe the HE-560 at a push. I just have no way of trying them first.

 

[paulkebab]

your concerns, as like I said I expected to get the Audeze on reviews. I would have seriously wasted a lot of money as the soundshape wasn't anywhere I wanted it to be but all the reviews were claiming that they were the best you can get. We're back to subjectivity and I would seriously recommend you find a dealer that has your shortlist on demo. I made a 500 mile round trip to Hi-end Headphones and it proved to be the best trip I ever made, not least because it saved me a good £450.

 

[jjbomber]

Quad ERA-1?