This entry level planar headphone is complementary to my existing collection of dynamic headphones (including the 6XX). I would recommend this headphone to anyone looking to enter the planar market and they also work really well with my L30/E30 stack.
Only $129 for open back planars, pretty damn good. Doesn't require a DAC/AMP. Perfect entry level headphone in my opinion. These are more "fun" than the HD-6XX. Pretty good soundstage as well, for the price. If you want to get into headphones, this is my entry level recommendation.
Other than the sound, these are pretty comfortable, but there are some quality control issues that I've heard about. The bands seem to be an issue, and they adjust a bit too easy for my liking. In my opinion, these are only slight annoyances for the audio quality that you get.
These are interesting in the way of being entry level for a planar and that's what makes them special, but the sound does not. A little bass in present and an amp is needed so this does make this a hard recommendation from me but an excellent choice if you are looking into the world of planar magnetics.
I'll keep this short. For 100 bucks you cannot go wrong. Full Stop. These phones deliver around 70% the sound of my Edition XS. Perfect for anyone looking to try out planars without breaking the bank. Do they capture the subtle nuances or have the soundstage of a $500 dollar pair? No, but they give a hell of a taste of what can be had when you start moving up the food chain. Never tried planar and have some interest in the category? Buy them.
Don't waste time reading this review. For $99 (whenever it's available for that price), just buy it. Nothing to regret here.
As long as you understand that this will not have the build quality of a non HiFiMan product and will have the relative cheap feel of many entry level HiFiMan products, you'll be fine. Still reliable...just cheap feeling.
You're buying this for the ability to get to 80% of the sound of a $500 open back headphone, for a fifth of the price. Once you thoroughly enjoy this sound and level of detail, it'll be time to step up to the HD650/HD660S or Focal Elex and beyond.
It's the journey, folks...Just like a wine taster needs to hone her skills by tasting a wide variety of wines and appreciating the finer differences, an audiophile needs to do the same.
Just buying expensive gear will not give you that appreciation. Start here. Enough said.
Coming from the shp9500, I ordered these as an upgrade since I wanted to get into planar magnetic and the price is awesome. They do not disappoint, after listening 4+ hrs per day for 3wks, these are awesome at their normal price; the discount to $99 is icing on the cake. These headphones have a fairly flat response untill past 2kHz where the highs all experience a flat boost. They are a little sibilant but not enough that I couldn't get used to them. Soundstage is amazing and I credit the large surface area of the drivers to the feeling of scale that I haven't heard in other headphones (I haven't tried anything over $150)
First things first, these came out with the right cup jack, loose inside the cup. I had to dissassembly them, put the jack in the hole, screw it with the loose part, and put everything back together. Return them wasn´t an option, i live in Argentina, and it´s more trouble than it´s worth.
When i got to really try them, they sound incredible for the money they cost. If you have another set of good headphones, you won´t have a "wow" moment when you put them on, but then as the minutes and songs go by, you´ll notice new details, new sounds, new things, and you won´t miss any frequency, it´s a very balanced but fun experience (not flat, it just sounds good across the board).
It´s very comfortable to wear, good soundstage, and i didn´t found them THAT power hungry.
In my ifi Zen v1 i run them at low gain mode, half volume comfortably, and got a lot of headroom to crank it and get them super loud.
In my desktop with SupremeFX S1220A codec, plus Texas Instruments® RC4580 and OPA1688 op-amps, 60% volume normally, and at 100% can get loud, but not SUPER loud. It´s enough, though. You won´t get deaf with this setup.
In my cheap HP laptop with crap onboard soundcard, i have to put it a 80% volume, not much room for loud headbanging.
In a crap Lenovo tablet, they sound ok, but not very loud. Don´t recommend them if that´s your usual scenario, get a more efficient one.
I don´t have a phone with a headphone jack to test at the moment, sadly.
It is a great headphone when it works. Sadly my unit came with a faulty left earcup which does not always play sound. I tried finding faulty wiring or solder joints but I could not determine the cause of my issues. Luckily the DROP support was able to help me with a refund. The headband seems kinda flimsy and I am afraid of it breaking in the future.