Planar Magnetic worth it?

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Comixbooks

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Interested in picking these up some reviews say they are good as 1K headphones. Z reviews said they are really good except for the wire it comes with but I guess the wire has been updated.
 
I have a few planars. The He6SE v2 and LCD-X 2021. I'd say as long as your chain is good. (SOURCE/DAC/AMP), planars should sound amazing.
 
They have nice sound, tend to have solid bass. My main complaint would be they are heavy compared to some dynamic phones just because of how the technology works. I ended up going with HD800S phones for my daily drivers because of weight/clamping force. How much that matters varies a lot person to person.

The other thing to note is they tend to be low impedance which means you also want a low impedance headphone amp to drive them. I mean ideally you always want a low impedance amp, but for higher impedance phones it doesn't matter really.
 
I use the Meze Empyrean and they are awesome, despite being heavy the head mount is so good you dont notice and can wear them all day.
But I cant say for the phones you are interested in.

Read more reviews of headphones you are interested in.
Find hifi forums that have discussed those vs other headphones.
See what peaks your interest the most and what equipment you need to drive them.
 
I have tried Dan Clark AEON closed X and HiFiMAN Sundara 2020, but disliked them.

I am now using a HiFiMAN Edition XS and I really like it.

My other headphones are HD6XX, DT880 600, Focal Clear, Meze 99 Noir
 
I haven't auditioned those particular headphones, but I do happen to have some planar-magnetic computer speakers and noted that they have a lot of that clarity I missed from my old Stax Lambda setups, without the delicate fragility of electrostatic drivers or their expensive, specialized amps.

I'm a firm believer of planar drivers, regardless of the driving force (magnetic or static) used. The sense of clarity is something I can't put into words; you'll have to audition it for yourself to truly understand.

Just note that some lower-end planar driver headphones only have a magnet on one side of the diaphragm, not both in a sort of push-pull sandwich. This presumably would mean lower sound quality, but also lower weight and perhaps more comfort.
 
NamelessPFG said:
I haven't auditioned those particular headphones, but I do happen to have some planar-magnetic computer speakers and noted that they have a lot of that clarity I missed from my old Stax Lambda setups, without the delicate fragility of electrostatic drivers or their expensive, specialized amps.

I'm a firm believer of planar drivers, regardless of the driving force (magnetic or static) used. The sense of clarity is something I can't put into words; you'll have to audition it for yourself to truly understand.
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You can put it in to words: Low distortion :). That is one of the things that really helps planar magnetics (and electrostatics). If they are good, they can have essentially zero distortion, way below audibility. Even really good dynamic phones tend to have some distortion in the low frequencies.
 
Comixbooks said:
Wow didn't even know there were speakers.
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There are, they tend to have more issues though. There are different issues with distortion in speakers (in part just because of how driver much movement you need a bass frequencies) and things like dispersion patterns become a thing so in general you find that the very best of the best speakers are still dynamic drivers. Things like the Genelec 8361A or JBL M2.
 
NamelessPFG said:
I haven't auditioned those particular headphones, but I do happen to have some planar-magnetic computer speakers and noted that they have a lot of that clarity I missed from my old Stax Lambda setups, without the delicate fragility of electrostatic drivers or their expensive, specialized amps.

I'm a firm believer of planar drivers, regardless of the driving force (magnetic or static) used. The sense of clarity is something I can't put into words; you'll have to audition it for yourself to truly understand.

Just note that some lower-end planar driver headphones only have a magnet on one side of the diaphragm, not both in a sort of push-pull sandwich. This presumably would mean lower sound quality, but also lower weight and perhaps more comfort.
Click to expand...

Funny that you mention stax. I had a pair of Lambda normal bias, Ps audio modded dac and a sound quest SQ-84 amp and SRD-7 energizer. Amp used 6V6 tubes. Damnnnn that was a great sounding setup.

Now Iuse a Sonco usb dac, Emotiva Basx A-100 amp which, like the SQ-84, allows you to use the speaker amps power in the headphone jack. So my hifiman se560s I got for cheap rumble and are clear as a bell. Great for gaming and most anything else. A bit bright at times but I can always upgrade to the XS.
 
spaceman said:
Funny that you mention stax. I had a pair of Lambda normal bias, Ps audio modded dac and a sound quest SQ-84 amp and SRD-7 energizer. Amp used 6V6 tubes. Damnnnn that was a great sounding setup.

Now Iuse a Sonco usb dac, Emotiva Basx A-100 amp which, like the SQ-84, allows you to use the speaker amps power in the headphone jack. So my hifiman se560s I got for cheap rumble and are clear as a bell. Great for gaming and most anything else. A bit bright at times but I can always upgrade to the XS.
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I recommend getting a better amp.
I have a BASX-A100 which I've tried in direct drive and normal modes, the background is nowhere near as black as a good headphone amp.
And the sound isnt as smooth or detailed.
fyi
 
We have several LCD series audeze headphones around the houses and we like them.
 
I have Fostex T50RP MK3, and while I like them... They are an absolute pain to drive properly... my vintage Sony TA-E77ESD preamp can do it.... however they sound terrible (too little power) with my FiiO E09K as well as my creek OBH-11. both of which can handle my DT880 250ohms or my HD6XX headphones fine....

If going planar make sure you have your amp situation sorted...also note that planar and tube amps do not get along very well.
 
atarione said:
I have Fostex T50RP MK3, and while I like them... They are an absolute pain to drive properly... my vintage Sony TA-E77ESD preamp can do it.... however they sound terrible (too little power) with my FiiO E09K as well as my creek OBH-11. both of which can handle my DT880 250ohms or my HD6XX headphones fine....

If going planar make sure you have your amp situation sorted...also note that planar and tube amps do not get along very well.
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Not all Planar are the same.
My Meze Empyrean are 32 Ohm and are driven very loud (way beyond my listening level) with the 450mW Bottlehead Mainline tube amp with very good quality.
The Holo Audio Serene KTE solid state pre-amp can also drive them even louder via its XLR 1 out (designed for headphones), it sounds magic.
 
I have several Hifiman headphones and like them. First pair I bought was the original HE400. Only issue I ever had was one pair where the cable attaches to the cup but I switched all my stuff to XLR cables run by a Cavalli Audio amp (not monolith, massdrop, etc). In the market for another pair but not sure what yet.
 
HE400SE is a very good headphone for the price, exceptional when you combine it with either Oratory1990 or AutoEQ equalizer settings to match it with Harman target but low distortion makes it very malleable to match any target curve you prefer. Highly recommended. 👍
 
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