Time to go Planar!

[George Hincapie]

Spending more time with headphones recently, partially due to the discovery that the Sabaj A10d and A20d DACs both have astonishingly good built-in headphone amps. Also I am able to wear planar cans for longer than dynamic models with less problems from fatigue / headaches which I suspect are due to the magnetic fields that moving magnet designs generate next to my skull.

Three planars in use: The HifiMan Sundara' s are upstairs and have benefitted from a Monoprice cable that gives them a slightly more rounded and fuller sound. These are also in regular use for late-night movie sessions with a tablet. Took me a while to appreciate these but I love them now.

Tried out the Monoprice M1070 with the Sabaj A10a in the lounge and was very happy. Despite them being an open headphone, they don't let much more outside noise in than the closed M1060C. They are also more comfortable and as a 'poor man's Audeze LCD' they sound just awesome to me.

Monoprice M1060C: these are currently on the reserve bank but I have just ordered a set of replacement grilles from Ebay which turn them from closed to open-back. The mod is, apparently, highly effective. Then we'll see how they compare to the M1070 and one will stay in the lounge, the other going to the office rig.



I appear to have been lucky in picking up these cans directly from Monoprice, their sale last year turns out to have been a stock-dumping exercise as they have now closed down their European distribution and webshop. Although their headphones are still relatively affordable via the likes of Amazon and can compete with far more expensive models.

[George Hincapie]

Monoprice M1060C
Closed => Open mod



From eBay I received the replacement grilles for these headphones. Plastic which, I suspect, have been made on a 3D printer. Essentially all that is needed is a little bit of extra protection for the drivers once the closed cap is removed.

Swapping is a simple but fiddly process. 4 tiny screws hold the walnut (?) caps in place and the new grilles should fit in place - but don't quite and I can fix one side with 3 screws, the other with 2. It'll do for now.



Upstairs system and I compare the modded cans with Hifiman Sundara running from the headphone output of the Sabaj A20d DAC.
M1060 is more sensitive and thus louder. Soundstage is far wider. The sound signature is richer with way more bass but the top end is a bit bright and edgy.

Later on I will run these against the direct competition - the M1070. But this mod is precisely what it should be, it 'opens' the sound of the M1060C and lifts their performance to a new level.

[George Hincapie]

Wowzers! They are very future-fi in appearance Fretless!

[Vinyl-ant]

Been doing alot of listening to the headphones recently. Reason being that my main system is hardly being listened to at all at the moment, for various reasons, some of which are the kids being at college instead if secondary school means they are in the house a lot more, and general apathy for it all on my part.

I have binned off the digital part because i just wasn't happy with it, and, i rarely listen to digital as it is. I just use tidal when out and about.

Buuut, i have so many turntables hanging about that i though i might as well put a spare to use.

Dug out an old project phono stage that paul lent me years ago, and pressed the jvc ql-y3f direct drive i restored about 12 months ago into service. It had been sat doing nothing, being earmarked as a spare in the eventuality the ql-y5f that emma uses packs up.

I need to make another arm lift bar for it to restore the automatic functions though, because the one i made for it isnt quite right and can rotate out of position which is not good when the arm return is powered. So i took it off because I really dont want a cart getting dragged back across the record, so its strictly manual operation for now.

Dropped my favourite vm750sh mm on it, and am now really happy with it.

Sounds very good indeed, much better than the digital source did, i can bugger off out of the way, and the t50s seem to suit it nicely.

Im still eyeing up things like the monolith 1060c et al, and those relatively new quad era 1 planars look very interesting. I might have to treat myself to something when i have a few quid. Will have to be objectively better than the t50s though to justify spending good money.....

[Vinyl-ant]

More planars acquired
This time, a pair of hifiman devas, really really cheap at 60 quid.
2 reasons for that price, one, the box is rather bedraggled, and missing bits. Irrelevant. 2, they dont have the bluetooth adapter. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

I have an astell and kern bluetooth dac so if i want to i can just use that instead.

I wanted them to use wired with the wad headphone amp anyway, so the bluetooth is not relevant. The cans are practically pristine

These things sound very very good indeed, i really like them. Omly drawback is that they are a bit big for my head so dont grip very tightly

Ill put up with that

[George Hincapie]

Spending more time with headphones recently, partially due to the discovery that the Sabaj A10d and A20d DACs both have astonishingly good built-in headphone amps. Also I am able to wear planar cans for longer than dynamic models with less problems from fatigue / headaches which I suspect are due to the magnetic fields that moving magnet designs generate next to my skull.

Three planars in use: The HifiMan Sundara' s are upstairs and have benefitted from a Monoprice cable that gives them a slightly more rounded and fuller sound. These are also in regular use for late-night movie sessions with a tablet. Took me a while to appreciate these but I love them now.

Tried out the Monoprice M1070 with the Sabaj A10a in the lounge and was very happy. Despite them being an open headphone, they don't let much more outside noise in than the closed M1060C. They are also more comfortable and as a 'poor man's Audeze LCD' they sound just awesome to me.

Monoprice M1060C: these are currently on the reserve bank but I have just ordered a set of replacement grilles from Ebay which turn them from closed to open-back. The mod is, apparently, highly effective. Then we'll see how they compare to the M1070 and one will stay in the lounge, the other going to the office rig.



I appear to have been lucky in picking up these cans directly from Monoprice, their sale last year turns out to have been a stock-dumping exercise as they have now closed down their European distribution and webshop. Although their headphones are still relatively affordable via the likes of Amazon and can compete with far more expensive models.

We'll make a convert of you yet!

[Vinyl-ant]

I like these hifiman devas more every time i listen to them. Listening to steve hackett, osibisa, and now my favourite pat metheney album first circle, they just sound really natural.
The headphone system itself, just as a recap, comprises of my restored jvc ql-y3f dd turntable, audio technica vm750sh cart, pauls project phono stage and a borrowed from my friend tony wad hd83 valve headphone amp, then the devas.

What i need to do, is get a hold of tony and see if i can buy the wad off him, and change the phono stage for a better one. Thats the bottleneck at the moment.

I am inclined to swap the project out for my benedict audio hothead, that stage is downstairs with emmas jvc ql-y5f plugged into it and she couldnt care less what that sounds like. I can then use the better one up here. Or, get a better phono stage specifically for up here.
I cant be bothered to build one. Id really like to get another hothead, but i have never come across another one for sale since i got the one i have.
I wouldnt mind an nva phono 2, mm of course, but thats way out of the price range for a beer money (so far, and with quite a lot of luck in acquiring the bits) headphone setup.

I also quite like the fact that everyone else mostly goes down the digital route for a headphone setup and there is always ine stubborn luddite holdout like me who insists on still using black plastic...

[Fretless]

I have an affordable Cambridge Alva Duo phono stage (MM & MC) which has a built-in headphone amp. Sounds pretty good with Hifiman Sundara's.

[Fretless]

Chopping and changing. It seems that my mood and tastes shift between headphone types, or I just like a bit of variety.



A set of cans that have received very little attention recently are the AudioQuest NightHawk Carbon, so I dug them out and had a fresh listen.



Getting these into the sitting-room headphone setup with the Sabal A10d DAC/HPA gave them a liveliness and punch that
I hadn't earlier experienced, the NightHawk has always come across as soft, expansive and relaxing up to now. Then I also added the affordable Chi-Fi OCC cables that I picked up via Amazon and that was something of a minor revelation. A new-found edge and detail sprang into focus and the 'soft' AQ phones started doing highly-dynamic things that I hadn't expected from them.

It is a pity that AQ discontinued these cans, but the headphone marketplace became extremely competitive and these innovative designs didn't sell in the quantities that the company required to keep them in development.

Still an awesomely-comfortable headphone and now solidly-driven with a more transparent cable, the NightHawk Carbon are back in my main selection, jockeying for place with the German Maestro GMP 450 PRO and Monoprice M1070 as current favourite.