Construction, Materials, and Comfort:
For starters, the protein leather is extremely soft and supple, and makes the ear pads and headband luxurious to touch. Heat retention actually isn't as bad as I was expecting, and wearing the headphones in a 80+ degree room wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Still warm, but definitely bearable (and comfortable if it's cooler or you have a fan). The hinges and size adjustment feel solid, and seem durable enough. The pair I have are from the loaner program, and they still feel new to me. I have a big head (I lengthen both sliders all the way, then shorten both sides by one or 2 clicks each), and find the fit to be comfortable. The inside of the ear pads are sufficiently large to not touch the tips of my ears, and the soft padding makes it fairly easy to achieve a good seal. My only gripe is that the PM-3s don't fit very well when you only wish to use one ear, nor do they fit well around my neck. The ear cups end up pushing into my jugulars.
EDIT: It turns out that the tips of my ears did make contact with the driver, but the foam pad that's over the surface to the driver prevented me from noticing at first.
Sound:
For background, I ran the PM-3s directly off of a Samsung Galaxy S4, a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, and the ASUS X99-A in my desktop. I spent most of my time listening against my Sennheiser Momentums (the original over-ear variety). I also took the headphones for a spin in one of my FOH gigs, where I used them plugged into a Mackie mixer.
It was immediately obvious that the PM-3s are about as driveable as the Sennheiser Momentums. They are also much flatter in sound than the Momentums. The bass is clear, but less forward when compared to the momentums. Treble notes and sounds come through with more clarity and brightness as well. I describe the sound as "clear, but gentle" because while there is certainly clarity throughout, the highs aren't as forward as they are in some of the more analytical headphones I've tried. Great tracks with great setups will sound great on this headphone, but Pandora on my Lenovo Y2P doesn't sound terrible. They are capable of revealing small details, but they don't bring out the details so much that they'll prevent you from ignoring them.
They're also pretty good at deadening out environmental noise. And the microphone quality is decent as well.
Final Thoughts:
A great headphone for a lot people. It behaves just as well plugged into a mixer as it does a smartphone. They're perfect for anyone that wants to listen while in an office, coffee shop, or library with how easily they can be packed. But the inability to wear them around my neck comfortably hurts their mobility. Neutral and clear, but still gentle sound and their ability to sound great off such a variety of devices makes these headphones an winner in my book. And at the current price of $400, I consider them a little better than fairly priced (in the favor of the consumer).
Audio: 9/10 | Comfort: 8/10 | Design: 8/10 | Value: 6/10 | Overall: 4/5
Many thanks to Chris (and Oppo) for making the loaner program possible. It's been a wonderful experience, and I've even been able to share the headphones with some of my friends.
For starters, the protein leather is extremely soft and supple, and makes the ear pads and headband luxurious to touch. Heat retention actually isn't as bad as I was expecting, and wearing the headphones in a 80+ degree room wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Still warm, but definitely bearable (and comfortable if it's cooler or you have a fan). The hinges and size adjustment feel solid, and seem durable enough. The pair I have are from the loaner program, and they still feel new to me. I have a big head (I lengthen both sliders all the way, then shorten both sides by one or 2 clicks each), and find the fit to be comfortable. The inside of the ear pads are sufficiently large to not touch the tips of my ears, and the soft padding makes it fairly easy to achieve a good seal. My only gripe is that the PM-3s don't fit very well when you only wish to use one ear, nor do they fit well around my neck. The ear cups end up pushing into my jugulars.
EDIT: It turns out that the tips of my ears did make contact with the driver, but the foam pad that's over the surface to the driver prevented me from noticing at first.
Sound:
For background, I ran the PM-3s directly off of a Samsung Galaxy S4, a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, and the ASUS X99-A in my desktop. I spent most of my time listening against my Sennheiser Momentums (the original over-ear variety). I also took the headphones for a spin in one of my FOH gigs, where I used them plugged into a Mackie mixer.
It was immediately obvious that the PM-3s are about as driveable as the Sennheiser Momentums. They are also much flatter in sound than the Momentums. The bass is clear, but less forward when compared to the momentums. Treble notes and sounds come through with more clarity and brightness as well. I describe the sound as "clear, but gentle" because while there is certainly clarity throughout, the highs aren't as forward as they are in some of the more analytical headphones I've tried. Great tracks with great setups will sound great on this headphone, but Pandora on my Lenovo Y2P doesn't sound terrible. They are capable of revealing small details, but they don't bring out the details so much that they'll prevent you from ignoring them.
They're also pretty good at deadening out environmental noise. And the microphone quality is decent as well.
Final Thoughts:
A great headphone for a lot people. It behaves just as well plugged into a mixer as it does a smartphone. They're perfect for anyone that wants to listen while in an office, coffee shop, or library with how easily they can be packed. But the inability to wear them around my neck comfortably hurts their mobility. Neutral and clear, but still gentle sound and their ability to sound great off such a variety of devices makes these headphones an winner in my book. And at the current price of $400, I consider them a little better than fairly priced (in the favor of the consumer).
Audio: 9/10 | Comfort: 8/10 | Design: 8/10 | Value: 6/10 | Overall: 4/5
Many thanks to Chris (and Oppo) for making the loaner program possible. It's been a wonderful experience, and I've even been able to share the headphones with some of my friends.
