Monoprice Monolith M1060 and M560 Planar Headphones
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SHAMuuu
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DigMe
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bavinck
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Who cares what they look like, how do they sound????
bavinck
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OK, I just got them about an hour ago and spent some time just shooting a few quick photos.
Some REALLY early impressions:
The build quality is pretty good. They're feel heavy. The headband is light and feels pretty comfy. Almost all the weight is in the drivers (magnets).
The cups, hinges, and headband are made of solid metal with a nice anodized, satin finish. Of course the cup covers are made of wood. The wood is finished really well too. They're pretty thin.
The cup covers and the pads are super easy to remove. They are both held on with magnets, so it takes a second to remove them and even less time to put them back. That's really great.
They come with a single ended 1/8" connector cable and a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter in the box. The connectors to the headphones look exactly like HiFiMan/Oppo 2.5mm mono connectors. At least they are not recessed so no worries about the connector housings fitting. I can try my other cables to see if they fit.
One gripe is that for the life of me, I do not see any indication on the headphone cable which connector is left or right. My eyes are bad, but I looked really hard for any indication and could not find any. So you have a 50/50 chance of connecting the cable correctly. Weird...
Overall, really well designed and built, especially for $200.
But how do they sound?
I tried them with JRiver --> Modi Multibit --> Vali 2 (GE JAN 5760W)
Of course, there was no break-in time, so who knows if that's a factor or not.
(Stream of consciousness impressions...)
My very first reaction was: wow pretty bright; peak in the highs; sibilant, harsh (I think the same thing about stock HD800's)
I think with them being so bright, the rest of the spectrum seems low. The mids are OK, but missing lower mids or body.
The bass is extended, but again just not that much bass. So the net result is an overall "lean" sound.
The thing is, I have to turn down the volume so the highs don't hurt my ears... If I listen to say piano or acapella singing, then the mids aren't bad. Still not enough bass, but they sound OK.
The more I thought about it, the more it reminds me of my HD800's in terms of frequency response, but NOT in terms of soundstage, detail retrieval, etc. To me the HD800's are too bright and lack bass, like the M560's.
The M560's sound much more closed. Even with the cup covers removed, they still don't sound anything like the HD800 in terms of open-ness.
There's lots of detail for sure. The elevated highs do give the impression that there is more detail, but I think there really is a lot of detail there. The highs just aren't as refined and smooth as say Stax or Focal Utopis or even the HD600's.
I also tried them with Out Of Your Head (of course). I think the treble peaks don't help with Out Of Your Head. At least they have a lot of detail so the localization of the virtual speakers works really well. But the harshness can be a problem with some of the brighter speaker presets.
I need to compare with my other headphones more.
Hmm... I just but on a bass test track ("My Name" - Lhasa De Sela) and the bass level is pretty good. A little boomy, less controlled than my PMx2's or Utopias.
In the "open" mode without the cup covers, I think the highs are less harsh and the bass level doesn't seem to suffer. For now, I like the covers off better.
I will keep breaking them in and pull out some of my other more similarly priced headphones like HD600, HE400s, AKG K7XX, Fostex T50RP, etc.
(Sorry for the totally random impressions, but I assume you wanted them sooner rather than later...)
-Darin
Some REALLY early impressions:
The build quality is pretty good. They're feel heavy. The headband is light and feels pretty comfy. Almost all the weight is in the drivers (magnets).
The cups, hinges, and headband are made of solid metal with a nice anodized, satin finish. Of course the cup covers are made of wood. The wood is finished really well too. They're pretty thin.
The cup covers and the pads are super easy to remove. They are both held on with magnets, so it takes a second to remove them and even less time to put them back. That's really great.
They come with a single ended 1/8" connector cable and a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter in the box. The connectors to the headphones look exactly like HiFiMan/Oppo 2.5mm mono connectors. At least they are not recessed so no worries about the connector housings fitting. I can try my other cables to see if they fit.
One gripe is that for the life of me, I do not see any indication on the headphone cable which connector is left or right. My eyes are bad, but I looked really hard for any indication and could not find any. So you have a 50/50 chance of connecting the cable correctly. Weird...
Overall, really well designed and built, especially for $200.
But how do they sound?
I tried them with JRiver --> Modi Multibit --> Vali 2 (GE JAN 5760W)
Of course, there was no break-in time, so who knows if that's a factor or not.
(Stream of consciousness impressions...)
My very first reaction was: wow pretty bright; peak in the highs; sibilant, harsh (I think the same thing about stock HD800's)
I think with them being so bright, the rest of the spectrum seems low. The mids are OK, but missing lower mids or body.
The bass is extended, but again just not that much bass. So the net result is an overall "lean" sound.
The thing is, I have to turn down the volume so the highs don't hurt my ears... If I listen to say piano or acapella singing, then the mids aren't bad. Still not enough bass, but they sound OK.
The more I thought about it, the more it reminds me of my HD800's in terms of frequency response, but NOT in terms of soundstage, detail retrieval, etc. To me the HD800's are too bright and lack bass, like the M560's.
The M560's sound much more closed. Even with the cup covers removed, they still don't sound anything like the HD800 in terms of open-ness.
There's lots of detail for sure. The elevated highs do give the impression that there is more detail, but I think there really is a lot of detail there. The highs just aren't as refined and smooth as say Stax or Focal Utopis or even the HD600's.
I also tried them with Out Of Your Head (of course). I think the treble peaks don't help with Out Of Your Head. At least they have a lot of detail so the localization of the virtual speakers works really well. But the harshness can be a problem with some of the brighter speaker presets.
I need to compare with my other headphones more.
Hmm... I just but on a bass test track ("My Name" - Lhasa De Sela) and the bass level is pretty good. A little boomy, less controlled than my PMx2's or Utopias.
In the "open" mode without the cup covers, I think the highs are less harsh and the bass level doesn't seem to suffer. For now, I like the covers off better.
I will keep breaking them in and pull out some of my other more similarly priced headphones like HD600, HE400s, AKG K7XX, Fostex T50RP, etc.
(Sorry for the totally random impressions, but I assume you wanted them sooner rather than later...)
-Darin
SHAMuuu
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Im surprised after all them top dog cans you can tolerate 'lower end' cans. its much easier the other war around
tgaguirre
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Its nice to finally have some info on these headphones.
It kinda looks like the Fostex T50RP driver, does anyone agree?
It kinda looks like the Fostex T50RP driver, does anyone agree?
VeerK
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Thank you for posting impressions, it'll be interesting to read about comparisons and what happens after some more break in time.
OK, a few quick comparisons:
Fostex T50RP MK3 (stock):
T50RP's treble is not harsh, elevated but not harsh. Has more bass. Still not as overall balanced as I like (see HD600's below). To me, the T50RP MK3 is better since the highs are not sibilant. Bass may be boomier, but louder. Definitely in the same "family" as the M560's. (Is that a Fostex driver in there Monoprice?)
But, I like the Fostex better and it's cheaper, so there you go.
HD600 (stock):
I know the HD600's are a little more expensive, but man, these are GOOD headphones. Just everything about them is better than the M560's. I have not spent much time with the HD650's, but I would pay $200 for the Massdrop HD6XX way before I would buy the M560's. (Assuming the HD650's are similar to the HD600s)
HiFiMan HE400S:
Darker highs than the M560's, but at least no harshness. Too dark for me though. Feels like I am missing detail. Not sure which is better or worse to hear more detail, but harsh. They're so different. Much more bass on the HE400S.
Paradox Slants: (modded T50RP's)
Well, these are $700 headphones, so they should sound better. And they do. Again, a lot darker than M560's, but overall just better in every way. Better bass, better mids, detail without being sibilant/strident. They could use more highs though.
Another note, I swear I am hearing more bass from the M560's. Maybe in doing the comparisons, it's easier to gauge bass quantity. Or maybe my initial reaction to the treble was distracting me from hearing the bass or mids. Now I think measurements will show a decent amount of bass but we'll see where the treble peak is...
If someone can mod the M560's to tame the treble (which I am sure someone will), I think they could be a pretty good deal for the money. But with a $200 Massdrop HD6XX available, sort of, I am guessing most people would pick the Sennheiser.
-Darin
Fostex T50RP MK3 (stock):
T50RP's treble is not harsh, elevated but not harsh. Has more bass. Still not as overall balanced as I like (see HD600's below). To me, the T50RP MK3 is better since the highs are not sibilant. Bass may be boomier, but louder. Definitely in the same "family" as the M560's. (Is that a Fostex driver in there Monoprice?)
But, I like the Fostex better and it's cheaper, so there you go.
HD600 (stock):
I know the HD600's are a little more expensive, but man, these are GOOD headphones. Just everything about them is better than the M560's. I have not spent much time with the HD650's, but I would pay $200 for the Massdrop HD6XX way before I would buy the M560's. (Assuming the HD650's are similar to the HD600s)
HiFiMan HE400S:
Darker highs than the M560's, but at least no harshness. Too dark for me though. Feels like I am missing detail. Not sure which is better or worse to hear more detail, but harsh. They're so different. Much more bass on the HE400S.
Paradox Slants: (modded T50RP's)
Well, these are $700 headphones, so they should sound better. And they do. Again, a lot darker than M560's, but overall just better in every way. Better bass, better mids, detail without being sibilant/strident. They could use more highs though.
Another note, I swear I am hearing more bass from the M560's. Maybe in doing the comparisons, it's easier to gauge bass quantity. Or maybe my initial reaction to the treble was distracting me from hearing the bass or mids. Now I think measurements will show a decent amount of bass but we'll see where the treble peak is...
If someone can mod the M560's to tame the treble (which I am sure someone will), I think they could be a pretty good deal for the money. But with a $200 Massdrop HD6XX available, sort of, I am guessing most people would pick the Sennheiser.
-Darin
I know it's a long shot, but if anyone wants to hear the M560's, I will have them at the San Diego Head-Fi meet on December 3rd.
XtT
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Wait you're saying your HE-400S (or do you mean HE-400) have way more bass? My HE-400S have very average bass and no sub bass even with Focus Pads swapped on
OK, I stepped away for lunch and came back to see your message. (the M560's have been playing music the whole time.)
I do mean the HE-400S. That's what I have, with stock pads.
But, now the M560's seem to have more bass than they did before. Or I am going crazy. Could be either. Well at least you all think I'm crazy.
The M560's have more bass than the HE-400S now.
Maybe I just need to chill for a few days and let the M560's play and see what happens. I've never had headphones change that much over time, especially in so little time.
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