[RyanOM1991]

Hi,

What are your guys' opinions of the PM-3?

The reason I ask is I've recently bought a pair (my third set of proper headphones). Started off with Beats Studio but upgraded to a Denon D2000 years ago. The Beats were fine, but the Denons were stunning - very nice clarity and clear sound contours.

Surpringly, the PM-3 had a huge amount of distortion compared to my previous phones. Did anyone else find this? I can barely hear the individual instruments and there's a real tinny quality to the sound. My 15 year old car stereo has more clarity!

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[joe]

Hi @RyanOM1991!
 
What are you connecting the PM-3 to when you hear this distortion? 

 

[RyanOM1991]

I connected it to an iPhone 5.

 

[joe]

I've got a PM-3 here, so just so I'm comparing a bit more to the tracks you're using, what have you listened to where you've heard this distortion?

 

[joe]

I've just run through some sections of a number of test tracks with my iPhone 6+, and I'm not hearing distortion. Perhaps you got a bad headphone?
 
(For reference, the test tracks I used parts of to test are "Royals" by Lorde, "Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple, "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran, "Tip of My Tongue" by the Civil Wars, "Let's Push Things Forward" by the Streets, and "Sober" by Tool)

 

[RyanOM1991]

Thanks very much for this, Joe. I really appreciate it. I've tried some recent David Bowie and the Heavy, plus some classical stuff. Sounds like they may be faulty.

Thanks again for taking the time to help. Much appreciated!

 

[Mr Head P Hones]

Hello try plugging them into a different source. Listen to the same track and see if the distortion is still there. And you might want to invest in a small headphone amp to give or out of them.

 

[dudlew]

Hey.
 
did you make sure that the cable at the headphone side was or is properly seated? Pushed all the way in until you hear or feel it click?

 

[gardibolt]

Check that you have the right end plugged into the headphone; I made that mistake when I got a loaner PM-3 and it had terrible sound on only the right side. Apparently the cable is one-way; once I switched ends, it sounded great. 

 

[Armaegis]

  Check that you have the right end plugged into the headphone; I made that mistake when I got a loaner PM-3 and it had terrible sound on only the right side. Apparently the cable is one-way; once I switched ends, it sounded great. 

 
Cables should never be one-way... unless it's a mic cable which has a different pinout on the control end.

 

[VNandor]

   
Cables should never be one-way... unless it's a mic cable which has a different pinout on the control end.

It looks like Audioquest begs to differ: "Directionality: All cables are directional, from hardware store electrical cable to the finest pure silver cables. All AudioQuest cables are marked for direction. With other cables it  might be necessary to simply listen to the cables in one direction and then the other. The difference will be clear-in the correct direction the music is more relaxed, pleasant and believable. While cable directionality is not fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is not symmetrical, providing a physical explanation for the existence of directionality."
Taken from their website: http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

 
If your system sounds bad using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable try to use the cable the other way around. Sure as hell it will improve the sound.

 
/Trolling

 

[Mambosenior]

"...in the correct direction the music is more relaxed, pleasant and believable."

And...you won't hear a voice saying "Paul is dead" in the first movement of Beethoven's "Pastorale" Symphony.

 

[Armaegis]

  Taken from their website: http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

 
If your system sounds bad using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable try to use the cable the other way around. Sure as hell it will improve the sound.

 
/Trolling

 
As a guy with a degree in metallurgy... I need to strangle somebody now...

 

[Freetrademan]

Hi,

What are your guys' opinions of the PM-3?

The reason I ask is I've recently bought a pair (my third set of proper headphones). Started off with Beats Studio but upgraded to a Denon D2000 years ago. The Beats were fine, but the Denons were stunning - very nice clarity and clear sound contours.

Surpringly, the PM-3 had a huge amount of distortion compared to my previous phones. Did anyone else find this? I can barely hear the individual instruments and there's a real tinny quality to the sound. My 15 year old car stereo has more clarity!

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

You have a defective unit. The Oppo PM-3 certainly should not sound distorted. It has a very rich, full sound. Exchange/repair them.