Reviews by electronicsdesign

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: output power, clean Android 10, excellent volume knob, battery life
Cons: Software is a bit unfishined
First of all, I want to present a bit of context. I was looking for an upgrade to my Fiio X5 III, which despite is still working fine (has a new battery and a custom kernel installed), its volume rotary encoder has started to cause a lot of trouble lately and seems like no cleaning solution is able to fix it permanently.

Given the battery life isn't great on the Fiio and the OS is old (Android 5), I decided to look for a newer one. The M3 Ultra design and green color catched my attention for some time but for a long time I said to myself I don't really need another DAP as I have plenty of the simpler ones without Android. But at the end of day, I do prefer the Android ones, especially given the battery life of the M3 Ultra is getting comparable to my SONY NW-A45.
But at the end of day the bigger screen, volume knob and overall better functionality of an Android DAP wins.
In fact, from all the DAPs I have, it's the Android ones that I use the most despite the typical usage scenario is offline playback of DRM-free music.

After some research, the 2 main DAPs that I was considering were Hiby R5 mkII and Shanling M3 Ultra.
The Hiby is a nice device, but comes with some major dowsides:
- older OS and older CPU (even the Shanling is not as fast as I'd hoped);
- battery life isn't as good as on the Shanling;
- has no volume wheel;

The lack of a volume wheel is an important one for me as that's one of the reasons I want a DAP.
While I could live without one, I much prefer it to be there. And on the Shanling M3 Ultra the volume control is top quality, really love the feel of it.
In fact, the only real concern I had about the Shanling was output power. But as you'll see in the next paragraph, it's really not a problem for most use cases.
Unlike a SONY DAP (like the mentioned NW-A45), the Shanling has more power than you actually need in typical use cases.
The SONYs stock are limited to 2 x 1mW of output power which is really low and will be suitable only for IEMs and very sensitive headphones.

OUTPUT POWER:

Given the Fiio X5 III does have 240mW of power on the single ended, the 140mW on the Shanling was a bit of a concern in the beginning.
Of course it is up to debate how these power specs are exactly measured, because every manufacturer seems to have its own way of measuring in which case the values
cannot be compared directly as we would be comparing apples to oranges.

Watching SuperReview on YouTube I noticed he stated his Senheiser HD600 could be driven well from the single ended jack on low gain.
While I tend to agree with him, there is definetely room for more especially if one wants to listen very loud for short periods of time.
For something like the HD600 I do prefer to use a balanced cable with this DAP as there is a signifcant improvement over the single-ended.

Another thing that has to be considered here is this: if you need to listen to tracks that are not normalized to 0dBFS you will need to crank volume higher than normal.
This is also true for music with high dynamic range, such as SONY 360 Reality and DSD.
This means you will need more output power than normal, even though some of it is actually "wasted".

Thing with power is this: for low to medium volumes you don't really need much power at all, even on lower sensitivity and high impedance headphones.
However, the need for power will increase exponentially as our hearing of loudness is logarithmic meaning a doubling in power won't double the SPL (we need 4 times the power to double the SPL). https://geoffthegreygeek.com/amplifier-power/

IEMs: just don't worry at all, most (if not all) can be driven very loud on the single ended without getting more than 30-35 volume.
On balanced, using very sensitive IEM (110dB/mW), a 15-25 volume is more than enough for normal use.
I really have no concerns whatsoever regarding IEMs driveability with this DAP.
But of course the concern wasn't in regard to IEMs from the beginning as most IEMs can be driven from pretty much any source with ease.

Over-ear headphones: on very sensitive and low impedance ones, the situation is similar to IEMs, meaning you will have more than enough power
to drive them even at ear shattering levels even on single ended.
The suitability of this DAP to one's needs only comes into question in regard to high impedance and low(er) sensitivity headphones.
If you only want to listen at low to medium levels output power is more than enough for pretty much everything.
However, if you want to listen loud or very loud you will need to use the balanced output on some headphones.
So planar magnetics and high impedance headphones do need a balanced connection for loud and very loud and there are headphones out there on which even the 240mW won't be enough to drive them very loud.

Power is enough for the vast majority of situations, but I do see why the higher end DAPs would make sense, power being one of them.
For me, the price difference alone makes the higher end ones not worth it just for power alone, but those DAPs definetely have their use.

One thing I really like is how the volume setting is implemented: our sensitivity to SPL is logarithmic (as mentioned earlier) so it would make sense to make a volume control that's also logarithmic in order to perceive a linear increase in volume.
On the M3 Ultra the entire volume range is usable, unlike devices with linear volume control where pretty much all of the adjustment is concentrated on the upper range (60-100). The linear control only makes sense if the displayed value is in dB, which is not the case on most devices.
I much prefer this logarithmic control and wish more manufacturers would implement it like this.
This gives the feeling you have enough headroom in regard to power (which you do), as in the majority of cases you don't even get close to 100.
On many other DAC/amps and DAPs using a 70-80 volume (out of 120) is common despite many have significantly more output power than the M3 Ultra.

SOUND:

In regard to sound quality, it's hard to say too much as to my ears the differences between devices are pretty subtle.
Given I didn't listen to the previous version of this DAP, can't really say anything in regard to sound in this regard.
Do like the sound on this DAP a lot: it's clean, crisp, noise floor is inaudible even in the most demanding scenarios (109dB/mW IEMs plugged into the balanced output), power is more than enough for my use cases.
Really not much to say here, apart from the fact I really like how the DAP sounds.

BATTERY LIFE:

It is to be noted I disabled all the Google apps (including some hidden system ones), so my device is clean having only the Shanling app, Tidal and a browser in order to listen to SoundCloud or Bandcamp (tracks I don't own) at times. WiFi I keep turned off unelss I stream music.

I personally don't need any of the Google apps as there are other simple ways to install the apps I want. Battery drain these services cause is simply not worth it in my opinion and this is ignoring all the data they collect about you (some usage data is collected even if not using them).
So contrary to what many people believe, having Google Play Store is NOT necessary to install apps like Tidal, Spotify, YouTube music, Apple Music, etc.

One thing I noticed pretty quickly is battery life does vary quite significantly between playing local files and streaming, which is to be expected.
As stated in other parts of this review, in my opinion a DAPs main function is to listen to DRM-free music offline so that is where I set my expectations.
It is also to be noted I'm mainly talking about using this device wired.
Bluetooth offers a huge improvement on battery life, which is to be expected since the DACs and amps are not used, but this is more of a bonus than a feature to me.
Because if I wanted to use it as a digital transport only, I would have bought a much cheaper DAP since the analog circuitry won't matter.
The BT transmitter I mostly use when listening in my car, while otherwise I find the receiever functionality more useful.

Given the battery gauge doesn't work correctly at the point of writing (and probably never will), my experience is just an approximation and not the real battery life.
After charging the device to 100%, the stats are shown correctly for a short period of time then they reset and come back after the gauge drops a couple of percents.
This is a bug in the software, most likely related to the bug of gauge not climbing during fast charging.
Given Shanling's statements on the forum and the fact they didn't fix it until now (there were 2 updates released in this timeframe), I don't think they have any intention in fixing it, considering it "only a visual bug".

In the above mentioned conditions I get more or less the 20 hours of playback in the stats (offline) depending on listening volume and balanced/single ended.
However, based on how often I need to charge the device, the real battery life is probably a couple of hours worse than what the stats are showing.
Another thing that has to be kept in mind is this: for battery health it's best to not discharge it below 20%, in which case you will have even less useful capacity.
A gross estimation in regard to battery life is it will likely last 10 hours even when used on balanced port at higher volume settings, while on single-ended it can probably achieve something like 15hours.

All in all, the battery life is good on this unit and I find myself charging it anywhere between 3 days to a week depending on how much I use it.
Compared to the Fiio X5 III, which even with a new battery would barely last an entire day, the Shanling M3 Ultra is a very significant improvement.

SHANLING CASE:

At the time I did my initial research, Shanling was offering a free case on their AliExpress store (it was a summer sale).
When I decided to actually buy the device, I didn't want to wait for the device to arrive from China, so searched for it somehwere in Europe.
The only distributor that had it in stock was Muziker, so I ordered it from there.
Unfortunately they didn't have any cases for it in stock, so I had to order it separately from Shanling store, which is inconvenient.
However the case itself is of very good quality and fits the device well.

FORM FACTOR:

In my opinion, this is the perfect form factor for a DAP that's supposed to be portable. By portable I mean to be able to carry it in a pocket without being too big or too heavy.

The screen is big enough for a music player, even if one wants to watch YouTube videos on it. Although for such I would use my phone instead and use the DAP as a BT amp in such a scenario.

A remark about the touchscreen: it seems (and this has been mentioned in other reviews) the touch is not very sensitive and there are many times when it won't register unless there is a firm press on the screen.
In the beginning this was pretty annoying, but in time I got used to it. To me it seems related to the screen protector that comes pre-installed.
For the time being I want to keep the protector on the screen, but it's very likely that removing it will solve the problem.

I like the fact that the device is thick as it gives a feeling of sturdyness. The 3 buttons are the right amount for a DAP and the fact the play button is bigger is a very nice touch as I can reach it while the device is in a pocket.

The volume knob is very nice on the Shanling M3 Ultra, actually much better than I expected it to be. Clicks are very precise with a metallic-like sound giving a sense of precision and quality. The outside part has a lot more grip than you would think by looking at pictures with the device, being nowhere near as recessed in the case as it looks in the pics (those can be deceiving).

The only minus is the flap that covers the microSD card slot, which does not seem to be very well built and doesn't close as firmly as I would like.
For me it's not a big deal as I installed a large card and forgot about it. But if you want to take the card out regularly, this flap might become a weak point.

BLUETOOTH:

While for me personally Bluetooth is not the main feature of a DAP, I am interested in two aspects regarding BT: good codecs (LDAC, aptX HD) and the ability to work both as a transmitter and as a receiver.
The receiver functionality is what I use the most, since it offers me the convenience to swtich between the player itself and my phone at the press of a button.
While I do have dedicated DAC/amps with BT, having the option to use the M3 Ultra as one means I don't have to take one with me if I want to mostly use the DAP functionality and maybe occasionaly listen to something on my phone.

As a transmitter, there's not much to be stated as this device will work as a digital transport, so the DACs and amps won't matter at all in this scenario.
Battery life specification is more than double in BT mode, but do keep in mind that this value will only be reached with local playback not with streaming.
If streaming is your main way of listening to music, a DAP is probably not what you need anyway.

Bluetooth range is good, but not the best. If you have a mid-range or high-end smarthphone, that will likely do better than this DAP.

WIFI:

WiFi connection is decent, but nothing spectacular. Hence why, if you want this DAP mainly for streaming, it's better to think twice about it.
While it's not terrible, my phone (which is not the newest generation) has significantly better WiFi connection. So again, if I was only streaming, I would think twice about a DAP for that, but rather a DAC/amp that I would use in combination with my phone.
I do have both DAC/amps and DAPs and they're clearly designed for different purposes: a DAP is mainly a device for offline playback (usually of DRM-free files), while a DAC/amp is for streaming.

OS:

One of the reasons I bought this player was the newer OS, so the fact it has Android 10 is a plus despite the current version is 13 and 14 already on the horizon (not quite the standard yet, but it will become soon).
So technically the version is outdated by a signficant margin, but it's still much better than older versions.
For me there are a couple of aspects of why I care about the newer Android version:
- some added privacy features (new permissions, limited access to identifiers, etc.)
- background apps can no longer jump into the foreground
- dark mode
While I would have preffered a newer version of Android, the features that those bring in are not really that relevant for a DAP at the end of day.
As far as app support goes, I'm really not concerned at all since I mostly use a DAP for offline listening and such apps will work forever.
Even streaming apps will continue to work for the foreseeable future and it will be many years until such apps will drop support for Android 10.
If you buy a DAP for streaming only, my advice is don't buy one. Get a DAC/amp or dongle instead.

I do like that the M3 Ultra doesn't come with bloatware installed (by bloatware I understand privileged apps that cannot be uninstalled): the few installed apps can be uninstalled easily and the Google apps can be disabled. At the end of day I can have a very clean OS.
While I would have preffered a pure vanilla version of the OS with no Gapps I do realise many people do want these services to be there so Shanling must do something to satisfy both crowds.
The bootloader seems to be unlocked by deafult, which is another plus for future mods.

Prime mode: there's not much to say about it. If the Android OS is kept clean with no active Internet connection (when not needed) and no apps running in background, this mode won't be needed. It's good that it is there, but personally I never use it despite in 95% of the cases I only listen offline using Shanling app.

What I don't like about the OS is a bug in the battery gauge: when I charge the device with anything more than 5V@500mA the gauge doesn't climb until the very end of the charge. If I restart the OS the gauge shows correctly, but if it's not at 100% it will do it again if you start charging it.
For some it might be a minor thing, to me it's something that really should be fixed as I want to be able to know how much charge I have left without restarting the OS after every charge. I also don't want to fully charge the battery every single time.
Shanling is aware of this problem (I mentioned it twice here on the forum) but they don't seem to be willing to do anything about it.

The Shanling app:

At the time of writing this review, I only used this app. Poweramp would be a good alternative, which is way more feature packed but the problem is it resamples all the audio.
So from this point of view, I prefer the Shanling one, even if it's not as good overall.

The app, for the most part, does what it's supposed to do without problems but it's also pretty basic with nothing fancy going around. EQ is too basic to be useful for tuning your headphones to a preffered target curve (like Harman). You just need a lot more bands (or manual input of frequencies) for that and this app simply doesn't offer that. The EQ is only meant for a very basic tuning and that's it.
So for me personally, I would need a dedicated app such as Poweramp Equalizer to do EQ and even that is missing the Q factor.

The lack of gapless playback is not a deal breaker for me, but I would have liked it to be there.
There are no plans to add it according to Shanling, so do keep in mind that if you need it you will have to use a different app.

One aspect I don't like about the app is sometimes after starting the DAP and pressing the play button (or the virtual button in the widget or app) it doesn't remember the exact track it was playing before and it starts to play another one next to it.
Another problem is the app tends to crash if playback is started immediately after boot. While this issue is rarer on the latest firmware, it still happens occasionaly. Not a deal breaker, but again something to be improved.

Yet another issues I've come across recently are these:
- sometimes the app gets stuck to a track when I'm playing an album, repeating that track forever even though the settings is list play.
Only way I've found to fix this issue is re-scan the library. Pretty annoying, although it doesn't happen that often.
- recently noticed that some albums despite having the tracks numbered in the file names, they're played in a random order.
This is something intermittent. Sometimes it works as it should, sometimes it doesn't.
- if using the "Albums" menu, some albums have the tracks in a random order. This doesn't happen when going to the folder.

CONCLUSION:

I have this DAP for some time now (close to 6 months) and have been using it on a regular basis.
Let's start with the positive things: I do like the looks, the volume wheel distinct clicking feel, the sound quality: especially the completely black background with no audible noise floor.
What I don't like is the software isn't very refined: there are quite a few bugs both in the OS and in the Shanling app. Ok, I understand Shanling's software team is small, I understand this is not a high-end DAP (but still not cheap) and their team's focus is not necessarily here, but still.

Overall, I will recommend this DAP as compared to what's available on the market at this price point, I think this is a good choice.
Last edited:
LostnAmerica
LostnAmerica
Incredibly thorough. Thx! I would hope someone, someday, somehow would fix "bugs" in the software on a decent sounding and reasonably priced dap. My Christmas gift in any month would be excellent.
Cheers

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
A good headphone, but not competitive at MSRP price
Pros: Very lightweight, very good sound quality, standard cable, very easy to drive
Cons: Leather pads and headband are a magnet for any trace of skin oil, bass is boomy
Will start my review by stating I'm not sure if this headphone has been discontinued or not.
I bought the MDR-1AM2 in 2022 at sale for a price of 100 euros (the MSRP is more than 200), main reason being I wanted to have a pair of very light headphones.
The fact it comes with a balanced cable is a bonus.

COMOFRT:

Comfort is superb on these, you almost don't feel it on your head.
The lightweight, very soft pads and the fact that cups are oval shaped makes this pair one of the most comfortable I have ever used.
However, there is a downside to this: the leather is like a magnet when it comes to the slightest trace of skin oil, requiring cleaning after pretty much every use.
Something I really don't like ! It's pretty much the worst leather I have seen on decent headphones in this regard.
I intend to replace the pads with ones made from alcantara (found ones that fit) to solve this problem and maybe tame the very boomy bass at the same time.
Ears also tend to get hot after listening to it for prolonged periods of time. For the MSRP they ask on it, I really expected a lot more have to be honest.
I personally can't complain for the 100euros I paid, but I don't know if I would pay more than that.
Overall build quality is very good apart from the leather parts which I really don't like.
I wish at least the headband was made from velour or alcantara so it lasts longer and doesn't require regular cleaning.

SOUND:

Sound is of very good quality and pretty neutral apart from the bass region which has a big boost (+6dB from reference).
Compared to the previous version the bass has been tamed significantly, but it's still way above what it should be.
There are people describing the previous version as "not bassy", so the bassheads might feel these don't have enough bass
despite it has a lot more than reference headphones.
It can be driven to pretty loud volumes without distorsion, but it will distort at very loud volumes.
While typically not a problem, there are headphones out there (in the same price bracket) which offer better distorsion figures, that's for sure.
For how much bass it has, I'm actually surprised how low distorsion actually is, so it's a winner in this regard.
The mids are treble are just the right amount with good clarity. Note these headphones aren't bright at all, only problematic area being the bass.
What I think SONY tried to do is make a sound signature that's somewhere in between what consumers like and what audiophiles like and
think they've done a very good job in this regard.
I use this pair mostly with cassette walkmans, application where the elevated bass is a plus, as many walkmans and cassettes don't have a flat
frequency response in the bass area, so these compensate for that.

CONNECTIVITY/EASE TO DRIVE:

At 16Ω and 98dB/mW, these are super easy to drive, literally any device can drive them very loud, even ones that output only 5mW.
So the SONY DAPs which are power limited will be able to drive those nicely without the need to crank it at the maximum setting.
In the box you will get 2 cables: a standard 4-pole 3.5mm jack which also includes a microphone and a button and a 4.4mm balanced cable.
Both are of very good quality and will last a long time.
Given how easy the MDR1-AM2 is to drive, you definetely don't need the balanced especially since you will hear more background noise
due to its higher sensitivity and the fact balanced outputs of amps are noisier.
While the balanced cable is nice to have, I see it more of a bonus than anything else as you won't really need it.
The opposite end of the cable has a 4-pole 3.5mm jack with, but you will need one with thin connector in order to fit.
I have tried another made sold as for this headphone (which is lighter and has 3-pole 3.5mm jack) and it works nicely.

CONCLUSION:

In my opinion, these headphones have to be cheaper in order to make sense, as at the MSRP consumers can get wireless pairs of similar sound quality
and audiophiles can get much better ones like Senheiser 5xx or Beyerdynamic 700 Pro X.
For 100-150euros, they make a lot more sense and they can be very good headphones to fit all usage scenarios, as the microphone included on the single-eneded cable
is of very good quality, much better than what you will get on wireless headphones.
While I don't see myself using over-ear headphones for anything else than listenting to music, other people like to be able to use such a headphone for calls as well.
In which regard the MDR1-AM2 performs excellent.
Fortunately you can find these at lower prices than the MSRP and even lower if you buy them used (but be prepared to replace the pads and headband in such case).
Last edited:

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very comfortable, spacious sound, realtively easy to drive, cheap
Cons: Included cable, dip in sub-bass and lower treble
This is a pair of headphones I got years ago. It is, in fact, the first open back one I ever owned.
At the time wanted to try and see how an open-back sounds like, knowing a lot less about headphones.
So, naturally, at that time I checked mostly subjective reviews (which said it was very good for the money), not looking at frequency response graphs or anything else technical apart from the impedance.
The impedance seemed high at 50Ω, but I said to myself that I can use the power amplifier which I had connected to my computer as that has a 6.3mm headphone output.
Given the included cable was also 6.3mm, that was pretty much the only thing I could do in the beginning, as the adapter cable was not in stock at the local HiFi shop.

My initial impression was rather bad, in fact it was considering returning it at some point. It seemed to be hard to drive compared to what I was used to and would also distort bass pretty bad relatively early. Compared to my expectations anyway, in practice it's not really that bad but neither is it as good as other more expensive Senheiser 5xx.
Another thing I immediately noticed was it sounded kind of muffled, like vocals were recessed from the rest of the spectrum.
Said to myself to give it some time to break-in and see if there was a difference after a couple of days.
Initially it seemed like it got better, but in practice I got used to the sound signature, tending to ignore its flaws.
This was obvious when switching to another pair which didn't have the same flaws.

Recently, seeing that it was collecting dust I decided to give it another try. The headband was partly detached (a typical issue on many Senheiser 5xx series), so I glued it with gel type super glue and let it cure overnight on the headphone stand.
Next day, after cleaning the headband and pads a bit, I decided to give it a listen on one of my cassette walkmans. I would not use it much with a DAC/amp or a DAP, as for serious listening I have much better pairs.
But having a pair that is light, very comfortable and has spacious sound due to open-back design to use with vintage devices was an interesting idea to me.
The first device I tried was a walkman with modest output power (2 x 5mW) and it was able to drive them nicely without feeling the need for more power. Volume wasn't super loud, but more than enough for casual listening. This sounded promising.
Its bass response was better than I remembered, but the muffled lower-treble was obvious. Something was missing in the music and although listenable as-is, once you know the correct tonality of music you wish for more.

COMFORT:

In regard to comfort, as is the case with all Senheiser 5xx/6xx, they're super comfortable.
The oval cups give plenty of room for the ear and the pads don't touch the ear at all, giving a really nice feeling of freedom.
The cups are very large and deep, so your ear will stay suspended inside the cups, not really touching anything.
Being made of velour, the pads are way more comfortable than leather and they will also last much longer.
I personally don't like leather pads and headbands as they tend to be a magnet for the slightest trace of sebum on your skin or hair (requiring cleaning almost every time you use them) and leather also tends to make your ears get hot after longer periods of use. Of course not all leather pads are bad, but I clearly prefer velour.
Clamping force is on the high side and combined with the fact that pads are rather thin and hard, it can be a bit uncomfortable to some. But compared to other systems, I would say this is one of the very good ones.
So in regard to comfort, for the money you're paying (as of 2023 these are available for ~70euros) you really get very good comfort.

SOUND:

As already stated, don't expect the sound signature on these to be neutral (at this price I would not expect this anyway). While not very far from neutral, the recessed lower treble and missing sub-bass rumble are obvious.
Like the other review said, this kind of tuning with recessed lower treble will be much more forgiving to flaws in mastering compared to a neutral or bright headphone which can give the sensation of piercing your ears with some music.
This will never happen on the HD559, so if you're sensitive to treble, you will like it.
While bass is enough and of good clarity, the 100-200Hz area being even boosted a little, you won't get that sub-bass rumble which is typical to many open-backs.
EQ can make this headphone close to neutral sounding, apart from the sub-bass region. Elevate the sub-bass in EQ and distorsion will rise exponentially, allowing you to only listen at low to medium levels.
Note that if you're a basshead this headphone is not for you. If you're used to the V-shaped sound signature with bass region elevated by as much as +10dB compared to the Harman curve, these will seem like they don't have bass.
For the money, it's definetely worth getting this pair if you never had an open-back before, it's a very good starting point in this regard.
If you want neutral sound and have a bit more money to spend, the HD560S is the one to go for, but do keep in mind that one is much harder to drive at 120Ω impedance. It's way better at all aspects, but also about twice the price.

CONNECTIVITY/EASE TO DRIVE:

Do keep in mind you will very likely need to buy an aftermarket cable (I use the Earmax ones from Aliexpress), as the included one is way too long for normal use and also has that 6.3mm jack.
It's not really a big deal, but at this low price you will need to add ~20euros for a new cable if you need it.

At 50Ω, the HD559 are at the boundary between low and high impedance. While they are not that hard to drive at 95dB/mW (don't be fooled by the 108dB/V given in specs, as the voltage sensitivity is always much higher), most low power devices won't be able to drive them hard, meaning you will only get a medium to reasonably loud volume.
So while an amplifier is not a must, having one is a bonus.

CONCLUSION:

To be completely honest, at the price these sell for the only serious complaint I have is the recessed treble.
But since that can be fixed with EQ (it's already included in Equalizer APO AutoEQ), there's not really much I can complain about for this price range.
So if my budget was limited to 70-100 euros and I wanted to experience good and spacious sound, I would re-consider these once again.
I am listening to the HD559 as I write and they're very enjoyable to listen to even without EQ. Do some EQ and they will sound great at normal listening levels, offering very spacious and clean sound.
  • Like
Reactions: Lifted Andreas

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Neutral sound, build quality, sound quality, repairablity, comfort
Cons: A bit bright, high clamping force, cups rotation is limited
For a long time I avoided Beyerdynamic (their Pro series) specifically because both reviews and frequency response measurements
revealed they tend to be too bright to my taste.
The fact that most preivous models didn't have a detachable cable wasn't to my liking either.
However the new 700 Pro X and 900 Pro X solved both of the above mentioned, so I decided to give them a try.

Right out of the box, the headphones feel really sturdy, being clear it's made to last a very long time.
Another big plus in this regard is it's designed to be repaired and parts are available for sale.
I have read complaints about the headband leather detaching from its support, but from what I've seen it's easy to remove the assembly
and glue it back so from my point of view it's not really that big of a concern.
This needs more time to be able to draw some conclusions, so I will update the review later on in regard to the headband.
Wished it had used the same velour material on the headband as leather isn't my favourite, but I may as well replace it myself with such material in the future.
Leather used on the headband is of good quality, long-term conclusions will need more time though.

EDIT: After about 7 months of use, the headband leather has started to detach from the plastic, starting in the middle where it flexes the most.
Glueing it back is pretty straight-forward: you need to remove the headband and glue small lengths of 2cm or so let dry and continue.
I do recommend glueing the entire perimter even though only part of it will be detached as the rest will surely detach at some point in the future.
Given other headphones (like Senheiser HD5xx series) have a similar problem with headband needing to be glued to the frame, I won't consider this a big problem.
The leather itself however is still intact and has no signs of wear at all after this period.
EDIT2: After more than 1.5years of use, the headband leather detached yet again and also started peeling a bit.
At this point I decided to order a new headband, as it has better design. While the improved version is overall better, long-term solution would buy to replace
the fake leather with some other material like real leather or velour.
Good part is new headbands are cheap, so can't really complain too much about it.

COMFORT:

One thing that stands out when you unbox it is it looks kind of small in height.
Once I fitted it on my head I realised I need to extend the adjustments the maximum, otherwise it just doesn't fit comfortably.
I would have preffered to have a couple of extra clicks left, as I do on most other headphones that I own.
If possible, I recommend checking the fit of those before buying as to me this pair seems to not be designed for all heads, see the cup swivel problem below.
This, in my opinion is the biggest downside of this headphone, adjustments being enough for the vast majority, but only by a small margin in some cases.

Another aspect I immediately noticed is the cups just don't sit at the correct angle on my head, feeling a lot more pressure on the front of the pads than in the back,
as the swivel mechanism simply doesn't allow enough rotation.
If the pads were to sit flat on my head, the high clamping force wouldn't even be a problem anymore.
Because in practice the issue with clamping is that it clamps more on the front of the pads, the back having less pressure in my case.
If the pressure would be evenly distributed, it would be more comfortable.
This likely won't be an issue for the vast majority of people, but it's one of these aspects that I wanted to mention as I've never seen it mentioned in any review.

Clamping force is high, but compensated by the comfortable velour pads.
I can wear it for hours without a problem and the comfort does get better with use.
I rate it good, but the Senheiser HD5xx/6xx with oval cups is better in my opinion. Few other headphones have cups as large as the Senheisers.
On the DT 900 Pro X, the cups are just large enough to not touch the lobe of the ear, but just barely.
Would have preffered the cups to be a bit larger or oval-shaped.
At the end of day the soft velour pads do compensate for the problems mentioned above.

The mini-XLR connector does not bother me at all, but this will vary with different people, so again it's prefferable to test fit these before buying if possible.

SOUND:

The sound quality is excellent, being very clean and crisp. Frequency response is neutral with a tad of brightness, which may be annoying on songs that are not mastered well.
Compared to other open-back headphones these don't lack the deep bass having a response that goes to the lowest frequencies. It's not as flat as the 700 Pro X in the <100Hz region, but it's more than good enough, in my opinion the 700 Pro X being worth it only if you really need closed back (like for monitoring or for privacy/not disturbing others).
If you're a basshead, even the 700 Pro X won't be enough for you, so do keep that in mind.
While they can be used without EQ, the treble peak around 6.1kHz will be gone with EQ making them perfect for any music regardless of how it was mastered.
After all, these Beyerdynamic are designed for mixing and mastering, so the fact they reveal imperfections in the mastering is something to be expected, especially from Beyerdynamic which has a tradition of bright headphones.
Note that the dip around 4kHz you see on frequency response measurements is NOT audible with music.

In regard to soundstage, it performs very well especially given many of the holes on the back are blind and in practice this is more of a semi-open headphone.
It's an example of a very good compromise between having a very good bass response and large soundstage, something not many open-back headphones offer.

I wasn't able to make the headphone go into nasty distorsion at very high volumes, being able to reach very loud levels without hearing any obvious distorsion.
The maximum rated power is 100mW RMS (which is quite low), so when connecting to a high power amplifier, make sure you turn the volume down,
as there is a very real chance of blowing up the drivers.

CONNECTIVITY/EASE TO DRIVE:

In terms of connectivity, the headphones come with 2 cables: a 1.8m and a 3m one. Both are mini-XLR to 3.5mm jack with a screw-on 6.3mm adapter.
Cables are of very good quality, but I would have liked a shorter and lighter one for my usage scenario.
Seems there is a 1.2m genuine one available as well, so if you need shorter length than the included 1.8m this is the one to go for as the original ones are
of very good quality and jack is gold plated.
Apart from the normal 3.5/6.3mm jack cables, there is also a cable with USB-C/lightning and inline DAC/amp available at 100euros.
So if you need to connect these headphones to a device that doesn't have a headphone jack (many phones, tablets and even some ultrabooks don't
have it nowadays) this cable is exactly what you need.
Custom ones are available, so if you don't like the stock cables there are options out there.

Do note that since the grounds of the 2 drivers are internally connected together, you won't be able to use this headphone with a balanced cable
unless you change the mini-XLR connector to a 4-pin one (the factory one is 3-pin).
However, these DT 900 Pro X are easy enough to drive not to really need a balanced connection anyway.
With 48Ω and 100dB/mW, it can be driven at medium to relatively loud volumes by almost any device.
Despite this an amplifier is beneficial so if you have a dedicated DAC/amp use it in order to bring the best out of it.

A hard case is available separately, so if you want one there is one specifically designed for the Pro X series, which is available on Amazon.

CONCLUSION:

The only two complaints I have on the DT 900 Pro X for me is comfort could be a bit better (if the cups would swivel just a tiny bit more it would be perfect)
and the boost at 6.1kHz which can be annoying at times when listening at high volumes without EQ.
After about 2 weeks of use, I can say the comfort is very good and the headphones definetely feels a lot more comfortable than in the beginning.

Overall, if you want neutral sound, large soundstage, easy to drive and comfortable, this is one is worth considering.
This is especially true if you want an open-back design, since most will have a dip in the sub-bass region.
Apart from this, the 900 Pro X is a headphone that's made to last and be repairable, something you don't see on the vast majority of headphones out there.
I'm the kind who like to keep headphones for a long time, so the fact that I can get parts to repair it when it breaks is a big plus as on many other pairs even
basic maintenance items like new pads can only be found aftermarket (if at all).
Unlike many of its predecessors, the DT 900 Pro X can be used for listening to and enjoying music, even without EQ.
At this price point, there are not many open back options to choose from and this is one of the best in my opinion.
There are of course planar magnetic ones like the Hifiman Sundara, but these are not as neutral (lacking deep bass) and are also harder to drive.
Not to mention the build quality and included cables are nowhere near as good on the Hifiman.
In fact this Beyerdynamic is one of the few headphones on which the original cable is so good that I prefer it to aftermarket ones.
Last edited:
CT007
CT007
The treble of 900 was too much, so 700 was the easy choice for me. 700 sounds so nice, like it's not even a Beyer product..!

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very clean sound, comfortable, can handle high SPL without any hint of distorsion, very good build quality
Cons: Relatively hard to drive, needs EQ to sound neutral, leather cushions and headband will deteriorate and genuine ones are not available
Main reason that I bought the pair was the very low THD figures in audiosciencereview review. Usually, the THD in bass is pretty high and will go even higher if you listen loud.
For example, on something like Senheiser HD5xx or HD6xx, I can hear the distorsion if I listen to loud levels.
If I am to boost the bass on the above mentioned (as both lack sub-bass), the distorsion would become audible even
earlier. And on those even at medium levels, the bass in not as clean as on the Oppo PM-3.

Initially my expectations were very high in regard to this headphone.
Most reviews said they're very easy to drive and sound fantastic. While they do sound fantastic (with EQ), they're certainly not very easy to drive as you will see below.

HOW EASY THEY ARE TO DRIVE:
For me, easy to drive means they can be driven at fairly loud levels from pretty much anything, including a phone/dongle.
That is clearly not the case: these pair will require a fair amount of power to be driven loud. And while they can be driven at low to moderate volumes by pretty much everything, you will definetely need a DAC/amp for these if you want to go above moderate SPL levels.
While there are headphones that are much harder to drive out there (like the 120Ω HD560S, the 300Ω HD6xx and the 470Ω AudioTechnica R-70x among others), something like the SONY MDR-1AM2 is significantly easier to drive. That's why I want to put this in context.
That said, most DAC/amps and DAPs with decent power output (like 200mW RMS or more) will be able to drive these without an issue.

COMFORT:
Despite the PM3 have a pretty high clamp force, they're very comfortable and can be worn for many hours without fatigue.
The original leather is very breatheable, you won't get hot or sweat unless the environment is very hot.
One of the best leather ones that I've tried, however there's also a big downside to this: genuine pads are very expensive to buy (if you can find them at all), while the headband itself cannot be found.
The headband can be repaired with the right materials as it's only clipped on (I have the limited edition version). When I will repair it, I intend to replace the material with something velour-like which will last a lot longer.
Problem is velour will be of a different color, typically black so you will have to accept the looks as they are.
When buying these, do keep in mind that leather will wear sooner or later and you will have to find a replacement.
I have ordered a pair of black velour pads for future use, but they have not arrived yet. I will update the review if I find those pads to be a suitable replacement for my taste. Velour pads will likely attenuate the bass, requiring less EQ.
Also do keep in mind that most aftermarket pads are not as high quality as the original.
This is by far the biggest disadvantage of the Oppo PM3.

SOUND QUALITY:
The sound quality on these is exceptional: they sound good and clean even without EQ, but depending on how certain tracks are mastered you will hear too much boomines (due to very elevated upper bass) and a bit muffled lower treble.
To my ears they sound the best when you apply EQ to them, as this way you will benefit from both a very low THD and a frequency response that's very very close to the Harman curve.
Overall I would rate the sound quality a 5/5 with EQ and a 4/5 without EQ. This means that while it can be used without EQ and it can even be beneficial on tracks that have less bass than normal due to poor mastering, using EQ will make this headphone sound neutral and without any coloration.
Contrary to what another review has said, this headphones are not neutral without EQ: the upper bass is quite too boomy,
while the lower treble does sound a bit muffled (both show up on measurements).

It is also to be mentioned that neutral ≠ flat frequency response. Neutral means that the frequency response that we perceive audibly is flat and that is obtained by the Harman curve (which is not flat) because the head transfer function
is not a linear one.

Overall, this is one of my favourite pair of closed-backs due to very good comfort combined with top sound quality and a relatively standard cable. The big downside is these are no longer made and aftermarket pads are not of the same quality. Given these have quite a following, maybe we'll see better pads and even headbands in the future.
I recommend getting the Oppo PM-3 if you have no problem with using EQ and if you find a pair that has the original leather still in good condition. Then be prepared to replace pads and repair the headband.
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: yvfed1 and Hark01
electronicsdesign
electronicsdesign
It is indeed a shame they did not continue, but unfortunately the demand for wired headphones has dropped.
These were made as consumer headphones at the time, since they came with cable that had a mic on it.
Now wired headphones are not as popular in the consumer market as they used to be before 2016.

As for pads and headband, yes there are solutions.
I have tried a few myself and the closest one to the original seems to be the one mentioned in the comment below.
electronicsdesign
electronicsdesign
I want to give some updates in regard to the pads.
After trying a set of pads which I didn't like at all, I decided to order the YDYBZB ones from Amazon given the article here:
https://www.audioreviews.org/oppo-pm-3-ydybzb-pad-replacement-guide/.
On Amazon the seller has both black and white pads, but only the description of the black states to be made of sheepskin leather,
so I decided to order both and compare.
The difference in price would also suggest only the black one is made of leather, but in practice both look to be of good quality.

I'm happy to say that the YDYBZB pads don't change the frequency response in a significant way.
In terms of comfort, it's also very similar to the original maybe even a bit more comfortable.
The feel of the leather itself is not the same, the original one had a certain unique texture while the YDYBZB one has a much smoother texture.
  • Like
Reactions: yvfed1
S
StokeNewingtonJohn
I thought I’d bought the very last new pair about 18 months ago but then this pair popped up on eBay today. Snap ‘em up without hesitation. Even when you have exceptional headphones many times the price (my others are ZMF ACs and Quad Era-1s) the PM-3s remain something truly special and you’ll always go back to them.

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very comfortable, neutral sound, large soundstage
Cons: Relatively hard to drive, can't handle very high SPL without distorsion (especially when EQ is used)
Before buying this HD560S, I was wondering which one to choose between this and HD600. If one is to look only at subjective reviews, it seems the HD600 is the winner by far, however things start to get confusing when one looks at the measurements and specifications.

1. The HD600 has significantly more distorsion in the bass region, while also having less bass to begin with. This means one thing: if you will listen to bass heavy songs, you are more likely to need EQ compared to the 560S, which will render the bass distorsion even higher.
Since I do listen to bass heavy songs (and also listen loud), this was a red flag for me. If you only listen at low to medium volumes it's not a concern.
2. Many people say the HD600 has a much narrower soundstage, creating the feeling that music is at the center of your head. To my ears, this seems to be the case.
Another red flag, as being open back I do expect a large soundstage. For many it's probably not a deal breaker, but there is a noticeable difference between the 2.
3. The HD600 uses yet another custom cable, meaning if you already have aftermarket cables for the 5xx series, they won't work on the 6xx series. I also prefer the cable to connect only to one of the cups, not to both (as it the case in HD600). This is not a big deal, but if you sum it up, it starts to become yet another minus.
Of course owning both pairs is the best thing to do at the end of day, the above aspects being mentioned for those who want to choose one or the other.
4. The HD600 is harder to drive at 300Ω, really requiring an amplifier and possibly a custom balanced cable. While the HD560S is relatively hard to drive at 120Ω, the difference is significant between the two.

The biggest pro about this pair is the frequency response which is very close to neutral (Harman curve), except in the bass region and above 5kHz. This means you can use them without any EQ and still obtain very good results. After all, bass response is very good above 100Hz (and decent between 50 and 100Hz) and the tad higher brightness given by elevated treble is not really that big of a problem in practice unless you listen really loud.
This is an important aspect in my opinion, hence many Senheiser headphones have way more coloured sound.
I have not used EQ on this headphones and use it on a regular basis.

Soundstage is wide, certainly better than the lower end models (like HD559) and even HD600.
With these you will get an experience closer to when listening to speakers and a more holographic sound.

Another very big pro (which is shared by all 5xx and 6xx models) is comfort: the velour pads and large oval shaped cups make them sit around your ear, instead of touching the ear lobe. The velour material lets your ear breathe so they won't get hot even after hours of listening.
At this aspect they beat even Beyerdynamic headphones, which despite having velour pads as well, they have smaller cups, higher clamping force and the cups don't swivel as much as Senheisers.

Build quality is good for the price, only issue is headband will likely need to be re-glued at some point (I used gel-type super glue).
Construction is all plastic, but it doesn't creak and for the price quality is within expectations.
It is light weight, clamping force is higher than others but not what I would consider an issue. You will definetely feel it on your head, they're not feather light.

Another aspect to be mentioned is how it is to drive it. Contrary to what other reviews say, these headphones are relatively hard to drive,
which is to be expected given the 120Ω impedance.
It is also to be noted the impedance peaks at 244Ω around 60Hz, so not having enough power can give the impression the bass doesn't have enough impact.
Using a balanced cable on these is useful and they can be found on Aliexpress (Earmax ones).

It's important to note amp's power will drop with high impedance loads.
At the end of day, most DAPs or DAC/amps should be able to drive these fine, although on some you may need to crank the volume close the the max to obtain a loud SPL.
So do keep this in mind, as some phones/dongles may only drive it at medium levels.

Next, let me describe you the cable that comes in the box: while the cable itself is good quality, it's not good for everyday use because of 2 aspects: it's too long (3 meters) and it has a 6.3mm jack (it does come with 3.5mm adapter but it's too bulky for any practical use). For studio use or if you want to plug it into your HiFi system and listen while lying down in bed it's very good for that as it's long. For normal use however, I use the cables from Aliexpress: both 3.5mm and 4.4mm ones because they are significantly shorter (1.2-1.5meters) and also have the connectors that I use the most. You can see in the attachment below 2 of the cables I use.

EDIT: Seems Senheiser has updated the included cable to be an 1.8m with 3.5mm jack and a screw-on 6.3mm adapter which is much better for normal use.
However do note that most retailers still sell old stocks, so if you want the new version you must check your local retailer or buy directly from Senheiser.

A very nice headphone overall and one of the best Senheisers in this price bracket.
For me the biggest downside is distorsion at high SPL but that is typical to many dynamic drivers, especially when the driver itself is small.
While this is not going to be an issue in most usage scenarios, there is definetely a difference between the 560S and other headphones that is the main point.
For the money, it's one of the most budget friendly reference headphone and a pair definetely worth buying.

Attachments

  • Senheiser 5xx cables.jpg
    Senheiser 5xx cables.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 0
Last edited:
ericpalonen
ericpalonen
Thanks for your review! A note about the cable: it is indeed a "home-first" headphone instead of portable, so those looking to take it out and about will indeed want to look into a shorter cable as you mentioned. Most home users will want the ~10ft for some flexibility while in their favorite listening chair.
S
SlhDub
you must listen to music at ear shattering volume levels if you hear distortion on these, my laptop onboard audio drives them very well at around 70% volume. With a dongle if i push the volume more than 40/50% it gets uncomfortably loud for my ears.
electronicsdesign
electronicsdesign
Distorsion only becomes a problem if bass is boosted in EQ and one wants to listen at high volumes.
As for how easy it is to drive: some devices I use it on (including my phone) aren't able to drive these loud even with volume at 100%,
while the same devices can drive other headphones (ike the SONY MDR1-AM2) uncomfortably loud without even going to max.

electronicsdesign

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very clean sound, can handle high SPL without distorsion, sounds very good without EQ
Cons: Plasticky cheap feeling, creaks every time you put them on your head, cable is microphonic
First of all, it is to be mentioned I am not familiar with the old MSR7, so I cannot do a comparison with that.

I bought this pair of headphones for the very good reviews in terms of reference sound signature and for the balanced cable (it is the first one I got with balanced).

The first feeling that I got was the headphones do require quite a bit more power than the very easy to drive ones (like the SONY MDR1-AM2).
While it's not what I would call hard to drive, it's a pair where the balanced cable does make sense to be there, unlike the above mentioned SONYs on which I never used the balanced.
So if you have a DAC/amp with not so much output power but a balanced output, this would be the perfect scenario to use it.

Ok, so let's summarize the cons: what I do not like about the MSR7b is the cheap plasticky feel and the fact they creak every time you put them on your head.
I mean for the price, I expect more in terms of quality: the much cheaper Senheiser HD 559 is of much better build quality for example.
Then it's the cables and the cups themselves: every touch on the cable in heard inside the cups if there is no sound or you are listening to quiet passages.
I think it's both the cable that is microphonic and how the connectors are fixed into the cups (without any rubber) that cause this issue.
So replacing the cable with a better one is unlikely to solve the problem completely.

In terms of comfort, I find them very comfortable: light, cups are almost large enough to cover the enire ear, but just barely.
While I can listen to the MSR7b for hours without disconfort, the Senheiser HD5xx/6xx are clearly much better at this aspect.
Then it's the leather cushions: my ears do get hot when the ambient temperature is higher.
Again, at this aspect I prefer the velour pads in the Senheisers or Beyedynamics (which will also last a lot longer).
These leather items will degrade and while the pads are available, I have not seen the headband for sale.

I mention all of these aspects, as despite the sound is indeed very good, those minuses do matter a lot for me,
especially the creaking and relatively small cups for my ear (the lobe of my ear does slightly touch the cushion).
So my 4.5 stars rating is only because of the very good sound quality, as this clearly outweighs the cons.

Getting to the sound quality itself, this is one of the few headphones I feel sounds good and relatively flat without doing any EQ on it.
I especially like the bass on it, it feels very natural, with a lot of body and impact and quite the right amount.
I do listen to EDM and similar genres and do like how the MSR7b reproduces the bass on these genres,
despite some might want a bit more, especially in the sub-bass region.
They do sound a bit bright, especially at higher volumes, but that's pretty much the only region where I would EQ them a bit (lower treble region).

It's one of the few headphones I own where applying some pre-made EQ in Equalizer APO (from referenceaudioanalyzer) does produce
a worse result than no EQ, especially on the bass. This EQ has a -6.1dB on 139Hz, which makes the bass sound dull.
If I move that to 0dB, or even a bit above, the EQ suddenly becomes better than without EQ.

All in all, I do love these headphones and use them on a regular basis.
What I like the most is the very clean and crisp sound, a very good frequency response even without EQ (can be better with as mentioned above)
and the fact they can handle pretty high SPL without distorting (I like listening loud).
For the price (170euros at local retailer when writing), I think it's a pair definetely worth getting, despite the cons.
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Audi5000
Quadfather
Quadfather
I use a Lotoo Paw Gold Touch to power these balanced. It's 500mw/32ohms. They sound great on this source.
Back
Top