[Jman841]

Question, what's the purpose of the running the Planar's with a two ended cable vs. just one side?

Is this simply for comfort/preference or is there any difference to the sound running single sided vs. double sided?

 

[Heldaeus]

Question, what's the purpose of the running the Planar's with a two ended cable vs. just one side?

Is this simply for comfort/preference or is there any difference to the sound running single sided vs. double sided?

Right now it’s just preference. I plan on doing a balanced mod someday and then I’ll have to use the double sided cable.

 

[Mink]

I had the same question somewhere in this thread. But 'preference' I don't get? How could anyone prefer the two ended cable over the one ended? I don't see any benefits?

 

[Heldaeus]

I had the same question somewhere in this thread. But 'preference' I don't get? How could anyone prefer the two ended cable over the one ended? I don't see any benefits?

I prefer the double ended cable simply because of aesthetics and in my mind (irrationally so) the double ended means less compromises

 

[Heldaeus]

Got my Planar yesterday, def need some time with it but first impressions are 1.This thing is massive. It's comfortable but heavy for sure and looks massive on my head. 2. The sound is excellent and it's well tuned, compared with my Sundara I find it to be very similar to the Sundara after EQ. In terms of detail, clarity and resolution the two are neck and neck, the Sundara needs EQ though where this is tuned better out of the box (Although still benefits from a bass to sub-bass EQ Shelf). Soundstage seems to be a hair wider on the Sundara and comfort goes to the Sundara by far for longer use (After 30 min with the Planar my neck was feeling tired)

Initial impressions vs. the S4x, the S4x is extremely intimate, it feels like a closed back headphone to me and putting your hands over the ear cups does not change the sound at all compared with the other two. Details are very good on the S4x and stock tuning is nice, you can def hear the treble dips, but this makes it very relaxing and easy to listen to. Oh, and this is probably one of the easiest to drive headphones I've ever used. My Tinhifi T2 Plus IEM's are easier to drive than these.

I'm using a Fiio K5 Pro to drive all 3 of these and a mix of FLAK files and Amazon Music desktop app. Tested a wide variety of music types but def need a lot more time with these before deciding. With that said, i'm pretty sure I won't end up keeping the planar due to its size and weight as I wear my headphones for 5-8 hours a day.

Edit: One thing I forgot to add, in terms of drivability, these 3 are almost perfect for the K5 Pro. The gain switch has 3 positions on the K5 pro, the lowest gain switch works perfect for the S4x, the Middle switch works perfect for the Planar and the top gain switch is perfect for the Sundara. I can keep it at the 12 O'Clock position and just switch between gain settings and it's nearly perfect.

Check the tightness of the screws on the yokes where the headband attaches. The right side of my unit was looser than the left side and that caused the clamping pressure to be weaker. Once I tightened the screw the clamping pressure supported the headphone a little bit more. If you have this same problem this fix might improve the comfort for you.

 

[Jman841]

Check the tightness of the screws on the yokes where the headband attaches. The right side of my unit was looser than the left side and that caused the clamping pressure to be weaker. Once I tightened the screw the clamping pressure supported the headphone a little bit more. If you have this same problem this fix might improve the comfort for you.

It's tight, they are comfortable, no issues with that, just fatiguing on my neck after a bit of time compared with lighter headphones and the head band is way above my head. I usually use the shortest setting on all headphones so with my head the metal band sits really high.

Right now I am leaning towards these to keep though, 5 year warranty, excellent tuning and sound, moderately easy to drive.

 

[Heldaeus]

Unrelated to the above posts...

So, the peak that I'm hearing around 1kHz seems to only appear when the pads become compressed which makes sense as their acoustic impedance is increased relative to changes in density. But, I'm also thinking since this peak is most likely an artifact of the shape of my pinna that proximity to the baffle could be the cause. In John Mayer's "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye" when he reaches the chorus and on the downbeat of "all" is when I'm hearing the peakiness of this headphone. I do believe there is some natural energy to these notes but I do hear a reduction in that energy when I slightly pull the cups apart, allowing the pads to de-compress.

Just now I used MathEQ to analyze the frequency spectrum and the worst peak is at 1.3kHz. I've corrected for it and now I'm not hearing the peakiness but more so the natural energy of the notes I mentioned above.

 

[Jman841]

Has anybody done frequency measurements of this headphone on a rig with an ear simulator?

 

[Heldaeus]

Has anybody done frequency measurements of this headphone on a rig with an ear simulator?

Apparently there's a pair being sent over to Oratory1990 right now. I have no clue when they'll arrive but he says it takes about a week to finish the measurements so I'm hoping they showed up a week ago lol

I know someone shared some E.A.R.S. measurements over on headphones.com. Someone else shared that post here a few pages back I think.

 

[Mink]

Unrelated to the above posts...

So, the peak that I'm hearing around 1kHz seems to only appear when the pads become compressed which makes sense as their acoustic impedance is increased relative to changes in density. But, I'm also thinking since this peak is most likely an artifact of the shape of my pinna that proximity to the baffle could be the cause. In John Mayer's "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye" when he reaches the chorus and on the downbeat of "all" is when I'm hearing the peakiness of this headphone. I do believe there is some natural energy to these notes but I do hear a reduction in that energy when I slightly pull the cups apart, allowing the pads to de-compress.

Just now I used MathEQ to analyze the frequency spectrum and the worst peak is at 1.3kHz. I've corrected for it and now I'm not hearing the peakiness but more so the natural energy of the notes I mentioned above.

So I was not imagining this, I noticed this as well. It is not that bad with most music, but my ears are rather sensitive in that particular range, 1-4 Khz. I have posted the following a couple of day ago:

...
The Planars seem to have a peak around 1-2 Khz (or maybe this is the 1st pair that is dead neutral in that range?) which can make instrumental/classical music sound a bit tinny. Well at least their timbre is somewhat off in comparison with the Fidelio X3s (which have a dip around 1-2K) and the HD650s.
With pop and vocal heavy music the Planars appear to be the smoothest headphones I ever heard, with classical however they can sound a bit weird, not shouty, nor really tinny, but just less controlled, and with these I don't mean in a dynamical way, but regarding resonance.

 

[SethMB]

Right now it’s just preference. I plan on doing a balanced mod someday and then I’ll have to use the double sided cable.

for personal use, there single sided cable is the correct way to go. The y cable is for when two users of planars are using an interface with a single headphone out. Part of
Avantones studio background. There is no reason to wire both sides of the planars with the two ends of the y cable since both sides are wired in parallel.

 

[Heldaeus]

So I was not imagining this, I noticed this as well. It is not that bad with most music, but my ears are rather sensitive in that particular range, 1-4 Khz. I have posted the following a couple of day ago:

Perhaps this is a seal issue instead. I've found a position on my head that works pretty nicely where I'd say 95% of the pad surface is touching my skin and the peakiness is calmed.

Yeah, these headphones are kind of seal dependent. I wish more companies made contoured pads. I can actually turn the volume knob past 12 o'clock now on the K5 Pro, high gain.

 

[Heldaeus]

for personal use, there single sided cable is the correct way to go. The y cable is for when two users of planars are using an interface with a single headphone out. Part of
Avantones studio background. There is no reason to wire both sides of the planars with the two ends of the y cable since both sides are wired in parallel.

That makes alot of sense. Thanks for clarifying

 

[Jman841]

Perhaps this is a seal issue instead. I've found a position on my head that works pretty nicely where I'd say 95% of the pad surface is touching my skin and the peakiness is calmed.

Yeah, these headphones are kind of seal dependent. I wish more companies made contoured pads. I can actually turn the volume knob past 12 o'clock now on the K5 Pro, high gain.

Wow, that's really loud. I usually run them on the middle gain setting around the 12 o'clock position and it's very loud.

 

[Mink]

I never have to turn the volume any louder than 11 o'clock. For the majority of music and videos 9-10 o'clock is loud enough. This applies to all my headphones.