[Bitsir]

Looking for an answer: Does anyone know if the Avantone Planar can be driven well by the RNHP? Or is just merely an adequate pairing?

I'm mostly concerned about the power output of the RNHP which is something like 350mW into 44 Omhs. I do know that orthodynamics like power.

 

[dpump]

You won't get the full performance of the Avantone planar with the RNHP. For the best performance I recommend 1 watt or more just as Audeze used to recommend for their planars. You need power to control planar drivers regardless of what some say.

 

[mobbaddict]

Looking for an answer: Does anyone know if the Avantone Planar can be driven well by the RNHP? Or is just merely an adequate pairing?

I'm mostly concerned about the power output of the RNHP which is something like 350mW into 44 Omhs. I do know that orthodynamics like power.

Apparently it drives well many planars like the LCD-X despite the low power. Hifi-guides forums have tons of feedback on it. It's quite intriguing.

 

[Bitsir]

You won't get the full performance of the Avantone planar with the RNHP. For the best performance I recommend 1 watt or more just as Audeze used to recommend for their planars. You need power to control planar drivers regardless of what some say.

Yeah this is what I've heard. Dang, I better stick to dynamics then, for now.

 

[mobbaddict]

The real leather they use is not very thick and I imagine it’s similar to synthetic but my leather pads are not perforated and they definitely bloat the bass. I might mod the leather pads further and add my own perforations.

That might solve the bloat issue indeed

Did you have a look at ZMF section on pads? They have a terrific FAQ that explains most differences
https://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmfpads

"Natural materials like lambskin and cowhide have darker more "natural" timbre"
"To keep the frequency response as close as possible to the original headphone we suggest choose our earpad with the most alike dimensions of your headphone"
"The more airflow through the earpads the less bass "pressure" and earpad "room" pressure a headphone will have. This typically means less bass and a smoother bass to mids transition, but not always."

Sounds like good advice to find the right pads. One thing that bugs me with the stock pads of how small the cavity is. I'm sure this has an impact on the soundstage.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Guys, what is your best song choice for judging detail retrieval? I'm doing blind tests between the k5 pro and the E5 and I'm completely lost been the two There's just no point getting a THX amp if I mistake it with a 20$ portable amp. The Avantone sounds great with both.

Listen to the whole Tool Fear Inoculum album. If you want to judge the whole sound performance such as, soundstage, transients, bass attack and detail. Instrument separation, dynamics, vocal work. And ultimately detail. Detail is split into two categories for me. There is micro detail, then there is nuance which I say is the echoes or reverbs you hear, the shifts in one bass note from slight volume changes or panning left and right. That album has a lot of it. The Planar made that album for me a true experience

 

[Heldaeus]

@mobbaddict I like anything by Olafur Arnalds

 

[mobbaddict]

I will give it a go, thanks you guys

 

[mobbaddict]

Listen to the whole Tool Fear Inoculum album. If you want to judge the whole sound performance such as, soundstage, transients, bass attack and detail. Instrument separation, dynamics, vocal work. And ultimately detail. Detail is split into two categories for me. There is micro detail, then there is nuance which I say is the echoes or reverbs you hear, the shifts in one bass note from slight volume changes or panning left and right. That album has a lot of it. The Planar made that album for me a true experience

Nuance as you call it is what I love about live recordings. Hearing the noise of hands playing instruments, of a breathe, of the someone whispering in the audience
The Avantone gives me enough clarity to call it transparent with live recording. I can't say the same thing about the HD600 for instance despite the very similar tonality. I'm gonna get some zmf pads to see how we can improve that again
Too bad Vesper doesn't do the perforation thing, I think it's a must for leather (just a simple deduction based on what I read and watched).

 

[Heldaeus]

In modifying the leather pads to have perforations on the inner cavity I can attest that transient sounds are more crispy. I think this mod lifts the 4.5-5.5kHz valley.

This makes me interested in seeing if the same improvement can be had by modding the velour pads. If so and the rest of the FR is left untouched then we've got a REAL winner here in terms of pads.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the 1.3kHz resonance/distortion spike was the cleanest I've ever heard it with this mod.

 

[mobbaddict]

In modifying the leather pads to have perforations on the inner cavity I can attest that transient sounds are more crispy. I think this mod lifts the 4.5-5.5kHz valley.

This makes me interested in seeing if the same improvement can be had by modding the velour pads. If so and the rest of the FR is left untouched then we've got a REAL winner here in terms of pads.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the 1.3kHz resonance/distortion spike was the cleanest I've ever heard it with this mod.

Nice! How did you make the holes, and how big ?
I've seen perforated suede pads (by zmf for instance) but velour ones never. Velour might be less prone to reflections in the first place.

 

[Heldaeus]

Nice! How did you make the holes, and how big ?
I've seen perforated suede pads (by zmf for instance) but velour ones never. Velour might be less prone to reflections in the first place.

I used a push tack plus a hobby knife and just made puncture holes.

 

[KCXT]

Nuance as you call it is what I love about live recordings. Hearing the noise of hands playing instruments, of a breathe, of the someone whispering in the audience
The Avantone gives me enough clarity to call it transparent with live recording. I can't say the same thing about the HD600 for instance despite the very similar tonality. I'm gonna get some zmf pads to see how we can improve that again
Too bad Vesper doesn't do the perforation thing, I think it's a must for leather (just a simple deduction based on what I read and watched).

"Where the River Flows" by Collective Soul has one of the most unique soundstaging I've heard. For example, the snare and certain percussion come solely from the left but you can hear their echo/a coordinated effect in the right channel. The vocalist is centered for verses but the certain harmonies/call response elements and parts of the chorus come strictly left or right. It's worth a listen.

 

[mobbaddict]

"Where the River Flows" by Collective Soul has one of the most unique soundstaging I've heard. For example, the snare and certain percussion come solely from the left but you can hear their echo/a coordinated effect in the right channel. The vocalist is centered for verses but the certain harmonies/call response elements and parts of the chorus come strictly left or right. It's worth a listen.

Nice and clean soundstage, thanks for the suggestion

One of my benchmark tracks with the planars is called "Bluchanga" by Joao Donato. It's a sweet bossa nova song with super lush piano and other various instruments (the trumpet!), it is superb with a headphone like the Avantone.

 

[smorgar]

Here are some tracks I use to test the bass response. Its mostly electronic music with different flavors of bass. Some real deep, some more hard punching, some very nice textured and some very smooth:


Here are some tracks I think the Planars does very very well: