[Bitsir]

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:

Is the bass of the Planar more towards airy and nimble or thick and dense?

Like my preference for bass is a bass that sort of pressurizes your ear yet is tight and snappy.

 

[Heldaeus]

Is the bass of the Planar more towards airy and nimble or thick and dense?

Like my preference for bass is a bass that sort of pressurizes your ear yet is tight and snappy.

It’s more on the dense side of things but is still moderately fast. If you want that pressure feeling you need to seal the pads to the baffle.

 

[mobbaddict]

I think the bass is one of the things that can be improved with better pads. I can definitely hear some minor midbass bump with the stock pads but it gets cleaner with my pleather pads. Similar to how electrostats do bass but with more reach in the low frequencies and a more tactile feeling. It's still a very airy headphone.

 

[Bitsir]

I'm so confused by Max Settings review of these on Youtube.
Is it agreed upon that his review unit was a faulty one?

 

[mobbaddict]

I'm so confused by Max Settings review of these on Youtube.
Is it agreed upon that his review unit was a faulty one?

Hard to say. He doesn't say it's a terrible headphone either so I doubt it's broken. I'm watching the video again, he did mention "treble all over the place" which doesn't make any sense to me. Out of the box this is a darker headphone then the typical Sennheiser sound. I can understand his view on soundstage retrospectively but this is where earpads with a wider cavity help a lot.

 

[Heldaeus]

I'm so confused by Max Settings review of these on Youtube.
Is it agreed upon that his review unit was a faulty one?

He probably removed the pads then reattached them poorly. Every issue he described seemed like a seal issue.

 

[Herwet]

Impressions of my newly bought Avantone Pro "Planar"

My equipment - Amp: Benchmark HPA4, DAC: PS Audio Directstream Junior.

I am blown away by this headphones sound quality. I was hoping to get an improvement from my Beyerdynamic T1 (gen 1), but got something I found to be much much better. I now suspect it is better than many headphones regardless of price. In many reviews I have listened to and read I have noticed they only compare headphones in the same price range but in this case I think it is motivated to compare with all headphones.

When I listened I compared to my Beyerdynamic T1, Pioneer SE-MASTER1 and Audiotechnica R70x. And also with Focal Clear, Sennheiser HD800, Audeze LCD 2 but from what I remember when using them. Take my impressions with a grain of salt since I am just a human with my subjective impressions. Worth knowing is that I strive to buy gear that reproduces the music as natural as possible. I care less about getting certain sound characteristics, V-shape, lots of bass or treble etc etc... natural is what counts for me...

The sound from this headphone is to me as...
- Very neutral and natural. I hear no V-shape or other unnatural characteristics.
- The bass is fast, precise and not overdone or the opposite, just right!
- The midrange is wonnnderful. One is there with the vocalists and can hear the slightest nuance.
- The treble is airy and smooth. It manages to stay clean and undistorted in intense strong treble passages.
- The imaging of instruments and voices is quite on the spot. No problem distinguishing various nuances, instruments and persons voices.
- The soundstage and depth is quite good and a bit like headphones are, it is there but more around you than in front of you. I believe it takes a headphone with the drivers hanging a bit in front of the ears to be able to hear depth in front of you, as from speakers.
- The tone of instruments and voices is quite nuanced and rich. No sense of veil.
- The timbre is there but not overdone as can easily be in dynamic headphones. Precise as good planars can reproduce it.
- All-in-all: Precise, fast, nuanced, dynamic, tone rich, alive, undistorted, clean, relaxed, no harshness or veil whatsoever and natural before all.

I think these are a real catch even compared to overpriced headphones on the market that are several times the price. I am not even sure I would choose any others of the overpriced ones even if they had the same low/mid price (450 $). At first I wondered if all the good reviews were just a hype, but have learned they have substance.

Without getting into details, the build is good but has weaknesses. But since it is built in such a simple and sturdy way as it is, you can repair them yourself if something breaks. I don´t worry about it in other words, I actually like it this way. I have already made some simple improvements for a cheap price.

 

[Heldaeus]

The impedance of the Planar is actually 18 ohms.

 

[Herwet]

Here you get a build modification that cost only a few dollars and was made in few minutes.

The Planars are sturdy built but one weakness is that the earcup yoke wiggles from side to side where it is screwed to the head metal band (see red arrow in picture). This makes the phones feel a bit unstable. I suspect it is also a reason to why the screw can unscrew, as have been commented by another user in this thread.

Go to a handycraft store and buy selfadhesive plastic sheet in black color. The one I bought came in a roll. Cut about 6 pieces of 5 * 5 cm wide and stick them together using the selfadhesive side. With a thickness of about 1 mm you cut 4 pieces of about 8 * 15 mm. Then just unscrew the screw that keeps the earcup yoke attached to the metal headband. Remove the protective piece of paper and stick these pieces to the headband metal surface (see red arrow), two pieces to each earcup. One piece on each side of the screw hole. You can also stick it to the earcup yoke metal surface but I suspect it is better to use the headband metal surface.

The wiggle stops, it feels more sturdy and professional and I have so far had no screw come loose.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Here you get a build modification that cost only a few dollars and was made in few minutes.

The Planars are sturdy built but one weakness is that the earcup yoke wiggles from side to side where it is screwed to the head metal band (see red arrow in picture). This makes the phones feel a bit unstable. I suspect it is also a reason to why the screw can unscrew, as have been commented by another user in this thread.

Go to a handycraft store and buy selfadhesive plastic sheet in black color. The one I bought came in a roll. Cut about 6 pieces of 5 * 5 cm wide and stick them together using the selfadhesive side. With a thickness of about 1 mm you cut 4 pieces of about 8 * 15 mm. Then just unscrew the screw that keeps the earcup yoke attached to the metal headband. Remove the protective piece of paper and stick these pieces to the headband metal surface (see red arrow), two pieces to each earcup. One piece on each side of the screw hole. You can also stick it to the earcup yoke metal surface but I suspect it is better to use the headband metal surface.

The wiggle stops, it feels more sturdy and professional and I have so far had no screw come loose.

I did this too, but used some extra strong black electrical tape. It worked a charm, extremely easy mod

 

[smorgar]

I did this too, but used some extra strong black electrical tape. It worked a charm, extremely easy mod

This little mod improves the stability and the unscrewing of the screws. Since I did the mod a few months ago I have had no problem with the screws unscrewing. Should be done in factory imo but until then we have to do it ourselves
I think a thin nylon mouse skate would be the best for longevity and "performance".

 

[alvarg]

My current EQ for the avantone planar, really lifts that veil and give the bass more authority, will add, these planars need lots of power to perform

you can tell these have a very neutral treble because boosting this much on any other headphone even veiled sounding ones would reveal huge peaks or issues, but the avantones still sound smooth just clearer

 

[mobbaddict]

My current EQ for the avantone planar, really lifts that veil and give the bass more authority, will add, these planars need lots of power to perform

you can tell these have a very neutral treble because boosting this much on any other headphone even veiled sounding ones would reveal huge peaks or issues, but the avantones still sound smooth just clearer

How much power are you talking about exactly?
To my ears 100mw versus 1 full watt doesn't make much of a difference with the Planar.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

How much power are you talking about exactly?
To my ears 100mw versus 1 full watt doesn't make much of a difference with the Planar.

Well if the Avantone isn't 32 ohms but 18ohms. That means I am nearly pumping 6 Watts of power into them. I do hear a significant difference going from the SMSL M500 which outputs 500mw which still drives the Planar nicely but switching to the SH-9 dynamics, detail, air, soundstage, basically everything improves. It could just be the better components of the SH9 or more power. But I do hear a great difference. It's weird going back to the M500 alone. And the more I keep listening to the Planar, the much more it sounds closer to the LCD-X. Extremely similar in performance but the Planar being much more mature. I could call the Planar, the LCD-X MKII

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Been listening to alot of Fatboy Slim lately, and the Planar just keeps impressing me more and more with that low end. It's just too goood