How’s the sound leak on them?
Avantone : Pro Planar
- Thread starter FullBright1
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Retro Plus
New Head-Fier
They leak sound heavily because they're fully open back, and planars project the sound on both sides (earcup and outwards)
What's going on in your profile picture? Are those wood closed backs?
Retro Plus
New Head-Fier
It's a mock-up of what closed back planars with walnut covers would look like, a 3D render.
The original Clears are some of my favorite headphones, so a more direct comparison regarding how you like the vocals, bass, mids, treble and staging would be welcome!
I'd love to see a more detailed comparison with the R70X, and the Harmonic Dyne Zeus, since you own them? I own the R70X and like them but an upgrade would be nice, and so I was looking at both the Zeus and Planar.
@Mink woukd appreciate your insight on the R70X as well, since you own them and how they compare! The tonality is really good overall
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Mink
Headphoneus Supremus
Sorry, I don't own the R70Xs yet, I think you're referring to a post in where I was considering buying them?
Sorry, yes. I assumed you did. Apologies!
I purchased a second pair recently and they're very nice. However as nice as the tonality is, coming off Elex I do miss some of those technicalities. They did sound kind of steely and cold, however. A middle neutral ground would be a good thing to have. The Planar seems like it might be exactly it.
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plmon
100+ Head-Fier
I've had all three, so I can give a bit of insight. Is there anything specific you want to know between them?
I'd appreciate it!
Overall smoothness, extension (in terms of bass and treble), dynamics, sibilance (and general female vocal performance), timbre and imaging are things that are important to me.
I own the R70X so can reference to it, but I am not usre how accurate the reviews portray the Zeus and the Planar.
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plmon
100+ Head-Fier
So I'll start off with broad comparisons and then get into more specific details.
In terms of technical performance, I'd say it's something like Avantone > Zeus > R70X. But the gap is not so wide that I'd say they're in different tiers. I don't consider any of them to be upgrades of each other, except maybe the Avantone being a slight upgrade because of the planar advantage.
In terms of tonality, the Zeus has a decently V-shaped sound with a lot of warmth and bloom to it. The R70X is pretty much neutral while the Avantone is the darkest of the three headphones, but still within range of what I'd say is the dark side of neutral.
Out of the three, the Zeus is the most different sounding headphone. That V-shaped tonality is very exciting to listen to and "grand" in a way. The bass elevation is more in the midbass, so it's harder to make out the subbass here compared to the other two headphones. It's also not a very hard-hitting headphone in terms of slam, the bass is more like a wave than a precise punch. But this gives vocals and instruments a lot of power and body behind them. When I go from the Zeus to other headphones, they sound a bit "small" until I get used to the sound again.
But despite the bloom, the Zeus somehow maintains good clarity without sounding unnatural. The treble is a bit spicy though, I find it borders on being sharp and edgy at times. Nowhere near as bad as a Beyer, but it isn't as smooth as the R70X. It's also surprisingly fast for a warm headphone, I think faster than the R70X, sounds are tight and well-separated even during busy passages.
The soundstage isn't particularly large, but it is more spacious sounding than the Avantone or the R70X imo. The imaging is also pretty good, though I think the R70X is still a bit more precise there.
For female vocals...I don't think the Zeus is the best choice. That bloom and warmth kind of makes female vocals sound a bit too "thick" for me, robbing some of the delicate touch they can have. And despite vocals having good presence and clarity, the elevated bass and treble still takes some focus away from them.
Now moving onto the Avantone, this is a darker headphone. It rolls-off in the treble more than the others and that gives the sound a "veiled" quality to it. Things like drum hits, cymbals, synths, etc sound blunted and rounded-off. There's no snap or edge to them and it's harder to make them out in the background. But on the other hand, there's zero sibilance and the shape of the upper mids/lower treble is pretty good. So you still have good clarity and presence in stuff like female vocals and strings, they're just a little less "in-your-face" than the R70X or Zeus.
The bass is pretty good on the Avantone, you can make out more information and texture there than on the Zeus or the R70X. However, for my ears, there's still some subbass roll-off on the Avantone, though I think I'm just not getting a great seal with the velour earpads. I found that the R70X had a little more rumble and physicality to it.
The Avantone is less fatiguing than the Zeus, but I wouldn't say it's "smoother" than the R70X, despite sounding darker. The reason is because I find the R70X has a kind of Sennheiser-ish presentation, where sounds seem to blend a bit into each other. It's not muddy or congested, but it's easy and pleasant to listen to. The Avantone has some of that blended quality, but it still retains some dryness from that tight, well-separated planar sound. So while it's smoother-sounding than other planars, it's not to the extent I'd sit back and relax to it.
For soundstage, I'd say the Avantone is a bit smaller than the R70X. But it was hard to tell sometimes because both had great imaging that kind of changed depending on the mix. But the Avantone still has the more precise imaging imo, for music at least. Sounds are layered so well that you can always tell them apart even if the music becomes a wall of sound. And "distance" especially is something the Avantone does really well, it's surprisingly easy to tell how forward or distant a voice is compared to other heapdhones I've heard.
For female vocals, the Avantone is better than the Zeus. Because the shape of the upper mids is good, there's still plenty of clarity and presence to female vocals. I find the midrange resolution on the Avantone is also quite good, so vocals and instruments have great texture. Combined with the excellent imaging and that slightly "blended" quality, vocals and instruments have a "lifelike" quality to them. But the timbre is still a bit off due to the darker tonality. For vocals in particular, I also hear a bit of a honk that makes them sound a touch grainy.
But without EQ, the R70X still sounds better with female vocals because it has that additional clarity and sparkle the Avantone lacks. With EQ, I think the Avantone edges out due to its more "realistic" presentation (though I think the R70X will still be a smoother listen).
Wow, thank you so much for such detailed impressions! I really appreciate it.
So purely in terms of vocal smoothness, linearity and presence, is it pretty much R70X = Planar > Zeus?
The texture on the R70X is pretty good, but sounds a little overly airy sometimes, a touch on the ethereal, lighter side, lacking a bit of tactility. I watch a lot of anime (learning the language) and so spoken dialogue needs to sound natural. Seems like someone who's more sensitive to sibilance, like myself, might want to stay away from the Zeus
The R70X is a great all-rounder for sure; it's interesting you mention graininess on the Planar as some people describe the R70X as grainy. I don't hear it myself though.
In terms of being good all-rounders, is it correct to assume that the R70X and Planar work for the majority of styles, whereas the Zeus is more picky?
I felt that way with the Elex. It sounded wonderful with some things, but less so with others. The clarity and overall dynamics were excellent, and the R70X sounded veiled in comparison, but the Elex kind of took the soul away from music for me. The female vocals and strings sounded cold and steely, though admittedly exquisitely detailed and alive. The R70X is just so musical in comparison though, so well tuned... once I've adjusted, I don't miss the Focals, but I can admire their technicality for sure.
That said, the quality of the female and male vocals sometimes feel a little hmm, strained? Like, despite the tonality, the drivers can't quite resolve enough. Maybe it is slightly grainy in that regard. But instruments don't really have that problem; pianos and strings sound wonderful. I wonder whether the Planar or Zeus resolve vocals a little better, though it seems with the Zeus, the tonality would stray too far away, while the Planar is closer, as you pointed out.
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plmon
100+ Head-Fier
Yeah, pretty much. The R70X and Planar are a step-up for vocals over the Zeus. And yeah, if you're more sensitive to parts of the treble, Zeus wouldn't be a safe bet.
For my "grainy" comment, I'm not sure if it's the same thing as what other reviewers are talking about as I usually hear them use it in reference to the treble. I was just kind of trying to describe the texture it adds to the sound. If you want to hear what I mean, open up an EQ and try bumping up the 1-2khz areas and see what it does to female vocals. It's not extreme, but there's just a slight hint of it in the Avantone's stock tonality.
In terms of all-roundedness, I'd say R70X > Planar > Zeus. Zeus is definitely more picky, I actually like to use it more with orchestral stuff. The Planar is less versatile than the R70X just because its tonality is darker. Like I said, this makes some instruments sound blunted and too hard to make out if they're in the background. But if you EQ, yeah the Planar works for all sorts of music.
I'd say the Planar resolves better there. The Zeus has more presence and clarity in the vocal regions than the Planar's stock tonality, but the Planar still manages to have better texture and detail with the vocals. And that imaging presentation is pretty unique, I've heard very few headphones that can precisely place vocals like the Planar does.
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I haven't listened to either in a few months but the Clear OG is in an entirely different class from the Planar, both in price and performance. The Avantone Planar is what others have described here, a dark-neutral planar. I don't find it as detailed as the Clear OG and it lacks the Clear's macrodynamic punch. The Clear OG is more metallic in timbre.
Interestingly enough, I've tried it on the R70X and I think I like the resulting sound a little better; seems to give female vocals a bit more body and texture, in a good way.
The R70X is indeed very enjoyable
I am really curios how much darkerthe Planar is; the R70X isn't exactly bright. The subbass is actually quite impressive
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