[Orbitaldebri]

May I ask. What DAC were you using on the SH-9? The SH-9 is very revealing of DAC and sources. I have been using my SMSL M500 V2 which after some test, has a slightly warmer dac section compared to the original M500 which still has the same dac chip but something must have been changed. The SH-9 can be "digital sounding" so a slight warm/neutral dac is a good match. I am glad you nearly found your endgame though. The Planar is an amazing headphone for the price, well at any price. For the SQ alone I'd be happy to spend 3× to 4x the price. I luckily havent had any build issues yet and I hope I never do. I'll see if I can go to Addicted to Audio some time and give the Burson a go . But yes the price to perfomance is insane on the Planar. What are your impressions of it when you compare it to the Clear? What things you feel the Planar does better and which things you feel the Clear has an edge on? I love the Focal Clear and hopefully soon will be getting the Clear MG for myself

I used my Antelope Zen Tour SC as my DAC. https://en.antelopeaudio.com/products/zen-tour-synergy-core/
It's proper pro audio equipment and this company has been making master clocks for the studio since forever!
Listening on the Burson from the ZTSC now is like night and day compared to the SH-9. The level of detail is the same but just so, so much nicer and natural. I feel a very slight bump in the upper bass/lower mids (not warm) compared to the SH-9 but that's mainly because the latter was so lifeless here (TBH this was confirmed when I cross-checked my last couple of mixes which were rock/punk bands).
And somehow the Burson stays revealing in every frequency range - astounding!

As for the can comparison I feel that the Clear still has an edge when it comes to well, clarity. The stereo image is super precise and I feel that I can pick out instrument placement, reverb tails and reach compression decisions quicker on them. For my ears they have this dual characteristic of sounding musical and analytical at the same time. Could also be that I'm used to their sound.
The Planars are fast and sound great however I don't think I could mix exclusively on them yet (also because the Focals remain comfortable for longer) - the Clears sound tighter to me. But between these two headphones and my studio monitors, my mixes translate well on other gear

I too have been hearing things about the MG but really, if you want a true step up in dynamic driver tech, you need to go for Beryllium drivers like in Focal's TOTL studio monitors. Hopefully Focal make a Clear Pro BE (not Utopia) the next time around.

Would love to hear your thoughts about the Burson when you check it out

 

[CockatooDude]

Hi All,

I've been following this thread with great interest as it convinced me to purchase the Planars in early November last year. I use these for music production, mixing and referencing along with Focal Clear Pro, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohm and a few other consumer grade cans. Most of my mixing is done on a pair of Focal Twin6 BE studio monitors however, but I digress.
At that time the Planars were being driven with the headphone outs on my Antelope Zen Tour SC audio interface (not the ideal solution - but for referencing it works).
My initial impressions were a bit underwhelming - lack of bass, treble, soundstage and an overall lack of fun. The midrange however, was very usable in a mixing situation. So I persevered, mostly because of this thread and had good results with my mixes after referencing on the Planars.

In mid-December, the headband snapped - so I returned them to Avantone's distributor in Australia who said that they'd never seen this issue before and would try and get it 'fixed'. I rolled my eyes and wished them luck. After nearly a month however and with no response from them (distributor), I contacted Avantone directly who set things in motion for the cans to be swapped out (10 points to Avantone for this) and after liaising more with the distributor I had a new pair of cans in about a fortnight (late January).

In the meantime I added a dedicated headphone amp (SMSL SH-9) to my monitoring setup as I was going to be in a different city from my studio for a while and would have no access to my studio monitors. I bought this amp as it had XLR inputs, wasn't too expensive and all the measurement freaks said that "it will just get out of the way" - perfect, I thought. My initial impressions of the amp with the Focal Clear was of a harsh sound which although revealing was clearly digital in it's delivery. I thought that I would have just 'burn a few things in' and I would get used to the sound.

When I plugged my replacement Planars into the SMSL amp, I was pleasantly surprised. They really opened up and I finally got what everyone has been saying all this while. These cans are incredible!! The soundstage opened up, the treble sounded accurate and I finally had decent slam. However, I still had that 'digital glare' from the amp and I just couldn't burn myself into this sound.
So today, I received delivery of the Burson Soloist 3XP headphone amp and boy - this is a match made in heaven. The Avantone Planars really are whole different beast with this Class A amp. Flat, fun, dynamic, emotional - while being super accurate. I've nearly pulled the trigger on an LCD-X on a few occasions (thinking it would improve things) and I'm so glad that I got this amp instead.

Bottom line, if you get a chance, try to listen to the Planars with higher-end gear. They scale well, really well. I expected the Focals to sound good with the Burson and they really do; superlative in fact - but they are 3-4 times the price of the Planars. I am in no way saying that the Planars are good for the price. They are amazing at any price and I am not sure why more people aren't raving about them.

I have a feeling that I might be approaching the 'endgame' for my headphone monitoring setup - at least for a while.

Stay safe everyone and thank you!

Ayy finally I find another music producer on head-fi. Welcome to the select club of music makers who also enjoy good audio gear lol. As far as better gear I can confirm, I noticed a significant jump in quality when I moved from my FiiO e09k/e07k combo to what I use now, a Zen Can and Topping E30. I don't think I'll be spending money on over ear headphones for many years into the future, now that I have the Avantones and this combo of amp/dac.

 

[Cardiaction]

USB

Just picked up the Fiio k5 Pro today, and compare it with the fulla 3, oh boiiiiiii, I am deeply surprised how much the difference has been made. The bass, jesus, it is just superb, when I plugged it with Fulla, it was meh, sounded very "flat" and lacks of power, but with the k5 pro, the monster has been released, I set it on high gain and 12 o'clock, I smashes......Just want to thank you for your recommendation, really appreciate it.

 

[Heldaeus]

Just picked up the Fiio k5 Pro today, and compare it with the fulla 3, oh boiiiiiii, I am deeply surprised how much the difference has been made. The bass, jesus, it is just superb, when I plugged it with Fulla, it was meh, sounded very "flat" and lacks of power, but with the k5 pro, the monster has been released, I set it on high gain and 12 o'clock, I smashes......Just want to thank you for your recommendation, really appreciate it.

You’re welcome and I’m glad you like it!

 

[alvarg]

hey guys whats the best amp for the avantone planar in your opinion, one that gives the most soundstage and detail

 

[Heldaeus]

hey guys whats the best amp for the avantone planar in your opinion, one that gives the most soundstage and detail

One that is low output impedance, low SNR, about 1W @ 32 ohms.

AMPs and DACs don’t give more soundstage as it’s a phenomenon thats happening in your brain. They can however slightly improve stereo separation and micro dynamics enough to give the impression of better soundstage. With these headphones though you’re limited by the physical design and I don’t believe better AMPs are going to offer much mileage in this regard.

 

[alvarg]

One that is low output impedance, low SNR, about 1W @ 32 ohms.

AMPs and DACs don’t give more soundstage as it’s a phenomenon thats happening in your brain. They can however slightly improve stereo separation and micro dynamics enough to give the impression of better soundstage. With these headphones though you’re limited by the physical design and I don’t believe better AMPs are going to offer much mileage in this regard.

I'm already pushing 1.5watts with very low SNR, so I doubt I'm going to experience much improvement then

 

[Heldaeus]

I'm already pushing 1.5watts with very low SNR, so I doubt I'm going to experience much improvement then

What AMP are you using?

 

[alvarg]

What AMP are you using?

Topping A50s

 

[alvarg]

I feel like these need more than 1watt, even the 1.5watt I'm feeding them doesn't feel like enough.

 

[Heldaeus]

I feel like these need more than 1watt, even the 1.5watt I'm feeding them doesn't feel like enough.

The reasons why you would need more power would be if you needed a significant amount of overhead due to having a wide range of music in your library, if you listen to your music at *ridiculously* loud levels, if you were going to do some heavy EQing, or if your headphones impedance/sensitivity varied widely across its frequency range.

I guarantee unless you’re applying a massive bass boost EQ to these headphones then you’re not using the entire 1.5 watts (ever). Plus the impedance of this headphone across all frequencies is almost completely flat.

The sound not feeling like it’s enough has to do with the headphone itself. Luckily for you I’ve been documenting mods that improve the sound quality

 

[alvarg]

The reasons why you would need more power would be if you needed a significant amount of overhead due to having a wide range of music in your library, if you listen to your music at *ridiculously* loud levels, if you were going to do some heavy EQing, or if your headphones impedance/sensitivity varied widely across its frequency range.

I guarantee unless you’re applying a massive bass boost EQ to these headphones then you’re not using the entire 1.5 watts (ever). Plus the impedance of this headphone across all frequencies is almost completely flat.

The sound not feeling like it’s enough has to do with the headphone itself. Luckily for you I’ve been documenting mods that improve the sound quality

nope, I'm not doing any of that, oh where do I find these mods

 

[Heldaeus]

nope, I'm not doing any of that, oh where do I find these mods

Scattered throughout this thread.

I recommend removing the “L” & “R” dust covers from the stock pads and using blue tack to seal the pads to the baffle. That will help the headphone sound faster and less dense/compressed. Separation between instruments becomes more apparent and the soundstage becomes a little smoother.

 

[alvarg]

Scattered throughout this thread.

I recommend removing the “L” & “R” dust covers from the stock pads and using blue tack to seal the pads to the baffle. That will help the headphone sound faster and less dense/compressed. Separation between instruments becomes more apparent and the soundstage becomes a little smoother.

better seal tends to improve things, I'll give it a go

 

[mobbaddict]

Best Open-Back Headphones For Mixing​

https://majorhifi.com/best-open-back-headphones-for-mixing/

Swap the pads if you want to hear finer details though...