[PopZeus]

After having these headphones for a bit less than 2 weeks and using them almost daily, I'm in love with how effortlessly the planamic driver renders its detail. It's a fantastic pairing with the Shanling M5s and I find myself just listening to music for hours when I only wanted a few minutes.

The big achilles heel is the tuning. I'm convinced that the mids wouldn't sound as artificial if the steep drop-off above 4k wasn't so extreme. That steep 20-25 dB drop from 4k to 8k really boosts the mids too far forward and sucks much air out of the playback. By boosting the frequencies in the 8, 16, and 32k bands by ~5 dB, it fixes my only real issue with the Planamic. Mids fit better with the rest of the frequency range, bass is still very present and slamming, and the highs are sweeter and more airy. Then, shaving off a few dB in the 2-4k band (moreso 4k than 2k) makes that mid hump transition better with both the mid-bass dip and the aforementioned treble roll-off.

The good news is that the M5s' EQ isn't even fully implemented but the Planamic takes the EQ fixes well. Boosting the treble (or more accurately reducing everything but the treble) has the desired effect without adding glare or grit to the top end.

 

[kakaworu]

Has anybody ever tried something like high impendance cables( adapters ) to reduce some bass? I am really fascinated by the look of these glossy housing and ergonomic design and would like to give it a try. Only if there's a way to make them less dark...

 

[Baten]

Has anybody ever tried something like high impendance cables( adapters ) to reduce some bass? I am really fascinated by the look of these glossy housing and ergonomic design and would like to give it a try. Only if there's a way to make them less dark...

An impedance adapter like this one will boost high frequencies http://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=66

note though that it will also need exponentially more juice from your amp. depending on how clean your amp is you will start to hear its noise floor much earlier. not necessarily a problem but it COULD be one if your amp is not clean.

 

[PopZeus]

Has anybody ever tried something like high impendance cables( adapters ) to reduce some bass? I am really fascinated by the look of these glossy housing and ergonomic design and would like to give it a try. Only if there's a way to make them less dark...

I use a SPC balanced cable for these exclusively and they have a tendency to make the treble a bit louder yet smoother. I don't know why that's the case science-wise (maybe it's just reducing distortion and noise in strategic spots across the FR?), but it's pretty consistent from headphone to headphone. It still needs EQ to boost the mid-treble extreme roll off, but they don't sound as dark with the stock SE cable.

Also, if anyone who likes this IEM but finds the tuning problematic, I highly recommend the Final Audio E4000 as an alternative. They're priced identically, but the E4000 sounds kinda like an EQ-corrected Planamic. In fact, the natural voicing of the E4000 is its big strong suit. If you look at crinacle's FR graphs for both IEMs in his epic thread, they look pretty identical except for the upper-mid-to-treble response (though in its defense, I think the Planamic's bass extends a bit deeper than the E4000). I'm still breaking in the E4000 so it's still too early to tell, but in its defense the Planamic might have a slight leg up on technicalities.

 

[udesign48]

Planamic is close to P1 but P1 is still much better.

Can you guys compared Planamic to Monolith M300? or iSine 10?
I saw some people selling iSine 10 for $140.

 

[gemNeye]

Just curious if the Planamic @ $77 from Massdrop (with $20 off promotion) is considered a decent value? This appears to be a love/hate IEM. I've plowed through various reviews here and there and still find it intriguing mostly for the oddball tech it utilizes. I wonder how well it does with balanced cables + Radsone ES100?

 

[udesign48]

Just curious if the Planamic @ $77 from Massdrop (with $20 off promotion) is considered a decent value? This appears to be a love/hate IEM. I've plowed through various reviews here and there and still find it intriguing mostly for the oddball tech it utilizes. I wonder how well it does with balanced cables + Radsone ES100?

I think iSine 10 is better than Planamic..

P1 = iSine 10 > Planamic

 

[lmservas]

Just curious if the Planamic @ $77 from Massdrop (with $20 off promotion) is considered a decent value? This appears to be a love/hate IEM. I've plowed through various reviews here and there and still find it intriguing mostly for the oddball tech it utilizes. I wonder how well it does with balanced cables + Radsone ES100?

I enjoy my Planamics paired both with my V30 obviously using standard 3.5 out and also with my ES100 and a decent chi-fi balanced cable I snagged off Amazon. At that price I would take the risk. I love the fact that they can take a lot of power and just feel kinda fast/quick overall. I'm sure we've all spent far more on disappointment before anyhow lol.

 

[Colors]

Honestly, I still have my Planamics and I love them.

 

[gemNeye]

I enjoy my Planamics paired both with my V30 obviously using standard 3.5 out and also with my ES100 and a decent chi-fi balanced cable I snagged off Amazon. At that price I would take the risk. I love the fact that they can take a lot of power and just feel kinda fast/quick overall. I'm sure we've all spent far more on disappointment before anyhow lol.

You make a good point. I went ahead and ordered them. I'm intrigued, so we'll see how this goes.

Honestly, I still have my Planamics and I love them.

I was curious if you still had these since you don't have them listed in your signature. Cool to hear that you still enjoy them though with all those other high end IEM's you already own. That's a tough crowd to stand out in.

 

[Colors]

I was curious if you still had these since you don't have them listed in your signature. Cool to hear that you still enjoy them though with all those other high end IEM's you already own. That's a tough crowd to stand out in.

My signature can only be so long =P

The Planamics have a very unique sound signature to my ears. Dead silent black background, very quick sub-bass and are generally non-fatiguing and very easy to listen to especially at night. Also comfortable too. I use the Comply tips with mine and I think they sound great. Might get the Drop balanced cable soon too.

 

[Colors]

I’m actually not sure why ppl hate on this IEM...maybe it’s the genres (rock) I listen to that work really well with the IEM? I’m listening to some Radiohead and Muse and the guitars/bass guitars sound really good. Male vocals are not recessed like the majority of IEMs. I suppose this IEM is not good with music that requires a lot of treble detail...but I have neutral/neutral-bright/balanced IEMs for that...definitely a specialist IEM imo. It’s no all arounder like the K10 but I actually think it does the sub-bass better. One listen to Hysteria by Muse already tells me that.

 

[Koolpep]

I’m actually not sure why ppl hate on this IEM...maybe it’s the genres (rock) I listen to that work really well with the IEM? I’m listening to some Radiohead and Muse and the guitars/bass guitars sound really good. Male vocals are not recessed like the majority of IEMs. I suppose this IEM is not good with music that requires a lot of treble detail...but I have neutral/neutral-bright/balanced IEMs for that...definitely a specialist IEM imo. It’s no all arounder like the K10 but I actually think it does the sub-bass better. One listen to Hysteria by Muse already tells me that.

Couldn’t agree more. I took this set with me for travel and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t understand the negative reviews. Maybe not enough power? Very underrated IEM in my view.

 

[B9Scrambler]

I’m actually not sure why ppl hate on this IEM...maybe it’s the genres (rock) I listen to that work really well with the IEM? I’m listening to some Radiohead and Muse and the guitars/bass guitars sound really good. Male vocals are not recessed like the majority of IEMs. I suppose this IEM is not good with music that requires a lot of treble detail...but I have neutral/neutral-bright/balanced IEMs for that...definitely a specialist IEM imo. It’s no all arounder like the K10 but I actually think it does the sub-bass better. One listen to Hysteria by Muse already tells me that.

Initial measurements set the tone. And some people just really dislike extremely warm iems. Not a tune for everyone. I think it's awesome though

 

[7keys]

I use mine when I watch movies late at night. Spacious open sound, good bass and good directionality.