[Chastity]

My insights on Zeos' Review of the M1070 / M1570

1) He mentions of having both for about 3 weeks before the review, and that he bent the hell out of them during that time period. Any metal bent consistently over a 3week period will fatigue and bend very easily, and he even jokes about this. "You know what happens when you bend metal too much?" The yokes can be shaped, however it's not 1-finger weak. So no, the metal isn't going to flex on you. My M1070 I've worn for several months, and the clamp on them has not weakened nor has the band misshapen. So Zeos is hyping this issue to show how insightful a reviewer he is.

2) Him griping about the M1570 pinouts isn't THAT big of a deal. The pinouts can be resoldered, adapters made or ordered, and if you don't have any balanced cables already, order ones for it. I myself will be getting mine from Hart Audio, so I can use the 2-piece setup to do SE and Balanced with the same mini-XLR cable. Tho, this will wait since I don't have a balanced amp, and the Asgard 3 delivering 2.3W @ 60ohm per channel kinda delays things,.

3) I hate the velour pads.

4) I need to make waifu grills on a 3D printer for the M1570. This is important.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Today turned into me playing with my old amp, and then digging up all my headphones and comparing them to each other: the HD-580 Precisions, DT-1990 Pro (A pads w/ v2 driver foams), M1070, and the M1570. (I left my Sonys in the box) And I learned some interesting things.

For starters, I mentioned before that the M1070 sounded hollow to the M1570. After some more critical listening, I decided that this isn't the case. What it is is that the M1070 doesn't have the same sound width, and is more along the DT-1990 width, and is darker sounding. This made me think of the LCD-2C. Where the M1570 is something like a mix of the LCD-X and LCD-3, while not necessarily being either, and very musical. I do like the M1070's cable, as it's nice and manageable compared to the Periapt-thicc M1570's.

The HD-580 had some very nice verberations with some music, like with trumpets blare, but I wouldn't call it accurate, but a pleasing coloration. Tho the small soundstage and some instrument commingling wasn't welcome. (The initial reason why I bought the Sonys) These also needed the most power to volume match. Then moving to the DT-1990, I got to remember why I liked them. They come across as being a touch airy, and effortless. The details it produces seems a touch artificial, like there is separation between ranges in the FR. It can produce bass, but lacks the M1570 authority, especially in the subbass.

One aspect of the M1570 that I can enjoy vs all of the others is how easy it is for me to close my eyes, and visualize the recording, and make out the vocalists, as the voices come across as being realistic and true to form. Another thing of note, is that my Asgard 3 puts out about 2.3W @ 60ohm per channel, so it's hard to justify getting a balanced amp.

@hottyson I guess I understand. I plan on keeping the M1070, if for anything, they are pad replacements, if ever needed. Maybe come the next sale I'll nab a backup set.

The M1570 has that realism effect. It's so effortless, you can close your eyes and truly picture the scene. Not many headphones do that unless they cost a thousand or more. And I still struggle to find some headphones costing those prices to truly make me picture the scene. Sound wise, the M1570 is a steal. I'm going to try having another listen to them today. I am truly missing how they sound. Now that's a big praise, I have my Avantone Planars, I have my Ultrasone Edition 11, my Audeze Sine DX with upgraded earpads but I can't stop thinking of the M1570 and how they sounded.

 

[hottyson]

Last few pages are all about how much better the M1570 would be over the Sundara, and I am now wondering if I should take the risk and place an order one more time.

For those who have tested both, can you share your observations ? Where would I notice these gains? I am not an analytical listener, but love the details Sundara is bringing out to my music and games. I am no audiophile. but love clear and detailed sound. Primarily use case : Music ( mixed genres, lots of soundtracks , rock , pop, instrumental ) + Games.

Will be powering them off of : JDS Atom Stack

Okay Malazan,
I fired up the JDS Labs Atom amplifiers for you. I put Hifiman Sundara headphones on one and Monoprice M1570 on the other.

What I heard was what I expected. The M1570 sounds better. They are like a Sundara but more satisfying, fuller sound. And yes, you should get them.

BUT, you already own Sundara, and I can tell you it sounded pretty darned good! Crisp crystal clear planar sound. Sundara also had the benefit of not pressing down on my head compared to the stock M1570 headband that presses on the center of the top of my skull. The clamp on the M1570 sucks on the stock headband, so I cant look at the floor beneath my desk unless I risk M1570 dropping from my head to the floor. The Sundara stay put with a great clamp on the light weight headphone. You might be happy sticking with the Sundara as these are some comfortable characteristics on a very good sounding headphone.

SO, do you sacrifice comfort for better sound, or do you want to remain satisfied with what you already have.

That is a very tough choice.

 

[hottyson]

3) I hate the velour pads.

I know I already covered this before but have to repeat for those just joining us, I LOVE the velour pads. I only enjoy the M1570 with the velour pads and did not like sound with the leather pads. It is VERY cool of Monoprice to include both type of pads for us to decide what we prefer. I will say that the leather pads seem to be of extreme high quality, probably equivalent to $40 aftermarket pads or better.

 

[Chastity]

I know I already covered this before but have to repeat for those just joining us, I LOVE the velour pads. I only enjoy the M1570 with the velour pads and did not like sound with the leather pads. It is VERY cool of Monoprice to include both type of pads for us to decide what we prefer. I will say that the leather pads seem to be of extreme high quality, probably equivalent to $40 aftermarket pads or better.

I respect your choice. The lambskins need EQ, just like any Audeze, to deal with the reflections. I love the sound of mine with the lambskins + EQ, and the comfort. These are some very comfy pads. As for replacements, I had this discussion with others, and the closest match I could find are ZMF Ori pads, or perhaps Dekoni's Audeze pads. But heck, you have 4 M1570, so you're set on pads.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

I respect your choice. The lambskins need EQ, just like any Audeze, to deal with the reflections. I love the sound of mine with the lambskins + EQ, and the comfort. These are some very comfy pads. As for replacements, I had this discussion with others, and the closest match I could find are ZMF Ori pads, or perhaps Dekoni's Audeze pads. But heck, you have 4 M1570, so you're set on pads.

I think the Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads for Audeze would be a great choice

 

[543933]

I now have four pairs of Monolith M1570.

Haha more proofs are not needed I will propably do the same and buy second pair from Monolith when they will have black friday sale or something similar here in EU. For now I have two pairs of M350 First one bought for 117 EUR and second for 77 EUR when they had price drop in last month.

I wonder if that translates to broken headbands?
I'm seriously considering these cans esp. @around 399, but I can be hard on my toys and I don't want plunk down 4 Benjamin's and find the quality isn't any better than a 2 dollar earphone

No reasons to worry about. Build quality issues are no exists for me and they are effect of imaginary. For me they are premium class quality made and no worse than LCD-X. Yokes are more sturdy than in HiFiMan Edition Xv2. Drivers are propably better connected than loose wire entanglement in LCD-X. And so on. Zeos is showman and 90% of his comments from reviews should be received with a grain of salt.

I do not use EQ for any headphones. I was looking for perfect tuned HP for my taste and M1570 are meet these requirements. Only one pair of expensive HP I have EQ for a while - LCD-2F - as they were unsuable without it.

 

[Malazan]

Okay Malazan,
I fired up the JDS Labs Atom amplifiers for you. I put Hifiman Sundara headphones on one and Monoprice M1570 on the other.

What I heard was what I expected. The M1570 sounds better. They are like a Sundara but more satisfying, fuller sound. And yes, you should get them.


BUT, you already own Sundara, and I can tell you it sounded pretty darned good! Crisp crystal clear planar sound. Sundara also had the benefit of not pressing down on my head compared to the stock M1570 headband that presses on the center of the top of my skull. The clamp on the M1570 sucks on the stock headband, so I cant look at the floor beneath my desk unless I risk M1570 dropping from my head to the floor. The Sundara stay put with a great clamp on the light weight headphone. You might be happy sticking with the Sundara as these are some comfortable characteristics on a very good sounding headphone.

SO, do you sacrifice comfort for better sound, or do you want to remain satisfied with what you already have.

That is a very tough choice.

Thank you so much for the A/B comparison! The choice is very hard indeed. The more I listen to Sundaras, the more I am loving them, and the comfort is really nice. But the promise of a better sound than what I am currently listening to is very tempting. Is it a night and day difference or mostly nuanced improvements ?

Going from M570 to Sundara to me is night and day, so if Sundara to M1570 is going to be just as big of an improvement, then I can deal with the clamp and weight issues. If the gains are minimal or mainly noticeable in critical listening, I will likely want to keep Sundara.

I am also very vary of Hifiman's QA issues, but the unit sounds and looks great, and appears durable, so I am a little OK on that front.

 

[Malazan]

I found the M570's to have poor sound and returned it after a week or two.
I had the Sundara's for many months. They were a nice headphone with a nice sound. Nothing ever sounded bad on them, but nothing ever sounded great either. I sold them a few months ago.

I love my M1570's much more than either of those 'phones.

The M1570's don't need a lot of power to run them, but IMO they do sound better with some "enhancements". iFi amps have features called X-bass and 3D which work really well with them.

Lastly, I know that HiFiman gets a lot of heat about build quality. My history with them is:
1) HE-4XX. Didn't care for the sound at all, but the build was more than fine.
2) Sundara's. Build quality was A-OK and I used them very often.
3) Next up was some used Drop Edition XX's. The left earpad was not glued in properly and I had to replace the pads. The design was a little wonky as the cups rotate almost right around and part of the yolk scratched the cups. However I still have them and I find the sound very interesting.
4) I am currently considering the HE6se V2's so I am not worried about HiFiman quality at all.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Are the differences just as noticeable without the X-Bass and 3D feature ?. I have the JDS Atom stack, and likely won't be updating anytime soon. I am open to EQ Though, but prefer to leave it on stock sound.

 

[543933]

Is it a night and day difference or mostly nuanced improvements ?

I have had Sundara when bought curently used HEXv2. It is night and day difference between them. Next I bought M1570 and they are overall more pleasant than HEX but not a huge difference like Sundara vs HEX.

 

[Shane D]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Are the differences just as noticeable without the X-Bass and 3D feature ?. I have the JDS Atom stack, and likely won't be updating anytime soon. I am open to EQ Though, but prefer to leave it on stock sound.

I would say yes. I enjoyed these very much out of my Liquid Platinum, after I got my HAC balanced cable. My Violectric V220 tends to give headphones a "fuller" sound and these were no different. For the price especially, I think these are a nice addition to any collection. I was unimpressed with the with the LCD-2's after several sessions over time. I then bought and sold the LCD-2 Classics. I will not be trying Audeze again. I think these have the sound that the LCD-2 Classic's were shooting for, but I found them boring after a few months.

 

[hottyson]

Is it a night and day difference or mostly nuanced improvements ?

Going from a crappy headphone to the Sundara is a night and day difference, because you are moving from bad to very good sound quality.

Going from Sundara to M1570 is NOT a night and day difference, because you are moving from very good sound to the best sound. Less quantity of upgrade.

However, EVERYTHING about the M1570 in term of sound quality is going to improve. 10% refined highs, mids, and bass. 15% improvement on imaging. 20% improvement on bass warmth. 28% improvement on xxx. You get the idea.

Those numbers I used are not real numbers, but just used for my example. I am trying to convey to you that the benefit of this upgrade is not a night and day 100% difference like when upgrading to Sundara from bad headphones. Just expect an overall improvement in fidelity and enjoyment by maybe 15% but it will be across the enitre board.

 

[543933]

Going from a crappy headphone

I got what you mean and fully agree with that but one thing I have to clarify I wouldn't name M570 as crappy headphones And you propably too Malazan had compared difference between M570 and Sundara as night and day for him so in that scale of improvement Sundara vs M1570 will be also night and day

 

[Malazan]

Thank you all for your super helpful replies.
Alright, you guys have convinced me. I have placed the order for M1570, looks like I will always keep thinking of what I am missing out if I don't get these.

One question regarding the cables, I notice that monoprice has flipped the pins and it's not that easy to get a balanced cable, but If I just wanted to get a backup regular cable, does Monoprice sell that or can I buy it online?

My amp does not support balanced, so I just want to ensure I can easily buy a regular cable if needed from Monoprice/Amazon.

 

[Shane D]

I got what you mean and fully agree with that but one thing I have to clarify I wouldn't name M570 as crappy headphones And you propably too Malazan had compared difference between M570 and Sundara as night and day for him so in that scale of improvement Sundara vs M1570 will be also night and day

I would have to disagree on the M570's. I thought they were horrible and veiled/muffled. Going from them to the Sundara's would be night and day. Going from the Sundara's to the M1570's will be an upgrade, but not nearly to that scale.