[bagwell359]

I ended up ordering this. $70shipped, 6.5ft, Canare L-4E6S (if that matters)

Used that Canare for speaker wire - its good

 

[Philimon]

Monoprice AMT has been comfortable for me over longer sessions, however I do notice that I unconsciously sit up slightly straighter to balance the weight. The headband and earpads are large. With most headphones Im usually close to using max adjustment but with AMT it's the opposite. Smaller-heads may benefit from using a pillowy pilot pad if the smallest headband setting is still too big. The pads while large are also quite supple which allows for a confidently reliable seal unlike Audivina's large pads.

AMT like Bee is very obviously effected by objects too near the exterior of the cups. Placing your hands perpendicular and inches away from the cups changes the sound in a similar way to Bee, upper mids seem to come much more forward. Maybe a closed-back mod for AMT would make it measure linearly. A closed-back mod would also help with noise isolation...

AMT loses a lot of luster when there is too much background noise. Today is a warm day so the air conditioner and fan are running, which makes hearing bass and finer detail difficult. In this case, T20RP mod or Athena would be preferable.

 

[Beagle]

I listened to audiophile standard Joni Mitchell - Blue. Yes vocals are relatively dimmer in mix, but this probably makes it easier to hear and be engulfed by all the instruments instead of having vocals most in front and dominating. Perhaps this is artificially or psychologically increasing sound stage depth.

The first track "Blue", for the first time I could hear distinctly and obviously a percussive (drum?) rhythm through the entirety of the song. I dont think Ive ever noticed this sound before... though its been awhile since Ive listened to this album. Ill try it with 6se when working on comparison. Acoustic guitar too sounds fuller than I remember, can hear the reverberation from the guitar body.

The second track "My Old Man", often Joni's voice will sound sibilant on other gear, but AMT is not one.

I think ima get an AMT. it’s like $400 ($592CDN) on Amazon now. HEDD2 is appealing (lighter) but will be around $2600 CDN.

 

[kl884347]

Very newbie question here. I just received my AMTs today. My chain is PC running Foobar -> Emotiva little Ego DAC -> Schiit Vali 2. I am not articulate at all trying to describe what I hear, but for lack of better words, they seem a bit of a mess. In the bass to low midrange it loses it's composure (like rattling/vibrating rather than musical). Same thing in high volume/complex orchestral sections like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Is my chain too underpowered for the AMTs? Do I just need to let them burn in?

 

[trellus]

Very newbie question here. I just received my AMTs today. My chain is PC running Foobar -> Emotiva little Ego DAC -> Schiit Vali 2. I am not articulate at all trying to describe what I hear, but for lack of better words, they seem a bit of a mess. In the bass to low midrange it loses it's composure (like rattling/vibrating rather than musical). Same thing in high volume/complex orchestral sections like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Is my chain too underpowered for the AMTs? Do I just need to let them burn in?

It looks like Vali 2 puts out 1000 mW per channel at 32 Ohm, which is the impedance of the Monolith AMT. Monoprice's specs say the AMT's can handle 10 Watts for 200 ms, so I'd say there's definitely a chance they are underpowered at only 1000 mW.

Do you have access to more powerful amps to confirm?

EDIT: If there's a specific song you can link, I can test between my Cayin IHA-6 (2200 mW at 32 Ohm single-ended, 7000 mW Balanced) and the far more modest output of my Yulong D100 DAC/amp (I think it has less power than the Vali 2) to see if I can hear what you are hearing on lower power and then see if the extra juice of a beefier amp remedies it.

 

[kl884347]

It looks like Vali 2 puts out 1000 mW per channel at 32 Ohm, which is the impedance of the Monolith AMT. Monoprice's specs say the AMT's can handle 10 Watts for 200 ms, so I'd say there's definitely a chance they are underpowered at only 1000 mW.

Do you have access to more powerful amps to confirm?

EDIT: If there's a specific song you can link, I can test between my Cayin IHA-6 (2200 mW at 32 Ohm single-ended, 7000 mW Balanced) and the far more modest output of my Yulong D100 DAC/amp (I think it has less power than the Vali 2) to see if I can hear what you are hearing on lower power and then see if the extra juice of a beefier amp remedies it.

Thanks so much! Here is a link to a youtube version. It doesn't list the format so I can't verify the quality unfortunately

(The beginning of Walk the Plank)

(Especially around the 40 second mark where it gets more complex.)
The only other output source I could try is the headphone out on my Pioneer VSX-29TX receiver. Trying to find the specifications for the output.

 

[povidlo]

Amt likes power. Although even your average portable dac/amp can get it loud enough, it sounds best out of my PMA-1600NE monster.

 

[trellus]

Thanks so much! Here is a link to a youtube version. It doesn't list the format so I can't verify the quality unfortunately

(The beginning of Walk the Plank)

(Especially around the 40 second mark where it gets more complex.)
The only other output source I could try is the headphone out on my Pioneer VSX-29TX receiver. Trying to find the specifications for the output.

So, a terribly unscientific, subjective listening test I did here...

I did initially play the two titles you listed there straight from YouTube, but then quickly decided to see if they were available on Roon/Tidal, and they were, so I listened from there, using stock cable first directly from Yulong D100 DAC's headphone out (high gain, might be 900 mW at 32 Ohm but I'm not 100% sure). Boy, that beginning of Walk the Plank is BUSY.

Since this is not music I'm familiar with, I really needed some kind of reference point (or two), so I happen to have my Heddphone (One) hanging there already, and plugged in balanced to the Monolith Liquid Gold X (from Yulong D100). Eh, yeah, still busy, but a little different but there's just so much going on there I couldn't really pick anything apart, honestly.

With "He's A Pirate", it was less wall-of-sound, even starting around the 40 second mark, but I wasn't hearing what I could characterize as rattling or vibrating, neither from the Heddphone nor from the Monolith AMT -- I did think the Monolith has some kind of wonky thing in the FR that I can't really put my finger on but my brain adjusts to it pretty quickly.

In any case, when I switched to the Cayin IHA-6, I first used the stock cable plugged into single-ended output (which is less powerful on this amp), and didn't really discern much difference particularly in "Walk the Plank" -- so I pulled out the cheap AliExpress balanced cable I have for the Monolith cans (1570C and AMT in my case) wired in their special way, and switched over to the 4-pin XLR output on the IHA-6, but again, was having a little difficulty hearing much differently, except that when swapping between the balanced out of the IHA-6 and the single-ended out of the Yulong D100 (via 4-pin XLR to 6.3mm adapter from my Ether CX), on "He's A Pirate", I did feel like the drum hits had a little more authority on the IHA-6 than the D100 headphone out.

(I did also briefly use the HE-1000 v2 out of the IHA-6 for "Walk the Plank" just to confirm the wall-of-sound assault at the beginning - to be honest, it occurred to me that my weak link here may be the DAC itself.)

So... I thought, uh, maybe if I did a similar comparison of the amps on the Monolith AMT with a song or two I'm more familiar with, so I tested it with Gorillaz' "Dare", and I did finally hear something that was perceptibly different between the power of the IHA-6 on high-current, high-gain, 4-pin XLR versus D100, and it was just a more pronounced version of what I heard on "He's A Pirate", which is that drum hits were more visceral, and that bassy growl of whatever-bass-synth that is in the beginning was meaner on the IHA-6 than the D100, punched more.




Similarly, on "Intoxicated - Radio Edit", by Martin Solveig, Good Times Ahead, the bass synth was rounder and more visceral -- not by an order of magnitude, but noticeable -- on the IHA-6. But I still didn't hear anything I would characterize as rattling or vibration on the AMT -- which makes me worry something is either up with your unit or else maybe the Vali 2 with its tube is behaving a little oddly with the AMT in a way I can't reproduce.

 

[Philimon]

rattling/vibrating

Its in both channels? Im wondering if its an abnormal driver issue.

Have you crossed out upstream as being the culprit? Do you get same noise from other headphones on your rig?

 

[kl884347]

Wow! Thank for that test. That is very interesting indeed. I am burning in the AMTs with pink noise, though since they are open box they might have some time already.
@Philimon, yes it does seem to be in both channels.
I am going to run through some other headphones and try to A/B them more carefully.
I did try the output of my Pioneer receiver but I don't have the Pirate's soundtrack on that setup. I'll have find a cable. That being said, even from my limited listening there was a perceptible difference but mostly in subtle ways. I am a bit concerned as re-reading through the threads some people say that the AMTs aren't THAT power hungry. Not sure.
As a final note, I see a lot of discussion regarding EQ as well, some describing the AMT as unlistenable without it. I wonder if that is what I am encountering so I will try playing with that as well.
It seems the more I get involved with the listening experience, the more I get sucked into it!
Sincerely appreciate all the input and "work" that goes into having fun.
Oh and PS - I will give those tracks a try @trellus !

 

[kl884347]

Well, sorta good news. I tried those two tracks from @trellus with PC (Spotify) -> Little Ego -> Pioneer VSX-29TX and they sounded just fine. It may be a case where the source material is the issue. I tried the Pirates tracks using the same setup but on Master and Dynamic MH40s. They performed slightly better (subjectively) but maybe it's just because they are not as resolving and my ears aren't tuned in. I'll keep working on it.
Thanks!
PS- After those two track finished on Spotify, I decided to let it play on. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley played which gave me a pause because at the beginning you can hear some odd static-like sound which sounds like what I am experiencing. I switched back the MH40s and still heard it but less pronounced. It just seems like I am not as used to the AMTs yet.
PPS - Don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I have a Hi Res sampler from HDTracks from a while ago (thanks @povidlo) . No issues at all.
Topside /Bob James
Break The Chain/Doug MacLeod
You Really Shouldn't Have/Chlara
Silent Night/Blues Company
Wishing Well/Jack Broadbent
etc.

 

[povidlo]

Well, sorta good news. I tried those two tracks from @trellus with PC (Spotify) -> Little Ego -> Pioneer VSX-29TX and they sounded just fine. It may be a case where the source material is the issue. I tried the Pirates tracks using the same setup but on Master and Dynamic MH40s. They performed slightly better (subjectively) but maybe it's just because they are not as resolving and my ears aren't tuned in. I'll keep working on it.
Thanks!
PS- After those two track finished on Spotify, I decided to let it play on. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley played which gave me a pause because at the beginning you can hear some odd static-like sound which sounds like what I am experiencing. I switched back the MH40s and still heard it but less pronounced. It just seems like I am not as used to the AMTs yet.

Hope it works out for you.

I've had mh40 and amt is another level in terms of detail retrieval. You might be simply hearing things in the mix that you haven't heard before. Amt will pick out noises from bad mastering. They're not forgiving. See if you can listen to something very well recorded/clean. It's also strongly suggested to boost the low end for balanced frequency response. Amt's bass is kinda hollow in stock form, but is of very high quality so quantity needs to go up. Especially comparing to mh40, which from my recollection have a pretty significant mid bass hump.

 

[Philimon]

@kl884347 Im glad you got it sorted out.

My Mono-AMT vs HE6se comparison was delayed due to cold and am still recovering.

Preview, with balanced cables.:

Comparison will be a two-parter: Mono-AMT vs Grado RS2x (padrolled). RS2x w/ f-pads arrives today. I expect RS2x will be preferable to 6se and able to hold its own against AMT.

 

[povidlo]

@kl884347 Im glad you got it sorted out.

My Mono-AMT vs HE6se comparison was delayed due to cold and am still recovering.

Preview, with balanced cables.:


Comparison will be a two-parter: Mono-AMT vs Grado RS2x (padrolled). RS2x w/ f-pads arrives today. I expect RS2x will be preferable to 6se and able to hold its own against AMT.

Looking forward to it! i got both he6sev2 and amt within the last few months. haven't had the time to properly compare them yet.

On side note, i think Monolith logo in the grills is a nice little touch. Monoprice doesn't usually put much emphasis into visual design details.

 

[elwappo99]

Anyone have newer EQ settings to share? These are really great headphones on a technical level, but a bit of EQ helps the FR quite a bit.