Monoprice Monolith M1060 and M560 Planar Headphones

I can't tell you exactly with the Mojo but I have it with the Hugo. I also have the HA-2 and had some extensive time with the Fulla 2. I didn't care for the Fulla2. But between the Hugo and Ha-2, the Hugo was able to provide better separation of sound so leans towards that more analytical sound I guess you like.

 

I pm'd a few members with my question below, but thought I'd share it in the thread to have a discussion to help the v2 owne s because the thread search function is gone

----------

Due to cable issue, I am listening to my m1060 on its one good side.

I tried the m1060 in stock form, and then with black foam removed and no grill, and also tried paper towel mod, but I feel the difference is very subtle. Could be I was only listening on one ear... Haha

Next, I tried to compare my m1060 with its one good side vs a borrowed HD650 also just listening to one side

What I did was, one ear with m1060 and another ear with hd650 and switch sides, using a y-splitter. M1060 with paper towel mod, in comparison to the hd650, feels veiled, recessed mid, and rolled off treble, but that bass tho!

M1060 With only the paper towel mod, Vocal and highs not as chrisp and bright compare to hd650. Detail is good, everything is there, but it's just not as "in the spotlight." I am a bass head and I don't like bright signature, and I can't stand m50x, but I just wish the m1060 is less veiled

I want to ask you, and am hoping, is the vegan mod a bigger improvement than the paper towel mod? Because if the vegan mod is also a subtle improvement, then I feel the m1060 is not what I want to spend close to $400 (ca tax on the m1060 plus vegan pads) on.

 

Posting my response to @macky112 as others might have the same questions...

First, don't take away impressions with one ear. It's very hard to properly digest the changes with one side modded and the other stock, or in your case, not working. Remember that everyone has slightly different hearing sensitivities and "frequency curves" for each of their ears, so you can see how this could lead to problems judging changes.

Paper towel by itself is a pretty decent improvement, but I was ready to send them back with stock pads. Seriously. Vegan pads really fix most of the issues, and create a smooth, albeit dark frequency response. The clarity and detail is a 10 compared to stock pads which is like a 3 or 4. There are too many reflections creating nulls and peaks in the frequency response with stock pads.

The combination of Audeze Vegan Leather Free pads and paper towel is NOT subtle compared to stock form. There is still a slight veil, kind of a planar thing, compared to headphones like HD650 but the overall frequency response, depth, and imaging is very good for a planar, once modded.

I hope more people try them with full mods, as those that have have written glowing praise. I'm not saying they are the end all be all of headphones, budget or not, but they do little wrong once modded, and can be enjoyed with any genre of music. They are easy to amp, and light weight and comfortable, at least for me, as I primarily use HE-6.

Hope this all helps!

 

What do mean by veiled ?
M1060 is not veiled compare to my other headphones at all ,,
to the contrary it stand out among the best ,

trust me ,, i think you have bad pair , or miss matched amp .
What amp you are using ?

I tried the foam-less mod but i didnt like ,, much brighter ,, less bass ,
i enjoy them now in stock form , and it is my daily driver and portable setup ..

 

In response to GUIDO, (can't quote or reply to when posting from my mobile devices on this new facelifted forum...)

I tried Zishan DSD, Walnut V2.1, iPhone 7 w/ 3.5mm DAC dongle into Fiio E11 during my comparison

Hmmm... you have a good point, maybe my pair is defective as well besides cable issue??? Murphys Law at its full effect playing this Monoprice qc lottery >_<

 

I was worried they would sound bad on my LDMK11 after reading that you should use a hybrid or SS amp.

So I tried a different amp then tried the LD, low an behold they sound beautiful out of the LDMK11 even on high gain with some C3g and 6N6P-IR tubes I am sticking with this the reason being when I turn up on an SS amp the sound gets harsh to me with any can but on the tubes it never gets that way to my ears.

The sound stage is to my ears as big as my T1.1 the two have different peaks in the frequency's so bring out different sounds in the stage that stand out when I A/B them but never the less its a big sound on both.

I listen to all sorts of music some of it is dance as I DJ and the speed on these for this genre is amazing. This is my first set of planer headphones so have not witnessed this before.

I own Denon D7000, T1.1, Sony MA900, Phillips X2 and I am very impressed with these, $299 what?

If I did not know the price and was asked based on the sound I would of thought they where TOL headphones.

This is un modded, they are very comfortable I see no need to mod them the sound is just right to my ears.

 

Okay, so for those of you that hate the stock headband for whatever reason, I have made a custom "sleeve" for the under-padded, stock strap. While it's not quite as effective as making a whole new strap, those of us with V2 that don't want to possibly void our warranty by drilling out the rivets, this is a pretty good option. Below is a general step by step guide to how I did it if anyone is interested in doing the same.

Here is the completed, extra padded sleeve. My finished, modded strap feels similar to the DT770/880/990 headband if they used velour.


And here is the top


And lastly, the underside


As you can probably tell, it's far from perfect because it's hand made but it's more comfortable than stock because it prevents the middle bump on the strap from creating a hot spot. That was my main problem, so your mileage may vary. I apologize that I didn't take pictures while making this.

A couple of notes before we get started.

• This is just a rundown of what I did and I am in no way promising that this will work for you.
• This takes some sewing skills to do it this way. A sewing machine is highly recommended but technically not required.
• This mod is 100% reversible with zero damage to any of the stock parts. Simply unpick the sleeve if you need to RMA it.
• Every head is different so play around with the padding to see what works best for you.
• If the largest notch of the headband is the absolute smallest size it can be for you, this will not work, since the extra padding makes it a one-notch-smaller fit.
• I used velour cloth to match my vegan earpads that are coming but you could use whatever you want. However, using a material thicker than cloth will make it more challenging/impossible to sew it this way.
• If you aren't handy but want to improve the headband you could buy a ZMF Pilot Pad (or similar pad) and either use it on the metal headband or the strap. I can't guarantee fit, however, so measure carefully before buying. The reason I didn't go this route is I didn't really want to sink another $30 into this headphone and felt it would look more finished to a make a custom one.

Let's get started. Here is the pattern I drew up.

1. Cut out two pieces of your material, velour in my case, based on the above pattern. One will be the top and one the bottom. Be sure to cut generously. Even though I used 1/4 inch seam allowances I probably cut closer to 3/8 inch seam allowances.
2. Place the outsides (the side you want to show when finished) of the two pieces facing each other and sew them together along one of the long edges.
3. Lay it flat, and hem the two short edges since these will be showing.
4. Fold it back together so the outside are facing each other again and sew together about 2 inches on either end of the remaining long side, leaving a good section not sewn so you can put in the existing strap and the stuffing.
5. Turn the newly made sleeve outsides out, so the final material you want facing out is facing out.
6. Cut two pieces of quilting bat to the non seam allowance size and shape of the pattern above.
7. Cut four more pieces of quilting bat 2.5" x 2" and stack all of the cut quilting bat as shown below. Sandwich the small pieces with the two large pieces.
8. Stitch the layers of bat together with needle and thread. 4 or 5 very large stitches should do. You don't want the layers to come apart when shoving it in the sleeve.
9. Now trim the sandwiched pieces of bat so they conform to the same contours as the top and bottom pieces. this will ensure it fits better in the sleeve.
10. The reason we added extra layers to the ends so that it helps eat up some of the space between the head and strap the closer it gets to the edges, spreading out the weight as evenly as possible.
11. If you haven't already, remove the strap from the headphones, using the small screws at the bottom of the slider and tugging it out of the plastic housing.
12. Put the stock strap into the sleeve that you made. It should fit rather loosely so we have room for the quilting bat sandwich we made.
13. Feed the quilting bat into your sleeve on the head side of the strap.
14. Smooth and push it with your fingers. Making sure it reaches all of the way to both ends of the strap and making sure it doesn't have any folds or wrinkles. It should fit pretty well if measured and cut correctly.
15. Add very small pieces of batting in between the memory foam bumps on the headband. This is optional but can help to smooth out the headband as much as possible.
16. Once you are happy with how the padding is fitted and feels, fold under and pin the unsewn section of the sleeve.
17. Whip stitch the edges together creating the final finished edge.
18. Tack the outer corners of the open ends, since the headband is narrower here than the sleeve, to create a more finished look and to keep the stuffing from coming out the ends. This is optional.
19. Replace the strap on the M1060 and you are done!

I hope this was helpful or just interesting to someone. Let me know if any of you have questions.

Happy Modding!

 

This gets me excited, haha.

@cskippy I am curious to hear your impressions of bass performance stock vs vegans w/ paper towel?
Currently I feel some frequencies lack a little bit and don't provide the punch I'd like, in games a touch more bass from 80 below would be great I think.

I'd been using my X2's with DH2 setting on Dolby Headphone and absolutely loved them for the most part, but these don't seem to provide the same immersion and I find bass is bloaty and the clarity is ruined, almost like things are too merged after the DSP processing, I also think the X2's had a much better sound stage.

I feel like the clarity is superb stock and without Dolby Headphone, so I can't wait to hear them modded without Dolby Headphone, but I can't help but keep feeling like a little more bass would be fantastic.

I'm really appreciating all the insight and participation you're giving on this thread.

 

Hey, no problem! Stock bass might be slightly tighter but is less in quantity compared to Vegan plus paper towel. Vegan plus PT gets you exactly what you want if you look at the frequency graphs I've posted. There is a realistic weight to music now that wasn't there in stock form. Stock form is like listening to music through speakers, where modded is like being there in the room. It's not that drastic obviously but it's one step closer to the real thing.

I love planars for gaming as they give a better sense of 360 positioning compared to dynamic headphones, especially with DSP such as Dolby or Creative SBX.

I promise you'll like Vegan pads plus paper towel.

Do you happen to have any headphones or IEMs with MMCX connectors like Shure etc? That would be easy to grab and use with the M1060 until you get a new cable. Otherwise you can order a replacement Shure cable or other cable from Amazon easy peasy.

 

Was the bolded bit meant for somebody else? I am using the new batch with 2.5mm.

The difference in sound signature does sound great, looking forward to my vegan pads arriving, should grab some paper towels and do that mod while I wait.

 

Lol sorry, I'm so used to mine, I can't keep up with revisions of headphones. IMO, they should be good from the start.

 

So I decided to see how much glue holds on the pads, and too my surprise my pad started coming off extreeeeemely easy, there's next to no glue on it, looking much lighter on glue than revision one, is this just mine or can other 2nd genners get in on this?

The one I tested had the cloth over the driver stay on nice and flush.

With Audeze's Vegan Pads, do they come with their own cloth cover? Am I able to stick the pad right on top of the cloth currently covering the driver or do I need to do some extra work?

We should make a sticky or something with all the facts for the mod, I apologise if I'm asking things that have already been answered.

 

Audeze pads have their own cloth covers. You can remove the stock cloth when you attach the Audeze pads. If the adhesive is less, use the provided adhesive ring with the Audeze pads. It will be VERY sticky, so after attaching it to the pads, touch the adhesive to a cotton shirt 5-10 times to make it less sticky, it will still hold very well. If you don't you better get your placement perfect first time cause they won't want to come off.

 

That's what I'm afraid I'm going to hear myself, having seen all the frequency response graphs of the stock form and various mods. Two more variations I remember could give you more treble according to the forum discussions: 1. paper towel on the driver side, behind the foam (rather than on top of the foam, at the grille), 2. paper towel alone, no foam (but then you should somehow stick it to the grille so it doesn't bend or crease and risk going into the driver, and you're left with the problem of dust protection if you're using the 3" paper towel mod that doesn't cover the opening completely).

 

bumping my own message. Has anyone an idea on how to remove the original mmcx on version 1 ? Thanks in advance!

Hi Guys. I need your help I had a very bad issue with the left side of the phones basically producing very bad distortion. I have opened the cans and I tried to solder a cable directly to the driver to bypass the mmcx. It ... did not work ... same results ... so I decided to unsolder the original cable (connected to the mmcx plug) and .. miracle ! Sound is great again ... so the issue was inside the mmcx plug ! (looks good when you look at it ... but obviously isn't)
So I decided to re-cable the phones without any plugs for now. My issue is that I am unsure on how to remove the original mmcx plugs without damaging the cups. It looks that they are glued or something but I don't know what to do ? I don't even know how to remove the drivers from the cups indeed ..
Thanks in advance for your help !