I just read up on balanced drive, wiw it sounds cool
Has anybody tried balanced drive with M1060 and can share their impression?
Has anybody tried balanced drive with M1060 and can share their impression?
Monoprice Monolith M1060 and M560 Planar Headphones
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It's all about the amps topology and implementation not balanced vs single ended. I prefer the Zana Deux (single ended) for it's sweetness, better sound stage and impressive dynamics over Jotunheim (balanced), which has impressive attack, clarity, and authority. Both are excellent amps but in this case, depending on the music, I prefer a single ended amp.
Just got to try the M1060 from a friend, for the price its decent but its "veiled" to me, highs are rolled off and sound stage is lacking. To me and a few other friends who gave them a listen the HE400i is clearly a better sounding headphone. While there is sub-bass, we all felt its too recessed compared to HE400, LCD-2f, LCD-3f, EL8-open, TH-X00, TH-600, HD700, HE560 and even my Ypsilon R1 build. A few others who also gave the M1060 a listen didn't have much to say about them, most felt that they were quite boring with no life to the sound, a bit on the heavy side like the LCD-2/3 that we also listened to. Most of the music was jazz, classical, blues and classic rock so this also needs to be considered since I think the one genre that the M1060 might have been better at is EDM and R&B which we didn't listen to. FWIW my HE400i is the older one and has been modded with sorbothane in the cups, silicon glue to seal the pads to the mounting ring and has the grill mod so this might be a reason for it to be so different from the M1060.
For the owner of the M1060 it was her fourth "better" headphone, she also has a HE700, HE560 and a custom Ypsilon S2 build that she got after selling the HD600 that she bought from me and was looking for a laid back headphone but to her its a bit too laid back so she's going to give them to her sister who likes them.
DACs used: Mimby (impressive for the price), BImby, Modi2uber, UD-301, Hugo. Amps used: BH Crack, Elise, Hugo, Liquid Carbon, Lyr2, Ember, HA-501 and headphone output of UD-301.
For the owner of the M1060 it was her fourth "better" headphone, she also has a HE700, HE560 and a custom Ypsilon S2 build that she got after selling the HD600 that she bought from me and was looking for a laid back headphone but to her its a bit too laid back so she's going to give them to her sister who likes them.
DACs used: Mimby (impressive for the price), BImby, Modi2uber, UD-301, Hugo. Amps used: BH Crack, Elise, Hugo, Liquid Carbon, Lyr2, Ember, HA-501 and headphone output of UD-301.
NTK1
100+ Head-Fier
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I'm stuck between Modi Mulitbit/Magni 2 uber combo vs Chord Mojo. Will be used 95% of the time at my desk, but the possibility of taking the Mojo with me is tempting. Anyone tried these Dac/amps with the m1060's? I've read that a few loved the Mojo with the m1060's
I've read most of this thread but for the life of me, can't remember what the answer to this question was and the opinions. Must be Anheuser's disease.
I just received the 1060's and I got to say, I don't like them at all. There's this weird type of distortion or shrill in the upper mids that's teeth grinding to me. Before I send these back, I'd like to know (and I know it's been mentioned a hundred times already) what pad mod is recommended to rid some of this "shriek" while not losing any of the bass. I'm using Mimby > Jot
I don't find these as dark as some have said and like the treble. Also, I wouldn't mind it if they became a bit more bright without losing the bass and sub bass.
But this shriek? Can't handle it and it's a deal breaker if there's no magic fairy dust to rid it.
Thoughts? Again?
I just received the 1060's and I got to say, I don't like them at all. There's this weird type of distortion or shrill in the upper mids that's teeth grinding to me. Before I send these back, I'd like to know (and I know it's been mentioned a hundred times already) what pad mod is recommended to rid some of this "shriek" while not losing any of the bass. I'm using Mimby > Jot
I don't find these as dark as some have said and like the treble. Also, I wouldn't mind it if they became a bit more bright without losing the bass and sub bass.
But this shriek? Can't handle it and it's a deal breaker if there's no magic fairy dust to rid it.
Thoughts? Again?
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Audeze leather or vegan pads (more natural sounding, more even treble and less ringy/spiky sound), remove outside foam (more air and slight treble increase) and add more foam on the ear side of the driver (some use creatology foam where you cut out pieces so the driver holes are exposed, I just covered the holes too, as I prefer a more mellow sound). Just search "m1060 creatology foam" in Google and find the pages in this thread that explains in more detail..
Audeze leather or vegan pads (more natural sounding, more even treble and less ringy/spiky sound), remove outside foam (more air and slight treble increase) and add more foam on the ear side of the driver (some use creatology foam where you cut out pieces so the driver holes are exposed, I just covered the holes too, as I prefer a more mellow sound). Just search "m1060 creatology foam" in Google and find the pages in this thread that explains in more detail..
Great! Thamx man
Brahmsian
500+ Head-Fier
The pads which I have mostly seen recommended are the Audeze leather-free "vegan" pads, which have been out of stock for more than a month everywhere I've looked. Tullebukk and others have tried the Audeze leather pads, and they've liked it. I question whether it does the same thing to the sound as the vegan pads + paper towel mod but if the leather-free ones don't reappear soon I'm just going to go ahead and try the leather ones.
Note that cskippy had the same initial reaction to the M1060 as you did. "Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock." Nevertheless, he has been a great advocate for the M1060 here and on other forums, but only with the vegan pads and paper towel. Here's what he said way back in this thread about the mod:
"I tailored the mods [vegan pads + paper towel] for my personal preferences. It's about as warm as an HD600 or HD650 but with planar bass which is different from dynamics and some don't like it. Planar bass excels at linearity, although I usually find it too lean in the mid bass area. That's why I wanted a downward slope to the frequency response. There is a slight treble rise around 8kHz but you can see it's really broad so it integrates well with the rest of the frequency response. Some people might not like this sound. Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock. We all have different preferences, but this mod aims to make the M1060 more neutral but with a bass boost yet still retaining detail in the highs."
It's worth reposting some measurements. All the ones I've seen show a spike at or around the 5k region:
How it is affected (if at all) by mods:
One might drive initial sales but in the end it is unfair to a particular headphone to hype it to the skies, which is what in my opinion was done to the M1060. Once you compare it to the thousand dollar Audeze LCD-2, how can a $299 headphone measure up? As you said, the M1060 is a decent headphone for the price. I would say good instead of decent, but close enough.
What you are calling "veiled" is, I think, what I hear as a cold glare that in some music tends to hide things, just like the sun's glare tends to obscure visibility from time to time. But for me it just isn't as pronounced as it is for some. There is definitely no "shriek" or anything even remotely approaching that.
I'm looking forward to the Audeze pads, which will probably be the leather ones. But if it does nothing but increase comfort (which is already pretty good on these headphones) that's fine by me. I've got my eye on a few other headphones with the Aeon and Elear at the top of the list. If I see either for a good price, I will buy it. And I can afford to wait since I'm very much enjoying my M1060 and HE400i in the meantime.
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The pads which I have mostly seen recommended are the Audeze leather-free "vegan" pads, which have been out of stock for more than a month everywhere I've looked. Tullebukk and others have tried the Audeze leather pads, and they've liked it. I question whether it does the same thing to the sound as the vegan pads + paper towel mod but if the leather-free ones don't reappear soon I'm just going to go ahead and try the leather ones.
Note that cskippy had the same initial reaction to the M1060 as you did. "Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock." Nevertheless, he has been a great advocate for the M1060 here and on other forums, but only with the vegan pads and paper towel. Here's what he said way back in this thread about the mod:
"I tailored the mods [vegan pads + paper towel] for my personal preferences. It's about as warm as an HD600 or HD650 but with planar bass which is different from dynamics and some don't like it. Planar bass excels at linearity, although I usually find it too lean in the mid bass area. That's why I wanted a downward slope to the frequency response. There is a slight treble rise around 8kHz but you can see it's really broad so it integrates well with the rest of the frequency response. Some people might not like this sound. Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock. We all have different preferences, but this mod aims to make the M1060 more neutral but with a bass boost yet still retaining detail in the highs."
It's worth reposting some measurements. All the ones I've seen show a spike at or around the 5k region:
How it is affected (if at all) by mods:i
One might drive initial sales but in the end it is unfair to a particular headphone to hype it to the skies, which is what in my opinion was done to the M1060. Once you compare it to the thousand dollar Audeze LCD-2, how can a $299 headphone measure up? As you said, the M1060 is a decent headphone for the price. I would say good instead of decent, but close enough.
What you are calling "veiled" is, I think, what I hear as a cold glare that in some music tends to hide things, just like the sun's glare tends to obscure visibility from time to time. But for me it just isn't as pronounced as it is for some. There is definitely no "shriek" or anything even remotely approaching that.
I'm looking forward to the Audeze pads, which will probably be the leather ones. But if it does nothing but increase comfort (which is already pretty good on these headphones) that's fine by me. I've got my eye on a few other headphones with the Aeon and Elear at the top of the list. If I see either for a good price, I will buy it. And I can afford to wait since I'm very much enjoying my M1060 and HE400i in the meantime.
Excellent post. I appreciate the insight and will definitely use this advice. I like you, am not liking the stock sound at all. Actually I don't want to keep these if a mod doesn't improve its signature significantly. It's way too harsh on my ears in he upper mids and recessed just enough in the uppers that it just doesn't sound right with this combo of issues.
I ordered the Audezee non leather vegan pads even knowing they're back ordered. I can wait as I have enough phones to get me by.
Loving the Foxtex Purplehearts so much is spoiling me so that it's hard to listen to anything else. I was hoping these 1060's would come close even with their planar sound. I just want a decent set of cans that are close to or are neutral, have impactful bass with sub bass and highs that aren't hidden.
These pads and probably the paper towel mod should get me closer to what I'm looking for.
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The pads which I have mostly seen recommended are the Audeze leather-free "vegan" pads, which have been out of stock for more than a month everywhere I've looked. Tullebukk and others have tried the Audeze leather pads, and they've liked it. I question whether it does the same thing to the sound as the vegan pads + paper towel mod but if the leather-free ones don't reappear soon I'm just going to go ahead and try the leather ones.
Note that cskippy had the same initial reaction to the M1060 as you did. "Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock." Nevertheless, he has been a great advocate for the M1060 here and on other forums, but only with the vegan pads and paper towel. Here's what he said way back in this thread about the mod:
"I tailored the mods [vegan pads + paper towel] for my personal preferences. It's about as warm as an HD600 or HD650 but with planar bass which is different from dynamics and some don't like it. Planar bass excels at linearity, although I usually find it too lean in the mid bass area. That's why I wanted a downward slope to the frequency response. There is a slight treble rise around 8kHz but you can see it's really broad so it integrates well with the rest of the frequency response. Some people might not like this sound. Others, like myself can't stand the M1060 stock. We all have different preferences, but this mod aims to make the M1060 more neutral but with a bass boost yet still retaining detail in the highs."
It's worth reposting some measurements. All the ones I've seen show a spike at or around the 5k region:
How it is affected (if at all) by mods:
One might drive initial sales but in the end it is unfair to a particular headphone to hype it to the skies, which is what in my opinion was done to the M1060. Once you compare it to the thousand dollar Audeze LCD-2, how can a $299 headphone measure up? As you said, the M1060 is a decent headphone for the price. I would say good instead of decent, but close enough.
What you are calling "veiled" is, I think, what I hear as a cold glare that in some music tends to hide things, just like the sun's glare tends to obscure visibility from time to time. But for me it just isn't as pronounced as it is for some. There is definitely no "shriek" or anything even remotely approaching that.
I'm looking forward to the Audeze pads, which will probably be the leather ones. But if it does nothing but increase comfort (which is already pretty good on these headphones) that's fine by me. I've got my eye on a few other headphones with the Aeon and Elear at the top of the list. If I see either for a good price, I will buy it. And I can afford to wait since I'm very much enjoying my M1060 and HE400i in the meantime.
I found that the sound and comfort was better with the audeze leather pads. Look up the review om Veromsonus about the m1060's, you can see a graph showing how it tames the 5khz peak even better if compared to the vegan pads even. Comfort just get better by each day because of the leather and the foam shaping to your head.
Wow, he rips these cans to shreds. Ouch! Well since the non leather are on back order, I have time to make up my mind and cancel my current order. Decisions.
Thanx for the replay and pointing me in his direction for another perspective.
Pahani
500+ Head-Fier
Oh, you have Purplehearts? I'd mod those instead. Lawton Tune-Up kit, ZMF Pilot Pad for the headband, and whatever pads you like. Dekoni seem to be quite popular, I use ZMF pads myself.
Modded M1060 vs modded Purplehearts, I'd pick the PH. I use my PH as a bass-heavy compliment to my Stax, and I love it
Oh, you have Purplehearts? I'd mod those instead. Lawton Tune-Up kit, ZMF Pilot Pad for the headband, and whatever pads you like. Dekoni seem to be quite popular, I use ZMF pads myself.
Modded M1060 vs modded Purplehearts, I'd pick the PH. I use my PH as a bass-heavy compliment to my Stax, and I love it
Yeah, I absolutely dig the PH's. They're my fave cans and go to them over everything else I have. I'm going to do the Lawton tune up, but if I'm going to keep the 1060's, they gotta be modded or I'm sending them back.
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