[lgcubana]

Please add me to the list for the RF1060 MK1

Thanks

I haven't printed these out to test yet, but might as well let you guys check it out if interested. Changing the naming scheme on these. S = Straight R = Rounded F= Fazor
SF1060 Mk1
RF1060 Mk1
Changes:

• Cleaned up tolerances a bit more
• Gave the fazors wider tapered edges
• Straight fazor option available
• Increased height to 5mm
• Removed pad rolling gap for more surface area to attach to driver and rigidity.
• No need to glue or tape together pieces. Just one piece taped or glued directly to the driver.

Not saying these are an improvement, just different options if the previous designs don't suit your needs or taste.

 

[Makiah S]

Okay, so a little comparison. I'll keep it brief as I don't have the M1060 anymore and it's not stock. Also, my M1060 did not exhibit ringing at 5kHz to my ears, YMMV here.

I thought the target response curve of the M1060 was pretty good, a warm take on neutral. The midrange and lower treble were slightly accentuated and could be a problem with the wrong associated gear. There were a couple issues with the M1060 that led me to selling them. The irregular frequency response (stock), comfort with the bumps in the suspension strap, and a "veil" to the sound. What I mean by veil is that the sound seemed too distant or behind a layer of cloth. This was NOT fixed by removing the protective earside driver cloth material, that just made them harsh. I think the pad distance and slotted design didn't jive with my personal preferences. Now that I think about it, that's probably the reason I don't care for Audeze headphones either, as they also have a slotted design for the housing. Personal issues/preferences aside, I can see these being a pretty substantial step up from most other headphones in their price range IF you get a good pair. And that's the problem, quality control. I might suggest people look at the HE-400i or 400s as an alternative.

The AR-H1 screams quality compared to the M1060, and it should being double the price at $599. I'm not sure about weight differences but the AR-H1 is more comfortable for me although the pad depth is barely to shallow and my ears graze the metal housing. The suspension headband is pretty good but you might still get a hot spot after a couple hours. You can push it up to relieve the pressure and I'm sure the elastic will loosen up with use and be less of an issue, same for clamp.

On to sound...

These two headphones both have good bass quantity and extension. Were they differ is the midrange and treble. The AR-H1 has a dip at 4kHz were the M1060 has a peak shortly after that. The dip at 4kHz isn't as pronounced since your ears are so close to the drivers and they are not angled. The leather pads also reduce the treble output so the peak at 10kHz is also not as bad as the measurements show. This frequency response creates a very wide and deep soundstage, one of the largest I've heard, up there with the HD800. There is excellent clarity and air with the AR-H1 which I found lacking in the M1060. Both have kind of a looser bass compared to ToTL headphones but extension and quantity are excellent staying pretty neutral.

I prefer the AR-H1 especially now since it's had more hours on it. It started out kind of harsh but I would keep coming back to it for an hour or so every day. It's now a great alternative to my modded HE-6 when I want something a little more lively for rock.

Comparison between AR-H1 and M1060 stock:

M1060 Waterfall: Note the excessively high and long "ortho wall".

M1060 Waterfall: Much cleaner than the M1060, the ortho wall seems tensioned a little looser at ~2kHz and is at a lower amplitude.

M1060 Impulse Response: Very ragged with bounce back up so there is some issues with diaphragm movement and decay.

AR-H1 Impulse Response: VERY clean, one of the best impulse responses I've seen on par with the HD800.

AR-H1 measurements look excellent! Thanks for posting them here and thanks for M1060 comparisons!

 

[heliosphann]

Okay, so I was going to do a AR-H1/M1060 comparison tonight, but I put the H1's on and I couldn't take them off...

I'll try again tomorrow night and start with the 1060's

 

[DavidA]

I've heard dark, and M1060 shouldn't be considered dark. LCD2 was dark with recessed mids.

M1060 was far from boring in regards to balanced response, dynamics, and detail retrieval. I expect greater priced headphones to perform, but sadly there is no correlation based on comparisons.

No mods.

Its possible you heard a LCD-2.2 (pre-fazor) if your impression of them was dark with recessed mids, my Fazor (2014 version) is quite a bit brighter than the older 2.2, brighter than a HD650 with the mids to match or better the HD650. One of the reasons I was looking at the M1060 was a few comments from some that said the M1060 was better than the LCD-2 (like your impression) but sadly that was not even close to what I heard where the M1060 was quite boring with no life in the sound and from my memory even the Nighthawk was a more engaging sound. I'm glad you find the M1060 to sound so good to you but to me it was a disappointment with all the hype they have/had.

Also need to consider that what I find boring someone else might think is great, musical or neutral/natural. To me the HD650 is borderline with some genres, I don't consider Grado's to be overly bright, HD800/HD700 peaks don't bother me, HD600 peak bothers me (sold them), my highly modded HE400 is better sounding to me than most mid tier headphones, I don't care for the tuning of the Ether/EtherC, traded my SR009/SRM007 for wine/scotch/whiskey and have been in phase of building Grado like headphones with some of the newest alternative drivers and various wood type cups just to give you an idea where my preferences lie.

 

[biggbenn74]

My LCD-2 / M1060 comparison thread is finally up, feel free to ask me any questions I did not address:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audeze-lcd-2-and-monoprice-m1060-comparison-and-discussion.864734/

 

[Brahmsian]

The AR-H1 screams quality compared to the M1060, and it should being double the price at $599.

I chose the M1060 partly because it was described as having a good price to performance ratio, particularly for a planar. That's part of its appeal. If you're planning on spending $600, then, of course, much of the appeal goes away. It's also true that the prices for planars have come down some.

Agree about the value but if one needs to do all the mods which make them closer to $400-450 then you need to consider the HE400i, HE560 and even a EL-8 ($339 for b-stock) if wanting a planar headphone....

M1060 with Audeze lambskin pads and fuzzor mod comes out to $381, everything brand new. The M1060 sounds great with just those two mods and it's very much worth it.

I also feel like I need to caution people about the recommendation of the he400i and he560. I bought both and ended up being disappointed with both. The 400i is dull and sibilant, while the he560 is more energetic but still sibilant if you turn the volume up on a lot of pop, hip hop, and rock. Both headphones are much less comfortable than the m1060, too.

Unless you listen to classical, I would not choose the he560 over a modded m1060. Also keep in mind they're very different sounding headphones. I find them to be complementary rather than replacements for each other. The one caveat: if you mostly listen to classical, choose the he560 for sure.

 

[DavidA]

M1060 with Audeze lambskin pads and fuzzor mod comes out to $381, everything brand new. The M1060 sounds great with just those two mods and it's very much worth it.

I also feel like I need to caution people about the recommendation of the he400i and he560. I bought both and ended up being disappointed with both. The 400i is dull and sibilant, while the he560 is more energetic but still sibilant if you turn the volume up on a lot of pop, hip hop, and rock. Both headphones are much less comfortable than the m1060, too.

Unless you listen to classical, I would not choose the he560 over a modded m1060. Also keep in mind they're very different sounding headphones. I find them to be complementary rather than replacements for each other. The one caveat: if you mostly listen to classical, choose the he560 for sure.

Have to disagree about the comfort since the M1060 was much too heavy to me, maybe it might be better with Audeze pads but my LCD-2f is still too heavy and they weigh about the same.

I wanted to also add that the version of the HE400i makes a difference (I have the older SMC back plate version which I think sounds better than the newer 2.5mm no back plate version after hearing both a few times) and with the HE560 the amp used makes a noticeable difference in how it sounds. I've never found my HE400i (original version) and HE560 to sound sibilant but both are usually driven with hybrid amps (Project Ember, Lyr2) or a slightly warm SS amp (headphone jack of UD-301). I've tried my HE560 on my Asgard2 and found it to be borderline sibilant so keep in mind that the choice of amp needs to be considered with the HE560.

The sound of the M1060 didn't change much when I tried it on different amps so I think its a bit easier to drive and will probably sound good/better to more since they are easier to drive.

Also, I don't listen at very high levels, usually around 65-75dB which most would say is on the lower side, which I think makes a difference in how one perceives a headphone to sound IMO.

 

[Brahmsian]

- Have to disagree about the comfort since the M1060 was much too heavy to me.

- I've never found my HE400i (original version) and HE560 to sound sibilant...The sound of the M1060 didn't change much when I tried it on different amps so I think its a bit easier to drive and will probably sound good/better to more since they are easier to drive.

- Also, I don't listen at very high levels, usually around 65-75dB which most would say is on the lower side, which I think makes a difference in how one perceives a headphone to sound IMO.

What makes the HE560 borderline uncomfortable:

a) the excessive clamping force
b) the itchy pads
c) the small, shallow ear cups that make the foam over the driver press up against the pinnae, which in turn make the ears feel trapped and constrained.

But, yeah, the M1060 is a little heavier. Personally I barely feel the weight because of the lightness of the clamping force. It comes down to what you find uncomfortable, a little weight atop of the head or issues I listed above.

I take your point about the amp but have my doubts. That's because classical music sounds excellent. Keep in mind that I don't hear any sibilance whatsoever at your listening levels, so under your usual listening conditions you wouldn't either. Part of it could be that the M1060 is more forgiving when it comes to highly processed/compressed music, which, for a lot of pop music, is a point in its favor IMO.

 

[DavidA]

What makes the HE560 borderline uncomfortable:

a) the excessive clamping force
b) the itchy pads
c) the small, shallow ear cups that make the foam over the driver press up against the pinnae, which in turn make the ears feel trapped and constrained.

But, yeah, the M1060 is a little heavier. Personally I barely feel the weight because of the lightness of the clamping force. It comes down to what you find uncomfortable, a little weight atop of the head or issues I listed above.

I take your point about the amp but have my doubts. That's because classical music sounds excellent. Keep in mind that I don't hear any sibilance whatsoever at your listening levels, so under your usual listening conditions you wouldn't either. Part of it could be that the M1060 is more forgiving when it comes to highly processed/compressed music, which, for a lot of pop music, is a point in its favor IMO.

a. Agree with the original clamping force being a bit much, I did bend my headband to lessen the clamping force. Bent the headband so that the pads were not touching so that the foam in the ear pads would not be a constant state of compression.
b. Itchy is relative to the individual, for me the Focus/Focus-A pads breath much better than the Audeze pads so my ears don't get hot.
c. I guess my ears are small enough since there is a lot of space for my ears. I think your ear pads are compressed due to the excessive clamping force and being in a constant state of compression.

Agree with you that the M1060 is much more forgiving of poorly recorded/mastered tracks.

 

[Architeuthis]

My left driver just stopped working. I haven't even had these on my head that much since buying them around April. How difficult is the return/refund process with Monoprice? Will I have to pay for return shipping?

 

[involuntarysoul]

open it up and check the wiring connections, it is very self serviceable

 

[Architeuthis]

open it up and check the wiring connections, it is very self serviceable

The wires are still connected. If they weren't, I can't solder anyway.

 

[DrunkSaru]

My left driver just stopped working. I haven't even had these on my head that much since buying them around April. How difficult is the return/refund process with Monoprice? Will I have to pay for return shipping?

no, not difficult. Just login to your account and request an RMA. I just got mine back a month ago. It just took them about a month to process everything but they also told me they were hella busy. You don't pay any shipping. The hardest part is getting your lazy ass up to repackage the headphones and dropping it off. I think it was UPS. Once you're done with that, you just wait.

 

[NTK1]

My left driver just stopped working. I haven't even had these on my head that much since buying them around April. How difficult is the return/refund process with Monoprice? Will I have to pay for return shipping?

Try and call to make the rma process quicker. First time it took over a week to get the return label. Second time I called and they emailed me the return label that afternoon.

 

[koover]

Try and call to make the rma process quicker. First time it took over a week to get the return label. Second time I called and they emailed me the return label that afternoon.

2nd time? Damn man, you must REALLY love this HP. I do too but a second time I would have called it quits.