[FullBright1]

Hi @FullBright1

Be interesting to see what Neumann do next though in the meantime, I continue to enjoy the NDH 20 very much.

Hope you have a great day !

This Headphone has been, generally, very well received.
Any company is hoping for new product success as their fulcrum to build from, and thereby continue the series.
I'm looking forward to whatever Neumann decides to release next, as it'll be good, and hopefully not @ a crazy price price point.

 

[PaganDL]

This Headphone has been, generally, very well received.
Any company is hoping for new product success as their fulcrum to build from, and thereby continue the series.
I'm looking forward to whatever Neumann decides to release next, as it'll be good, and hopefully not @ a crazy price price point.

Hi @FullBright1,

Always nice to hear from you !

Definitely agree on the hopefully not at a crazy price point but while doubtful, is still sadly possible, we will have to see.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[PaganDL]

@FullBright1,

Referring to a prior conversation we had a few months back, you stated there was no real need to change my Drawmer MC 2.1 unless I wanted to spend more money, though aside from cost, I've been thinking & curious what other MCs would you recommend in a similar price range to the MC 2.1?

Hope you have a great day !

 

[gb21011971]

Impressions after a week or two with the Neumann's:

Weird headphones. Not sure if I love them or hate them. First thought after about 10 seconds of listening: They sell these as neutral monitors? They are NOT neutral AT ALL. Very boosted bass and rolled off trebles. But after 2 weeks, I have to nuance that first impression: I still think they are far from neutral (whatever that is), but for me, they work with some music, and not at all with other music:

What works: Older music, mastered in the 90's and before. In those time, tracks were being master in a "thinner" way, less dynamic and less bass. Old rock, pop, metal etc. works beautifully. The NDH 20 elevates the recording's thinner bass beautifully and dampens the sometimes harsh highs of those types of recordings. I genuinely have to say that I enjoy my collection of older music much more than ever.

What does not work: E.g. recent, well mastered EDM. Tracks that already have a strong bass component are un-listenable. Total bass overkill, especially, if the recording's bass contains more mid-bass than sub-bass.

In a nutshell, older, crappy recordings sound great, well mastered, modern stuff doesn't. Since a large part of my collection is old rock etc, I will keep the NDH 20 for those, for the pleasure of rediscovering older songs. And also, because I really like the build (like a tank) and the fact that they are quite portable for a full sized headphone.

 

[gb21011971]

By the way, does anyone have experience with aftermarket cables for this? Z says that the Sennheiser 598 etc cables don't fit unless you sand down the connector. Really need a portable cable, both included cables are anything but suited for portable.

 

[yannickcalleiro]

By the way, does anyone have experience with aftermarket cables for this? Z says that the Sennheiser 598 etc cables don't fit unless you sand down the connector. Really need a portable cable, both included cables are anything but suited for portable.

He recently said someone found a replacement cable without needing to modify the cable. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...1ca458bcac18c2efebaff945460828&language=en_US

 

[329161]

Impressions after a week or two with the Neumann's:

Weird headphones. Not sure if I love them or hate them. First thought after about 10 seconds of listening: They sell these as neutral monitors? They are NOT neutral AT ALL. Very boosted bass and rolled off trebles. But after 2 weeks, I have to nuance that first impression: I still think they are far from neutral (whatever that is), but for me, they work with some music, and not at all with other music:

What works: Older music, mastered in the 90's and before. In those time, tracks were being master in a "thinner" way, less dynamic and less bass. Old rock, pop, metal etc. works beautifully. The NDH 20 elevates the recording's thinner bass beautifully and dampens the sometimes harsh highs of those types of recordings. I genuinely have to say that I enjoy my collection of older music much more than ever.

What does not work: E.g. recent, well mastered EDM. Tracks that already have a strong bass component are un-listenable. Total bass overkill, especially, if the recording's bass contains more mid-bass than sub-bass.

In a nutshell, older, crappy recordings sound great, well mastered, modern stuff doesn't. Since a large part of my collection is old rock etc, I will keep the NDH 20 for those, for the pleasure of rediscovering older songs. And also, because I really like the build (like a tank) and the fact that they are quite portable for a full sized headphone.

Many people, including myself, think that modern recordings have crappy mastering compared with the older stuff. Everything past 1990s have increasingly had their dynamic range decreased by overlimiting. Also digital mixing/mastering can't match the pleasing sound of old analogue gear. Just take a look at the mediocre state of contemporary music in general. All IMO of course.

 

[Beagle]

Impressions after a week or two with the Neumann's:

Weird headphones. Not sure if I love them or hate them. First thought after about 10 seconds of listening: They sell these as neutral monitors? They are NOT neutral AT ALL. Very boosted bass and rolled off trebles. But after 2 weeks, I have to nuance that first impression: I still think they are far from neutral (whatever that is), but for me, they work with some music, and not at all with other music:

What works: Older music, mastered in the 90's and before. In those time, tracks were being master in a "thinner" way, less dynamic and less bass. Old rock, pop, metal etc. works beautifully. The NDH 20 elevates the recording's thinner bass beautifully and dampens the sometimes harsh highs of those types of recordings. I genuinely have to say that I enjoy my collection of older music much more than ever.

What does not work: E.g. recent, well mastered EDM. Tracks that already have a strong bass component are un-listenable. Total bass overkill, especially, if the recording's bass contains more mid-bass than sub-bass.

In a nutshell, older, crappy recordings sound great, well mastered, modern stuff doesn't. Since a large part of my collection is old rock etc, I will keep the NDH 20 for those, for the pleasure of rediscovering older songs. And also, because I really like the build (like a tank) and the fact that they are quite portable for a full sized headphone.

Most of what people use as a source and reference these days is far from neutral. So we can't really blame the headphone. Either that or your set may be defective. Also, different ideas of what constitutes neutral abound. Or maybe my pair is defective, and defective in an accidentally neutral way and I got lucky. Although I have read a number of reviews that seem to be hearing the same as me so there might be a huge quality control issue here.

 

[Seijuro]

Z has got me very interested in this headphone. May sell my dt 1990 to get the money for it.

 

[XERO1]

Z has got me very interested in this headphone. May sell my dt 1990 to get the money for it.

I think that would be a mistake.
The DT 1990 is a great sounding headphone. I would just save your pennies until you can buy the NDH-20 and then directly compare them. That's the only way to know for sure which one sounds best to you.

 

[Turntable-T]

I was wondering how the Neumann NHD 20 compare to the 1 More Triple Drivers Over Ear Headphone in balanced? In balanced the highs are crystal clear, the mids are where they should be and if you have a song with deep bass you hear it. If the song doesn't have a lot bass then it is reflected that way. If the Neumann has a sound that's not close to the 1 More I may have to get one. Just wondering if anyone had any insight with the 1 More in balanced. It sounds completely different from using it in the 3.5mm single end.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I had a chance to listen to this yesterday. T’was my intention that I just popped by a friend’s house and maybe just demo it for 15 minutes...see what’s what.
Well I ended up spending all of the evening and a good part of the night hogging his new favourite headphones.
Impressions:
Comfy, absolutely gorgeous to look at and quite lovely to feel in one’s hands.
Neutrality? Nahh...the bass, particularly the mid bass, is pumped up a notch yet the highs aren’t elevated enough to call this a v-signature.
My friend bought them because he already owns a pair of Neumann studio monitors (also works with a pair in the studio), yet was somewhat disappointed when he first tried them at work.
He couldn’t use them. The vocal mixes sounded absolutely dreadful because he couldn’t hear when the recording turned sibilant.
After that initial punch to the gut he didn’t use them for a week. Then one evening he popped it into his WA6 and he hasn’t look back ever since.

My personal feelings about the NDH 20 is that it is a most wonderful audiophile headphone that works well with just about anything you care to throw at it. The warmth of the bass as well as a small dip in the uppermids smoothes out both sibilance and less than stellar recordings.
Bottomless bass, clean and clear music reproduction (I’ll take a wild stab in the dark here, but I think the THD number is crazy low) as well as an impressive soundstage for a closedback.
I think I am getting one myself...though not to mix on. I’d fair much better with a KNS6400.

 

[kdoof]

I had these for about a week and really, really disliked them. They are not neutral either in my opinion but to that end are also just bizarre-sounding. They have a scoop and a peak in the mids that makes surprising parts of music almost sibilant, and others recessed. Isolation was good but the circular pads are goofy for comfort, and my ears are also fairly small, so I feel like the isolation may not be great for people with even average-ears. The packaging is really great and the headphones themselves feel premium, but the yokes are plastic which takes away from the premium feel of the cans. The bass doesn't reach deep at all. Very disappointing, and I'm disappointed in Zeos for hyping up such an expensive pair of super-weird, (in my opinion) not very enjoyable headphones.

 

[jon parker]

I had a chance to listen to this yesterday. T’was my intention that I just popped by a friend’s house and maybe just demo it for 15 minutes...see what’s what.
Well I ended up spending all of the evening and a good part of the night hogging his new favourite headphones.
Impressions:
Comfy, absolutely gorgeous to look at and quite lovely to feel in one’s hands.
Neutrality? Nahh...the bass, particularly the mid bass, is pumped up a notch yet the highs aren’t elevated enough to call this a v-signature.
My friend bought them because he already owns a pair of Neumann studio monitors (also works with a pair in the studio), yet was somewhat disappointed when he first tried them at work.
He couldn’t use them. The vocal mixes sounded absolutely dreadful because he couldn’t hear when the recording turned sibilant.
After that initial punch to the gut he didn’t use them for a week. Then one evening he popped it into his WA6 and he hasn’t look back ever since.

My personal feelings about the NDH 20 is that it is a most wonderful audiophile headphone that works well with just about anything you care to throw at it. The warmth of the bass as well as a small dip in the uppermids smoothes out both sibilance and less than stellar recordings.
Bottomless bass, clean and clear music reproduction (I’ll take a wild stab in the dark here, but I think the THD number is crazy low) as well as an impressive soundstage for a closedback.
I think I am getting one myself...though not to mix on. I’d fair much better with a KNS6400.

I had a really interesting experience with mine also hearing too much warmth in the low end BUT when I played through iBasso DX90 DAP - the warmth dissapeared!! and I was left with a really smooth neutral balanced signature
I suspect these headphones are super revealing of low end - Not sure BUT they CAN be a very neutral headphone

 

[halcyon]

I had these for about a week and really, really disliked them.

Interesting, thanks for the honest and critical comments. Always more interesting to read these than the generic "ooh-aaah, best thing since sliced bread" comments.

Can you tell what is your current headphone reference for neutrality as you see it?