[headphonesaddict123]

i own a pair and i'm pretty satisfied with them .
the sound is extremely clean due to low distortion , very detailed sound though this department is not top-tier to me as there are other headphones which are better at retrieving micro-details and instrument separations .
if there's something i don't like about ndh-20 is it's tonality , but that's a matter of personal preference .

 

[John Buchanan]

i own a pair and i'm pretty satisfied with them .
the sound is extremely clean due to low distortion , very detailed sound though this department is not top-tier to me as there are other headphones which are better at retrieving micro-details and instrument separations .
if there's something i don't like about ndh-20 is it's tonality , but that's a matter of personal preference .

IMHO, the micro details and instrument separation are there but not accentuated by a treble bump (ala the Beyerdynamic). Tonally, it appears spot on to me. Stability of position within the soundstage is rock solid.

 

[headphonesaddict123]

IMHO, the micro details and instrument separation are there but not accentuated by a treble bump (ala the Beyerdynamic). Tonally, it appears spot on to me. Stability of position within the soundstage is rock solid.

Yeah , the tonality is pretty great to me objectively , it is just my personal taste , the sound is a little bit too lean to me and i was so used to hd650 or something like Koss ESP950 . I think i've heard a few IEMs that is quite similar to this kind of sound . FH7 and KSE1500 , and they're all great imo .
Also , do those headphones scale well with proper amplifiers? Did you pair it with any setup / other gears ?
Overall , a good purchase indeed!

 

[gb21011971]

Hello guys!

Could someone provide me with a competent comparison between the NDH 20 and the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro? Preferably from the standpoint of an electronic musician (creating bass-heavy music), who wants to use one of these headphones for everything (track/mix/master/produce/listen). Low end detail and intensity is really important for me, and a slight elevation in that range might be even preferred to a completely flat response.
I'm planing to upgrade from an AKG K702, which is a gorgeous sounding headphone, but quite shy on the low-end for electronic music production, I believe.
I would be really interested to read your feedback, if you have experience with both of the above mentioned cans.

Cheers, and thanks in advance!

Maybe a surprising answer, but I would NOT recommend these for EDM. Their bass is great, but tonally speaking much too prominent, even with other genres. When playing bass heavy music like electronic music through them, bass becomes total overkill. At least for me. If you're fine with EQing and taking the lower frequencies down a few db, they are great, but without EQ, I want to rip them off my head with EDM.

IMO these are great with older music, the kind characterized by a thin sounding mastering like old rock songs. Then they add the lacking low end.

 

[IgorRomaovsky]

Maybe a surprising answer, but I would NOT recommend these for EDM. Their bass is great, but tonally speaking much too prominent, even with other genres. When playing bass heavy music like electronic music through them, bass becomes total overkill. At least for me. If you're fine with EQing and taking the lower frequencies down a few db, they are great, but without EQ, I want to rip them off my head with EDM.

IMO these are great with older music, the kind characterized by a thin sounding mastering like old rock songs. Then they add the lacking low end.

I play bass and disagree with you. Bass sounds natural, not much emphasized on NDH. I heard a lot if other phones with much worse bass response. If bass sound overhyped to you, it means it was overhyped during mastering.


Looks like “EDM” you like was mastered for thin speakers, so on flat speakers/phones it sounds heavy. And classic rock was mastered for flatter devices, this is why it sounds good on NDH20.

If “EDM” was mastered not for iphone headhones, it would sound better on NDH.

 

[gb21011971]

Cable.

Frustrated and not having been able to find a shorter 3rd party cable, I took matters into my own hands. Shortened the original cable down to around 1.2m and terminated it with a 3.5mm connector. Done.

 

[Andy777777]

Cable.

Frustrated and not having been able to find a shorter 3rd party cable, I took matters into my own hands. Shortened the original cable down to around 1.2m and terminated it with a 3.5mm connector. Done.

Love it.

I have used this cable with mine. Sounds good to me...and no jank!!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/173032176356

 

[Wertigo]

Maybe a surprising answer, but I would NOT recommend these for EDM. Their bass is great, but tonally speaking much too prominent, even with other genres. When playing bass heavy music like electronic music through them, bass becomes total overkill. At least for me. If you're fine with EQing and taking the lower frequencies down a few db, they are great, but without EQ, I want to rip them off my head with EDM.

IMO these are great with older music, the kind characterized by a thin sounding mastering like old rock songs. Then they add the lacking low end.

I really appreciate your feedback, but I think your listening preferences probably differ from the average professional listener, who will use these cans to mix/master/track. It's just hard for me to believe that 2 of the most respected brands would make their flagship studio headphones unusable for electronic musicians in this day and age, especially since they are designed in the home of techno music, Germany.

But nonetheless, thanks for sharing your perspective!

 

[gb21011971]

I really appreciate your feedback, but I think your listening preferences probably differ from the average professional listener, who will use these cans to mix/master/track. It's just hard for me to believe that 2 of the most respected brands would make their flagship studio headphones unusable for electronic musicians in this day and age, especially since they are designed in the home of techno music, Germany.

But nonetheless, thanks for sharing your perspective!

Hi Wertigo,

First I have to say I find this headphone much more difficult to assess than others, to me its sound is sometimes great, sometimes weird, I still have not made up my mind completely. As for its neutrality and/or bass heaviness: Of course I could be the odd user out there and I have no problems in accepting that title . But if you look at other reviews on this forum or on youtube, I would say that there is a consensus building: That while these might be great listening cans, they are probably not the most neutral and objective headphones. In spite of what the Neumann brand image implies. Quite a few people say that while its bass is of great quality, tonally, it can be a bit overpowering.

Of course all of this is subjective and if you're a basshead, these might be right down your alley. I myself like deep and dry planar-like bass. And to give the NDH 20 some credit, I think it has a lot of those qualities, in spite of having dynamic drivers. My criticism is purely aimed at the tonal balance. I would like a tad less lower frequencies and may a bit more sparkle in the higher register. Having said that, it is a headphone that reacts well to EQing. While using EQ was absolute blasphemy for me not too long ago, I do use it with the NDH 20. The real reason is that the NDH 20 is a fantastic combination of great sound and portability. So I made some concessions and apply EQ, because it it worth it to me. I enjoyed the NDH 20 on many travels.

For home use, I think there are better alternatives. Elegia, LCD 2CB, but for me the portability of the NDH 20 is the killer argument that made me keep it. Aside from the good sound quality (my earlier criticism is complaining on a high level, as the Germans say....), great build quality and ok comfort.

Just my 2c.

Oh, and while Germany might be the home of techno, the Netherlands is the cradle of EDM! I am allowed to say so, because I call both countries my home.

 

[Wertigo]

Hi Wertigo,

First I have to say I find this headphone much more difficult to assess than others, to me its sound is sometimes great, sometimes weird, I still have not made up my mind completely. As for its neutrality and/or bass heaviness: Of course I could be the odd user out there and I have no problems in accepting that title . But if you look at other reviews on this forum or on youtube, I would say that there is a consensus building: That while these might be great listening cans, they are probably not the most neutral and objective headphones. In spite of what the Neumann brand image implies. Quite a few people say that while its bass is of great quality, tonally, it can be a bit overpowering.

Of course all of this is subjective and if you're a basshead, these might be right down your alley. I myself like deep and dry planar-like bass. And to give the NDH 20 some credit, I think it has a lot of those qualities, in spite of having dynamic drivers. My criticism is purely aimed at the tonal balance. I would like a tad less lower frequencies and may a bit more sparkle in the higher register. Having said that, it is a headphone that reacts well to EQing. While using EQ was absolute blasphemy for me not too long ago, I do use it with the NDH 20. The real reason is that the NDH 20 is a fantastic combination of great sound and portability. So I made some concessions and apply EQ, because it it worth it to me. I enjoyed the NDH 20 on many travels.

For home use, I think there are better alternatives. Elegia, LCD 2CB, but for me the portability of the NDH 20 is the killer argument that made me keep it. Aside from the good sound quality (my earlier criticism is complaining on a high level, as the Germans say....), great build quality and ok comfort.

Just my 2c.

Oh, and while Germany might be the home of techno, the Netherlands is the cradle of EDM! I am allowed to say so, because I call both countries my home.

Hi gb,

Well, all I can say is that I'm not particularly after a flat frequency response, and I have a pretty well thought out theory on why a slightly adjusted curve (slight "v-shape") may benefit electronic musicians. These brands don't do this on accident, and these headphones are not aimed at audiophiles. They are for studio use. Let me just quote myself from another thread, where I have already wrote this down:

"Each of us has different hearing based solely on physics and biology, but we also have different standards based on experience and preference.
As electronic musicians, we are constantly exposed to listening environments with enormous low-end and powerful, sharp highs, so you kinda get used to that sound. Now, if you try to recreate that same feeling/sound - either willingly or subconsciously - while producing, than you will sure as hell overemphasize the low end, if your monitoring system has a flat frequency response.

This is exactly why some pro headphones don't go for full flatness. They're slightly aimed at the bass heavy electronic/pop music producers we have so many of these days, and Germany is obviously the home of electronic music. Since the headphone already has that slightly exaggerated curve built in, you will not exaggerate your mix as much. It's gonna end up more flat, than with flat monitoring. Ironic isn't."

On a side note: mixing/mastering acoustic music, with real recorded instruments and real life ambiances is a totally different scenario in my opinion. You want to hear everything as realistically as possible. A flat response might be more beneficial on those cases, hence, most of the "older" studio pros usually prefer flat monitoring (they work more with real instruments).

Thanks for your comment, and have a nice evening.

 

[headphonesaddict123]

Do you guys use those headphones with an amplifier? Does it scale good?

 

[John Buchanan]

Do you guys use those headphones with an amplifier? Does it scale good?

Sounds good on the Mytek DSD 192 DAC, great on a Phonitor 2930.

 

[PaganDL]

Do you guys use those headphones with an amplifier? Does it scale good?

@headphonesaddict123,

NDH 20 scales very well with every head amp I have paired with though this will be highly subjective & personal so I would suggest demoing as many amps as possible to decide for yourself.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[bcaulf17]

Has anyone heard these next to the new Beyerdynamic DT 177X Go? I got those recently and really enjoying them (I got them at the $380 pre-order price) and they seem to be one of the NDH 20’s biggest competitors.

Not looking to replace them but I’m just curious.

 

[Beagle]

I'm just loving these headphones. Usually after a couple of months I've found a flaw or annoyance in a headphone but these just keep sounding wonderful For midrange tonality and balance, possibly the best I've heard in anything under $1500 and better than many I've heard costing more than that.