I usually prefer "pro" sounding audio equipment to the "fun" tuned sound signatures, so I was very excited to hear this headphones based on the reviews and decriptions on here, and recently finally got the chance. Tried them in a large German pro audio store with many other headphones to compare to, so I found a good source and threw on some stuff I'm deeply familiar with.
Sadly, I have to say NDH 20 did not live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, they were great neutral mixing headphones, flat but not boring. Made me immersed in the songs I was listening to, and brought out the needed details. However, I feel like that's to be expected at this price point, and to truly be worth it, the overall experience should go beyong that. With that said, I didn't feel like they were good enough for the price to be justified.
Of course, they sound better than the lower-end workhorse studio HPs like DT-770, Sony 7506 or Shure 840 / 940, would be ridiculous if they didn't.
What about higher-end pro studio headphones of a somewhat similar price/intended use? When compared to Focal Listen Pro's, Beyerdynamic DT-1770 Pro, Shure SRH1540, and Adam something, sound-wise the Neumanns didn't stand out as clearly superior. Even compared to the the Focal's, which are half the price. I actually preferred both the DT-1770 and the SRH1540 to the Neumanns on sound quality alone. That's not even touching the comfort and fit.
In that regard, these stand no ground to the competition. Quite heavy, huge amount of clamping force, and the earpads are smaller and shallower than most others. Even after less than half an hour it felt uncomfortable. When the Beyers and Shure are offering a pillow-fortress embrace that is so so appreciated in an extended mixing/mastering session, I honestly don't know how this can compete.
I have to say, despite how this review might sound, I didn't dislike them. The sound is still top-notch, they are built sturdy, and they look great. I would love to have these, but not for this much. I guess the Neumann name and logo is really the reason for a huge chunk of the price, and that's somewhat expected - there aren't many comapnies with that kind reputation when it comes to mics and monitor speakers. However, in the pro headphone game, seems like the old guard still stands at the top.
I'm hoping Neumann will make more headphones as it's a promising start. I remember Focal didn't really do it right at first too - the Focal Spirit suffered from pretty much the same good-sound awful-comfort issue.
Sadly, I have to say NDH 20 did not live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, they were great neutral mixing headphones, flat but not boring. Made me immersed in the songs I was listening to, and brought out the needed details. However, I feel like that's to be expected at this price point, and to truly be worth it, the overall experience should go beyong that. With that said, I didn't feel like they were good enough for the price to be justified.
Of course, they sound better than the lower-end workhorse studio HPs like DT-770, Sony 7506 or Shure 840 / 940, would be ridiculous if they didn't.
What about higher-end pro studio headphones of a somewhat similar price/intended use? When compared to Focal Listen Pro's, Beyerdynamic DT-1770 Pro, Shure SRH1540, and Adam something, sound-wise the Neumanns didn't stand out as clearly superior. Even compared to the the Focal's, which are half the price. I actually preferred both the DT-1770 and the SRH1540 to the Neumanns on sound quality alone. That's not even touching the comfort and fit.
In that regard, these stand no ground to the competition. Quite heavy, huge amount of clamping force, and the earpads are smaller and shallower than most others. Even after less than half an hour it felt uncomfortable. When the Beyers and Shure are offering a pillow-fortress embrace that is so so appreciated in an extended mixing/mastering session, I honestly don't know how this can compete.
I have to say, despite how this review might sound, I didn't dislike them. The sound is still top-notch, they are built sturdy, and they look great. I would love to have these, but not for this much. I guess the Neumann name and logo is really the reason for a huge chunk of the price, and that's somewhat expected - there aren't many comapnies with that kind reputation when it comes to mics and monitor speakers. However, in the pro headphone game, seems like the old guard still stands at the top.
I'm hoping Neumann will make more headphones as it's a promising start. I remember Focal didn't really do it right at first too - the Focal Spirit suffered from pretty much the same good-sound awful-comfort issue.
