[FullBright1]

A while back, as Headphones pricing kept going up, probably based on the Susvara that led the way ... the only thing left to sell you, was .....more and more and more resolution.
And at some point, these higher resolution expensive Audiophile headphones went light speed past realism and music through them became about hearing all the details, vs, listening to the music.

"our Headphones provide so much detail retrieval, that you'll hear things in your music that really aren't there"..... = Add another $1000 in cost to the "upgraded version".

The N30s are a step back from false detail retrieval and enhanced resolution headphone science fakery.
They do provide all the sonic information in a song, but that is all they provide. They dont manufacture false hyper detail.

Someone says....

"well, i bought them, and compared them to the HEKSE, and the HEKSE has a lot more of everything."..

Someone says......

"well, as compared to the LCD-5......the Neumann NDH 30's dont provide nearly as much"....

= Thats true., and they are fine with that, as they are not trying to over-produce anything, they are just trying to sound realistic, non fatiguing, and $700 accurate.

 

[PaganDL]

@FullBright1,

Nice mini review as always & interesting take, I look forward to getting a hold of these though given the exchange rate (x 1.5 avg) where I am & unlikely to demo due to pandemic/endemic restrictions in some places re headphone demos, this might not be feasible any time soon.

Hope you have a great day & keep up the good work!

 

[Beagle]

Neumann NDH -30 "Open" Mini Review


Box : Exactly like the Closed version

Cable : SE ... Similar to previous. slightly long, cloth, medium microphonic

Build Q : I think its well designed, reminds me of a good Beyer.

Headband : Comfortable

Clamping Force : Mild

Ear Pads : Fuzzy, comfortable, will work fine for most ears

Weight : The N30s feel light on the head.

=====================

If you liked the Closed version of the NDH20, then you'll really like the N Open-30.
My 1st concern was that Neumann was going to just shave off some aluminum, put on "open" driver covers, and call it "new".
That is not what Neumann has accomplished here, sonically. Instead they have changed the tuning, slightly, and increased the overall sonic resolution.
ONE THING THO.... These are monitors...so, they are designed to let you tweek EQ, using them.

My 2nd concern, going in, was that the N30-s would be bass lite. More about that in the "Bass" section.
So what do they sound like, vs, how do they sound. Well, the how they sound is, i think, good. The "what do they sound like", is a more complicated .
Here is what they dont sound like... They dont sound like a Hifiman or an Audeze, or a Beyer. The reason is, they have a well engineered Linear
midrange forward presentation. Think "Neutral" .. So, you have nice clarity, sparkle, "airy"....definitely not a wet, lush, or round, tone.
Its a "neutral reference" tone, which means its a touch dry and balanced, aiming toward neutrality with a midrange forward presentation.
My initial impression is that these are an airy, neutral, slightly dry sound, that reminds me a bit of the Sennheiser sound, yet not including the HD560S.
-

Treble : Airy, extended... Its revealing but its not Flagship level.

Midrange : Definitely Forward from Neutral, open, slightly dry which lends to the N30's "reference" "neutral" signature .
Tonally, The N30 are dedicated to the midrange and "airy" treble..

Low Mids : Mildly stepped back to prevent any sort of interference with the N30's reference midrange point of view.

Bass : Linear, slightly neutral. Its not early Audeze Bass, it does slam... but it does carry some necessary weigh, and extends nicely down low.

Instrument Separation : Accurate

Detail Retrieval : This is a set of studio monitors for your ears, thus, the micro detail retrieval not overcooked. Its not a Planar type of micro detail retrieval..

Soundstage : Its decent. Depth, width, are fine, and the sonic appearance of the entire soundstage feels like its striving more for accuracy, only.

Timbre : Neutral meets Sparkle

Fatigue : Not a problem.

Scaling : The N30's scale well. Very revealing of your Dac/Amp... Play their best with some power.

Those who are looking for a different sound, the 'Neumann" sound, in an open version will be pleased. And those who can enjoy a non planar tone, will enjoy the N30.
Keep in mind that these are neutral and midrange forward, and are designed to let you EQ them, as you use them in a Studio.

--------------

Thank you for your observations. Did they fix the mistake they made on the NDH 20 where they put the one sided cable on the right side instead of the left?

Also, 20 was warm sounding, a bit soft in upper mid, is the 30 more even?

So, I'll add that my main problem is the deep insertion plus twist locking – it's so hard to know if I've completely seated the cable (stock or aftermarket) and it will function but then randomly drop out. The length and lever arm of the deep-insert plug makes me a bit worried because it is such a thin and fragile 2.5mm. The one reason that it's better to have a non-standard cable is that it saves you from blowing up your headphones due to the stupid 2.5mm standard. I hate the "standard" 2.5mm pinout and think that the 3.5mm balanced (like Ryan at Modhouse uses) is much smarter and easier to solder.

I really appreciate all of my multi-pin locking connectors like the DCA mini-XLR, etc – although I wish more were push-pull release such as the DCA and HD800 than "why must you be so small" like most miniXLRs. Magnetic push-pull, multi-pin connectors are the Camelot of connectors.

 

[FullBright1]

Thank you for your observations. Did they fix the mistake they made on the NDH 20 where they put the one sided cable on the right side instead of the left?

Also, 20 was warm sounding, a bit soft in upper mid, is the 30 more even?

Same cable attachment.

The N30 sounds a lot like the 20, has a bit more SS.
Overally, Its slightly cleaner, and ...... it just has a tonality that is not like other headphones.
Neumann didnt try to change the sound..They just adjusted it so that it works very well as an open.
The sound is quite recognizable, if you have heard the N20.
I think its much preferable as an open.

 

[Vitaliy Belz]

It seems to me that these headphones are just a gift for all kinds of tuning and endless modifications.
And I have never seen, but I have seen quite a lot of disassembled headphones, where such driver (Sennheiser 528480) damping is used.

 

[rudbeard]

It seems to me that these headphones are just a gift for all kinds of tuning and endless modifications.
And I have never seen, but I have seen quite a lot of disassembled headphones, where such driver (Sennheiser 528480) damping is used.

It is nice to properly establish that it is balanced connection internally.

Facinating that they went with the denser liner in the center, I wonder if they just wanted to slow the internal reflection and the denser inner ring does double duty breaking up cup resonance traveling too and from the cup walls.

 

[Vitaliy Belz]

Headphonecheck test

 

[cavan83]

I went to store to listen these. I spend almost one hour to listening different genres. The bass is impressive. It goes veeeery low. These have slam and good dynamics. Sound itself sound clear, however, I felt that region 700-1500hz was lacking quite bit. Treble is quite rolled off, however, it is depend on position of the headphones. And this is the biggest weakness of these headphones. The sound change so much when you change the headphone location on your head. On "default position", treble is quite rolled. If you move the headphones to "front", the treble will suddenly pop up. If you move it to "back", the treble is totally gone. Like there is 3 different sound, depending on the position. That was totally turn off. I was about to buy these, before I tested this position thing. I cannot recommend these headphone because of this. Not at the 650€ price tag.

 

[deafLovesMusic]

I tested the Neumann NDH 30 today and I compared it to the Austrian Audio Hi-X65 which are my main headphones several hours per day.
DAC: Mojo 2.

• Bass: Very deep, detailed, clear but never overwhelming
• No harshness
• Soundstage: Alternating, sometimes wider than the Hi-X65 but mostly a bit narrower. I suppose the NDH 30 is just giving us here what the source delivers
• Instrument separation: The Hi-X65 is slightly better
• What I missed I: part of the frequency region between 700 to around 3000 Hz especially when listening to a piano
• What I missed II: some clearness with drums and percussions, especially with hi-hats and claps, they sound a bit dull, muffled and not present, the live feeling and sound of the Hi-X65 is much better here
• Extremely comfortable, huge ear caps

I am not an audio engineer, and the listening session was short (45 min.). So, these are just my first impressions, and my hearing is used and biased to the Hi-X65.
Overall, the Neumann NDH 30 is a good headphone with a clear purpose for neutrality and for mixing and mastering. I will test it again soon.

 

[Vitaliy Belz]

My opinion and it is of course only mine. While listening to the Neumann NDH 30, I finally realized what I didn't like about the HD 650, and that was the bloated midbass and the lack of low bass. With Neumann NDH 30, I got what I wanted, but only in the low frequency range. But in the middle and high-frequency range, it seems to me that these headphones still have not quite a monitor sound. Maybe I'm wrong, the age perception of sound has its limitations, but that's how I hear it

 

[KPzypher]

Where are all the NDH30 owners at? Not much traffic in this thread.

These are gorgeous industrial looking headphones.

Do these have the upper mid/lower treble bite similar to monitoring HPs of late? That seems to be the trend.

 

[KPzypher]

Holy batman! this is an awkward headphone to wear. Haven't had a HP this uncomfortable in a long time. The round pads are humongous but shallow and creates several pressure points. This kind of round giant pads work decently well for HPs like AKGs, because they're light. These are about the same weight as the DT700, but feel way heavier with poor weight distribution.

 

[rudbeard]

Holy batman! this is an awkward headphone to wear. Haven't had a HP this uncomfortable in a long time. The round pads are humongous but shallow and creates several pressure points. This kind of round giant pads work decently well for HPs like AKGs, because they're light. These are about the same weight as the DT700, but feel way heavier with poor weight distribution.

From the looks of your signature, you're in the reference monitor game quite extensively. How do they rate compared to the heavier cans like the 1990? I find the comfort of the NDH20 improves as you wear them, warming up the pads.

 

[KPzypher]

From the looks of your signature, you're in the reference monitor game quite extensively. How do they rate compared to the heavier cans like the 1990? I find the comfort of the NDH20 improves as you wear them, warming up the pads.

Build and comfort wise, DT1990 is better for my head. Soundwise, NDH30 is more balanced. DT1990 is too accentuated in the upper frequencies, not as painful as the Hi-x55, but just about. I prefer the newer Beyers e.g. DT700 in this regard.

Besides comfort, I generally value timbre/tonal balance, but i do take a detour every now and then. And lately i've been on a hunt for a good closedback. At the moment I have my eyes on Tago Studio's TA-01.

And yes, I like well built studio monitors. I used to own high-end hifi cans like Verite, Stellia, HD820.., but these day don't think they're worth the money. That's just my personal opinion of course.

 

[KPzypher]

One word, "balanced."
The NDH 30s are my new 'reference,' over the S4X.
Inoffensive and natural sounding without artificially boosted treble and soundstage. Just the right amount.
This is the closest I have to my speaker setup in a treated room.

Who said neutral is boring?

Was contemplating on sending them back due to fit issues, but that's improved quite a bit to. Glad I held on to them.