[Rob80b]

Got my black ones yesterday. Looking damn good.

Indeed

Here is a side by side pic with my 660S2. My biggest (luxery)concern now is that I like both.

Not a concern if you can keep both. : )
Guess it comes down to which sound signature is preferable.

 

[Plieb]

Hi guys,
quistion. On one cup on my headphones the holder has noticeable slightly more tolerances to wiggle than the other side. Dont know if its a issue or just tolerances an sooner than later both start to wiggle slightly more or less anyway? What is your experience on this topic on yours? Both super equal tight?

I had the same situation where the left side swivel was a bit tighter than the right side. However over time the left side loosened where they are now almost the same.

 

[Maxpain]

You will short out your balanced amp. Don’t try to cheap out and just get a new 4.4 cable.

Neumann doesn't offer any on their website at least I can't find any

 

[Rob80b]

Neumann doesn't offer any on their website at least I can't find any

https://fogcityaudio.com/products/n...lanced-or-single-ended-headphone-cable-mogami

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Thank you for the feedback. I think I'm being a bit too picky. Other than that, I'm super happy.
Got my black ones yesterday. Looking damn good. Here is a side by side pic with my 660S2. My biggest (luxery)concern now is that I like both.

Dayum!! I'll pretend I didn't see that black 30

How would you compare the two phones?

 

[Mike F]

I better not get a black 30 - I wouldn’t know which is which!

 

[ThEvil0nE]

I'm weak right now.. black is indeed beautiful!

 

[Alkamei]

I better not get a black 30 - I wouldn’t know which is which!

Zamn...
They're both so gorgeous

 

[erics75]

Call me crazy but lately I've been enjoying the 30 most on my "lowly" Vali 2+. The Vali provides a modest lift in the lower mids which adds some nice weight to the notes. I think i'll be exploring the Vali more with all my phones. It might be low cost, but the sonics are solid on this little guy.

 

[erics75]

I need to follow up on my earlier post about the 30 being a metal genre monster. I've been logging some serious time with it and my old thrash favs Kreator, Overkill, Dust Bolt, and Exodus. There's just enough meat on the bone for darker, meatier sounding bands like Exodus. Bass blasts and those riffs explode with power and presence. The screechy vocals are intense but manage to stay just south of harsh. And guitar solos are crystal clear and pure energy on the 30. The only issue that pops up from time to time is some of these old albums are mastered on the thin and bright side, and the 30 does nothing to temper it.

My other metal favorite, the Atticus, is much much better at tempering brightness, and adding a nice sense of weight to recordings that lack it. But it also can sound a bit boring at times with some of the more well recorded albums. Good example is Overkill's "The Electric Age" album. This is a very well recorded album (from a metal genre standpoint!), with decent dynamics, warmth, and clarity. The 30 makes this album sound visceral and powerful. Blaze's shrieks grab your attention without offending. Riffs have reasonable weight and heft to sound "crunchy" (metalheads will know what that means!), with lots of energy and emotion. On a macro level listening to this album on the 30 makes me start bobbing my head hard. Hard enough to almost send the headphones flying off my head more than once!

I found myself constantly stopping working and being swept up by the raw power and ferocity of the metal. The best metal makes me feel like a live power line was shoved up my butt, and this was the case with the aforementioned combo. I sat there listening while feeling so overcharged and energized I seriously wanted to run full speed head first into a wall while screaming at the top of my lungs. Ah, my beloved metal, how you calm the savage beast within! haha I know, that all sounds silly, but I seriously lost way too many hours of work to blaring guitar solos and shrieking vocals. The Atticus sadly doesn't bring me to such highs with the same music. At least not without changing pads and running it on solid state to brighten it up significantly.

So what's my point? Over time my opinion has only solidified, the 30 is indeed a metal genre monster in the best ways possible. Oh, and the 30/Vali 2 combo rocks!!!!

 

[headstef]

You run R+ as your R, L+ as your L and tie R- and L- together as ground. Ground on 4.4 is not used IIRC. You get the full signal but with 6db decrease in voltage because you are effectively halving your voltage.

Isn't this equal to short-circuiting the L- with the R- ?
Each one of L- are R- are "mirror" opposites (negative) of the L+ and R+ thus the two (-) can have very different voltages (more correct: different potential) with eachother at any moment (answering my previous question). They can't be used as one. Or I am totally missing the balanced signal logic?
The most appropriate solution is to use a ready made balanced cable or re-terminate Newmann's stock cable with a Pentaccon (or XLR) plug.

But anyway, who needs balanced? Selecting a fine SE amplifier will always offer better sound quality than a balanced amp of the same manufacturing cost. If one doesn't need balanced for a specific reason (e.g. driving the system with a balanced source), SE is the way to go.

 

[headstef]

Zamn...
They're both so gorgeous

Yes! I was thinking to change to black but now I am sure that I will greatly miss the fine aluminum finish. Only solution... both!

 

[supadupaninja]

Personally, (as someone who reterminated his NDH30 stock cable to 4.4mm balanced, so I speak from experience), I definitely wouldn’t bother trying to force your demo to run from a balanced output - it really is unnecessary, and won’t tell you anything other than (maybe) the headphones are louder for a given position on the volume dial.

I would like to shorten my cable. The 3m is too long for me and the 1.2m is too short. Approximately 1.5m is my all-round length.
May I ask how well the original one can be soldered? I have experienced some that were very difficult to solder because of the protective varnish on the threads. Don't want to cut up the original and then upset myself.

 

[Mike F]

Yes! I was thinking to change to black but now I am sure that I will greatly miss the fine aluminum finish. Only solution... both!

Or, if you get a 20 in black you’ll have both aesthetics without duplication. Then you can wear the silver 30 (which you can’t see when it’s on your head) and look at the black, 20!

 

[Mike F]

I must be in a minority of exactly one in preferring the look of the original 30 with its contrast of black grill and beautifully finished textured and polished silver which also highlights the black ring with the white and orange Neumann logo (we are just talking aesthetics here with regard to the new black version ), but, now would be the time to pick up a second pair of the originals. Or it would be if I didn’t already have two…….