Mike F
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Dec 11, 2009
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In a word, yes. Check out the NDH 30 thread on gearspace.com
Neumann NDH 30
- Thread starter rudbeard
- Start date
https://gearspace.com/board/product...-new-neumann-ndh-30-open-back-headphones.html
After the first pages impressions become clear. Initially people hesitated to believe what they were hearing!
After the first pages impressions become clear. Initially people hesitated to believe what they were hearing!
Mike F
Headphoneus Supremus
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Thanks for providing a proper link!
Guys I trust you when you saying that Neumann 30 is amazing but I have a small hesitation about it.
I heard the sound signature in zeos demo and really I vastly prefer the sound signature with his past demos for 660s. (Even 58X for that matter...)
I know that this is controversial and you will obviously say you cannot demo headphones from you tube and as far the details I completely agree but all his sound demos for my headphones which are shown in my avatar was pretty much spot on from him as tonality is concerned. ( For example decent 99 classics vs very bassy 99 neo.)
What I am missing here???? Is that headphone so neutral that you need only to buy it to really understand and enjoy it?
I heard the sound signature in zeos demo and really I vastly prefer the sound signature with his past demos for 660s. (Even 58X for that matter...)
I know that this is controversial and you will obviously say you cannot demo headphones from you tube and as far the details I completely agree but all his sound demos for my headphones which are shown in my avatar was pretty much spot on from him as tonality is concerned. ( For example decent 99 classics vs very bassy 99 neo.)
What I am missing here???? Is that headphone so neutral that you need only to buy it to really understand and enjoy it?
chesebert
18 Years An Extra-Hardcore Head-Fi'er
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You should buy whatever that sounds best to you. I know what I like and want in terms of sound profile so I only go for those that match my taste and preference. For example, I will never buy dCS or MSB not because they are not good, rather their sound profile does not conform with my preference.
Now that this thread is more than 43 pages I decided to read it's first pages (don't remember if I had initially). I discovered at least one case of a review where the listener unknowingly was wearing the NDH 30 backwards, so anavoidably he experienced a loss of treble when he was moving the headphone to the back (totally expectable because of the off-center and inclined drivers.)
When the headphones are placed correctly, the opposite happens if they are moved to the back, and it happens to a much lesser extend. But his description proved clearly that he was wearing it backwards (L-R reversed). This early but mistaken "review" must have initiated the excessive wory of placement sensitivity. Some others have been seen in YouTube reviews wearing it reversed!
So I will not get tired to write this: Wear the NDH 30 with the cable on your RIGHT side/ear, as designed, not left as is common with many other headphones.
When the headphones are placed correctly, the opposite happens if they are moved to the back, and it happens to a much lesser extend. But his description proved clearly that he was wearing it backwards (L-R reversed). This early but mistaken "review" must have initiated the excessive wory of placement sensitivity. Some others have been seen in YouTube reviews wearing it reversed!
So I will not get tired to write this: Wear the NDH 30 with the cable on your RIGHT side/ear, as designed, not left as is common with many other headphones.
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How did you listen to those demos; What did you use;
Here is an examble: Let's suppose that a demo of bass-heavy headphone is uploaded on YouTube. If you listen to this demo with a bass-heavy headphone, the result will be double bass-heavy. If you listen to the demo with a bass-light headphone the result can be neutral! Both misleading! Imagine now all other possible combinations and their respective wrong results. Such demos are only useful to judge relative tunings between headphones, but not absolute tunings! This would be somewhat possible if you were listening with an accurately neutral headphone/loudspeaker and only if the recording microphones were also very neutral.
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Many different headphones usually meze neo 99 with velour pads and 58x.
When I heard a sound comparison in oluvs gadgets between 6xx and elex I really got it everything about focal dynamics and advantages and disadvantages.(and I have 6xx) When he compared elex with 4xx eqed still understood the difference and I do not agree with him as I have 4xx. (Elex sounded much better to me I wish otherwise)
Elex and 660s sound demos impressed me a lot on the contrary for the neumann 30 I do not get it. Probably a bad demo, wrong music or this phone needs to be listen at home.
Because in this forum there are a lot of people with opinions I respect a lot, and I trust also Petros opinion very much this is why wondering otherwise I would have dismissed this phone but now is very high on my list.
Is it possible to audition in nakas?
After all these I think you must listen to NDH 30 to arrive to safe conclusions.
In Nakas' central store (Navarinou str., Athens) I had to negotiate a bit but I succeeded to have a pair opened for listening without obligation to buy it. That was four months ago, I don't know if their policy is stricter or not now.
In Nakas' central store (Navarinou str., Athens) I had to negotiate a bit but I succeeded to have a pair opened for listening without obligation to buy it. That was four months ago, I don't know if their policy is stricter or not now.
Which entry-level headphone dac/amp (for USB-audio) would you recommend for the NDH 30? I am thinking about:
- Fiio K7
- Ifi Zen Dac V2 with external power supply
- Ifi Zen Dac + Zen Can -stack
I would run them unbalanced at least for now until balanced cables become available in my area.
- Fiio K7
- Ifi Zen Dac V2 with external power supply
- Ifi Zen Dac + Zen Can -stack
I would run them unbalanced at least for now until balanced cables become available in my area.
This is @Ichos territory, since he has experience in all price levels of headphones amps!
Are you going to make balanced cables or not?
I guess currently Fog City Audio is the only provider of a balanced NDH-cable. Quite difficult to order from U.S., clear customs etc.
I would probably start with the regular cable and upgrade to balanced later on. Hopefully there will be European supply one day.
I am asking because if you are going to stay single ended, it would be better to get an amp/DAC optimized for single ended output.
Most of the balanced DAC/amps have better performance from their balanced output rather than the single ended unless if you don't mind some minor sound quality degradation.
So for single ended use a Fiio K5 Pro ESS would be better than the K7?
