[TimeLord]

Having owned the HA2 and Mojo and now the SE version of the HA2, would have to disagree about the sibliance of the SE.  I find none whatsoever, if anything I used to find the Mojo a little shrill on the ears at times.  

The Mojo is the better overall DAC but to my ears there isn't a great deal in it.  One thing in the Oppo's favour is the almost non-existant RFI compared to the Mojo.  

What was your signal chain when you tested the SE and the Mojo?

As for the RFI, I have heard it on the Mojo too, but RFI is not an issue for me since I use a dedicated iPhone in airplane mode as my transport with locally stored FLAC files.

 

[j2rock]

I recently went through 4 pairs of M&D MH40's before settling on my favorite.. and they are not the only audio company with differing sound between identical model units that I've witnessed in my 15 years of critical listening.

Since the HA-2 is fairly new and the SE does improve the sound, I would not agree with you.. being as picky as I am about playback, having heard multiple monitor controllers for my studio over the past 15 years, the SE is an upgrade people will definitely appreciate over the HA-2.

It's not a matter of subtle difference imo, it is much more noticeable in the entire spectrum and it adds a more 'mastered sound' to everything that I've heard in the little time that I've owned it, clearly due to the DAC and what they changed with the noise floor.

Refined sound is what we all look for in hardware compressors and EQ's (and well designed plugins) so it shouldn't be any different in playback devices.

The SE is a clear step in the right direction for Oppo customers.

TimeLord.. I would consider contacting them and seeing if they could work out a deal where you buy another unit and possibly return your 'not so great' SE in exchange for keeping the new hopefully better one. It's been 30 days so they may not let you but it's worth a shot if you tell them your unit is clearly not as good as your HA-2.

 

[TimeLord]

j2rock
I honestly don't think my unit is defective. For me the SE DAC is brighter but not as good as the HA-2. And the amp is better in the SE than in the HA-2. Overall, one can prefer the SE to the HA-2 and that's fine.

Also, I meant to ask you about the MH40 since you've mentioned it several times. I remember hearing it some time ago, but I didn't hear anything particularly special about it. Are you using it for mixing? What do you find special about it? I may need to go hear it again.

 

[j2rock]

TimeLord,

I am using them for mixing and mastering.

It was pretty much no contest when I compared them side by side to Oppo PM3 (did not have PM1 to try), B&O H6, Sennheiser (800, 650 and Momentum 2.0), Denon (D7000 and MM400) and Beyerdynamic (DT770.. did not compare to Tesla models).

I say best under $2,000 not having heard many other options but I am fairly confident that higher level planar headphones cannot compete with the bass impact and sheer alive quality the MH40 exhibits with all music. Again, the different units sounded less exciting and slightly harsher with different serial numbers but my current pair is simply sublime.

I told CEO Jonathan Levine about my experience with my seemingly golden pair and he had me send them to their factory to do some testing to see why the pair was superior to 3 other random ones. He did not get specific about what they heard but he did end up sending me a boom mic ($100+) and a headphone stand both for free just because they care. I also tried their Alcantara model (ordered 2 pair and returned) and they immediately lacked the impact and bass response, therefore being harsh, that the leather version inherently has.. so if you do audition them, stay away from those even though they felt amazing on my head.

Apple sells their line of products so you could get a pair and if you don't like them return within 14 days. If you order from M&D, it's a 30 day return.

 

[j2rock]

j2rock
I honestly don't think my unit is defective. For me the SE DAC is brighter but not as good as the HA-2. And the amp is better in the SE than in the HA-2. Overall, one can prefer the SE to the HA-2 and that's fine.

Also, I meant to ask you about the MH40 since you've mentioned it several times. I remember hearing it some time ago, but I didn't hear anything particularly special about it. Are you using it for mixing? What do you find special about it? I may need to go hear it again.

My HA-2 is brighter and harsher in the mids (more 800hz-3khz) than my SE which softens the mids and rolls off what my HA-2 does from 12-16khz. My ears tell me this, not test equipment.

So if we are getting opposite results with the different models, I think it's worth investigating an additional SE unit. If you experience the same with another new one, I guess you must really have a dark sounding HA-2 which I will repeat I experienced with only one of my 2 brand new units that I returned.

I mentioned previously that I now use the 1ft. Oppo cable ever since their normal one was giving me feedback in my first HA-2.. the original defective supplied cable also sounded brighter and a little thin (typically a result with shorter length) and thus did not sound accurate compared to the 1ft.

 

[j2rock]

Forgot to say that I auditioned many different 3.5mm (3-6ft.) audio cables to replace the stock MH40 cable.

I found Sentey's (apparently now unavailable) tinned oxygen free copper "audiophile" braided cable to sound the most impressive for only $9 for 3ft. It is far more accurate than even Audioquest's $100 Big Sur in the same length.

This is it:

http://armchairarcade.com/perspectives/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/71qSpoyTDoL._SL1500_.jpg

I just checked Sentey's website and could not seem to load the audio page and Amazon, where I originally got several of the cables, seems to not have that model anymore.. only a $4 model that claims to have tinned copper. Can't recommend that one but it may sound good.

The stock MH40 cable isn't bad but it isn't amazing which is probably why you didn't hear much when you first auditioned the headphones.

 

[DLR Group]

I purchased my HA-2 SE about six eeeks ago and I love it. I use it with my iPhone six using both the short cable or a regular cable. I too have experienced the occasional dropping of signal using the shorter cable, however, I feel that is due to the shortness and the tightness you have to make with it if you are stacking the two items together. When using the Oppo with my laptop running JR Media Center the sound is fantastic, at least to me.
The DAC is wonderful and works with every file that I throw at it. It works with the Sennheiser HD 650s which I found quite surprising at 300 ohms. On the 650's I turn it to about 3.5 and it's plenty loud. On my M&D MH 40, i run the Oppo at 2 and it is extremely punchy. Next week I'll receive my new HD700's which should actually make a better combo IMO. Of course I'm running the amp on high gain.

 

[TimeLord]

TimeLord,

I am using them for mixing and mastering.

It was pretty much no contest when I compared them side by side to Oppo PM3 (did not have PM1 to try), B&O H6, Sennheiser (800, 650 and Momentum 2.0), Denon (D7000 and MM400) and Beyerdynamic (DT770.. did not compare to Tesla models).

I say best under $2,000 not having heard many other options but I am fairly confident that higher level planar headphones cannot compete with the bass impact and sheer alive quality the MH40 exhibits with all music. Again, the different units sounded less exciting and slightly harsher with different serial numbers but my current pair is simply sublime.

I told CEO Jonathan Levine about my experience with my seemingly golden pair and he had me send them to their factory to do some testing to see why the pair was superior to 3 other random ones. He did not get specific about what they heard but he did end up sending me a boom mic ($100+) and a headphone stand both for free just because they care. I also tried their Alcantara model (ordered 2 pair and returned) and they immediately lacked the impact and bass response, therefore being harsh, that the leather version inherently has.. so if you do audition them, stay away from those even though they felt amazing on my head.

Apple sells their line of products so you could get a pair and if you don't like them return within 14 days. If you order from M&D, it's a 30 day return.

I think you should audition more headphones before concluding the MH40 is the best headphone under $2000. For bass impact, you'd be hard pressed to find a better headphone than the Audeze LCD-X and a lot of sound engineers are using them.

I would audition the following headphones that are all under $2000: Audeze LCD-X, Focal Elear, and the Oppo PM-1 (which doesn't have a lot of bass, but takes EQ very well).

From what I recall of it, the MH40 isn't as good as any of the three headphones above.

One other thing I'm curious about: what are sound engineers looking for in a headphone? In the past they have gravitated toward headphones like the Sony MDR-7506 and the Beyerdynamic DT770. I don't find those to be particularly good headphones, so what's the appeal? Lately, I have been seeing the LCD-X used and that makes sense to me so was it that in the past there wasn't as many options?

 

[DLR Group]

I have the MH 40's. They are not as good as most mentioned. They have great bass and punch, but IMO, they completely fail within the mids to low treble. I have to bump up the eq starting between 400k to 2k. Then other boosts between 3.5-6k.
I would not buy them again. To me, that are a muddy mess.

 

[j2rock]

I have the MH 40's. They are not as good as most mentioned. They have great bass and punch, but IMO, they completely fail within the mids to low treble. I have to bump up the eq starting between 400k to 2k. Then other boosts between 3.5-6k.
I would not buy them again. To me, that are a muddy mess.

Unfortunately there were more than obvious differences between identical model MH40's that I heard and thus went through several pairs before settling on my favorite.. as I do not hear what you are hearing with yours on my pair DLR Group.

What the MH40 achieves in bass impact and smooth treble cannot be matched in headphones in the $500 and below range. The accuracy of my golden pair is on par with a $5,000 pair of Manley Labs ML10's and Crown Studio Reference II. I have the Benchmark DAC2 for my main studio work and the Oppo uses similar DAC architecture but does not quite sound the same.

I have considered spending $1,500 for headphones when I purchased the HD800's and was so underwhelmed by them knowing they've gotten such great reviews that it shunned me from ever spending that much on cans again.

For the money, a "good pair" of MH40's are a step above everything else.

 

[j2rock]

TimeLord,

My first pair of headphones was the 7506.. then I got DT770's.. and I ended up using those for the vocalist in the studio.

I got the D7000's awhile back when they were new and can't believe now that I ever liked them but they were the latest greatest thing at the time.. I also have owned 3 pairs of HD650's.

Audeze has a reputation now so I may give them a shot soon but I cannot complain about my MH40's with the tinned copper cable by Sentey.

 

[DLR Group]

Hmm.  Any possibility that I just have a really bad pair?  I do love the bass, clean and fast and deep.  But on mine, everything else is not where it's supposed to be.  I even wrote to M&D asking how much they would charge to listen to them and fix if necessary but never received a response. 
I want to like these but as they are right now I cannot.  Any ideas?

 

[j2rock]

Hmm.  Any possibility that I just have a really bad pair?  I do love the bass, clean and fast and deep.  But on mine, everything else is not where it's supposed to be.  I even wrote to M&D asking how much they would charge to listen to them and fix if necessary but never received a response. 
I want to like these but as they are right now I cannot.  Any ideas?

I went to Apple and bought 4 pair and returned 3. If you don't mind spending $1,600 temporarily on a credit card then returning all but one pair that hopefully sounds better, that is what I did.

It turns out my first pair was the best so I got lucky but I was still curious and found the other 3 pair to all have their qualities and failures. You can't truly rely on a random serial number to sound perfect so if I were you, and you don't want to buy more expensive phones, give it a shot and let us know what happens. Unless you want to see how the HD700's sound for you... mixed reviews about those from what I've seen.

M&D most likely didn't respond to you because they are a sensitive group of people and I don't think they take criticism well, at least in my experience with them too.

 

[DLR Group]

Well that's interesting.  You would think a relatively new R&D/Headphone company would react the exact opposite, and want all feedback especially quality issues.  I'm going to try writing or calling them again next week.  I'll let you know the response I get.
I just purchased a set of the HD-700's, and wanted the MH-40's to work as my closed set if possible.
Thanks!

 

[j2rock]

DLR Group,

I say sensitive because I sent them my 1st pair when they asked me to do so and all they did, without saying "oh yes your pair does sound spectacular" or "here is what we found with your pair".. was send me a personal hand written note by CEO Mr. Levine himself thanking me for sending them my favorite pair and a boom mic and headphone stand for free.

When I emailed Jared about how the 2 pair of Alcantara models they shipped me didn't sound good at all (very poor bass and way too bright mids and treble).. they basically refused to acknowledge my complaint except that Mr. Levine said "the Alcantara models have different acoustics compared to the leather."

So whatever that means didn't really jive with me.. I really wanted a pair of Alcantara as a backup but they did not sound right.