[up late]

was wondering if they sounded closed. not surprised that they do.

 

[tinyman392]

   
Well he doesn't have to do that does he? Since he is using his own ears.
If they sound flat to your ears then they are flat, that's the whole idea isn't it?
Have to use the compensation stuff when using microphones to measure FR.
 
 
 

 
We've seen this statement way to much.  People believe something is perfectly flat, they state it is.  2 months down the line, we find out through proper measurement that it isn't.  He's one blimp on the graph.  If they conducted medical research with one person, would you trust it to be true? 

 

[tinyman392]

  What is the ideal frequency response for a headphone?

 
Harman found that the preferred (non-neutral) curve had a bass tilt to it.  On Head-Fi, they call this compensation the Olive(-Welti) curve/compensation. 

 

[conquerator2]

FWIW, the comments that have been posted from the NY meet have hardly been glowing. While complimenting the PM-1 on build quality, people are reporting they sound very closed, making them think they are overpriced for their performance. 

That's exactly what I was worried about...

 

[aamefford]

After reading though most of this thread, I'm not interested in adding my impressions to this shark tank. Every attempt to provide any impressions of the PM-1 is met with a pretty unpleasant hammering by those who have not heard them. Unsubscribed and out. My impressions will end up elsewhere.

 

[mlxx]

   
We've seen this statement way to much.  People believe something is perfectly flat, they state it is.  2 months down the line, we find out through proper measurement that it isn't.  He's one blimp on the graph.  If they conducted medical research with one person, would you trust it to be true? 

 
I am not saying they are flat or not. I am saying since he is using his ears to check flatness he doesn't have to use the munsen compenation stuff which was the original argument.
I would rather buy a headphone that sounds good to me (like the LCD3) rather than something that measures better (like the LCDX) or something that sounds better to the research team.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

Go to any thread new headphone thread and you will get some people doubting this or that. Only the final outcome will tell. This was a fish tank at first but it got turned into a shark tank because we were fed shark food. Life finds a way... JP

 

[Clemmaster]

And on the very same thread most of the beta testers will throw only praise and make statement that matches that of a suposedely perfect headphone (there was one here), which, two months down the line, happens to be mostly overrated.

That's bias vs ignorance. Welcome to Head-fi

 

[jerg]

After reading though most of this thread, I'm not interested in adding my impressions to this shark tank. Every attempt to provide any impressions of the PM-1 is met with a pretty unpleasant hammering by those who have not heard them. Unsubscribed and out. My impressions will end up elsewhere.

Maybe make a "Oppo PM-1 Impressions & Discussion Thread" like I did with HE-560. Staying neutral and objective, and no use of 'appreciation' in the title certainly helps balance out some initial-onset bias / favouritism, is what I found.

 

[ssrock64]

Wow, this thread devolved into quite a headache. Bigshot used a combination of measurements and his own hearing as a beta tester to help calibrate the FR of the PM-1 to his tastes and his idea of "flat". Sound science isn't concrete; there are more than one idealized headphone curves out there, and everyone's ears are different enough to complicate the process of perceiving or producing a flat FR curve.
 
He has been extremely patient with everyone attacking his methods, and has stood by what he's said throughout the thread. If he loves the PM-1 and thinks it's the best headphone he's heard, that's a good thing. The worst-case scenario here is that there's a new product on the market which satisfies the type of listener that Bigshot is. I don't understand why that's such a travesty to some people. Any new product is a good one, because it enables us more options and more sound signatures to choose from.
 
At this point we only really have the opinions of the beta testers and a few blurbs from the NY meet. I, for one, will be waiting for Tyll and other well-known reviewers to post their subjective opinions and their measurements before deciding whether or not to purchase a pair for myself. At this point, Bigshot and other testers have provided all the information they can, and we should be grateful, not attacking.

 

[germay0653]

  Wow, this thread devolved into quite a headache. Bigshot used a combination of measurements and his own hearing as a beta tester to help calibrate the FR of the PM-1 to his tastes and his idea of "flat". Sound science isn't concrete; there are more than one idealized headphone curves out there, and everyone's ears are different enough to complicate the process of perceiving or producing a flat FR curve.
 
He has been extremely patient with everyone attacking his methods, and has stood by what he's said throughout the thread. If he loves the PM-1 and thinks it's the best headphone he's heard, that's a good thing. The worst-case scenario here is that there's a new product on the market which satisfies the type of listener that Bigshot is. I don't understand why that's such a travesty to some people. Any new product is a good one, because it enables us more options and more sound signatures to choose from.
 
At this point we only really have the opinions of the beta testers and a few blurbs from the NY meet. I, for one, will be waiting for Tyll and other well-known reviewers to post their subjective opinions and their measurements before deciding whether or not to purchase a pair for myself. At this point, Bigshot and other testers have provided all the information they can, and we should be grateful, not attacking.

Thank you!  When people offer their opinions there is no call to be rude or denigrating.  You may disagree and offer evidence to refute but do it in a manner that's respectful.

 

[Jodet]

After reading though most of this thread, I'm not interested in adding my impressions to this shark tank. Every attempt to provide any impressions of the PM-1 is met with a pretty unpleasant hammering by those who have not heard them. Unsubscribed and out. My impressions will end up elsewhere.

 
 
+1.  

 

[swspiers]

 
Thank you!  When people offer their opinions there is no call to be rude or denigrating.  You may disagree and offer evidence to refute but do it in a manner that's respectful.

+1 
 
It seems like ever since Jude announced the PM-1, it's been a troll fest.  The ad homonym attacks on the beta testers, and the slagging of Oppo in general is not good for this forum or this hobby in general. It makes it difficult to find a pleasant thread to exchange ideas.
 
Regardless, I am looking forward to more opinions on the PM-1.  Assuming anyone is even willing to post at this point...

 

[AnakChan]

After reading though most of this thread, I'm not interested in adding my impressions to this shark tank. Every attempt to provide any impressions of the PM-1 is met with a pretty unpleasant hammering by those who have not heard them. Unsubscribed and out. My impressions will end up elsewhere.

Please don't let them discourage you. I'll be doing some cleaning up tomorrow & will happily lock members who are disruptive to this thread. I've already locked the other PM-1 thread but I guess some posters are too dense to understand why & have just brought their rubbish here instead.

Note to all, I'm not saying the topics aren't worth discussing...just take it elsewhere if it's not PM-1 related. There are other sections in Head-Fi where you can happily debate away about testing philosophies.

And if you've not demoed the PM-1 yourself please stop with the blindness trashing too & give a little respect to those who have.

 

[Maxx134]

Haha this is a "shark tank"?
I didn't notice since I HAD TO SKIM OVER ALL PAGES to this last page!

Soooo much sound techno jargon ha.
I thought this was some audio school thread and not the Oppo thread..
Wew!
No ONTO IMPRESSIONS...


So my thoughts on the new Oppo PM-1, from the NY Headfi meet:

1- It is slightly overpriced..
2- It scales high
3- Very polished and quality feel, really excellent except for tiny plug in sockets for wire I thought too tiny..
4- very comfortable, excellent pads both leather and velour type. Just excellent..
5- very very nice size and looks
6- soundstage not very large for an open can.
Not like an HD800, but still very good.
Just slightly larger than an AlphaDog and older LCD models.
Air and soundstage was good..
7- Impact, detail, and bass were all there.(!)
No faults at all to nitpick...
AGAIN, NO FAULTS I CAN DETECT, THATS A HUGE PLUS..
8- Oppo efficiency was just marginally better than an Alpha Dog.. Not a huge jump.
The new LCDs X versions seemed slightly more efficient.
Still it was a noticeable improvement.

So to sum up and spill the beans,
Overall, the Oppo PM-1 had very good sound, superior to, say an AplhaDog or a HE500..
But not by much..
Not enough to justify that price.

So I really don't feel it was any better than say, an HE-6 optimally amped, or say an LCD..

To me, the best planar/or tho type at the meet was only the LCD X... And I listened to the LCD3, XC, Alpha, etc. some others...

Yet the Oppo is very close up there, and a very, very nice alternative..

I would buy one if it was cheaper,
Edit: or similar priced,
.. than the HE-560 I already pre-ordered