[howdy]

After going blind reading reviews of semi-portable closed phones to use with my new Pono player, I settled on the PM-3's (nowhere to audition anything decent in town). Unfortunately I won't be able to really audition them on my main rig versus the HD650's I have since the WA-2 is OTL and probably doesn't play well with the low impedance PM-3's. I was going to go for the HP50's, but I have a large hat size and was put off by the comments about comfort/fit on large heads. I'm also really curious about planars (considering PM-1's for the home system).

Keith

I have a big head/hat size and these fit my noggin the clamp force fells a bit strong but the overall comfort is really good.

 

[413092]

  yeah I just checked out my invoice!
 
What a STEAL!

 
When I got the pair - and saw their case and even the small draw-string bag for the cable - plus the cans themselves - I honestly thought to myself:
 
This is what the Audeze EL-8s should look like! 

 
Hey Mike,
 
I'm driving my PM-3s with an International+ as well. I'm pretty new to this stuff - if I heed your excitement, which DHC should I be looking at getting?
 
Thanks!

 

[khollister]

Got the PM-3's today and I'm very pleased so far with how they sound on the Pono. There is some upper midrange/lower treble energy that is missing on the HD650's that significantly reduces the veiling on certain instruments/ranges (piano an octave or more above middle C for instance). There is less of a lower midrange "bloom" than the Senn's (good) but a bit more bass bloom in certain areas it seems (comparing both driven single ended on the Pono). The HD650 (w Cardas wire) has a much more expansive stage, of course, and at times can seem a bit more resolving in spite of the veiling. The PM-3 comes across as more "linear" in most areas and is a little less "gray" in timbre - the PM-3 (at least on the Pono) has a bit more technicolor instrument timbres. Acoustic guitar and piano have a more distinctive color and are more bell-like. 
 
Obviously both the Pono and the PM-3's need burn-in, and I'm running them 24/7 for the next several days.
 
The HD650 comes across as more refined in some ways, but the tonal balance/perspective is very "different" in the upper mids (say 1-5kHz). I've gotten use to it over the years, but the PM-3 is a lot more similar to what I hear on my B&W CM9's and is probably closer to neutral.
 
One very unexpected observation is that the 2 cables supplied sound quite different. I got the short cable without a volume control anti is obviously different wire than the longer one.The longer cable is darker sounding and a bit more congested sounding - I certainly prefer the short cable. I may try a Cardas or Moon Blue Dragon.
 
I haven't tried the PM-3's in the main rig since the amp is a WA-2 and I don't expect much from an OTL amp driving 26 ohm cans.
 
Overall quite pleased so far. The build quality and attention to detail is very impressive as well. Love the case.
 
Keith

 

[imac2much]

Unfortunately I still have not found any way to audition the PM-3 in my small Chinese city.  Since I don't plan to go to a bigger city anytime soon, I am a bit tempted to purchase these blind from taobao.
 
Quick question though: I do not have the budget for the HA-2 as it is over $300 on taobao.  Does the PM-3 sound good by default with an iPhone?  It seems most reviews say it sounds ok but that portable DAC/Amps "open up" the sound and improve it significantly.  Would I be better off waiting until I can purchase a portable DAC/Amp as well, or settle for a cheap portable amp like the Fiio E12?
 
I have a HE-400i connected to a Soloist and Concero at home, but I am looking for a sleek, closed headphone with high sensitivity for portable use.  Thanks!

 

[AudioBear]

Opinions may vary on any combination.  That said, I had the PM-3s for a week and played them from my iPhone 6 and FiiO X5 and in both cases I only had to set the volume (low gain on the FiiO) at 30-40%.  I found the PM-3 sounded great to me on both the iPhone and FiiO and would be happy with an iPhone and the PM-3s.  Not saying that there aren't ways to make them sound even better but they sound good enough with an iPhone to try it out first.  The PM-3s are apparently very easy to drive (very sensitive).
 
Unless there's some reason why you have to order both at once you might try just the iPhone-PM-3 combination and see if it works for you.  You can always order the HA-2 later.  I haven't tried it but by all reports it is indeed very good.  Just depends on how good you need it to be. You could spend a lot more for a DAC/AMP too.  There's almost no end to upgrading so try it one step at a time.

 

[miceblue]

Quick question though: I do not have the budget for the HA-2 as it is over $300 on taobao.  Does the PM-3 sound good by default with an iPhone?  It seems most reviews say it sounds ok but that portable DAC/Amps "open up" the sound and improve it significantly.  Would I be better off waiting until I can purchase a portable DAC/Amp as well, or settle for a cheap portable amp like the Fiio E12?

I just updated my headphone amp power calculator if anyone is interested:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2816447/Headphone_Amplifier_Power_Calculator.xlsx

You can input values from Innerfidelity's measurements, manufacturer's specifications (both dB SPL/mW and the less commonly used dB SPL/V), amplifier power calculations from manufacturer's specifications (both in mW and W in the case of the Schiit Ragnarok), and amplifier requirements between two music tracks if you want to see how much power the amp needs between RMS and peak values.



If you put in the values from Innerfidelity for the PM-3 (26-ohm impedance, 0.037 Vrms to reach 90 dB SPL), or from OPPO's specifications (26-ohm impedance, 102 dB SPL/mW) you'll see that the PM-3 is really efficient. The iPhone should be just fine at driving the PM-3. Such mobile devices usually output around 1 Vrms.

That being said, a dedicated headphone amp can help clean up the signal a bit. The HA-2 and PM-3 were developed to be used together, so they have pretty good synergy. I personally don't like the E12 at all with the PM-3 though.

 

[imac2much]

Thank you both for your opinions!  Yes, that makes sense - guess I will order the PM-3 first and go from there.  I just didn't want to purchase a $400 portable headphone only to find out it wouldn't sound decent without putting another couple hundred (or three) for a portable DAC/Amp as well.

 

[khollister]

  Thank you both for your opinions!  Yes, that makes sense - guess I will order the PM-3 first and go from there.  I just didn't want to purchase a $400 portable headphone only to find out it wouldn't sound decent without putting another couple hundred (or three) for a portable DAC/Amp as well.

Not sure how the amp in the Pono compares power-wise to what player you are considering, but my new PM-3's have sufficient volume in single-ended mode. On the rare classical album that is mastered quite low (much of the Reference Recording stuff, for instance) I run the volume in the Pono at or near max, but for most popular and classical stuff, I am at 50-75% of full volume. And I tend to listen fairly loud, so YMMV.
 
BTW, I left the Pono playing into the PM-3's overnight (up to about 18 hrs runtime so far on the cans, about 48 hrs on the Pono) and the upper mids/lower treble has smoothed out considerably this morning. A little more towards the perspective of the HD650's in that region without losing the clarity and technicolor timbres that I like over the Senn's. These may not satisfy the bass heads out there, but I think they are  great little headphone with outstanding build quality. My taste in music runs heavily towards classical with some jazz, acoustic pop/folk, traditional country and classic rock thrown in. I find the bass (on the Pono) completely satisfying, but I doubt it would be confused with the bass-monster headphones. I am particularly fond of how piano is rendered by this combo (and as someone who has a ton of piano recordings including 2 complete Beethoven sonata cycles, this is a big deal for me).
 
I plan to get a "reference/statement" open headphone to replace/augment my HD650's later this year when I snag a Taurus MK II, and I'm now curious about the PM-1 instead of the LCD-3f I thought I wanted.

 

[RRod]

  Thank you both for your opinions!  Yes, that makes sense - guess I will order the PM-3 first and go from there.  I just didn't want to purchase a $400 portable headphone only to find out it wouldn't sound decent without putting another couple hundred (or three) for a portable DAC/Amp as well.

 
I use mine from an iPod Classic 6G and they sound great and have plenty of volume. That's the point of these headphones: sound good and be easy.

 

[aamefford]

Unfortunately I still have not found any way to audition the PM-3 in my small Chinese city.  Since I don't plan to go to a bigger city anytime soon, I am a bit tempted to purchase these blind from taobao.

Quick question though: I do not have the budget for the HA-2 as it is over $300 on taobao.  Does the PM-3 sound good by default with an iPhone?  It seems most reviews say it sounds ok but that portable DAC/Amps "open up" the sound and improve it significantly.  Would I be better off waiting until I can purchase a portable DAC/Amp as well, or settle for a cheap portable amp like the Fiio E12?

I have a HE-400i connected to a Soloist and Concero at home, but I am looking for a sleek, closed headphone with high sensitivity for portable use.  Thanks!

I was a beta tester for PM-3 and HA-2. hA-2 is a nice unit. I almost never used it with PM-3. I preferred the ease of going straight from iPhone 5s over the very slight sound quality improvement of HA-2. Seriously, I probably used HA-2 5 times with my phone just to try it out. YMMV. I did use it with my MacBook Air. MBA headphone out isn't great.

 

[NZtechfreak]

I plan to get a "reference/statement" open headphone to replace/augment my HD650's later this year when I snag a Taurus MK II, and I'm now curious about the PM-1 instead of the LCD-3f I thought I wanted.

The 3f is a better headphone than the PM-1, I wouldn't change your plan. The PM-3 and -1 are very different.

 

[khollister]

The 3f is a better headphone than the PM-1, I wouldn't change your plan. The PM-3 and -1 are very different.

Not to get too far OT, but different how? I understand the PM-1 is slightly darker than the PM-3?

 

[q2klepto]

 
Not to get too far OT, but different how? I understand the PM-1 is slightly darker than the PM-3?

 
IIRC, both are pretty dark (at least compared to my 400is) - the PM1 and 3 has similar sigs with the 3 being narrower, slightly less refined but having a warmer sound (bass impact is thicker).  Not that i thought the PM1s were worth $1100 - the 3s are a much better buy imo. 

 

[miceblue]

I didn't like the sound of the LCD-3 Fazer at all from someone's rig at a local meet. It sounded bright, grainy, and sizzley. On the other hand, the PM-2 I tried at a local audio store was too dark for my preferences. XD

I definitely like the PM-3 more than either in this case since it strikes right in between the two: it's not really dark-sounding (although warm-tilted a bit to me) and it's not really bright-sounding (a bit shouty, but not bright per se).

 

[khollister]

   
IIRC, both are pretty dark (at least compared to my 400is) - the PM1 and 3 has similar sigs with the 3 being narrower, slightly less refined but having a warmer sound (bass impact is thicker).  Not that i thought the PM1s were worth $1100 - the 3s are a much better buy imo. 

Which, of course, begs the questions as to whether the LCD-3's are worth $2000. I can get a loaner pair of LCD-3's from The Cable Co and I can always send the PM-1's back to Oppo or AudioAdvisor if I don't like them.
 
That will be this fall's project.