[430633]

New here and wanted to share my story with the M1ST with HartAudio Cables.
My first thought when I got these were really bad. First I could not crank the volume without distortion for some reason on my FiiO Q5s which is a great combination with only 24ohms. I'd say it took the M1ST 50h of mixed playback until I got all out of it. In that time I could not grasp the reason why everything sounded off and treble has murder peaks for my liking so I looked for pads and stumbled upon the Brainwavez Sheepskin Oval, first thing on Amazon Germany and ordered a pair. The pads are making my ears warmer than the NDH20 stock pads as comparison but increase the soundstage to at least 58x levels imo
and the Real Star -> is gaming and movies. I noticed that I could hear everything in Escape from Tarkov livestreams and potentially surpass Sennheiser 800s?!

My setup changed from December. I own the FiiO Q5s for about 3 years for, at first, mainly retro gaming to get audio from RCA to 3.5mm and later Toslink from my current PC, a ryzen 3rd gen... last month I got the Topping A90 and made me able to enjoy balanced properly. The Q5s just can not do it.

I am a person who likes more neutral sound like NDH20 and M1ST and Kph30i compared to headphones like Sony WH1000XM3 which are just awful for me. Neutral here means that I like to hear everything mostly unaltered but won't complain if it is not actually neutral. The intention needs to be still in the audio....

Soundwise - I love these. The bass is probably not flat but the right amount. Mids are flat and treble is on point. After getting used to this headphone I can not use the 58x because it misses some detail and it is an open back. I quickly get pulled out of games and media from outside sounds. As I mentioned, I swapped pads and as far as I can hear, bass gets stronger and shows every new note perfectly. Mids are the best I ever have heard (sold M50x >sold Beyerdynamic Custom Studio > own 58x > own Neumann NDH20 > own KPH30i and lastly M1ST). It really made me appreciate Napalm Death where I actually could understand the vocals easily. Also Beasty Boys sounds more alive and less low res. OST like Hans Zimmer - Dreaming of the Crash AND 2049 can be played without any distortion as far as I remember. I mainly listen to Japanese music from just Pop bands, jmetal and indie but also some less Kawaii idol bands. I really dig the way synthesisers are used in Japanese songs. Also like Country music and radio classics from early 2000s and before and Punk Metal. (Korean: Black Pink, Japanese: PassCode, Yonige, Daoko, Atarashii Gakko, Reichi, Regal Lily, Chanmina, Anly and more)

My summary for the M1ST is: It is a headphone for quiet rooms due to the vent on top which make the M1ST sound more like a studio speaker setup with great accuracy, awesome timbre, great sound stage and imaging. The sound might be exaggerated for live recording in studio to hear everything because I can hear bass guitars perfectly in nearly all songs and the separation is really good. Movies actually give some kind of subwoofer sound. I watched Edge of Tomorrow and Good Thief and it rumbles quietly.

Dang would love for it to be measured! However if it sounds this good I'm guessing it'll be especially hard for you to part with it to send it for measurements and review

 

[equalspeace]

New here and wanted to share my story with the M1ST with HartAudio Cables.
My first thought when I got these were really bad. First I could not crank the volume without distortion for some reason on my FiiO Q5s which is a great combination with only 24ohms. I'd say it took the M1ST 50h of mixed playback until I got all out of it. In that time I could not grasp the reason why everything sounded off and treble has murder peaks for my liking so I looked for pads and stumbled upon the Brainwavez Sheepskin Oval, first thing on Amazon Germany and ordered a pair. The pads are making my ears warmer than the NDH20 stock pads as comparison but increase the soundstage to at least 58x levels imo
and the Real Star -> is gaming and movies. I noticed that I could hear everything in Escape from Tarkov livestreams and potentially surpass Sennheiser 800s?!

My setup changed from December. I own the FiiO Q5s for about 3 years for, at first, mainly retro gaming to get audio from RCA to 3.5mm and later Toslink from my current PC, a ryzen 3rd gen... last month I got the Topping A90 and made me able to enjoy balanced properly. The Q5s just can not do it.

I am a person who likes more neutral sound like NDH20 and M1ST and Kph30i compared to headphones like Sony WH1000XM3 which are just awful for me. Neutral here means that I like to hear everything mostly unaltered but won't complain if it is not actually neutral. The intention needs to be still in the audio....

Soundwise - I love these. The bass is probably not flat but the right amount. Mids are flat and treble is on point. After getting used to this headphone I can not use the 58x because it misses some detail and it is an open back. I quickly get pulled out of games and media from outside sounds. As I mentioned, I swapped pads and as far as I can hear, bass gets stronger and shows every new note perfectly. Mids are the best I ever have heard (sold M50x >sold Beyerdynamic Custom Studio > own 58x > own Neumann NDH20 > own KPH30i and lastly M1ST). It really made me appreciate Napalm Death where I actually could understand the vocals easily. Also Beasty Boys sounds more alive and less low res. OST like Hans Zimmer - Dreaming of the Crash AND 2049 can be played without any distortion as far as I remember. I mainly listen to Japanese music from just Pop bands, jmetal and indie but also some less Kawaii idol bands. I really dig the way synthesisers are used in Japanese songs. Also like Country music and radio classics from early 2000s and before and Punk Metal. (Korean: Black Pink, Japanese: PassCode, Yonige, Daoko, Atarashii Gakko, Reichi, Regal Lily, Chanmina, Anly and more)

My summary for the M1ST is: It is a headphone for quiet rooms due to the vent on top which make the M1ST sound more like a studio speaker setup with great accuracy, awesome timbre, great sound stage and imaging. The sound might be exaggerated for live recording in studio to hear everything because I can hear bass guitars perfectly in nearly all songs and the separation is really good. Movies actually give some kind of subwoofer sound. I watched Edge of Tomorrow and Good Thief and it rumbles quietly.

I actually purchased the Brainwavz sheepskin Ovals and the Yaxi pads for the M1ST in addition to the Dekoni pads. The former arrived after the Dekoni pads. The Yaxis were terrible, but the Brainwavz pads actually sounded better than the Dekoni pads, which I loved. Glad to read someone else feels the same way about the Brainwavz pads on the M1ST. I agree with your impressions. This headphone just does so much right with proper pads, particularly the technical aspects like speed of transients, imaging and stage. These aspects coupled with the wonderful tonality make these a steal at 300$.

 

[kwansheungchi]

I actually purchased the Brainwavz sheepskin Ovals and the Yaxi pads for the M1ST in addition to the Dekoni pads. The former arrived after the Dekoni pads. The Yaxis were terrible, but the Brainwavz pads actually sounded better than the Dekoni pads, which I loved. Glad to read someone else feels the same way about the Brainwavz pads on the M1ST. I agree with your impressions. This headphone just does so much right with proper pads, particularly the technical aspects like speed of transients, imaging and stage. These aspects coupled with the wonderful tonality make these a steal at 300$.

Which Brainwavz do you got? They have so many size available but I don't see one specific for the M1ST. I recently got the Yaxi made for the M1ST but don't like it. The stock pads are more comfortable for me.

 

[equalspeace]

Which Brainwavz do you got? They have so many size available but I don't see one specific for the M1ST. I recently got the Yaxi made for the M1ST but don't like it. The stock pads are more comfortable for me.

I bought the ones that fit the M50x. I thought the Yaxis sucked out the bass and brought in more highs. They were def not for me

 

[430633]

I bought the ones that fit the M50x. I thought the Yaxis sucked out the bass and brought in more highs. They were def not for me

Yeah I think the M50 ones fit most studio monitors (headphones). I got the Brainwavz hybrid pads for my Roland RH-300 too

 

[equalspeace]

Yeah I think the M50 ones fit most studio monitors (headphones). I got the Brainwavz hybrid pads for my Roland RH-300 too

I might go back to the Dekoni pads. Listening from the ZX300 and the exp with the Brainwavz isn’t as good as when I had the Dekoni pads on. Brainwavz is better from the SA-1 though. Weird how these factors interplay. The ZX300 will be the M1ST primary partner. It’s like they were made for each other lol

 

[430633]

I might go back to the Dekoni pads. Listening from the ZX300 and the exp with the Brainwavz isn’t as good as when I had the Dekoni pads on. Brainwavz is better from the SA-1 though. Weird how these factors interplay. The ZX300 will be the M1ST primary partner. It’s like they were made for each other lol

Singxer SA-1 vs Sony ZX300?

 

[430633]

If so it is potentially a huge gap in performance difference
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wolfx700-measurement-of-sony-zx300.10847/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...xer-sa-1-review-balanced-headphone-amp.23365/

 

[equalspeace]

Singxer SA-1 vs Sony ZX300?

Yep. The M1ST doesn’t need a full sized amp to sound its best

 

[kwansheungchi]

I bought the ones that fit the M50x. I thought the Yaxis sucked out the bass and brought in more highs. They were def not for me

The Brainwavz for M50x looks like a good option. Which one between the Brainwavz and Dekoni do you feel more comfortable? The fitting seems to be quite different between the two, as the Brainwavz is larger that should be able to warp around the ears for better seal. The Dekoni is similar to the stock pads that should sit on the ears.

 

[equalspeace]

The Brainwavz for M50x looks like a good option. Which one between the Brainwavz and Dekoni do you feel more comfortable? The fitting seems to be quite different between the two, as the Brainwavz is larger that should be able to warp around the ears for better seal. The Dekoni is similar to the stock pads that should sit on the ears.

The Brainwavz is definitely roomier. The Dekoni fit around my ears too but are slightly less comfy. I have average size ears. Both are good comfort-wise

 

[kwansheungchi]

The Brainwavz is definitely roomier. The Dekoni fit around my ears too but are slightly less comfy. I have average size ears. Both are good comfort-wise

Thanks for sharing, I will definitely try the Brainwavz. Comfort is my first priority for the M1ST because it's my daily driver.

 

[KingForKings]

I actually purchased the Brainwavz sheepskin Ovals and the Yaxi pads for the M1ST in addition to the Dekoni pads. The former arrived after the Dekoni pads. The Yaxis were terrible, but the Brainwavz pads actually sounded better than the Dekoni pads, which I loved. Glad to read someone else feels the same way about the Brainwavz pads on the M1ST. I agree with your impressions. This headphone just does so much right with proper pads, particularly the technical aspects like speed of transients, imaging and stage. These aspects coupled with the wonderful tonality make these a steal at 300$.

Have you tried THE M1st Yaxi pads? It is the worst thing ive heard ever

 

[KingForKings]

Which Brainwavz do you got? They have so many size available but I don't see one specific for the M1ST. I recently got the Yaxi made for the M1ST but don't like it. The stock pads are more comfortable for me.

Just the first one on Amazon Germany, Sheepskin oval, but it dont name any

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01J53KM32/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Germany

 

[KingForKings]

I bought the ones that fit the M50x. I thought the Yaxis sucked out the bass and brought in more highs. They were def not for me

So on my end, The M1ST or any other Yaxi pad with pleather and inside with breathable non velour just are trash. it made everything go bad. the tldr for me is: Get the pads that mimic the original pads inside and outside can be (maybe) an other material like pleather.