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GL2000 Double Magnet Planar

Conmoto22

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These are amazeballs. Layers and layers of detail and stage. I'm finding it difficult to fault them.
 

Noodles

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I got my pair a few days ago, but did not listen to them much.
Well today i did and it is such an inoffensive sound that i am torn between liking it and disliking it.
These are competent headphones that are fairly cheaply made. Headband in particular does not have enough padding and the metal material that is used feels like plastic, it is not - but def feels like that.
The sound of these is quite balanced. I do not hear any peaks in any of the regions. There is a region in the sub bass that appears slightly recessed (can't say which frequencies as its not measured), but it is nothing to be concerned about.

Having said that, there is one thing that this headphone does that i have not heard in a while - it separates specific instruments which sound like a separate track altogether from the rest of the song.
Bass guitar, cymbals fall into that category .... it is quite uncanny when you hear it.

Hopefully some good soul in the US will send over a pair to amir or linsoul will.
 
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Count Arthur

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I got my pair a few days ago, but did not listen to them much.
Well today i did and it is such an inoffensive sound that i am torn between liking it and disliking it.
These are competent headphones that are fairly cheaply made. Headband in particular does not have enough padding and the metal material that is used feels like plastic, it is not - but def feels like that.
The sound of these is quite balanced. I do not hear any peaks in any of the regions. There is a region in the sub bass that appears slightly recessed (can't say which frequencies as its not measured), but it is nothing to be concerned about.

Having said that, there is one thing that this headphone does that i have not heard in a while - it separates specific instruments which sound like a separate track altogether from the rest of the song.
Bass guitar, cymbals fall into that category .... it is quite uncanny when you hear it.

Hopefully some good soul in the US will send over a pair to amir or linsoul will.

I found some measurements:
https://www.audiodiscourse.com/2021/01/gold-planar-gl2000-review.html
https://crinacle.com/2020/12/28/gold-planar-gl2000-unboxing/

It looks like the bass falls short of the Harman target, but that's not uncommon with open backed headphones. They are also about 5db short of the target in the 1.5 to 4khz region and it looks like there's a big chunk missing beyond 6khz. The lowered upper frequencies might explain why they sound "inoffensive".

1612787155491.png
 

LearningToSmile

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Jun 29, 2020
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Important to not that there is supposed to be a big difference between the double sided magnet version, and the single sided magnet version, with the double sided version generally(I think I've seen one disagreement) deemed superior. From what I understand, both sets of measurements above are single sided version.

I've also noticed the hype on the forums and youtube, I still want to try a planar headphone at some point, and from subjective opinions double sided magnets seem intriguing - but they're mostly either out of my price range, or have some QC issues like some specific Hifiman models. So I'm keeping an eye on this one, because with this initial price and popularity, there's a good chance it will either come down into my price range once sales start, or show up on the used market. But I would love someone to measure both the double-sided and single-sided version on the same rig so we could see how the difference really pans out.
 

faheem

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Important to not that there is supposed to be a big difference between the double sided magnet version, and the single sided magnet version, with the double sided version generally(I think I've seen one disagreement) deemed superior. From what I understand, both sets of measurements above are single sided version.

I've also noticed the hype on the forums and youtube, I still want to try a planar headphone at some point, and from subjective opinions double sided magnets seem intriguing - but they're mostly either out of my price range, or have some QC issues like some specific Hifiman models. So I'm keeping an eye on this one, because with this initial price and popularity, there's a good chance it will either come down into my price range once sales start, or show up on the used market. But I would love someone to measure both the double-sided and single-sided version on the same rig so we could see how the difference really pans out.

Andrew from Headphones.com has measured the double sided.

https://forum.headphones.com/t/goldplanar-gl2000/10236/5?u=resolve
 

Noodles

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Regarding Andrew's comments - the Sundara looks to be the better buy here, but when i had it it hurt my head so much that i could not wear it for more than 15 mins. It puts alot of pressure on my temple and jawbone - the GL2000 on the other hand is quite comfy after i wrapped the headband in some additional padding.
In EU - the Ananda is quite a bit more cash... at €900 - the GL2000 is nearly €400 cheaper.
Sooooo yeah, for US folk the Ananda is probably the better buy.
 

_Piotr

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Jan 29, 2021
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I have Sundara's but got hyped up into buying the GL2000 by Zeos. It was too late to cancel them on drop when Andrew's review came out. I still hope they won't be that bad though.
 

Noodles

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They are really not bad. Price to performance is maybe worse than the Sundara, but there are issues with the Sundara in the comfort department. Same goes with the Ananda and the GL2000 are actually more comparable to them than to the Sundara. Better comfort too.

I just want to give you some context. Overlay the GL2000 double-sided with leather pads with an LCD-X/GX
https://crinacle.com/graphs/headphones/graphtool/

Or even with the Sundara/Ananda, the difference is not what people are making it out to be.

On another note, harman target might not be what you are after at all in which case most comparisons are void :)
 
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Stevenich

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Feb 23, 2021
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I am using Crin's Parametric EQ settings for the most part. Some minor changes above 6k
1616016504342.png
 

Cahudson42

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Personally, for an inexpensive $220 double-sided planar, I think the HE5XX/Deva wired is way underappreciated..

Perhaps the key is an amp happy with 18 ohms, capable of high undistorted current at that.

My Liquid Spark seems this. Driven with a LG V20 in 2V high impedance mode, the LS - even in low gain - drives my HE5XX to undistorted 'ear shattering' levels with plenty of headroom to go.

Even w/o EQ, sounds pretty good to me:)
 

Stevenich

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Feb 23, 2021
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Personally, for an inexpensive $220 double-sided planar, I think the HE5XX/Deva wired is way underappreciated..

Perhaps the key is an amp happy with 18 ohms, capable of high undistorted current at that.

My Liquid Spark seems this. Driven with a LG V20 in 2V high impedance mode, the LS - even in low gain - drives my HE5XX to undistorted 'ear shattering' levels with plenty of headroom to go.

Even w/o EQ, sounds pretty good to me:)
Amp is no problem. I have A Jot 2 with ADI DAC and SMSL 400. Plenty of quality power:)
 
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