Nan-6 Planar Headphone Review

[deafenears]

No.

HIFIMAN was founded in 2005, Audeze 3 years later...

Your point? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiFiMan wikipedia says:

"""
Founded by Fang Bian in late 2005, Bian started Head-Direct, both a web-store and Head-Fi (https://www.head-fi.org/) sponsor. He began use of the HiFiMAN brand in 2007. In 2010, he started two small-sized factories in China and moved the headquarters to Tianjin, China in 2011.[1]
"""

HiFiMAN's own site says the HE5 was released in 2009:

The Evolution Tree of HIFIMAN's Planar Innovation

Audeze's site for the LCD-2 - https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2-classic:

"""
We’ve taken our current generation LCD-2 drivers and removed the Fazor elements, aligning the sound of the LCD-2 Classic with that of the original LCD-2 launched in 2008. ...
"""

 

[[email protected]]

I think it must be made clear that Nan-6 is not pretending to be some established brand. They are using design cues found on some popular headphones no doubt but then again , its not a direct replication either. The headband part is probably a side effect of the enormous manufacturing base in China. They are probably just taking wholesale whatever good quality headband the specialist manufacturing plants are offering to them at a good price. And the plant doing that may just be the OEM for Audeze for all we know.

But its must be lauded too that in their listing description, they mentioned that their target sound profile was the Hifiman HE-6. And looking at the measurements done here on ASR, they have done a remarkable job getting really, really close ! So it was not a botch job trying to sell a lookalike headphone to the unknowing public. there's real engineering work being done to bring these headphones to fruition. Albeit some shortcuts were taken in the aesthetics side of things.

Regarding your comment on sound profile/quality compared to the HE-6. How do you know that they got "really really close" ?
If you did not try both headphones, you cannot verify that. Especially regarding the treble region (As well as the few peaks here and there)
It would be better to let people who tried both compare (even though it's hard to be conclusive)
(Depending on your hrtf the peaks can affect you more or less if they shift).

 

[MerlinGS]

In china I think there are a few brands/companies started with making clones of popular products.

I am not arguing you are suggesting this is limited to Chinese companies, but just for clarity, the practice of large companies using IP from other companies in their products is not limited to China. In professional audio Behringer has been accused of very similar behaviour.

 

[NDRQ]

To be honest, i dont really care much about who copy who, none of them are a charity organizations that need support.
The only thing that matters is the value you got for the money.
In my opinion, this headphone is a really good stuff. For example there is the Hifiman Arya, that headphone is much worse in terms of distortion and the build quality also questionable, while the price is doubled.

 

[derKoekje]

I'm interested in these headphones. For the price they seem awesome. And they're quirky, a bit unconventional (despite the 'off the shelf parts'). I like quirky. The only thing I'm worried about it is driving them, what are the chances that the WA-7 can drive them decently enough? And if not, what would be a cheap-ish method of driving them?

Anyone?

 

[amirm]

Anyone?

I looked up my review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-wa7-wa7tp-dac-and-headphone-amp-review.7028/

It does poorly with low impedance loads. So I say you are not going to get satisfactory response.

 

[dracynical]

@amirm You state that the adi-2 dac fs is good enough to drive these to everyday use. Was this statement made pre-EQ or post-EQ pre-amplifying at -5.1 to -6db?

I'm curious about trying these headphones, but I don't want to add another device to my chain. That's why I'm asking.

 

[solderdude]

With 94.5dB/V the sensitivity is very low.
Good enough for ADI-2 DAC.
Output voltage will be around 8V peak = 110dB peak.
This is playing loud but not (short term) impressive loud.
When you EQ -6dB pre-amp 105dB peaks (90dB average) which is loud but not very loud.

 

[amirm]

@amirm You state that the adi-2 dac fs is good enough to drive these to everyday use. Was this statement made pre-EQ or post-EQ pre-amplifying at -5.1 to -6db?

I'm curious about trying these headphones, but I don't want to add another device to my chain. That's why I'm asking.

I only tested with eq but I don't think this matters in this regard.

 

[derKoekje]

I looked up my review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-wa7-wa7tp-dac-and-headphone-amp-review.7028/

It does poorly with low impedance loads. So I say you are not going to get satisfactory response.

Fair enough, I think it'd be a better fit with something like the EF400. Thank you.

 

[techguypaul]

Anyone know how to get these to the US?

 

[maxxevv]

Anyone know how to get these to the US?

Haven't had a need for using them on Taobao (they can ship direct to me) but postal forwarders essentially work similarly worldwide.

How to Shop on TaoBao Shipping to the USA - The Complete Guide 2022

We will show you how to shop on taobao shipping to usa. We will also explain how to overcome language barriers and other problems.

bestfulfill.com

 

[cheapmessiah]

@amirm won't you happen to notice what material were the cups and outer grills made of on this headphone?

 

[derKoekje]

Alright, I'm planning to get these and I'm looking at solid DAC/amp recommendations. I asked the folks over at Head-Fi and they recommended the Jot 2 (which is not really available in Europe) and the Singxer SA-1. In either case I'll still need a DAC.

Now for me, I was looking at the Hifiman EF400 and the Topping DX7 Pro, the last one I can find used in my preferred budget which is around 400-500 (similar price to the headphones really). Any suggestions?

 

[Qinzheng]

Happy to see this review in ASR. Last week i just knew nan-6 and asked for trial and will get it after few days.

 

[maxxevv]

Now for me, I was looking at the Hifiman EF400 and the Topping DX7 Pro, the last one I can find used in my preferred budget which is around 400-500 (similar price to the headphones really). Any suggestions?

At that price range and power requirement, the Topping DX5 probably fits the bill nicely. Check the review which was done on ASR.

Addendum:
The newly reviewed Sabaj A10D 2022 fits the bill too at a lower price though it doesn't have an XLR headphone output., if that's important to you.

 

[abdo123]

I wouldn't buy this headphone either. Even at much lower prices you can find better ones and EQ is also a "must" here.

Which ones?

 

[FreaK]

Which ones?

Just a few, quick from my memory, but i think there are many others too:
Hifiman HE400SE
Hifiman Sundara
AKG K... something
Sennheiser HD5xx/6xx series

 

[abdo123]

Just a few, quick from my memory, but i think there are many others too:
Hifiman HE400SE
Hifiman Sundara
AKG K... something
Sennheiser HD5xx/6xx series

The first two shows more resonances in the response and more right to left variation.

Only the Sennheiser HD650s can compare to this in terms of response.

 

[FreaK]

The first two shows more resonances in the response and more right to left variation.

Only the Sennheiser HD650s can compare to this in terms of response.

Doesn't matter i think, because you need to use EQ anyway, if you want to have a correct tonality. Amir corrected the FR also with three EQ's with both Hifiman's. The only differences are if you want to use them without EQ.