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Welcome to Cuckoo Studio review. I'm Anzol, The following content is presented from the perspective of a mixing engineer.
If you prefer video version:
We have received the NDH 30 sent by Neumann and let's take a comprehensive look at its performance.
The NDH 30 is an open-back over-ear headphone, and its overall design is almost identical to the NDH 20. The main body is silver-white, with black headband and ear cups, and is made of spring steel and aluminum, which gives it a high-quality feel.
It also features a replaceable cable design, with a cable that is the same as the one that comes with the NDH 20.
Without the cable, it weighs about 366g.
The Neumann logos on both sides are embossed, and the LR markings are on the inside. The front side also has the words "Neumann-Berlin Studio Headphones-NDH 30".
The most significant difference from the NDH 20 is the pure black metal open-back grille, which feels very sturdy.
The NDH 30's headband has a dual-axis design that provides a flexible fit for different head shapes. Its foldable design also adds to its portability, making it convenient for mixing engineers and musicians to use when working outside.
Let's take a look at its sound performance.
Frequency Response: Using Harman 2013 as the standard, the overall flatness of the NDH 30 is quite good, with a slight attenuation around 2KHz, with an amplitude of about 3dB. At around 4KHz, there is a gain of about 4dB. There is some attenuation in the airiness frequency range above 10KHz. This is a pair of headphones with overall flat but adds extra warmth.
Distortion: The NDH 30 has excellent low distortion performance. Under normal listening sound pressure levels, all harmonic distortions above 200Hz are far below the measurement environment noise floor and are not noticeable to the human ear. The second harmonic distortion of low frequency is also controlled to within -50dB. The third harmonic only has a slight gain in the low frequency range. As the sound pressure level gradually increases, the mid-to-high frequency still maintains a very good level, even lower than some headphones' distortion under normal sound pressure levels. The low frequency is also very rare in maintaining a low level. The distortion on both the left and right sides is highly consistent, with no quality control problems.
Now let's enter the Cuckoo Studio mixing space. The NDH 30's attenuation in the high-frequency range reduces the volume of high-frequency harmonics of percussions and instruments. The absolute flatness from low to mid frequencies positions all major instruments correctly, with only an increase in warmth compared to ideal playback. The NDH 30 maintains high consistency in both ears' sound level differences, with unbiased playback and a solid central image. (I noticed that earlier versions had noticeable bias in the data, but it doesn't seem to be present in the set I received, I guess that Neumann has fixed the issue.) The low distortion and unbiased characteristics make the NDH 30's playback clear, three-dimensional, without any coloration or smearing in the mid-to-high frequency range. Ignoring the parameters, the NDH 30 is a reference-level accuracy headphone without any equalization tuning.
It is a pair of headphones that emphasizes on monitoring low to mid-frequency details. It has a full mid-frequency stereo feeling and just the right amount of dynamics. As someone with a high-frequency sensitive physique, I don't easily feel ear fatigue even after long hours of work.
NDH 30 is an important player in the high-end headphone monitoring line. With its excellent sound playback quality, it adds a reliable and trustworthy work tool to professional scenes.
This is Cuckoo Studio review. Please stay tuned. I will continue to explore the secret of headphones with you.
