Planar Magnetic open back headphones for Mixing/Mastering under 1000$

[johny_2000]

Jim, I checked out the Moondrop Para and after a couple of weeks of listening and playing with the EQs, I returned them. There were too many design flaws that I couldn't live with. The HD650 continues to be my go-to pair for the past 15 years. Let's see what the new Focal Hadenys and Fostex TH808 show us.

 

[solderdude]

TH808 is a tad less 'warm' sounding and has a little less clarity than HD650.
Comfort is the same as all the other similar looking Fostex, Denon, Creative models.
The semi-open design means that seal breakage might be more obvious than with HD650 (just a suspicion)
More suited for enjoying music than on the recording side unless EQ is used.
A bit like the Denon D5200 (closed back) in sound.

 

[Jim_VN]

Jim, I checked out the Moondrop Para and after a couple of weeks of listening and playing with the EQs, I returned them. There were too many design flaws that I couldn't live with. The HD650 continues to be my go-to pair for the past 15 years. Let's see what the new Focal Hadenys and Fostex TH808 show us.

What is the error that happened to you? Can you just let me know?

 

[johny_2000]

Firstly, the simplicity of the “technical design”: the headband is just a piece of curved metal strip with screws for attaching the drivers.

Secondly, the headband is a piece of thin fabric, which makes my head uncomfortable. The fixed height adjustment never satisfied me that one position is too low, the other is too high.

Third, there are no orientation marks, latches, or indentations on the magnetic ear pads, which always makes my OCD feel like the left ear cup is straight and the right ear cup is crooked. Then, another time, the right ear pad is fine, but the left one is crooked.

And the icing on the cake is the underwhelming sound. I heard better from less expensive headphones.

 

[Mr Swing King]

Once you pass a certain point distortion figures become irrelevant.
If you’re equalising then there are a bunch of contenders available and I would probably start out cheap, like an HE400se. Equalised it sounds pretty much like every other planar magnetic on the market (disregarding sighted placebo effect)…but it doesn’t weigh in at over half a kilo and the pads aren’t glued on like Audeze’s, so a swap for something comfier is also way easier.

 

[Postlan]

Hello to everybody!
It comes to this time when, after 15 years, my Sennheiser HD 650 has to be replaced/upgraded by another pair of headphones. This time, I decided to go for Planar Magnetic open headphones. My main priority is studio and electronic music production/mixing/mastering, so I am looking for something neutral and accurate that can be easily tuned with EQ. I will use those headphones as a second reference, along with my Neumanns 310-A monitors. My budget is up to 1000$. My initial focus was on Audeze MM500, but unfortunately, they are over my budget.
Can anyone make recommendations on the best options in this budget?
Thanks a lot, good people!

For more than a year, I've been switching between two headphones: the HD-600 and the Neumann NDH-30. However, after purchasing the MM-500, I no longer need either of them. The NDH-30's biggest advantage over the HD-600 is its extremely low distortion, but its sound and the structure are very close to that of a closed-back headphone. Compared to the HD-600, which I've used for many years, I felt that the NDH30 lacked openness and naturalness, so I continued to use the HD-600 for casual listening due to its light weight and natural sound.

However, aside from the need for EQ and the fact that the MM-500 is somewhat heavy and tight-fitting, it is clearly superior to both of these headphones in every other aspect. After switching between the three for several months, I eventually ended up using only the MM-500. Although the MM-500 might seem quite expensive, for those who are particular about their headphones, it’s better to buy the MM-500 right away rather than waste time and money on multiple headphones. I bought B stock MM500 for $1200 or so.