Verum Audio Verum 2 Headphone Review

[dark132]

This is a very good question I would like to have it answered competently as well. to my knowledge, planar driver in itself already have lower distortion than dynamic ones, some Audeze heaphones measured here had also extremely low distortion. But still, it begs the question why we see such a technically well engineered product from a single-man company and big manufactures fail to do it? Why?

To my knowledge, there are currently no truly “big" planar magnetic headphone manufacturers. The few existing ones in China and Europe are all emerging small workshops. In fact, HiFiMan, Moondrop, Audize, and Dan Clark Audio are all just small studios. Traditional headphone giants do not produce planar magnetic headphone.

 

[dark132]

This is a very good question I would like to have it answered competently as well. to my knowledge, planar driver in itself already have lower distortion than dynamic ones, some Audeze heaphones measured here had also extremely low distortion. But still, it begs the question why we see such a technically well engineered product from a single-man company and big manufactures fail to do it? Why?

So the real question you should be asking is why traditional "big” Hi-Fi headphone manufacturers don't produce planar magnetic headphones，there must be a deeper reason for this.

 

[Jcrow]

So the real question you should be asking is why traditional "big” Hi-Fi headphone manufacturers don't produce planar magnetic headphones，there must be a deeper reason for this.

Dynamic drivers are still pretty competitive I think, so maybe they don’t see a big financial reason to invest. Also most consumers wouldn’t know what planers are, and the big companies probably mainly sell to non-enthusiasts.

 

[dark132]

Dynamic drivers are still pretty competitive I think, so maybe they don’t see a big financial reason. Also most consumers wouldn’t know what planers are, and the big companies probably mainly sell to non-enthusiasts.

Flagship headphones are simply not practical for professional settings. Even the HD800s—I've never seen them used in TV stations or recording studios. They're clearly aimed at audiophiles

 

[Crook]

Voted poor. Not for the headphones, but for the fact they were reviewed at all. Poor show.

 

[Jcrow]

Flagship headphones are simply not practical for professional settings. Even the HD800s—I've never seen them used in TV stations or recording studios. They're clearly aimed at audiophiles

Yeah, that's true. Makes sense, most 'professional' headphones are cheap, durable, and 'good enough'. But I thought we were talking about why the big headphone companies, like Sennheiser, weren't producing planar headphones?

 

[Chagall]

Yeah, that's true. Makes sense, most 'professional' headphones are cheap, durable, and 'good enough'. But I thought we were talking about why the big headphone companies, like Sennheiser, weren't producing planar headphones?

Dynamic drivers require more time and money to develop and manufacture, so smaller companies often opt for planar drivers - it's as simple as that. Both driver types have their own strengths and weaknesses, and neither is inherently superior to the other. Sennheiser already has the R&D and manufacturing infrastructure in place for dynamic drivers, so why bother developing planars now.

 

[Chr1]

In the kickstarter campain you could chose your color.

...As long as it's not black.

Ahem... Sorry.
Bad joke.

 

[delta76]

I wrote to them asking how tax and custom fees will be handled shipping to EU. They replied rather quickly saying they will declare the value to be €50 so i only need to pay 0-20€ tax.

Judge that as you want. I wanted to buy this as a way to support Ukraine but with controversy around the owner and then this, I probably will not

 

[Jcrow]

Dynamic drivers require more time and money to develop and manufacture, so smaller companies often opt for planar drivers - it's as simple as that. Both driver types have their own strengths and weaknesses, and neither is inherently superior to the other. Sennheiser already has the R&D and manufacturing infrastructure in place for dynamic drivers, so why bother developing planars now.

That's sort of what I said in my earlier comment to another on why bigger companies don't tend to produce planars. They're already invested in dynamics, and for most use cases dynamics are competitive with planars. Though, I didn't know about planars being cheaper to develop, which seems obvious in hindsight.

 

[Igor_S]

Dynamic drivers require more time and money to develop and manufacture, so smaller companies often opt for planar drivers - it's as simple as that. Both driver types have their own strengths and weaknesses, and neither is inherently superior to the other. Sennheiser already has the R&D and manufacturing infrastructure in place for dynamic drivers, so why bother developing planars now.

Strictly disagree. Dynamic drivers are much cheaper to develop and manufacture. And what's more important - dynamic drivers hit their ceiling long ago. Good off the shelf drivers that can be found for 10$ are at the same league that best drivers you can found in expensive headphones of big companies.
Also I don't see any advantages of dynamic drivers in terms of sound quality, Only drawbacks. But huge advantages for mass production.

 

[Igor_S]

So .... what is it about the Verum 2s that are helping with the ultra low distortion ??

This is essentially a one-man-band making a product on their own (maybe not literally on their own now) .. and yet big companies with decades of experience and all the manufacturing facilities at their disposal .. are not managing to achieve it ?

Is it simply a factor of profit margin with dealerships and importers (and Amazon) to take their big cuts, large overheads etc combined with a need to generate endless sales by choosing a deliberately slow evolution path of their headphones .. such that they're all using cheaper materials than the Verum 2 (e.g. aluminium elements vs silver elements, weaker magnets, less element coverage etc etc ) ?

Just seems so odd a situation !

Good question. I think I know the answer. I simply love what I'm doing and there is no boss above me. I don't need to coordinate every manufacturing step, I can implement any wild and non-technological solutions as far as I can actually make and assemble it.

As for "profit and margin" - big companies have significant economy of scale on literally everything. From raw materials to pre-assembled modules. But still, I can compete with them and reason is still the same: I love what I'm doing.
Sometimes when I disassemble competitors headphones (or watch a tear down on YouTube) I have only one thought in mind - engineer that was behind that audio equipment hated that work, achieved some sounds wafting from transducers and immediately finished his work and got back home. Only in that state of mind IMO that can be done.

 

[Chagall]

Strictly disagree. Dynamic drivers are much cheaper to develop and manufacture. And what's more important - dynamic drivers hit their ceiling long ago. Good off the shelf drivers that can be found for 10$ are at the same league that best drivers you can found in expensive headphones of big companies.
Also I don't see any advantages of dynamic drivers in terms of sound quality, Only drawbacks. But huge advantages for mass production.

The answer changes depending who is asked the question. Grell is saying the opposite here:

 

[Igor_S]

@Chagall mr. Grell named as biggest disadvantages of planar weight and "home listening" ( I think he was saying about fragility).
And when he was talking about possibility of limits of dynamic drivers he said primarily about efficiency and weight.
As for his point of view about problems of manufacturing dynamic drivers.. I think I can produce mediocre sounding dynamic driver during an hour on youtube stream including winding my own coil. Why I'm so sure? Cause I've made a lot of dynamic drivers in my life And I even made a hybrid of dynamic and planar.

 

[kchap]

Far too big me. Go to the web site and look at the people wearing a pair of dinner plates; oops I mean headphones.

 

[Igor_S]

Far too big me. Go to the web site and look at the people wearing a pair of dinner plates; oops I mean headphones.

Same earpads size as Moondrop Para or round Hifimans, a bit smaller then Audeze.

 

[ZolaIII]

@Chagall mr. Grell named as biggest disadvantages of planar weight and "home listening" ( I think he was saying about fragility).
And when he was talking about possibility of limits of dynamic drivers he said primarily about efficiency and weight.
As for his point of view about problems of manufacturing dynamic drivers.. I think I can produce mediocre sounding dynamic driver during an hour on youtube stream including winding my own coil. Why I'm so sure? Cause I've made a lot of dynamic drivers in my life And I even made a hybrid of dynamic and planar.

Biggest drawback of electrostatic/planar is that they can't move much air but they are fast also broad spectrum wide radiation patern (which is particularly hard to focus). Biggest drawback and advantage of dynamic one's is paper. Far from it that material science has reached it's end so neither is development of either type of drivers. It's funny what you can do with simple paper as base. There is non linear excursion with dynamic drivers (Xmas) while planar/electrostatic don't do that (firs and only one is when they brake). It's about cost really. Base cost and development cost, even if base cost is only better and you didn't already heavily invested in development you still choose cheaper and more versatile regarding broad range to choose from. We can look many ways around regarding application uses of particular types like ribbon tweeters, electrostatic speakers and so on, base physic properties remain. Of course you can go hybrid with headphones same as with speakers. There is no perfect driver so use advantages and mitigate disadvantages and you are on a good path like with everything else in life.

 

[Igor_S]

Biggest drawback of electrostatic/planar is that they can't move much air...

If that is true then why Verum 2 have ~ 0.5% THD @ 20hz 114 db spl?

 

[LuckyNat]

It appears from the Verum Audio order page linked below that this sample now sells for $499 and other available colorways (Red or Black) ship with a case for the same price.

Shop | Verum Audio

Official manufacturer shop 2 years of transferable warranty

www.verum-audio.com

EDIT - I now see 'GR Research' is offering the Verum 2 headphone for $425.

From GR Research's vid a year ago, he says Verum planned at that time, to offer a cheaper package with just the single ended cable.. maybe one set of pads.

Pretty sure that's the reason for the price difference, where direct from Verum includes a second, a balanced cable and extra pads.

 

[ZolaIII]

If that is true then why Verum 2 have ~ 0.5% THD @ 20hz 114 db spl?

Because there is no excursion and no decay but it's fake which is more so pronounced where waves are directional and you want natural decay to be present. In infra spectrum as decay becomes progressive we can either way only fake it by increasing amplitude or Xroom fundamental one and pressure chamber to do the same so that it's not a trail but has time presence.