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Why people lean towards planar headphones as they are mostly Not following the specific Target
- Thread starter KehaDNb
- Start date
Planars are wonderfully resolving. Not sure what you mean by not following any target.
I've had my Hifiman Sundaras for about a year. I have two pair of Sennheiser (HD58X and HD650) that I will never wear again. I still like the Senns but why would I spend an evening with a mid place contestant when I could spend all of my time with the beauty pageant winner.
I've had my Hifiman Sundaras for about a year. I have two pair of Sennheiser (HD58X and HD650) that I will never wear again. I still like the Senns but why would I spend an evening with a mid place contestant when I could spend all of my time with the beauty pageant winner.
DVDdoug
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Most headphones at any price are not shooting for, or following, a target curve. And different people have different sound preferences and different style & brand preferences, etc. Audiophools like whatever is the most expensive! 
digitalfrost
Major Contributor
I really got into IEMs last year. My current ones have 7 (!) drivers in a single chassis and yet I'm still curious about trying planars. They got pretty large cases though.
LightninBoy
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Because they believe in things like "resolving".
I have a pair of planar as my main set right now, and looking at another. I was first attracted to them because I like odd mechanical things. I had no inkling of preference curves at the time. I did think I was preferable to studio monitor type sound. Subjective reviews were good. The set in question is Dan Clark's original product, the Mr Speakers Mad Dog. Based on the fostex t50rp. Looking at his newer offerings.
Many years later, I have found so much more information here. Now Dan Clark is one of the most on target for the Harman curve. I hope to send my Mad Dogs to Amir for measurements, though I am not sure it'd be that helpful for the community. Would be a cool bit of history to see where things started with a top pick headphone maker.
Many years later, I have found so much more information here. Now Dan Clark is one of the most on target for the Harman curve. I hope to send my Mad Dogs to Amir for measurements, though I am not sure it'd be that helpful for the community. Would be a cool bit of history to see where things started with a top pick headphone maker.
Never owned a planar headphone. But not everyone likes, prefers, or wants a headphone with as much bass as the Harman target.
Alot of audiophiles are older men with hearing loss in the upper midrange and treble frequencies. Or who suffer from hidden hearing loss. Either condition could potentially bias them towards a headphone with less emphasis and masking from the lower frequencies.
Good sub-bass extension is also difficult to achieve on any open headphone. And most open planars will actually perform better in this area than open dynamic headphones. Planar headphones also have less distortion in the bass, making it easier to shelve the lower frequencies up with EQ.
I don't understand all the physics behind planar headphones (Tyll Hertsen's articles for Inner Fidelity could maybe tell you more about that). But based on the frequency response plots, it appears that they may naturally tend towards a very linear response in the lower frequencies. Which some people actually like! And which would require some type of additional tonal distortion to tune or boost the bass levels up closer to the Harman target.
It probably wouldn't be difficult to add this kind of a bass boost to a planar headphone with some type of internal circuit or DSP. But that would be considered "cheating" by most audiophiles, headphone enthusiasts, modders, and also many professional sound engineers. Most of these folks prefer headphones that are acoustically pure. And prefer to make any necessary adjustments to their tonal balance with their own software, mods, or equalizers.
Hopefully this helped to pull back yer curtains a bit more.
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solderdude
Grand Contributor
DCA Stealth is following Harman target closely.
Planar is very easy to EQ without getting in distortion so there's that as well.
I heard good and bad planars and good and bad dynamics so SQ is not 'limited' to a type of driver but rather the implementation of it (as well as tuning using pads and others means)
besides...
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I really love hifiman HE 400se planars. They are cheap, resolving and quite easy to drive. It is not difficult to EQ headphones and meet the the response curve you like. You can use Wavelet, Camilla DSP freewares for instance
PatF
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I think one of factors is that planar headphones are middle ground between electrostatic and dynamic. Only area where planar headphones are not outstanding is width of sound stage. At least in my experience. I had Stax electrostatic and few good dynamic headphones and planar headphones gave me nearly all I wanted.
For subjectivists, they consider planars to have "technicality". Of course that's funny.
for objectivists generally planar has lower harmonic distortion, including in the bass region. So it can use EQ well if it doesn't follow the target.
for objectivists generally planar has lower harmonic distortion, including in the bass region. So it can use EQ well if it doesn't follow the target.
I don't know why others like planars, but for me, I like how they sound. Crazy, right?
I started with a cheap pair of Hifiman HE-4XX, enjoyed the sound, sold them for Sundaras, enjoyed those more, then sold those for Edition XSs and enjoy them even more than the Sundaras. And I'll probably sell the XSs for Aryas one day.
Not once did I check a graph or chart before purchasing any set, but I have EQ'ed all of them to suit my preferences.
I check the graphs and charts after I listen, to get a feel for why I like a particular headphone. I never make purchasing decisions based on them.
I started with a cheap pair of Hifiman HE-4XX, enjoyed the sound, sold them for Sundaras, enjoyed those more, then sold those for Edition XSs and enjoy them even more than the Sundaras. And I'll probably sell the XSs for Aryas one day.
Not once did I check a graph or chart before purchasing any set, but I have EQ'ed all of them to suit my preferences.
I check the graphs and charts after I listen, to get a feel for why I like a particular headphone. I never make purchasing decisions based on them.
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Human Bass
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You never heard a planar, right? They sound very unique, tight, resolving. There is nothing like planar bass.
My issue with them is high mids.
My issue with them is high mids.
You are crazy. Even in 2024 The HD650 is one of the best headphones ever made. The Sundara is the poster child for redditors that blindly follow bad advice. 32ohm impedance Lol
I have some Audeze LCD-XC which I bought (well, got as a gift) because they have very low distortion even in the bass. This lets me EQ them to whatever target I want. And they sound great on pretty much everything.
solderdude
Grand Contributor
That was just @TomB19's opinion just as your post is your opinion. People have preferences and calling someone crazy is actually crazy.
What does headphone impedance have to do with sound quality ?
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I don't own the Sundara as I am perfectly happy with my Hifiman Edition XS and HE40OSE headphones, amongst numerous others I own and enjoy. However, I am interested in hearing some sort of justification for the comment: "The Sundara is the poster child for redditors that blindly follow bad advice. 32ohm impedance Lol". The Sundara has been rated very highly by numerous reviewers and owners, including those who own the HD650 and enjoy it but prefer the Sundara. Incidentally, I rate the HD650 very highly, particularly for vocals.
I don't know about redditors but I wouldn't put much faith in what reviewers say, especially YouTubers. I have been misled by them many times. It's amazing what greed for affiliate income does to honesty.
I didn't think much of the Sundara when I owned it. They were not bad but the hd600 had a more engaging sound and the sundara was also nowhere near as good as the Arya. The way some reviewers talk about it you would think they were better than the Arya. It's that affiliate income again that pushes them towards dishonesty.
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