I keep going back and forth about trying a planar headphone. I have been largely using dynamic headphones. I decided that I was going to look at picking one up during Black Friday. However, I keep flipping back and forth on which planar to try out. I keep hearing mixed things about the two I was considering. I initially was considering the Ananda, then thought based on what people were saying perhaps the Sundara. However, now I am starting to doubt again about my choice. I keep hearing about the Sundara being a too thin sounding headphone and it being unnatural sounding. That the earcups are too small etc. However, on the other hand I hear that the Ananda headphone is quite large and hits the jaw quite badly. If there are people that have owned both of these headphones or have alternative entry level planars to consider please let me know. I don’t want a cold/dark sound to my headphones. I would greatly appreciate your input during my musings on what to consider for an upcoming purchase.
Thanks again to all those who are will to help or make suggestions.
I am not a fan of Hifiman from a personal point of view.
Among other things, there are always quality problems.
And yes, some say that they sound metallic depending on the model.
The most important thing to know is that if you buy a planar headphone, you have enough power to drive it on the amplifier side.
With the He400i, the masdrop version that was available, I thought it sounded a bit muffled for a planar headphone.
The Sundara I heard in the shop was nothing special, even if the drive on the CD player was suboptimal.
The Ananda is indeed a popular model that people like to buy.
And indirectly competes with the Lcd2C.
Also because they are similar in price.
The Aeon R/T is the least on most people’s minds, it is a somewhat stripped down version of the Aeon 2.
But it’s an excellent headphone, especially in this price range, there’s almost nothing better and it makes most of the competition look a bit old.
Honestly, if you don’t have the amping at home but are willing to spend money on a Lcd2C or Anananda, you should check it out and invest the rest of your money in the amping.
Apart from its sound characteristics where I personally see it on Lcd2C level, it has a disadvantage in the drive.
Because it is low ohmic, this can sometimes be a problem.
The amp should have enough power at 32 ohm in the specs and have no problems with low ohm headphones, then the R/T is a good playmate.
Otherwise, for $500 it really does a lot right as a planar headphone and offers a lot.
Of course, it also depends a bit on your personal sound preferences when choosing.
Since you said it shouldn’t be too dark, the R/T isn’t and neither is the Sundara.
The Lcd2C tends to be dark.
I can’t say about the Ananda.
I took a long and winding road with planar’s. To make a long story short (no, really!):
I hated the HiFiman HE4XX, was underwhelmed by the Drop Edition XX’s and thought the Sundara’s were just OK.
I tried the Monoprice M570’s and thought they sucked hard. Went for the M1570’s and they were a huge improvement, although they have since moved on.
I was never very impressed with Audezez LCD-2’s whenever I tried them out. I ended up buying a set of LCD-2 Classic’s last year and they just bored me to death. They got traded out a few months ago.
I then bought the Fostex T60RP’s and really liked the sound. Low key, but cool. After a few weeks I sent them to Modhouse for “Argonization”. I am listening to these as I type. I thought I might be moving these on, but I am really enjoying this sound right now.
So, until this point, pretty hit and miss and mostly miss.
And then I discovered the HE6se V2’s. Now I get the planar love out there! With the right amp, these are Amazing. But I can’t stress enough how important the amping is. My Violectric V220 can’t run them at all. My Liquid Platinum gets them loud enough (at 3:00), but…
With the iFi Pro iCAN (bass boost and 3D maxed), these are completely addictive. They jumped into the top row of my collection. If you have the right amp, these are a super buy at $599.00 which they are usually on sale for.
In my collection the closest similarity I can think of is an Elex on steroids. And I love my Elex’s
I also took a long and winding road with hifimen, mostly.
You didnt specify your budget so im going to be very general.
If its your first planar something like the he400se or 400i can give you a general idea of what differences to expect between planars and dynamics. I recommed those as they’re cheap and not that hard to drive.
If you already have some basic midfi combo a RNHP + bf2, the LCD X goes perfect with those, even though its a lower wattage amp.
As someone who tried out dozens of headphones trying to find out my favorite sound signatures, I felt a hole in the midrange planars, I personally think the sundaras and anandas are overrated, and also didnt love the lcd2c, they just felt inferior (for my personal liking) in several ways to my dynamic driver headphones of similar, or much lesser price tags.
But now that I have tested the good lcd x they have been redeemed with me, now im going for either an he6se or a LCD 2 pre fazor, because now I know im all about dynamics. Both of them need a decent amp to show their prowess; so yeah, if you wanna go planar I’d say avoid the popular ones and get a good matching planar+amp combination using the advice from this forum, some times the source needed to do a planar justice is more expensive that the planar itself.
Well, I intend on getting a BF2 and a G111. I have an Elex and really enjoy those as my main driver. However, I was curious about trying something different and wanted to give planar a chance. I was thinking of spending around $500. However, I am willing to go a little higher if there will be significant gains. I have not really looked into LCD as my understanding is they are a darker sound. I am not really into dark and cold sounding headphones. However, I am also into finding a good new experience. This is one of the reasons I started this thread as I have begun to have second thoughts about going with the Hifiman line. I was curious to get some good call outs that are worth considering as an alternative.
Everyone’s help is much appreciated in this venture.
I wouldn’t worry too much about underlying technology, I pretty much disliked every lower priced planar I tried on my journey and now 3 of my top 4 headphones are planars.
But I did skip over all the Hifiman’s prior to the Susvara so I may have missed some gems in that.
Interesting, what would you recommend? Curious where to go next. I quite enjoy the Elex as my main driver. I have the 58x, but find the sound a little veiled and the pads are starting wear from long use. I was thinking of going with a planar to upgrade them. However, now I am unsure where to go as I am hearing not the best comments about the lower end of the planars. The Audeze line up seem a bit pricier than I initially wanted to investigate. They seem to be a darker sounding headphone which I don’t really care for. I fear I don’t really have anywhere to audition so largely rely on people’s experience/research to make purchases. Granted everyone opinions and sound preferences are subjective.
Not sure if it will help, but I also Love the Elex’s. My top four now are:
Grado GH2’s (found the lower models too bright and the PS500E kind of dull). Cable is Horrible!
Focal Elex. Flawless from day one.
CFA Cascades. Cartoonishly bassy at first and made me giggle. Now I love the strong bass and really enjoy all my music through them, even jazz. I don’t find bass bleed.
HiFiman HE5se V2’s. Incredibly good. These came out of left field and blew my mind. But this would not work with a G111. That combo would cause you to say “These suck/These are nothing special” and “Shane is an idiot and doesn’t know what he is talking about.” (sometimes a safe bet.)
I can wear any of the above every day for a week and that is eight hours per day. I had to force myslf to take off the HE6se’s off so I could evaluate other 'phones for possible removal. They are Addictive.
If you check my original post, I have had a LOT of failure (taste wise) with planars. With your budget and amp, I would probably stick with dynamic 'phones.
What price point? and what are you looking for outside of “different”?
I do think at it’s price point the Elex is really hard to beat and it has the advantage of not being overly picky amp wise.
Just as a note I wouldnt describe LCD sound as dark and cold, to my ear is “very well prsentented and surpisingly not relaxed” also I though the headbands would kill me but they were actually pretty comfy for several hours (new one)
People who harman EQ everything tend to exagerate saying a product is dark.
I was thinking around $500. However, if I need to spend a little more I would be willing to do so. Well, I originally was thinking of the planar as I wanted to see sound represented in a different way. I have heard mostly dynamics so was curious to hear sound presented in a different manner. However, I also wanted pleasing sounding and detailed headphones. I like the Elex quite a bit, however, upon occasion, there have been a few highs that don’t quite reach highs quite enough. As to different I am not quite sure. I would like to get a comfortable pair of headphones with not a lot of crazy clamping. I guess the Elex are considered W sounding not sure if there is another signature that I would enjoy as much. I tend to listen to somewhat different variety of music. However, I tend to listen to Orchestral, Folk, classic rock and female vocals. I want some headphones that make music very enjoyable but at the same time have good details sound stage and present vocals well.
I hope I explained things well enough. Any thoughts?
What kind of amp would I need to consider to make planars enjoyable? I am sorry to hear you did not have previous success. I am will to invest in good headphone. If I was willing to open up beyond just planar headphones what would you recommend? I have not really heard many brands beyond Sennheiser and Focal.
What LCD would you recommend and would the G111 be enough to run it successfully? I tend to like detail and soundstage. Would the LCD capable of achieving these goals? I hear they also are quite heavy and tend to have heavy clamp. Is this the norm?
FWIW I have similar listening tastes and enjoy the Sundara with Asgard amp.
However after using the dt 880/600 ohm for a few weeks am considering the Beyer T1 gen 2. Just another imo for you.
Most of the LCDs do that honestly, the folks here seem to really like the lcd2 prefazor version, but also the fazor one, not the classic, it will run without issue on the g111.
I personally dont have but liked the lcd x a lot, I have large head and ears but felt no pressure, maybe a large head helps with those headbands, it has great detail and sounddtage, will run without issue from the g111 or even a RNHp.
Most of the planars I had work fine out of any decent amps.
The HE6se and the T60 Argons take lots of power though.
I am not an Audeze fan nor much of a Sennheiser fan, although I do have the HD660’s.
I listed my favourites above and I am currently interested in Kennerton Magni’s/LSA HP-2’s.
Also, really curious about the Ibasso SR-2’s and Apos Caspians.
To add some more info to the mix. I got a pair of Hifiman HE400i 2020 as a first planar and was very happy with them. I do like a warmer “analog” sound sometimes and paired with the ifi Zen Can I owned at the time I really enjoyed them. I do still listen to them when I want a warmer, firmer bass sound with less treble peak. They work well with older guitar based music where the original recording may be lacking - for example things like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy. If you want detail and accuracy then no. I would also add that the pads wear quite quickly and that the supplied cable is truly awful. Other than that, if that is a sound you would enjoy, they are a good point to start. I would like a more expensive planar some day but I will keep these. They are fun and I enjoy them from time to time.
Have you considered the aeon 2’s? The aeon 2 closed provides the high level of detail, very good sound stage for a closed back and is pretty comfortable but ymmv.
I havent tried an elex, so I cant compare the two, however as a closed back planar alternative to the elex, i think the aeon 2 closed could be an option.
The tuning filters help with changing up the stock sound but i think without the tuning filters, the stock a2c tuning might be something you could enjoy. The highs extend up there but I dont have a pair of elex to compare them. Being U shaped theres presence with the the low and high end without drowning out the open, clear, and airy sounding mids.
Probably lacking in dynamics compared to the elex.
When I got them, the airy open quality made them my favorite closed back because those qualities reminded me of the dt880 but in closed back, planar form.
In my opinion, the best bang for buck you can get on the used market for planars is an Audeze LCD-2 Pre Fazor or a Hifiman Edition X V2. If you are patient, you can find both headphones at good prices (same price range as a used Aeon 2). I currently also have an Aeon 2 Noire and for a closed back planar, it isn’t that bad (closed back planars are very hard to get right).
