[Fibre101]

@trellus I see that you own a Stax headphone. How do they compare to the Monoprice AMT's?

 

[trellus]

@trellus I see that you own a Stax headphone. How do they compare to the Monoprice AMT's?

That's an excellent question. I've actually never directly compared my L300 and the Monoprice AMT's, come to think of it -- but just from memory, the tonality is way different, for sure -- the L300 sound more neutral to me than the Monolith AMT's, the AMT's are definitely more colored and the L300's frequency response helps reveal the detail better to my ears than the AMT's, which seem to sometimes get obscured in the warmth.

That's purely from memory, but the L300's are more comparable to other closer-to-neutral headphones like the HiFIMAN Arya Stealth and the HD 600, or even the Heddphone, whereas putting on the AMT's, they are very amazing sounding but "off" in some way in the FR that sounds unnatural... but pleasantly so.

I have not tried EQing the AMT's because I generally never EQ a headphone, but I will admit that while I don't want to EQ my Stax L300, every time I put on the AMT's, for a second at least, I think it needs EQ... but my brain adjusts to the FR, and then I forget it's noticeably colored until I put on more neutrally toned headphones.

 

[Fibre101]

That's an excellent question. I've actually never directly compared my L300 and the Monoprice AMT's, come to think of it -- but just from memory, the tonality is way different, for sure -- the L300 sound more neutral to me than the Monolith AMT's, the AMT's are definitely more colored and the L300's frequency response helps reveal the detail better to my ears than the AMT's, which seem to sometimes get obscured in the warmth.

That's purely from memory, but the L300's are more comparable to other closer-to-neutral headphones like the HiFIMAN Arya Stealth and the HD 600, or even the Heddphone, whereas putting on the AMT's, they are very amazing sounding but "off" in some way in the FR that sounds unnatural... but pleasantly so.

I have not tried EQing the AMT's because I generally never EQ a headphone, but I will admit that while I don't want to EQ my Stax L300, every time I put on the AMT's, for a second at least, I think it needs EQ... but my brain adjusts to the FR, and then I forget it's noticeably colored until I put on more neutrally toned headphones.

I agree. The AMT is kind of addictive in its sound but also has characteristics that make them less neutral and more "fun" sounding. On some tracks, the tonality is pretty good and others, there seems to be sudden changes in its tonality that are noticeable. It may just be the recording but I do think that the tweaks/mods and EQ make these AMTs more enjoyable IMO. They do lean on the darker side and in terms of speed and resolution, I think they are really good for their on sale price. I also think that EQing these AMTs are more of a challenge then say an Audeze LCD.

You mentioned the Heddphone. I've never heard them, but i assume the presentation should be similar to the Monoprice's AMT?

 

[Fibre101]

I agree. The AMT is kind of addictive in its sound but also has characteristics that make them less neutral and more "fun" sounding. On some tracks, the tonality is pretty good and others, there seems to be sudden changes in its tonality that are noticeable. It may just be the recording but I do think that the tweaks/mods and EQ make these AMTs more enjoyable IMO. They do lean on the darker side and in terms of speed and resolution, I think they are really good for their on sale price. I also think that EQing these AMTs are more of a challenge then say an Audeze LCD.

You mentioned the Heddphone. I've never heard them, but i assume the presentation should be similar to the Monoprice's AMT?

Here is my EQ with the patafix mod:
Preamp: -5.6 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC 0.71 dB Fc 32 Hz Gain 4.1 dB
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 105 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 0.7
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 128 Hz Gain -2.1 dB Q 1.58
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 231 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 2.3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 965 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 0.92
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2167 Hz Gain -0.3 dB Q 5.43
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3385 Hz Gain 2.8 dB Q 1.42
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 4400 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 0.5
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 8567 Hz Gain 0.8 dB Q 1.72
Filter 10: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain 1.7 dB Q 0.7


Bass adjustments can be made with 32hz and 105hz.

Update: Made some changes for a more balanced sound and a bit punchier.

 

[trellus]

I agree. The AMT is kind of addictive in its sound but also has characteristics that make them less neutral and more "fun" sounding. On some tracks, the tonality is pretty good and others, there seems to be sudden changes in its tonality that are noticeable. It may just be the recording but I do think that the tweaks/mods and EQ make these AMTs more enjoyable IMO. They do lean on the darker side and in terms of speed and resolution, I think they are really good for their on sale price. I also think that EQing these AMTs are more of a challenge then say an Audeze LCD.

You mentioned the Heddphone. I've never heard them, but i assume the presentation should be similar to the Monoprice's AMT?

The Heddphone are a step up to my ears - easier to discern detail, possibly because they’re just more resolving, but some of it might be just the more neutral tuning of the Heddphone, The Monolith AMT, on the other hand, are a more a laid back listen. I like them both, honestly, Monollith AMT are more comfortable, though, for sure, on my head,

 

[Chastity]

The Heddphone are a step up to my ears - easier to discern detail, possibly because they’re just more resolving, but some of it might be just the more neutral tuning of the Heddphone, The Monolith AMT, on the other hand, are a more a laid back listen. I like them both, honestly, Monollith AMT are more comfortable, though, for sure, on my head,

The HEDD and the Monolith AMT use the same drivers, so it has to be the tuning. GoldPlanar or their affiliate company makes the VVT driver the three use.

 

[Fibre101]

The HEDD and the Monolith AMT use the same drivers, so it has to be the tuning. GoldPlanar or their affiliate company makes the VVT driver the three use.

I also think the pads are holding these back. Hedd has a better seal with thier pads since the seal of the pad covers the lining of the actual driver.

 

[Metal-Fi]

Speaking of earpads...I asked directly to Monoprice if replacement pads for the AMTs will be available in the future. They told me they do not process any replacement parts. So, the quest continues...

 

[dmagnan]

The Heddphone are a step up to my ears - easier to discern detail, possibly because they’re just more resolving, but some of it might be just the more neutral tuning of the Heddphone, The Monolith AMT, on the other hand, are a more a laid back listen. I like them both, honestly, Monollith AMT are more comfortable, though, for sure, on my head,

I have both the Heddphone and the Monoprice AMT. Though the Heddphone does seem to have a little more resolution, I still prefer the AMT mainly because it has a bigger, deeper soundstage, plus is significantly more comfortable.

 

[trellus]

The HEDD and the Monolith AMT use the same drivers, so it has to be the tuning. GoldPlanar or their affiliate company makes the VVT driver the three use.

I don’t think that’s accurate — there’s literally a video of a worker at the Heddphone location hand making the driver, I think it was in a video by @GoldenSound maybe?

EDIT: Yes, here’s the video:

Gold Planar, on the other, does make the driver for Monolith’s AMT, at least from what I remember reading somewhere.

 

[Chastity]

I don’t think that’s accurate — there’s literally a video of a worker at the Heddphone location hand making the driver, I think it was in a video by @GoldenSound maybe?

EDIT: Yes, here’s the video:

Gold Planar, on the other, does make the driver for Monolith’s AMT, at least from what I remember reading somewhere.

I guess they do make their own drivers, tho perhaps the sheet material they fold is produced for them.