[Runrunsmithfly]

I'm really liking these out of the box. I'm afraid if I added a Loki or better I'd be playing with the knobs constantly
What do EQ, the bass? I've haven't had an equalizer in 50 years.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

I'm really liking these out of the box. I'm afraid if I added a Loki or better I'd be playing with the knobs constantly
What do EQ, the bass? I've haven't had an equalizer in 50 years.

I use Parametric eq, there's a downloadable app on my phone called UAPP and there also is poweramp, on pc there are a few eq programs that could be downloaded. I eq the low end, mids and treble. But the result is a more clearer, cleaner and detailed listen while still having the fullness in the mids. I do feel soundstaging improves, low end texture and oomph improves. You gain more clarity and resolution. Everything just sounds that bit more snappy. These are my settings. The app and toneboosters add on all costed around $13. But it's very useful as I have a great eq on the go and at home

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I'm still playing CDs and SACDs so I'll have to look into the Schiit Loki and his big brothers.

 

[mobbaddict]

By the way you can even cut the tissue layer inside the pads to make the Planar more transparent and revealing (a bit brighter too). The tonal balance is close to perfect for me with these.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

I'm still playing CDs and SACDs so I'll have to look into the Schiit Loki and his big brothers.

Ahh I see I see, there are many amps and dacs that have great eq features . But the Planar is still a great headphone without eq. You can listen for hours and hours without fatigue

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Ahh I see I see, there are many amps and dacs that have great eq features . But the Planar is still a great headphone without eq. You can listen for hours and hours without fatigue

I had them on listening for about two and half hours today and definitely no fatigue. The Asgard 3 works well them them as it does with my Focal Clears. I'll stick with my Modi multibit and Modius for now. Bifrost 2 someday but there's no hurry. I'm retired so the fixed income definitely comes into play. All in all I'm really impressed with the Avantones. Better than I expected.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I have an All Things Must Pass Japanese CD, it's the CP28, that was released in 1987 and considered to be one of the better sounding CD releases of this title. I listened to disc one today and the Avatones really cut through Spector's dense production. It's hard to describe but each instrument or group of instruments are more distinctive.
The strings are discernable from the horns. Acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, all have their own presence. Spector threw everything in including the kitchen sink on these tracks and Avantones really help to peel back the layers.

 

[Retro Plus]

Hi i'm new to the hi-fi hobby in general, but i've just bought these Avantone Planars for a very good price (£250) and have just received them today.

My first impressions are that they're a little strange sounding coming from headphones that are far from flat, but it's likely just a matter of getting used to the sound since i've never heard this level of flatness in a headphone before.

I really like how detailed they are, i was listening to Aphex Twin's Rubber Johnny and the detail in that track was almost too much for my brain to process, at the part where the door suddenly slammed open i jumped because it sounded so real.

For that reason i bet these will be perfect for movies, the detail mixed with the wide soundstage makes for a really immersive experience.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Hi i'm new to the hi-fi hobby in general, but i've just bought these Avantone Planars for a very good price (£250) and have just received them today.

My first impressions are that they're a little strange sounding coming from headphones that are far from flat, but it's likely just a matter of getting used to the sound since i've never heard this level of flatness in a headphone before.

I really like how detailed they are, i was listening to Aphex Twin's Rubber Johnny and the detail in that track was almost too much for my brain to process, at the part where the door suddenly slammed open i jumped because it sounded so real.

For that reason i bet these will be perfect for movies, the detail mixed with the wide soundstage makes for a really immersive experience.

I don't know if you believe in burn in or breaking in headphones but I do believe these get better with use. I switch back forth with these and my Focal Clear Pro's and I always enjoy what these Avantones bring to the table.

 

[ManuCV]

It takes a bit to adapt to their sound. For me they were too dark at first, and not very "fun" to listen. But after a short period of adaptation I truly love their sound. Even if they don't require an amp, giving them some juice will benefit the low frequencies and they sound fuller. And they really shine if you pump up the volume a bit.
I also recommend playing with some EQ to your liking. There are many good suggestions in this thread about EQ. They sound great out of the box, but some EQ will definitely raise them to another level.
And most importantly, enjoy them!
Ps. This was a reply to @Retro Plus but I'm idiot and can't quote from mobile

 

[Retro Plus]

It takes a bit to adapt to their sound. For me they were too dark at first, and not very "fun" to listen. But after a short period of adaptation I truly love their sound. Even if they don't require an amp, giving them some juice will benefit the low frequencies and they sound fuller. And they really shine if you pump up the volume a bit.
I also recommend playing with some EQ to your liking. There are many good suggestions in this thread about EQ. They sound great out of the box, but some EQ will definitely raise them to another level.
And most importantly, enjoy them!
Ps. This was a reply to @Retro Plus but I'm idiot and can't quote from mobile

Yeah i've been using some EQ and i've found on many songs that dropping the lower mids and upper mids by about 5db each gives me more of the tonality that i'm used to, probably because my last headphones were more V shaped in their sound signature.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I use them with an Asgard 3. I was listening to the MFSL hybrid SACD of Run-DMC's Raising Hell and that disc has a ton of bass on it. The Avantones handled the bass beautifully. Not my usual listening fare but it's a great demo disc.

 

[rudbeard]

Well, it happened. My headband broke at the plastic bend after about 10 on-head hours. Ironically, this is a good thing for these headphones as it might luring me back into fixing and modding them.

Fixing the pads is weird. The velour is fine, but as others have noted, the Velcro is bad for bass leak.

There are a lot of potential fixes, too many. . .

1. Headband
   1. Replace the bell-like microphonic metal band
   2. Route the cable along the replacement headband
   3. Redesign the suspension strap attachment points with a more Meze Empyrean style "hammock" strap or ZMF's Crescent strap.
   4. Reuse the suspension strap and add ZMF Copilot-style padding to fix the center hotspost.
2. Driver Cell
   1. Tighten down the screws on the cell
   2. Print/CNC replacement baffle plates (this doesn't make sense at the price point, but I could see stacked laser cut aluminum plates if the internal geometry allows)
3. Cups
   1. Experiment with different density backing foam (like Headulus)
   2. print some side walls that aren't as chonky.

I'd love to work on these, but right now they're not worth the time. They're alright and I can appreciate the value for the sound, but for even $100 more they could have been great. This is kind of the case with a lol of Avantone products, and they're really a hit or really a miss.

It's not really a review, but I feel more like these are the next M1060C's rather than an LCD-X killer. The sound doesn't keep up with any LCD I've heard from a technicality or sound reproduction stance (even older LDC-X's with . . . tuning quirks). They work decently as monitors for desk usage (can't live monitor or record in them due to leak and noise from the headband). They don't disappoint, but they also don't amaze. If you only had $500 to spend on planars for music production and appreciation, I'd almost suggest the DCA Aeon Closed for neutral to neutral-V shaped. They're better than M1060s for accuracy/detail but not macrodynamics. I'd love to see an Avantone Planar Pro for $100 more that solves the issues, lightens the headphones, replaces the pads, and ditches the packaging (why the reusable canvas bag???).

 

[Retro Plus]

So i've been playing around with some EQ, really trying to dial in some good settings for casual listening and i think i've come up with a really good setting.
It makes the bass a little punchier, more satisfying than raw. The treble is also subtly increased a little, with these settings the planars have more of a subtle V shape sound but the beautiful mid frequencies are retained.

My EQ settings

+3.8db +4.0db +3.8db 0db 0db 0db 0db 0db +2.1db +3.5db
32hz 64hz 125hz 250hz 500hz 1K 2K 4K 8K 16K

 

[Bop]

Well, it happened. My headband broke at the plastic bend after about 10 on-head hours. Ironically, this is a good thing for these headphones as it might luring me back into fixing and modding them.

Fixing the pads is weird. The velour is fine, but as others have noted, the Velcro is bad for bass leak.

There are a lot of potential fixes, too many. . .

1. Headband
   1. Replace the bell-like microphonic metal band
   2. Route the cable along the replacement headband
   3. Redesign the suspension strap attachment points with a more Meze Empyrean style "hammock" strap or ZMF's Crescent strap.
   4. Reuse the suspension strap and add ZMF Copilot-style padding to fix the center hotspost.
2. Driver Cell
   1. Tighten down the screws on the cell
   2. Print/CNC replacement baffle plates (this doesn't make sense at the price point, but I could see stacked laser cut aluminum plates if the internal geometry allows)
3. Cups
   1. Experiment with different density backing foam (like Headulus)
   2. print some side walls that aren't as chonky.

I'd love to work on these, but right now they're not worth the time. They're alright and I can appreciate the value for the sound, but for even $100 more they could have been great. This is kind of the case with a lol of Avantone products, and they're really a hit or really a miss.

It's not really a review, but I feel more like these are the next M1060C's rather than an LCD-X killer. The sound doesn't keep up with any LCD I've heard from a technicality or sound reproduction stance (even older LDC-X's with . . . tuning quirks). They work decently as monitors for desk usage (can't live monitor or record in them due to leak and noise from the headband). They don't disappoint, but they also don't amaze. If you only had $500 to spend on planars for music production and appreciation, I'd almost suggest the DCA Aeon Closed for neutral to neutral-V shaped. They're better than M1060s for accuracy/detail but not macrodynamics. I'd love to see an Avantone Planar Pro for $100 more that solves the issues, lightens the headphones, replaces the pads, and ditches the packaging (why the reusable canvas bag???).

A few quick points:
-Avantone not giving any warning about the plastic bend design flaw was quite a mistake - a quick and easy DIY solution with a cloth mask stuffed with memory foam and tying it to the cable heading towards the headband (reversible as well)
-A flathead screwdriver is your best friend for keeping the screws of the driver cell tight (has a large effect with seal(?)/angling drivers/phase)
-The headphone comes alive with EQ (very plain and unremarkable without but fantastic with) - you can copy and save as txt the settings for equalizer apo below, included a link to original post where those txt files are uploaded. (Just tune the bass filters to your liking and maybe play with some of the crossfeed VST plugins with the stock oratory EQ)

Would it be possible to find an equivalent Equalizer APO config file for this? (A complete noob at EQ)...one hour later:


Hardstyle Loco's Setting

---

Device: all
Channel: all
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 70 Hz Gain 4 dB
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 1145 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 1.4
Filter 3: ON HSC Fc 1400 Hz Gain 5 dB Q 0.71
Filter: ON PK Fc 2750 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 4490 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 5
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6150 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 6
Filter: ON PK Fc 8100 Hz Gain -2.2 dB Q 8
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 9000 Hz Gain 3.5 dB Q 10
Filter: ON HSC Fc 11000 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 0.71
Filter: ON PK Fc 3800 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 1.4

Also the Outdated AutoEQ EQ file: OREQ
And Oratory's Updated Version:

---

Device: all
Channel: ALL
Filter: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 6.5 dB Q 0.71
Filter: ON PK Fc 1145 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 1.4
Filter: ON HSC Fc 1400 Hz Gain 5 dB Q 0.71
Filter: ON PK Fc 2750 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 4490 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 5
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6150 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 6
Filter: ON PK Fc 8100 Hz Gain -2.2 dB Q 8
Filter: ON HSC Fc 11000 Hz Gain -5 dB Q 0.71

Downloadable EQ Text Files: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/avantone-pro-planar.941951/page-77#post-16495968