[Stillhart]

@c1umsyb3ar
, thank you for your impressions. i like how you write in terms of comparisons. it is a good shared common reference point for me as I've owned/tried the other headphones that you are directly comparing the pm-3s against so it gives me a better sense of what you mean. some reviewers here write a lot of flowery adjectives that are definitely interesting to read, but not as useful for me as it is hard for me to relate to their comments and I am not sure how different their personal tastes are from me. do you have any other gear that you can compare the pm-3s too?

well, from my understanding of your posts, it seems like the pm-3 do not have a v-shaped sound signature. what kind of sound signature would you say they have?

cheers!

I, too, am trying to get a sense for the overall sound signature. It seems not to be v-shaped; is it more neutral/balanced or is it mid-centric?

 

[c1umsyb3ar]

  @c1umsyb3ar, thank you for your impressions. i like how you write in terms of comparisons. it is a good shared common reference point for me as I've owned/tried the other headphones that you are directly comparing the pm-3s against so it gives me a better sense of what you mean. some reviewers here write a lot of flowery adjectives that are definitely interesting to read, but not as useful for me as it is hard for me to relate to their comments and I am not sure how different their personal tastes are from me. do you have any other gear that you can compare the pm-3s too?
 
well, from my understanding of your posts, it seems like the pm-3 do not have a v-shaped sound signature. what kind of sound signature would you say they have?
 
cheers!
 

Thanks! These are my very first few posts so I'm trying to make it count especially on these newly released phones. 
 

I, too, am trying to get a sense for the overall sound signature. It seems not to be v-shaped; is it more neutral/balanced or is it mid-centric?

 
Comparing them to the HE-400s
 
Nadia Ali, Starkillers and Alex Kenji - Pressure (Alesso Remix)
 
I want to say that the bass in the HE-400 extends a little deeper than the PM-3s. The PM-3s are a bit brighter than the HE-400s though and the highs come out a little stronger as well. 
 
Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars & Midnight (Giorgio Moroder Remix)
 
I really love how electronic music sound on these headphones. Everything just sounds really full and smooth. The first bass hits in Midnight are definitely present and as soon as the mids and highs come in, they don't interfere at all. There is a lack of oomph in the low bass that I'm used to in that song though. 
 
Yuja Wang - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 - 4. Finale
 
You can really hear the piano come through a little stronger here than the HE-400s. During the first impact, the piano voice travels up and down the instruments, and I lose it in the aggressive string voice when it goes into the lower octaves in the HE-400s whereas I can still pick it out with the PM-3s. 
 
Malmo Symphony Orchestra - Festive Overture
 
I LOVE THE OPENING INTRODUCTION ON THE PM-3s!! I had the opportunity to play this piece at Carnegie back during my high school days... The trumpet entrance is bright but not overly so. And as soon as the french horns, trombones, and tubas come in, the PM-3s are able to just handle everything and fill out the sound completely. When the strings and woodwinds come in, nothing is completely covered up either. Again, I have to note the lack of a deep soundstage on these headphones especially compared to the HE-400s. But instrumentation separation is very nice here. 
 
These headphones are definitely not V-Shaped so a fellow bass lover may be left wanting more. I'd say they have a well balanced neutral sound. I don't think there's anything on the spectrum that is lacking in terms of quantity on these head phones. The detail in every song comes out very clearly. They're a great pair of headphones if you're down to listening a very wide variety of music. 
 
Note that I don't have many other headphones to compare these to. I wish I had a more treble-centric or mid-forward pair of headphones so I can give you guys more detail. I come from a very bass centric state of mind. My first foray into audio products were a pair of Boston speakers for my car and they're almost subwoofer like. I think this is what influenced me to get into the V-shaped sound signature for long. But overall, they offer a very balanced, neutral and clean sound. I'm left wanting a little bit more bass in certain EDM songs but again, coming from the limited amount of phones that I have, I can't say that it's a deal breaker. 

 

[money4me247]

hahah good comparisons & impressions above!

 

[Minaval15]

Thanks! These are my very first few posts so I'm trying to make it count especially on these newly released phones. 


Comparing them to the HE-400s

Nadia Ali, Starkillers and Alex Kenji - Pressure (Alesso Remix)

I want to say that the bass in the HE-400 extends a little deeper than the PM-3s. The PM-3s are a bit brighter than the HE-400s though and the highs come out a little stronger as well. 

Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars & Midnight (Giorgio Moroder Remix)

I really love how electronic music sound on these headphones. Everything just sounds really full and smooth. The first bass hits in Midnight are definitely present and as soon as the mids and highs come in, they don't interfere at all. There is a lack of oomph in the low bass that I'm used to in that song though. 

Yuja Wang - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 - 4. Finale

You can really hear the piano come through a little stronger here than the HE-400s. During the first impact, the piano voice travels up and down the instruments, and I lose it in the aggressive string voice when it goes into the lower octaves in the HE-400s whereas I can still pick it out with the PM-3s. 

Malmo Symphony Orchestra - Festive Overture

I LOVE THE OPENING INTRODUCTION ON THE PM-3s!! I had the opportunity to play this piece at Carnegie back during my high school days... The trumpet entrance is bright but not overly so. And as soon as the french horns, trombones, and tubas come in, the PM-3s are able to just handle everything and fill out the sound completely. When the strings and woodwinds come in, nothing is completely covered up either. Again, I have to note the lack of a deep soundstage on these headphones especially compared to the HE-400s. But instrumentation separation is very nice here. 

These headphones are definitely not V-Shaped so a fellow bass lover may be left wanting more. I'd say they have a well balanced neutral sound. I don't think there's anything on the spectrum that is lacking in terms of quantity on these head phones. The detail in every song comes out very clearly. They're a great pair of headphones if you're down to listening a very wide variety of music. 

Note that I don't have many other headphones to compare these to. I wish I had a more treble-centric or mid-forward pair of headphones so I can give you guys more detail. I come from a very bass centric state of mind. My first foray into audio products were a pair of Boston speakers for my car and they're almost subwoofer like. I think this is what influenced me to get into the V-shaped sound signature for long. But overall, they offer a very balanced, neutral and clean sound. I'm left wanting a little bit more bass in certain EDM songs but again, coming from the limited amount of phones that I have, I can't say that it's a deal breaker. 

 

[Minaval15]

Just wondering if anyone here can compare these to the momentums, or any other high end portables?

 

[feverfive]

I really appreciate the review by @c1umsyb3ar especially because it notes the PM-3's potential shortcomings.  Every piece of gear has those, but in the hype phase, the herd seems to forget that in many instances.  I go in realizing it's about tradeoffs:  what am I willing to forgo to get one product instead of another; opportunity cost.  I'm still on the fence because I lean heavily towards IEMs rather than headphones, but Oppo has earned my respect, so I'll be watching intently over the next month or two to see these vetted by the community.

 

[money4me247]

  I really appreciate the review by @c1umsyb3ar especially because it notes the PM-3's potential shortcomings.  Every piece of gear has those, but in the hype phase, the herd seems to forget that in many instances.  I go in realizing it's about tradeoffs:  what am I willing to forgo to get one product instead of another; opportunity cost.  I'm still on the fence because I lean heavily towards IEMs rather than headphones, but Oppo has earned my respect, so I'll be watching intently over the next month or two to see these vetted by the community.

I agree. reviews that are all positive without any faults make me skeptical of the listener's bias as all headphones have shortcomings or certain personalities that makes different options more suitable for different people. i really enjoy reviews that try to dig a bit deeper into shortcomings and possible flaws rather than all positives. much more helpful for the reader imo.

 

[gixxerwimp]

I started out in the [COLOR=1155CC]OPPO To Reveal PM-3 Planar Magnetic Headphones and HA-2 Portable Headphone Amplifier at RMAF[/COLOR] thread interested in the DAC/amp. But I'm now much more eager to hear the PM-3s, as I've come to realize that (barring really hard to drive phones), the DAC/amp doesn't seem to make much difference for me. 

In preparation, I went down to one of the local Audeze dealers here in Taipei to do some research and Audezioned (see what I did there?) the LCD-2/3/X, as well as a quick comparison with the HD 800 for a base line. I'm not going to try and give a proper technical impression, but the LCD-2 was like looking at a beautiful painting behind a clean piece of glass, and the LCD-3 was like having the glass taken away. A bit of high-end grain in the "2", but not enough that it would get in the way all the time. The "X" had that familiar closed sound (my best headphone is the DT 1350), was brighter than the "2", but had a peak in the mid/upper bass that made it sound a bit unpleasant. Plus it was REALLY HEAVY. The "3" was particularly sensitive to surroundings. I was sitting about 1m away from a glass cabinet perpendicular to me at 9 o'clock, and it pushed the bass balance to about 11 o'clock. Didn't find it noticeable with the "2". HD 800s were not a useful comparison as the sound is totally different. Aside from the open soundstage, there were more highs and a bit less bass than the Audezes. I'm not interested in the HD 800s anymore as I'm now sure the highs are too piercing for me.

Setup: Red Book FLAC, Audirvana Plus (MacBook), Benchmark DAC2 HGC, Woo Audio Idunnowhatitwaz (photo below, maybe someone can identify it for me) WA22.




Plugged my ER•4Ps into my Note 3 for a reality check and found they didn't lose out a lot to $1000+ planar magnetics and I-have-no-clue-how-much-it-cost DAC/amp.

Down the block back to Earzone, and listened to the HE-500 and PM-1 out of a Denon DA-300USB (Note 3 as transport). The HiFiMANs were more transparent and brighter, also more bass extension and impact. But the PM-1s, though noticeably darker in direct comparison, were just pleasant to listen to. And oh so comfortable. I think they'd be much more listenable for longer sessions.

I'm off to the other branch of Earzone next week where they have the PM-2, HE-400 and some other phones I wanna hear. If the PM-3 can sound close to the PM-1 at less than 1/2 the price, I think I might know where my next chunk of discretionary New Taiwan dollars is going.

 

[DemonFox]

I'm going to be comparing them to 
 
Alpha Dogs
T5p's
M100
JVC S500
 
Straight out of my MacBook Pro Retina and Galaxy Note 4 
 
Amps used will be:
 
Oppo HA-2
Project Starlight 
Pioneer SX-980 (maybe) 
 
Won't be a huge write up just general impression and some pictures if I don't get to busy... Or lazy  
 
 
Can't wait until the mail drop tomorrow!! 
 
 
Thanks,

 

[miceblue]

I'm going to be comparing them to 

Alpha Dogs
T5p's
M100
JVC S500

Straight out of my MacBook Pro Retina and Galaxy Note 4 

Amps used will be:

Oppo HA-2
Project Starlight 
Pioneer SX-980 (maybe) 

Won't be a huge write up just general impression and some pictures if I don't get to busy... Or lazy  


Can't wait until the mail drop tomorrow!! 


Thanks,

Oh hey, I remember you from the M-100 thread! : p

I compared the PM-3 to the M-100 during beta testing since I think the PM-3 is supposed to have a similar "mobile audiophile/consumer" tuning.

 

[money4me247]

Oh hey, I remember you from the M-100 thread! : p

I compared the PM-3 to the M-100 during beta testing since I think the PM-3 is supposed to have a similar "mobile audiophile/consumer" tuning.

could you link your m100 vs pm3 comparisons? thxs

 

[miceblue]

Oh hey, I remember you from the M-100 thread! : p


I compared the PM-3 to the M-100 during beta testing since I think the PM-3 is supposed to have a similar "mobile audiophile/consumer" tuning.

could you link your m100 vs pm3 comparisons? thxs

No not really since the beta units sound different from the production units. I can say that both beta units don't have as much of the 9-10 kHz sparkle though and it makes the lower-treble sound more natural compared to the M-100.

 

[Lookin4Treble]

I'm listening to my new PM-3s now in fact.  Sorry I do not own the other HPs mentioned in this thread, so won't be of help to people asking for those specific comparisons.  In the past have heard other planers PM-1 and 2, and Audeze LCD2 and 3. 
 
With speakers and headphones, I value clarity and instrument separation above almost any other quality.  And on first impression, the PM-3's really deliver in that area. 

 

[AxelCloris]

  I'm going to be comparing them to 
 
Alpha Dogs
T5p's
M100
JVC S500
 
Straight out of my MacBook Pro Retina and Galaxy Note 4 
 
Amps used will be:
 
Oppo HA-2
Project Starlight 
Pioneer SX-980 (maybe) 
 
Won't be a huge write up just general impression and some pictures if I don't get to busy... Or lazy  
 
 
Can't wait until the mail drop tomorrow!! 
 
 
Thanks,

 
Woo, anxiously awaiting comparisons to the Alpha Dogs.

 

[Oregonian]

  I'm going to be comparing them to 
 
Alpha Dogs
T5p's
M100
JVC S500
 
Straight out of my MacBook Pro Retina and Galaxy Note 4 
 
Amps used will be:
 
Oppo HA-2
Project Starlight 
Pioneer SX-980 (maybe) 
 
Won't be a huge write up just general impression and some pictures if I don't get to busy... Or lazy  
 
 
Can't wait until the mail drop tomorrow!! 
 
 
Thanks,

Why only a maybe on the SX-980?  I really want to know how these respond to vintage iron................and you have a good one!