As the title states, do Planars tend to be inherently brighter than Dynamics, or is it just a tuning thing? The only planars I’ve heard this far are the t60rp and Argon mk3. I ended up selling both (t60rp killed me to sell because they were just so damn pretty), because I felt the high end, especially the “s” region sounded very unnatural and was very harsh to me more often than not. Also, from lurking on this forum, I see many other planars described as being bright such as the 4xx and others. Is this an inherent characteristic of planars, or does it just happen to be how some of them are tuned?
Not really, it’s mainly tuning and design imo. The t series are just brighter headphones and also a strange example of a planar, and hifiman tends to have a brighter signature as well. Go listen to a lcd 2.1 or pre fazor 2.2 and you will hear a dark planar lol.
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I figured. How’s the sundara compare? Ive found im very sensitive to bright. What are some examples of smoother planars besides the ones you’ve mentioned?
I really want to understand the benefits of planar by hearing them for myself, but with the fostex t series I was so hyperfocused in that harshness I couldn’t focus in anything else.
The sundara is actually pretty smooth, it is fairly neutral now with the revision to the pads that adds back in the low end, I think for what you have trying the sundara might give you a good perspective. Trying to find a lcd 2.2 non fazor is pretty smooth, the edition xx is actually kinda smooth. lcd 2 classic is also smooth, keeping it under 1k
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Yeah, seems like sundara will probably be my next set at some point in the future. I’ve heard nothing but good things, although I have heard 1 person say they were rather bright right out of the box, and others replied that after burn in they calm down a bit. (I know burn is a controversial topic)
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They do have a burn in but it’s not too significant
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I’d like to add the Hifiman Edition X v2 to the list of warmer planars.
Yes, the edition x v2 and edition xx are outliers in the hifiman lineup as it’s not that bright and actually kinda warmer
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I’ll keep them in mind, but I think if the sundara doesn’t have the bright characteristic, I’ll give them a try first at the lower price just to get a taste and see what I think, because I currently have nothing but dynamic sets, excluding iems.
The sundara has the treble extension and a bit of a treble boost, but I would still call it fairly neutral, it’s a pretty great entry for the price imo
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yep i think ill go for them from amazon, and worse case return them if they are not my style
I think you need a consensus from bunch of audio engineers who have developed their own both dynamic and planar drivers to answer your question 
and since we won’t have that (maybe) ever, I think I agree with what @M0N said. It’s the tuning and design. He provided a good example too. As for the dynamic example, listen to bright Beyerdynamic products vs ZMFs warmish sound signature.
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I’m tempted to say planars are not inherently brighter, but like balanced armature drivers, they’re inherently “faster” and more “in-your-face” than most dynamic drivers, so they can sound brighter – and/or too bright – really, really easily.
I think you are mostly correct…100% about the speed and the way you worded it. The brightness can really be effected from the circuit trace pattern and material, at least from my experience. I wish I had something to verify 100% that this is true, but it is only an observation of mine.
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Yeah, that’s what I found with my “inexpensive” stuff.
I have T50RPs and KZ AS06 (full balanced) IEMs.
KZ AS06 bass, with comply foam tips, remind me a bit of my T50RP planars.
In comparison, you could fall asleep listening to EDM with dynamic driver IEMs.
And in comparison, all the 100$ or less headphones (sony, beats, bose, whatever) available to try in my lost town all sound boring, lol.
I also ordered (not received yet) Monoprice M650s (beryllium drivers). Maybe I’ll hear a difference.
(By the way, they’re 60$ instead of 150$ again: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=30865 )
P.S.: I’m not saying planars or balanced drivers are “too fast”. As I said in my T50RP review… Lay down and listen to smooth jazz and it’s as if you were there. In the studio. Lying next to the singers and the bass drum, etc. Just a true-to-life amount of energy, IMO.
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as someone who enjoys and has had many bright headphones i was shocked when i got my sundara and noticed that they weren{t bright. something i def didnt expect and was happy to see
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Sounds more and more like the planar for me, so far bright is a big turn off for me.
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I am Really enjoying my Sundara’s and am in fact wearing them right now. I liked them with my SP200 and love them with my LP. Considering the prices you can get right now they are quite a value!
I got open box pricing on a new set and so I paid less than what I did for my Meze 99’s three years ago.
These are a keeper.
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keeper indeed, super sweet headphones
Wow where did you get that deal?
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