These sheepskin pads might be a nice upgrade
ā¬ 10,95 27%OFF | Angled Sheepskin Leather Perforated Ear Pads Round Earpad 80MM 85MM 90MM 95 100MM 105MM 110MM Headphones Soft Memory Foam
Also does putting foam in earpads hold in place nicely? Perhaps better to put it behind that ring mechanism or behind pads
i put felt behind my pads after the mod to tone down the treble a bit and it works great. i pulled off the pad adapter and cut out a piece of felt just a hair smaller than the pad adapter and the pads hold it in place.
My theory is that the perceived detail and clarity comes from the dry timbre, which sucks out the emotion in instruments and voices, which results in you hearing some sounds instead of a voice and a guitar for example. I think some headphones go for being fun, and this is the polar opposite. This is made to impress with its technicalities
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Huh they are not even that detailed tbh. My modded m1060C has more clarity and detail. Thatās why I am disappointed in GL
Post mod they are hyper analytical and extremely detailed almost to a fault but I personally love it.
I get that same feeling on some amps with the gl2000. Might be your amp? I think I found my gl2k fatigue with my xd-05 and sometimes with the asgard 3. Those those 2 amps, I canāt listen for long hours but that changes if I run it on the tube amp or ifi micro bl, those amps make them nice and laid back enough for me where I donāt feel as if the highs are annoying and I forget they are on until they slip off my head.
Man, thatās disappointing. I wish I had done some more research on what āfunā headphones to get instead of ones that are analytical.
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Iāve tried running them off of my AD18, Douk P1 (Tube), and my BTR5 and all are pretty harsh. The hybrid tube being the most harsh.
Iāve been thinking about picking up the IFI Can DACā¦ but tossing more money at them seems like a losing game.
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I will say that each night I am burning these headphones in for 8+ hours and every morning they are sounding better.
Still harsh and not where I want them. But better for sure.
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Yea, this might be what I am experiencing as well. I am listening to them from the Bifrost 2 > Singxer SA-1 amp using the 4.4mm connection. Sounds pretty solid to me. Also I changed out the pads to the perforated pads, which gave them a wider sound stage.
So far so goodā¦ need some more time with them as they just arrived today.
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INTRODUCTION
A generous forum member sent me a pair of GoldPlanar GL2000 headphones for review. The GL2000 is an open-back, around the ear, planar magnetic headphone that lists for 639USD. The model loaned to me was the double-sided magnet version (aka double-magnet version), which Linsoul (the distributor for GoldPlanar) refers to as their flagship planar. Itās exciting because there is A LOT of hype surrounding this headphone. Does it stack up?
TL;DR
On the good side, the GL2000 does some things that many will find initially impressive. On the less good side, many of those good things are illusory. All is not lost, though, as the case that the GL2000 is of high quality and will do a good job protecting any other headphones you may have.
KNOW YOUR REVIEWER
My preferred genres are rock/metal and classical/orchestral music. Iām getting to know jazz more and enjoying quite a bit. I also listen to some EDM and hip-hop. My hearing quirks include a high sensitivity to midrange frequencies from just under 1KHz to around 3Khz, give or take. My ears are thus quick to perceive āshoutinessā in headphones in particular. I describe āshoutinessā as an emphasis on the āouā sound of āshout.ā Itās a forwardness in the neighborhood of 1KHz and/or on the first one or two harmonics above it (when I make the sound āooooowwwwwā into a spectrum analyzer the dominant frequency on the vowel sound is around 930Hz, which also means harmonic spikes occur again at around 1860Hz and 2790Hz). In the extreme, it can have the tonal effect of sounding like a vocalist is speaking or singing through a toilet paper tube or cupping their hands over their mouth. It can also give instruments like piano, but especially brass instruments, an added āhonkā to their sound. I also get distracted by sibilance, or sharp āsā and ātā sounds that can make ssssingers sssssound like theyāre forssssssing esssss ssssssounds aggresssssssively. Sibilance does not physically hurt my ears nearly as quickly as shout, though. Itās distracting because itās annoying and unnatural. Finally, in a new clause in this section, Iām discovering that I have a preference for more subtle detail. I like good detail retrieval and hearing what a recording has to offer, but I prefer that presentation to what many would consider relaxed and subtle rather than aggressive of detail-forward. To my ear, more subtle detail-retrieval sounds more realistic and natural than aggressive, detail-forwardness. There is a balance here, though, because detail retrieval can get too relaxed and that can sound unnatural, as well. Readers should keep these hearing quirks and preferences in mind as they read my descriptions of sound.
FEATURES & BUILD
The GL2000 is big and physically comfortable, a touch on the heavy side, but not heavy like some Audeze models or a Lawtonād Fostex. Thereās lots of room in the pads for even large ears. The construction is mostly metal. Itās overall a fine-looking headphone. I believe Andrew at The Headphone Show commented about the meeting of the yoke and gimbal being a point where a screw comes loose. My loaner set had the same issue:
Hereās the other side for comparison:
The cable-entry uses 3.5mm connector on each cup. I didnāt use the stock cables; opting instead to go right for my Hart cables for easy switching.
There are 2 sets of pads included, a micro-perforated pair and a leather pair. As far as comfort goes, they are both good. Iāll discuss their sound in the Sound section.
Is the build worth $639? Honestly, it doesnāt feel any chintzier than the HiFiMan Edition XX I had for awhile. That loose screw on the yoke is a little bit troubling, though, especially since there are multiple reports of it out there.
SOUND
Test Gear
I ran the GL2K on 3 setups: 1) Cayin N6ii DAP as source > Schiit Bifrost 2 > Monolith Liquid Platinum (with Amperex PQ Gold Pin tubes); 2) N6ii > Schiit Modius > Schiit Asgard 3; 3) Chord Hugo 2 > Violectric HPA-V281.
Disclaimer
Iām about to strongly ā and hopefully respectfully ā disagree with @zeospantera on this review. I think there is very little going for the GL2K. My goal here is to be informative, not controversial. If you enjoy the GL2K, then by all means continue to enjoy it. Also, I know there has been a lot of talk about modding the GL2K. I did not do any mods because I donāt own this headphone. These impressions come from the stock configuration.
Sound Signature
There is a fairly neutral presentation but the bass ā with both sets of pads rolls off aggressively below 60 Hz. It almost sounds like a brickwall filter is in place. I could detect no meaningful subbass. Yes, I tried moving them around to get an ear seal (although many planars actually get a bass boost when seal is broken). I tried both sets of pads. Thereās just not much happening below something in the 50-60Hz range. Let me provide a little bit of context here. Before listening to the GL2K, I spent several days listening to Sennheiser HD660s and HD6XX and Beyerdynamic DT880 as I was working on the 660s review. Those three cans are in no way bass monsters. The DT880 has some pretty good extension, but its bass quantity can be a bit lean. The first thought I had when I put on the GL2K after listening to those Senns and Beyer was where is the bass? And sadly, I never found it. Were my amps underpowered? Possible, but I strongly doubt it. The Asgard 3, MLP, and V281 may be many things, but underpowered is not one of them.
The overall sound of the GL2K is compressed. Thatās where the midrange and treble descriptions come in . Letās talk about this term ācompressedā. There are many ways to refer to ācompressedā in sound. It can refer to decreasing the dynamic range, ie. decreasing the difference in intensity between quiet and loud. It can refer to data compression, such as taking a lossless digital audio file and removing information to create a smaller file, ie. going from a .wav file to an mp3 or aac file or similar. To my ear, the GL2K exhibits both of these qualities. I realize that a headphone cannot remove data from the electrical signal (although it can fail resolve that information), but there is a timbral quality that comes out of the GL2K, particularly in the treble, that reminds me of the sound of a heavily compressed mp3 file. OK, letās unpack these comments a bit further in separate subsections.
Midrange Presentation and the Illusion of Detail
The midrange sounds neither emphasized nor recessed from a frequency-response standpoint. The presentation is very odd, though. First of all, there is a lot of shout/honk going on. There is definitely an emphasis around 1KHz that gives a very strong sense of everything sounding like its being played through a toilet paper tube. The dynamics are also compressed. Sounds that should be quiet are emphasized. Things like room reverb or other elements that are softer in the mix are elevated above the relative levels I get from other headphones. This effect was particularly noticeable with Peter Hurfordās organ work on Bachās Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (the Dracula theme!). That piece was recorded in a cathedral. Thereās lots of room reverb. Iāve listened to this track dozens of times with lots of headphones to test for bass extension, dynamic range, spatial performance, the ability to resolve that room reverb, and just generally see if the headphone can let it rip when it has too. The GL2K, more than any other headphone I can remember, came across as āHey! Check out this room reverb! You like room reverb, right? I have lots of room reverb!ā That room reverb is far less forward on pretty much everything else Iāve ever used to listen to this track, from speakers to headphones and IEMs. On track after track, that quality came through. In a sense, the GL2K is a headphone that says the quiet part out loud. This is the first type of compression Iām talking about; reducing the difference in intensity between quiet and loud. An effect this can have on a listener is creating the illusion that they are hearing more. When stuff that is normally quiet is brought forward it can initially come across as added detail retrieval. Listen closer, though, and the GL2K misses things that similarly priced headphones, even cheaper headphones, can resolve. The Jurassic Park theme performed by John Williams and Anne-Sophie Mutter in Vienna with the Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra is another great test track. Can you hear all the seats creaking and pages turning in the orchestra? On the GL2K, yes you can! Theyāre emphasized, but itās cool! Now, when the music starts going, can you hear the resinous sound of the bows being dragged across strings? The GL2K asks āwhatās that?ā. Iām not trying to be flip ā well, maybe I am a little ā but straight up my 600ā¦ Beyer DT880 resolved the full orchestra in that Jurassic Park track much more clearly and naturally than the GL2K. The GL2Kās mids were muddy, peaky, and compressed. The instrument separation was poor and everything sounded like a blended blob of sound. Unfortunately, the detail the GL2K initially presents is an illusion.
Treble Presentation and the MP3-ification of Sound
Have you ever listened to an mp3 file thatās too compressed? There are YouTube videos all over that have very compressed audio. Have you noticed how the treble gets brittle, harsh, and has a general shishishishy quality to it? Thatās the GL2Kās treble all the time, regardless of source quality. Itās not to the extreme of bad YouTube audio, but itās always present to a degree. Cymbal crashes sound thin and brittle. Even 24/96 FLAC files of well recorded music ā Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, the 2019 remaster of the Beatlesā white album, A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs (awesome album, great recording, check it out! Oh, itās actually 24/44.1) ā sound like theyāve been run through an mp3 encoder somewhere between the amplifier and the GL2K. Did the pads matter? Not much. Both the microperf pads and the leather pads have this timbral quality in the treble. My loaner unit arrived with the microperf pads installed. I very quickly thought the treble sounded like everything got compressed to a 128kbps mp3 file. Then I swapped to the leather pads and got the same effect, but with sibilance!
My Mama Says If You Donāt Have Anything Nice to Say Donāt Say Anything At All
(Spatial Presentation)
OK, Iāll say something nice. The GL2K sounds big. Really big. Itās able to throw out a soundstage that rivals the egg-shaped HiFiMan line in sheer size and scale. Iām not aware of any other headphones at the price point that can do thatā¦except for those made by HiFiMan. The Edition XX could sound big. The Ananda ā I havenāt heard ā is in that same family where the staging is enormous and only about $150 more. The GL2Kās imaging isā¦ok. It gets a bit difficult to pull out the imaging prowess when the resolution, particularly in the mids, is such that instrument and vocal separation is lacking to point where things get muddied. But, there is enough sense of positional effect that when combined with the enormous soundstage, the spatial presentation can be fun for the right music.
COMPARISONS WITH OTHER HEAPHONES
Itās been said that the GL2K at $639 sounds like the best planar headphone. I cannot endorse that claim. Iāve heard some nice planars lately. The GL2K was not one of them. I mentioned the Beyer DT880 above with the Jurassic Park theme. The GL2K could not compete with the Beyerās resolution, imaging, or timbre. The DT880 also had much more bass extension. The GL2K had a bit more bass quantity from about 60-120Hz, but musters virtually nothing below that. Even the Sennheiser HD6XX and HD660s bettered the GL2K in bass extension, and they certainly crushed it in midrange resolution and overall timbre. The DT880 costs $200. The 6XX is $220. The 660s is $500 but should probably be $250. The GL2K sounded bigger, but itās imaging wasnāt as crisp or as accurate as these others. What about my other planars? Iām not going to say much more here because I think the picture is clear. The GL2K cannot keep up.
REBUTTING REBUTTALS
Burn-in/Break-in
Did I allow the GL2K enough time to burn in or break in? Letās define these terms, first. I use the term break-in to refer to the change ā specifically the loosening ā of the physical materials of a speaker or headphone that must move to reproduce sound. A brand-new piece of material or assembly comprised of multiple materials/parts will be initially stiff and with use become more flexible at the points of flexure. This phenomenon is real and science based. If youāve ever bent a paper clip at the same spot multiple times youāve felt its resistance to that bending decreaseā¦and yesā¦eventually that paperclip breaks at the point of maximum flexure. Generally speaking, planar-magnetic drivers donāt need much break-in time. Thereās usually not a specific point(s) of flexure like there is in the surround material of a dynamic driver. Even if the GL2K needs an above-average number of hours of physical break-in, Iām at least the 3rd user to listen to this particular set of headphones. Itās had dozens, if not hundreds, of hours on it before it got to me. The longest break-in period I have experienced with a headphone are the 1.5T biodynamic drivers in my TH900. Thatās also critical because the GL2K would have to experience a bigger improvement in sound than that notable outlier to approach anything that sounds like itās worth $639.
What about brain burn-in? To me this is the mental adjustment period that happens as the brain familiarizes itself with the new pattern of sound itās hearing. If the sound being presented is much different than what the brain is used to, it can take considerable time for it to acclimate. In many ways, this hearing phenomena is analogous to saying things like coffee, beer, or sushi are āacquired tastesā; different sense, same type of thing. Did I give the GL2K enough time to get used to it? It could be argued I did not. However, in both quick switch settings and longer listening settings, I can tell its technical ability falls off the pace for the price point. Iāve also listened to enough different pieces now to know when thereās at least a chance Iām going to eventually like a thing. Usually there is something there thatās worth holding on to and seeing if the rest of presentation sweetens ā see my reviews of the Audeze LCD-24 and Abyss Diana Phi as examples where I had to push through some aspects I didnāt find appealing but ultimately began to understand what makes those headphones excellent pieces. The GL2K is not one of those things. And, some people never acquire a taste for sushi either. [I like sushiā¦itās just an example]
Unit Variation?
Unit variation happens because there is always some nonzero tolerance level built into material quality, manufacturing processes, and many other factors. That means that there is going to be a range of performance that happens on any given product line for any type of product. āUnit variationā is a phrase being thrown around a lot to explain the wide differences in opinions of the GL2K. First, Iāll argue that unit variation is only a hypothesis at this point. To know if unit variation is the cause would require that multiple reviewers listen to multiple sets of GL2K and report on any differences they hear set-to-set. To my knowledge, that has yet to happen. But, if we accept the hypothetical as true, does unit variation alone explain the apparent gulf in opinions on the GL2K that exists between even long-established reviewers? [btw, I do not yet count myself among long-established reviewers, still very much learning the ropes here] I argue that it is very unlikely unit variation alone accounts for the magnitude of these differences. The difference between āmore competitive with Sundaraā and āthe best-sounding planarā is larger than unit variation can account for. A difference that size is more likely explained by a change in materials used or manufacturing processes. However, if we accept that even such a large performance difference ā if that performance difference is indeed real ā is the result of unit variation, then IMO it is incumbent upon reviewers like myself to say: donāt buy this product, the risk of a lemon model is too high. Wait for GoldPlanar to work through the issue before pulling the trigger. I would also add that responsible manufacturers and retailers should pull such a product from the salesfloor until they can provide a more uniform experience for all who buy it.
We All Hear Differently
Yes! And also, no. We all have slightly different shaped outer ears, ear canals of different size and shape, etc. (Unit variation?) These variations can lead to increased or decreased sensitivities in certain frequency ranges. Iām quite certain I am more sensitive at 1KHz than most people. Thatās why I put the Know Your Reviewer section in my reviews. OTOH, we are all also of the same species. Our auditory systems work in pretty much the same way person-to-person. For a variety of experiential reasons, our brains may latch onto different aspects of sound defining whatās ārightā or āwrongā, but physiologically our ears are likely picking up things in more similar than more different ways. I think it is probably more accurate to say āwe all appreciate things differently.ā This is where Iāll make the turn and remind readers that if you like the GL2K (and are still reading, which thanks!), thatās ok. It may be presenting things in a way that resonates with you. Thatās great. Enjoy it. My suspicion is that the group that truly appreciates the GL2K is going to be relatively small. The difference between what I hear from the GL2K and what I hear in real life with things like human voices, pianos, etc. seems quite large. Since my goal is to inform readers about the strengths and weaknesses of audio products, I feel that needs to be said about the GL2K.
Keeping the Door Open
Iāll say thisā¦the unit variation thing has me curious. What if some reviewers really did get golden sets? Iād like to hear that. If you have a set you think is a golden set and youāre willing to share, let me know.
Howevaā¦that would just put more evidence on my claim that GoldPlanar really should take the GL2000 off shelves until they can give everyone that same high-quality experience for their hard-earned money.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Iām not going to belabor the point any further. IMO the GL2K is not worth $639. In fact, to my ear itās outperformed in every area but soundstage size by $200 headphones, and soundstage size is more about preference than actual technical ability. I recommend skipping this headphone until at least GoldPlanar gets a handle on why reports on this headphone are so different.
Thanks for reading all. Enjoy the music! 
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Iāll send you a PM.
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Great detailed write-up @WaveTheory. I will say one thing I enjoyed on my pair before returning was the big soundscape they created. What headphones do you, or other HifiGuide members, recommend that have a similar ābigā sound?
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Well done buddy. I appreciate your careful wording. I know it takes a lot more time to write that wayā¦but it didnāt go unappreciatedā¦at least not to me.
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Hifiman headphones, argons, zeus, hd800s, some cases of audeze but thatās more depth than width
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Oh yes send him, I wanna know what he thinks. I wonāt be modding mine for long time because I ordered foam ring things for hd600 (ofc will work here too)and they will take time to arrive because china. Also stock sound is not horrible but itās nothing special either. So I do kinda agree with him on his observations. Itās a bit muddy, but sometimes it can still sound realistic with acoustic stuff. Treble sometimes can be harsh, but I get that mp3 effect only with perforated pads. About compression, maybe a lil bit because usually I donāt notice anything abnormal, I think there was only one song where reverbs were more noticable. Also I donāt get more detail compared to m1060C
Also anyone has opinion about these sheeskin pads, would they work for these? I think they could be a nice upgrade over stock leather pads. But not sure about perforation since I dislike sound of them with those stock perf pads
@Falenkor answered pretty well. The GL2K stage size is reminiscent of the egg-shaped Hifimans Iāve heard (Edition XX, Edition X V2, Arya, HE1000 2). Hifiman nails the depth a lot better tho. GL2K can do the width and height. Senn HD800 has the reputation for being really wide, do Argons. Audezes can be wide but also have depth.
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