Edit: Giving them a solid listen with newer music and some recommendations from some people. I have to say it took getting my GS-X Mini to power them to the point of truly appreciating them. These headphones may not need a lot of power to make a fair amount of sound, but they do take a lot of power to really make the drivers move to enjoyable amountsā¦ or tubes (so Iāve been told).
If you see these for sale for $250 ishā¦ worth enough to pounce on for sure if you have an amp that can handle them. I have to say I REALLY do not like these on the THX 887 or the Schiit Heresy. RNHP was moot but ok. On the GS-X Mini Iām liking them which makes me thing maybe Class A or tube only with these headphones.
Would the FiiO BTR5 be a good match for the NDH20 for use with a laptop (wired) and on the go with a mobile device (Bluetooth)? Does anyone have any experience using this combination?
The BTR5 worked good for on the go use. The NDH 20 likes power, but you need desktop power for desktop performance. Nothing beats the BTR5 in portability tbh
Soā¦ trying it out now. Itās good. Itās not like some surprising god tier that the Dragonfly Cobalt + HP-3 is. While it plenty loud enough for me with the NDH-20 + BTR5, if you listen to music cranked then it might not be the best. But at volume levels 30 or 40 out of the 60 on the display (on high gain) it does sound on the edge of too loud for me but more importantlyā¦ sounds REALLY good for this headphone.
To put this in perspective, I could totally see myself traveling to an office and using this setup and being QUITE happy. I hereby declare the NDH-20 and BTR5 a good simple pairing. The pairing cost ME personally $500 (I got a discount on the NDH-20ās + buying them used). I will also say that NDH-20 also has a nice spot on the bottom of the ear cup for a mod mic microphone.
Iām going to emphasis this is a GOOD pairing, not a GREAT pairing. If you listen to rock the mids are slightly recessed with this pairing. Which is strange to say for the NDH-20. If you listen to a lot of EDM. Iām convinced the NDH-20ās need a tube to open the most (or an amp that has stupid amounts of power of them like the GS X mini).
Talking about DAC AMP combo FiiO Q5s. I always listen on Low Gain and if you go over 1:30pm (inputs facing upwards) after it it starts to loose bass. it seems there isnt enough juice. On high gain I feel no difference with the NDH20 and I always use my PC on 100% volume and force myself to to 10:30 for gaming / videos and 12 or 1:30pm so high gain messes my PC volume settingsā¦
The Q5s sound great with the NDH20. PS3 sounds so good with Toslink. PS1 is cleaner than PS2 audio over RCA.
So, the only comfort issue Iāve always had with the NDH20 is the lack of adequate padding on the headband. Today I had a thought, maybe the hd600 headband pad is the same as the NDH20 in the way that itās mounts to the headphone. At quick glance it looked very similar. I have a spare hd600 headband pad laying around, so let me give it a shot. So I took the stock one off the NDH20 to compare. Turns out they are similar in how they mount, but the HD600 pad is slightly longer and wider than the NDH20 stock pad.
After careful trimming of the HD600 pad, it fit like a glove and just like that my comfort issue of over a year is solved.
Using 3-4 Dekoni nuggets affixed to the original headband worked for me. Nice to see that the hd600 bands works too though. Always looks more comfortable than the 650 band
This was my primary concern when I was choosing my portable dac/amp. The q5s just doesnāt have enough juice (both in mwatts and current) on its non-balanced outputs for the neumanns (imo, and the reason why I returned the q5s). I chose the xduoo xd05 plus over the q5s, and I have to say, this thing is an absolute monster of a dac/amp especially with the bluetooth module for more connectivity options.
Hello friends. Today I went to audiophile disneyland (The Source AV in Torrance, CA). I went there to do some scouting for my next purchase. I brought my own ndh 20 and xd05+ amp/dac combo I was familiar with to compare with the other cans and front end. I tried out literally everything from the $500 to the LCD-3 range.
What is the purpose of this writing you ask? Well obviously the usual suspects like the LCD3 with insane sound stage and focal elegia with itās ear-shattering laser drill all have their own mastery over their element. What I can say after REALLY comparing the NDH 20 to basically the top end of headphones is that, while the neumanns may not have the sound stage that even other closed backs like lcd2 and MDR-Z1 have, but goddamn do our cans have fucking mid range presence.
Every pair of cans I tried there, I felt like I was chasing some fucking recessed midrange even on lcd2 closed and open (obviously I am not insinuating that somehow the lcd2 and the other cans are not exceptional pairs of cans and do not have midrange and subbass). Iām just trying to say for $500, the ndh 20 is some pretty fucking great audiophile cans EXCEPT the comfort (no comment on audio engineering and studio use). For once zeosā hype walked the walk.
Also some titans of the headphone industry were tragically underwhelming to my ears (hd660, mdr-z1, focal elex, and surprisingly the LCD2 closed with its REALLY WEIRD sound come to mind)
PS: here I really saw how deep the rabbit hole goes and how THICC the snake oil drips.
honestly, alongside impressive imaging, my absolute favorite thing about headphones is when they deliver the mids. I wanna feel like the instruments and voices are performing for me personally, if that makes sense
now Iām glad I bought them yesterday if what youāve written stands. Canāt seem to get my hands on the Elex, but I have a feeling these will blow me away
I was thoroughly impressed with the neumanns after comparing it to higher end of headphones. When I first opened up and listened to the neumanns, I just said. Okay, these are pretty good for $500, since there are other options like refurb elegia or used lcd2c/fostex 610 at that price point. But after doing a/b comparisons with $1000-3000 headphones, I looked at the neumanns in a new light. Delevered every cent of the $500 on sound, but sadly comfort issues remain. Another owner said that dekoni nuggets will solve the ever so progressing bald spot at the very top of our skulls caused by shitty padding. Mine are on their way. I have used ath m-50x headband cushion thingy from amazon with limited success. Hopefully the nuggets will change this.
Yep I actually took off the hd600 headband pad and got some nuggets. The hd600 headband pad over time actually didnāt solve the comfort issue I was having.
Holy crap, these nuggets are a game changer. Wore them for 6 hours today, didnāt feel anything (whereas I can feel a certain spot going bald after 2 hours normally).
