AvantonePro Planar Headphones Open-back Headphones - Black

I feel a bit obligated to do a review, considering there aren't any reviews at the time of writing this. This is my first review of a headphone and I'm new to the "audiophile" scene so take that into consideration as you read this.First a bit of background, I'm very new to the hobby and I was looking for a couple pairs of headphones in the sub $500 range and was overwhelmed with the amount of choice. You have the Hifiman Sundara, the Sennheiser 660S, Beyerdynamic DT880 and DT1990 Pro's, and SIVGA with the P-II's and recently the Phoenix, and many, many, more, including these, the Avantone Planar's. I believe these are a relatively new headphone to the market and I knew nothing of the company or the quality of these headphones. All I had to go on was one review from No Theme Reviews on YouTube, and with some hesitation, I decided to pull the trigger on these and give them a shot. Without hearing many of the headphones that I mentioned before, it's hard to gauge how they stand in the overall market for me, but what I will say is that, to my ears, they sound incredible and the build quality is top-notch.Sound quality -For reference I paired these with the XDuoo XD05 Plus (Boost: On, Bass: On, High Gain) connected to my phone via USB-C and the Schiit Modius DAC and Jotunheim AMP (High Gain) connected to my PC via Optical.These sound intimate, clear, detailed, but with a surprising amount of smooth low end. Everything sonically, stands out and is on it's own. Vocals, instrumentation, it's all so clear, and vibrant, and when paired with a song that is composed and mixed well, it sounds absolutely fantastic. These are designed with neutrality in sound signature in mind, and I think that it has been achieved here for the most part. I really dig the sound of these. As for negatives, the treble seemed at first to be a bit accentuated which was harsh on some songs, but I noticed that this has gone down over time so maybe it's a burn-in thing or maybe my brain is just slowly acclimating to the sound, I'm not sure lol. But yeah, that was something that threw me off a bit in the beginning, but over time seems to have gone down somewhat. Overall, the sound is really, really, good on these. I'm very satisfied with how these turned out sonically.Build Quality -These are built like a tank. They're big, heavy, they're solid. The construction seems to be a blend of either all metal or mixture of some plastic and metal. Either way, these don't seem to be easily breakable, which is really nice. They feel like they're made with quality materials. I really like the leather headband strap, it's very comfortable. The pads seem to be made with a velour material, which is very soft, if you like Beyerdynamic's pads, I think you'll like these even more. The pads are top notch, I really like them, and prefer them to the pads on my DT770's. There is a bit of clamping force, which I don't mind and actually appreciate. The cables that are provided are nice, a bit stiff in the beginning but over time it's loosened up. The build on these is outstanding.Conclusion -I really like these headphones. $400 is a lot to spend on a headphone and there are a lot of competing products out there but I'm glad I took a chance on these. They sound really good, the build is well-constructed and designed, outside of a few nitpicks with the treble response, I really don't have much to complain about with these. I hope they turn out as well for others as they have for me. I hope my review was somewhat helpful. Take care! :D

Kind of a closed in sound. But pleasant and easy to drive.

The Avantone Planar headphones sound great; with good bass extension, a fast driver capable reproducing dynamic and transient heavy audio throughout the spectrum, a natural flat frequency response, and good imaging.I have included 2 pictures, one of each side of the head band. The left side attachment point split cleanly in 2. Now for planar headphones, $400 is one of the better deals you will find. But this strikes me as a design oversight and so I need to issue a warning: Never Pick The Headphones Up By The Leather Headband, Use The Metal Brace.

It's unfortunate to write this review. These headphones are comfy and sound excellent. But, they have an incredible and, frankly, remarkable, design flaw. There's a thin metal band that runs through the headband to connect to each earcup. This band is both very thin and inflexible. This means that at exactly the most serious pressure point of a pair of headphones, where people are lifting and stretching the headphones to place them on their head, there is a joint that can withstand VERY little pressure/torque. If you happen to just slightly twist the earcups when placing these on your head, you run the risk of snapping the band. It's really an incredible design oversight. I have no idea how this made it past the prototyping phase.For me, the metal band snapped at BOTH earcups on the same day, rendering the headphones completely unusable. I bought these brand new and used them for about 8 months before this happened. I kept them on a headphone stand when not in use and never removed them from my studio. I can't imagine how quickly that band would snap if you took these out or traveled with them. As if to add insult to injury, Avantone doesn't even provide a hard carrying case for the headphones. Instead offering a canvas bag (?????). What?I'm currently trying to get my pair replaced by Avantone, which has so far been a long process with little communication. It's unbelievable to me that my $60 pair of AKGs are more durable than a $400 pair of headphones. I won't be purchasing an Avantone product again.

Just picked up a pair of these from another retailer. Left driver housing was missing a screw (??!), and the metal headband is loose where it connects to the driver housings and feels unstable. These build/QC issues seem to be common, see forums.As for sound... No better than Hifiman HE400S, and pales in comparison to Sennheiser HD600. Muddy/veiled presentation, bloated mids, lack of fine detail, poor soundstage. These are ones to avoid.

Partiamo dal suono , per quello che costa sono FA VO LO SE , hanno una correttezza timbrica ed una scena sonorafavolosa , ho avuto cuffie di alto livello ma queste sono veramente ben bilanciate , come timbrica battono di poco le sennheiser hd 660s ma queste hanno un senso del ritmo superiore e soprattutto un soundstage molto più ampio.Limitandosi al suono sono un affare assoluto , i problemi sono altri:1) Sono pesanti e assolutamente le cuffie più scomode che ho mai portato , dopo qualche ora di utilizzo il collo inizia a far male ed inoltre nella parte centrale della fascia c'è un rigonfiamento che da' fastidio alla testa.2) Il cablaggio è assurdo , ci sono 2 connettori uno per ogni padiglione che è collegato ad entrambe le cuffie , con questa struttura non è possibile collegarle in bilanciato ed inoltre è compreso un cavo con doppio collegamento che è assolutamente inutile in quanto collega con 2 cavi nello stesso modo in cui ci si collegherebbe con un cavo singolo.3) Sono estremamente risonanti , basta muoversi un attimo per sentir scricciolare i ferri di collegamento.In conclusione , se fossero state fatte con un minimo di cura in più sarebbero le cuffie migliori del mondo , se le prendete potrete godervi una buona mezz'ora di musica ( oltre è impossibile sostenerle ).