Monolith M1570C Over the Ear Closed Back Design Planar Headphones - Removable Earpads, 1/4in Audio Plug

Background: I was looking for a solid pair of planar headphones for awhile and found these which looked perfect. I picked them up on sale and discount for a great deal. Opinion: They've absolutely knocked it out of the park in sound and build quality, so they're becoming a mainstay in my collection. I'd certainly recommend these to anyone on sale so long as you have the equipment to drive them (they're fairly beefy). The Velour pads they come with are definitely my preference in terms of comfort. Pros: Fantastic Sound - Well defined sound, signature of Planar Magnetics - Decent Bass even for planars, but could be tuned with EQ Build Quality Earpad Variety, coming with both leather and velour Solid cables Hardshell case for transport I don't have really anything negative to say about these, however be aware of: Size: Huge headphones, biggest I've ever held personally) Weight: I don't have the exact weight, but due to the materials it's no surprise but they are HEAVY for a pair of headphones but they're built well. You definitely get your moneys worth in that regard.

Don't judge the headphones until you try the velour pads vs the pleather. I was actually about to return the headphones when I saw a suggestion to switch to the velour pads online. The velour pads are physically warmer, they don't look as nice - but once I changed to them the sound improve tremendously. I stopped trying to equalize out issues with the pleather pads.

Really good headphones. Bass, soundstage, and highs are top notch. Vocals are a bit recessed. Overall im really enjoying these headphones.

Excellent headphones, brilliant quality, clarity and and precision.

Pretty incredible headphones for the price. I'd expect a little less creaking from the headband given the price, but the drivers sound wonderful and despite its weight, it's a very comfortable pair of headphones.

BUILD/COMFORT: these are definitely heavy but very well built. All metal and nice leather. The weight doesn?t bother me. The comfort is great overall. 4/5 BASS: the bass extends deep and has great quality/texture. The only area where it?s a bit lacking to me personally is impact; however, this is most likely due to the standard nature of planars. I believe you?d have to get into the $1000+ range for better bass. I?m a huge basshead and these absolutely satisfy with a bit of a boost through my ifi xbass and schiit Loki. 4/5 MIDS: These have a great midrange. I would probably describe these headphones as being mid-forward. They have more weight and musicality to this than my hifiman ananda. Those actually seem to sound more recessed/veiled and thin in the mids than these. I think the m1570c is tuned very well. 5/5 TREBLE: I would not describe these as dark at all, but not bright either. The treble is basically perfect to me. There?s great extension and detail here. Very smooth and inoffensive while not lacking in detail or being sibilant. 5/5 SOUNDSTAGE/IMAGING: The soundstage isn?t huge, but it?s not small and intimate either. It?s actually quite excellent for a closed back and has a great amount of range. Vocalists and the mids typically come forward while the rest of the mix is placed around as expected. It?s very balanced 3D-wise without too much height, width, or forward/rear depth dominating. The sound is nice and holographically balanced. The smaller nature compared to my ananda also makes the sound a bit richer and more musical. These are also my favorite headphones of all time for gaming too. 5/5 DETAIL: Detail retrieval is excellent. Separation is not as extreme as it is on something like my ananda, but it?s not lacking any info compared to that. It?s a bit easier to see the details on the ananda but they are still all there on the m1570c. The imaging/soundstage combined with the detail provide a very enjoyable listening experience. 5/5 OVERALL: These are excellent headphones. I believe they?re probably competitive in the $1000+ range and you?d have to probably get something like an LCD-XC for marginal improvements. I was absolutely smitten with my ananda when I got it, but doing A/B comparisons with the m1570c really shows how good it really is. Makes me consider selling the ananda since these are better in many areas and have the benefit of being closed back, which is required for most of my listening. I picked these up on sale for $400 and I don?t think there is anything closed that can compete at all. I used an emu teak for all my past closed-back listening but these are definitely a large step ahead in ever area except bass impact, I couldn?t recommend them more if you need a closed back in the ~$500 price range. 5/5 Also note: they definitely improved after 50 hrs. or so. Burn in is real with these.

Really mighty headphones, once you give them 60 hrs of burning-in. Very happy with them, highly recommend.

Take this with a grain of salt, while I?ve been listening to music for 35+ years (49 now), I?m not a music reviewer as I lack the vocabulary. I just know what sounds good to me. I wish I had two identical headphone amps so I could more easily do A-B testing. Right now I have a SMSL SU-9 and SP200 setup using J-River as my player. No EQ for this comparison, but I do recommend EQ because some headphones like the Audeze LCD-X sound bizarre without the proper Audeze provided EQ profile. I do use the Hart Audio Cables system of interchangeable headphone cables and connectors so that all my headphones can be wired and played back in balanced mode. Yes, the m1570 and m1570c need a specialty mini-XLR wiring because it is non-standard from my Audeze headphones. The m1060c open back sound a bit hollow as compared to the m1570 and m1570c. The 1570's have an additional layer of air and a smoother presentation. I like the 1060c modified for open back, they are big name headphone killers for the price, but there is a definite level of refinement when stepping up to the 1570's. On Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" there is a lot of low bass with the bass guitar pretty high in the mix. The m1570's not only hit lower, they are significantly more controlled. "Into the Space Age" by the English band Amplifier is another bass heavy rock song where the controlled bass from the 1570's not only feels more robust, but also considerably more textured and detailed. When the music is less complex on songs like Sting's "Shape of My Heart", the m1060's handle themselves rather well. The sound is intimate and direct. You can tell the acoustic guitar has nylon strings, but the notes decay fairly quickly. With the 1570's the nylon strings are much more profound, partly due to better refinement but also due to the much wider soundstage. You can really hear the width and depth of the room. Vocals is another area that the m1570's are outstanding. One of my favorite vocalists is Annek Van Giersbergen (ex- The Gathering) because she has such an amazingly nuanced and powerful voice. On the Devin Townsend track "Hyperdrive!" you have Hevy Devy's trademark wall-off-sound. Here is a major difference between the m1060 and m1570, the ability to resolve details during complex passages. On the m1060's the vocals feel burried and almost over powered by the music. On the m1570's her vocals stand out and the wall-of-sound feels as wide as the Grand Canyon. Sonically night and day difference. The 1060's are definitely brighter with the m1570's being a considerably darker by comparison. But don't think the m1570's as dark, just nowhere near as bright as the m1060. The soundstage on both isn't all that wide, definitely wider on the m1570's, but not as wide as the LCD-X or even the LCD-XC. Still, if you are stepping up from consumer grade headphones or near audiophile grade headphones like Beats or Bose, these will be a major revelation that will happily force you to relisten to all your music all over again. For example, Devo?s 1980 hit ?Whip It? has a lot more bass than you?d remember. The amount of bass is pretty much on par with the Audeze LCD-XC and better than the LCD-X. Now the sound refinement of the Audeze is definitely a step above the Monoprice 1570's respectively. But I'd have a hard time saying that the sound refinement is worth the 3-4x price difference. Also, this assessment is made on the Sale Price for the m1570?s. At full price, the recommendation is still to get the m1570 if you can afford the double price over the m1060, but at the sale price, it?s a no brainer. Keep in mind, these are weighty headphones (see chart below). The headband on the m1570?s is based on the Focal headphone band and is an ultra significant step up from the m1060 headband which is amazingly flimsy. I?m also weird, the weight of the Audeze and 1570?s don?t bother me. Even after 6+ hours. Listening preference: 1.Monoprice m1570 & m1570c 2.Fostex T50rp (personally modified) 3.Audeze LCD-X (equalized with Reveal plugin) 4.Audeze LCD-XC (equalized with Reveal plugin) 5.Audeze EL-8c 6.HiFiman HE-560 7.Beyerdynamic DT199x Pro Headphone weight: ?25.5oz - Audeze LCD-XC ?25.1oz - Monoprice m1570c ?24.1oz - Monoprice m1570 ?21.9oz - Audeze LCD-X ?21.30z - Monoprice m1060c - open back ?19.2oz - Audeze EL-8c ?13.9oz - Fostex T50rp