The Planar headphones look great, are well built, and are reasonably comfortable.
The point where I found them to be quite disappointing is the sound quality.
For reference: I have two listening environments, the main mix room has KS Digital C-55 monitors, with a UA Apollo X6 to drive it. And there is a small secondary setup, with old but reliable Behringer B2030A Truth monitors.
The Planars do not have a sound stage. The sound happens along a single imaginary line, that goes from the ears through the middle of the head. It is not possible to place instruments in specific clear positions with up/down, left/right, front/back staging, as you can with monitors.
The sound is congested. Everything sounds like there is a blanket thrown over it, muffled, no clarity, muddy low mids.
Sub bass is just weird, you can possibly guess what it is supposed to sound like, but it’s just not there in any usable form.
It is possible to partially compensate for the sound with EQ, or tools like Goodhertz Can Opener (no Sonarworks headphone profiles for the Planars..) - lowering the 250 Hz region and a small top end boost clears up things significantly.
But that is not enough to make them good enough for mixing, or even sound design with synths.
I didn’t find them adequate for recreational listening either. You can use the EQ in the Apple Music app, but, even with that, I could not get them to a point where the sound is relaxed and enjoyable.
Luckily, Thomann’s return policy is fantastic.
