Monolith by Monoprice M1060 Over Ear Open Back Planar Review
To understand the totality of this review, you must first sympathize Monoprice's business model. In a word, it'south "value." In several words, it'due south "value taken to its logical extreme."
We've reviewed Monoprice products earlier, only all of them accept aim at the entry level of the market. For example, their speaker wire undercuts well-nigh of what you'll find out at that place; only information technology offers performance that is always-so-slightly above everything around it. Information technology'southward not actually much of a secret that they haven't been trying to unseat the highest reaches of the production categories they're in, only that just changed.
Their Monolith M1060 planar magnetic headphones do merely that. The release of these cans levels a shot across the bow of planar magnetic headphones up to $1,200, as they tin become toe to toe with anything in that segment of the market place for $299.99.
Editor'south note: this review was updated February 22, 2019 to include examination data.
What's in the box?
When yous open the box, you'll find a carrying instance, your headphones, a fabric-wrapped y-cablevision with a 3.5mm L-shaped jack termination and ii.5mm unmarried channel terminations (for the headphones), and extremely little documentation.
Build and design
The Monolith M1060 is a beast of a gear up of headphones, weighing in at 1.1lbs (500g) with enormous ear cups, mostly-metal and woods construction, and 106mm planar magnetic drivers. That'scrazy big. While this is sort of a necessary evil with planar magnetic headphones, information technology can be a chip jarring to first-fourth dimension buyers, especially if you lot saw the cans on Amazon and thought they'd be a lot similar the dynamic cans yous're used to.
Deep, soft ear pads help support these massive headphones.
I will say that the ultra-deep and soft angled earpads practice a peachy job of lessening the immense pressure on your caput, but the sheer mass of the headphones is tough to deal with in a good style. The thinly-padded band is of a skillful blueprint, but ultimately isn't all that comfortable over long periods of time unless you make sure it'due south cranked down to hug your noggin firmly. Fifty-fifty and so, it probably could exist made of another material or fabricated a chip wider to distribute a niggling more weight over a greater amount of area. Still, information technology takes hours for the cans to become uncomfortable, and y'all tin can easily re-adjust if yous become to that point.
I mention this because the Monolith M1060 is a set of headphones that take seen their fair share of revisions—and so maybe that changes in the near future. Some people had a little trouble with the MMCX interconnects in the ear cups; and so they were replaced past ii.5mm jacks. Others had bug with the wood great over time because the matte polyurethane wasn't applied inside the earcups to properly seal the woods. Stock-still. The grill was too sharp… yous become the thought. Personally, I'm very impressed that these headphones have seen then many revisions in such a short time. Monoprice listened to consumers and polished their baby enough to make a complete product, and the end result speaks for itself.
Open backs mean no isolation, but very good audio quality.
If y'all were to unscrew and remove the rear grill, you'd find a piece of foam that separates the driver element from the exterior globe. I propose keeping this in because it prevents the inevitable foreign-object damage from frying your cans, and also so you lot don't accidentally practice something to your new purchase.
Connectivity and power
Like almost headphones, the Monolith M1060 uses a standard 3.5mm plug to claw into your phone, amp, or whatever. On the base of each earcup lives a 2.5mm single-channel jack, so yous could easily supervene upon the cablevision should something happen.
A 2.5mm female person jack is a basic-however-solid connection in each ear cup.
But there'southward a catch; if you're going to be listening to high-quality music, youmight need a DAC for 16 or 24-bit music, and whatever DAC you cull may not offer enough juice for the M1060s to work properly. If you lot want to be completely sure you're getting the virtually out of your headphones, y'all could become for a low-cost integrated DAC/amp setup. I personally recommend the FiiO E10K because it'south more than enough ability and quality for less than $100, but if you think that you'll end up buying more than headphones or go on with dwelling audio as a hobby, the accented all-time performance for the coin is the JDS Labs O2/ODAC integrated combo.
A simple 3.5mm plug is the ideal connector for high-end audio.
A lot of people disagree for various reasons surrounding sense of taste and gadget lust, only that combo is the closest you'll e'er become to the Platonic platonic of an amp (beingness only "wire + gain"). The pro-tube crowd might tell you otherwise, simply that's more enthusiast/hobby territory, and changes how your music sounds—and I say that as someone with one tattooed on his arm.
Sound quality
Holy hell.
In my six plus years covering sound equipment, I've never heard a set of sub-$500 headphones this clear. Even old mainstays similar the AKG K701 and Audio-Technica ATH-AD900—both rockstars in their own right—are mismatched against the Monolith M1060. These are, without a doubt, the highest sound quality to cost ratio in the headphone world and just the Knowledge Zenith ATE comes shut. That beingness said, they're not perfect, and then let's dive in.
The flat line in the pink and green ranges mean your music will sound very much like it was originally mixed.
While the overall sound is fairly neutral, at that place's definitely a fleck of a mid bump and a few other ranges of tasteful emphasis. Really though, the deviations from a studio sound is nether 10dB until you lot hit loftier harmonic sounds, and then none of the changes in emphasis are things that can't exist equalized away—information technology'due south more of an observation than an consequence. And then if you don't mess with your settings, you may find yourself cranking the volume to brand some highs come through, but pop-ish songs like Studio Killers'Fri Dark Gurus come up through loud and clear.
Some people claim that removing the foam "opens up" these headphones, and while that is somewhat true, it does introduce the possibility of a very tranquility "ringing" nearly 5kHz. However, given that not everybody seems to be able to hear this, information technology's withal again more of an observation than a real issue. If yous like how they audio with the foam in, don't mess with it. These headphones are firmly in the territory where in that location are fewerobjective upgrades, and a lot more than competitors that offer something that's simply dissimilar. These Monoprices aren't going to plough pop into classical, after all.
If I were to dribble how these headphones sound, information technology'd come down to beingness very "clear." At that place's no audible distortion, and there doesn't seem to be any major channel balance issues either. Bug with mixing songs go very credible, but it's merely in loftier-def files (recall 320kbps plus) where it becomes audible. I'm quite pleased with how easy information technology is to pick out the split up stringed instruments from Samuel Barber'southward rendition ofAdagio for Strings, for example.
Many people compare the sound of the Monolith M1060 to that of the Audeze LCD-2, but that's a bit unfair to both headphones—they're in very dissimilar price brackets after all. But I volition say that someone who is either over xxx or new to the equipment-every bit-hobby game won't exist able to reliably selection either as the "better" set of headphones. And that's notable.
Decision
If you're looking to break into the globe of loftier end audio, in that location'due south no better mode to become as much bang for your cadet than the Monoprice Monolith M1060—and it'll be a while before something else takes that crown. The combination of high performance, low price, and improved durability makes for a stone-solid value buy… as much as $299.99 tin be called "value." I didn't expect this from Monoprice, just I suppose I should have. Despite their reputation as a purveyor of nearly-generic wares for less, gunning for the peak end of the market is new for them—but their subject area to set bug equally they ascend helped the Monolith M1060 stick effectually as a credible culling to the ever-increasing oversupply of planar magnetic headphones.
These are a fantastic buy for anyone looking to go every bit much audio quality as they can for $300 or less. While there are several HiFiMan planar magnetic options below $400, they don't quite become toe to toe with the M1060 in whatever category but condolement.
Source: https://www.soundguys.com/monoprice-monolith-m1060-review-13152/