Monolith Over Ear Planar Magnetic Headphones - with 66mm Driver, Closed Back Design, Comfort Ear Pads for Studio/Professional, 20 Ohms, 2 Watts Maximum Power Handling, Black/Wood

I demoed several headphones - Meze 99 Neo, Sundara, Monoprice M565C, Sennheiser HD1's (Momentum 2's). I ultimately liked the sound of the M565C the best but that was closely followed by the Sundara. All of the headphones I tried had particular things about them that I didn't like enough to keep them. And so, I ended up just buying ear pads for my old Phillips Fidelio X1's, which honestly, were still comparable to any of these newer headphones.SUNDARAThe Sundara headphones were technically the best headphones and I believe that they excelled when listening to classical music. In almost every way, I felt the sound was absolutely sublime but they did sound a bit sterile. The bottom end felt a bit anemic and didn't "fill out" the music the way a balanced closed back headphone will. The clarity and response were terrific; however, and these were the only headphones of the bunch that truly brought the music to life in an impactful way. I think these headphones offer great value for the money and I believe you will likely have to spend quite a bit more money to get anything that really gives you a better sound.The reason I returned them was the build quality was poor in regards to the ear cups. The metal band that attaches to the ear cups and inserts into the headband was very loose. It wasn't loose at the ear cup end but the end that inserts into the headband. There is a plastic connection there and it was simply to wide by about 1/16" and this allowed the entire ear cup assembly to wiggle freely with about 3/16" of movement. When they headphones are placed on your head, this becomes a non-issue but it still is either very poor design or poor QC. I'm inclined to believe the headphones I received were out of spec in this regard.Monoprice M565CThese headphones were almost as good as the Sundara’s across the board but they also had better bass. I personally preferred the tradeoff and felt that the overall sound was slightly more pleasing to my ears. Out of all the headphones I tried, these were by far the best value. Build quality was very good and they were comfortable. The headband isn’t the greatest design but you can wrap it with padding to solve any comfort issue. My main issue is that the headphones were incredibly heavy. I just couldn’t wear them for more than about an hour before they became a nuisance. Regardless, I highly recommend these headphones - they are vastly superior to the Meze 99 Neo’s and the Sennheiser HD1’s.Meze 99 NeoLike many reviewers have stated, these are very fun headphones. They are incredibly comfortable - being quite light with a superb design. Construction quality is awesome. However, they are very bass heavy. On certain songs this works great and gives the recording a lot of fullness and warmth. However, I just found you miss a ton of detail and many songs feel imbalanced. If you are looking for an audiophile type of headphone and are trying to find just one headphone to meet your needs — then look elsewhere. If you just want a fun headphone to listen to then the Meze 99’s are a fantastic choice.

I've enjoyed the sound and comfort from the M565C's but I'm disappointed with their longevity. I've had my pair for a little over a year, and they're already showing serious signs of aging. The pleather on one of the ear cups is coming away from the foam inner, which has affected its isolation capability and low end response. Additionally, one of the earphone cables is fraying at the strain relief connection.The frayed cable is replaceable, but based on my research Monoprice doesn't sell replacement earcup pads. Despite their sound, these headphones are a bit of a let down. After about 15 months of relatively gentle use—they permanently live on my desk—I would hope that the M565C's wouldn't be coming apart at the seams.

Best sound I have ever heard in a headphone. Seriously, the lows were great without blooming into the mids and the highs were beautifully neutral. The mid range was just a little bit warmer than I'm used to but still exceptionally clear. Overall these sound very smooth, I wish I could have kept them.So why the one star rating and return?Sadly, like others here have noted, there is a cable connector design flaw. Brand new right out of the box, when I connected the cables to the cans they felt "loose", like they were held in with magnets and they had "wiggle room". I didn't think much of it, these are pretty premium looking cans after all but while listening if I turned my head a little either one side or the other would cut out. If I touched the wire they would cut out. i could jiggle the wire a bit and they would work again until I moved.Really too bad, these are great sounding headphones that I was excited to get but if they cut out its worse than having bad sounding cans. I returned these and ordered the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones from Amazon. I looked at the other monolith versions and would have gotten the $500 ones but it looks like the connectors on those are the same as these, with people reporting the same issues.