"Planar magnetic headphones use a different type of driver to 99% of headphones (these are the only ones here of the type). Instead of magnets driving a large cone to shift air and create sound, here a thin flat film is moved instead. The result is more precise sound than almost any other headphones can manage, with ultra-low distortion – meaning less of the very finest edges of the sound get sanded away. At the same time, they can drive a more impactful soundstage, where robust bass doesn’t overwhelm the mids or trebles."
"The result is pretty much the best sound quality you can get for this price, paired with faultless detail levels, and a wide spacious sound that comes across as much less 'contained' than most of the headphones here. That’s partly thanks to these being open-backed headphones, which allow air to flow through the headphones themselves.The advantage of being open-backed is that you don’t feel like the sound is stuck just in your ears – with the right driver quality, it feels closer to being in a room with speakers. However, the big disadvantage is that outside sounds can just wander happily into your ears, because they’re not sealed out, and interfere with your listening. And vice versa – in a shared working space, others will be able to hear audio faintly drifting out."
"The downside of planar magnetic headphones was always that they required lots of power (and, therefore, a headphone amp) to drive them, and they were heavy and unwieldy. Well, these can be driven from anything (though if you want the full loudness they can muster, you would need an amp – few will really want that, though), and they’re no heavier than the other headphones here. In the right environment, and if you want your audio to sound as much like it’s coming from a real set of meaty home cinema speakers as possible, these are excellent headphones to choose. But they won’t suit all situations."
