Hmmm… these are lovely feeling headphones, oozing quality out of the box.
The product is beautifully packed in a heavily boxed cardboard package. Inside there is an Oppo branded grey box that is understated but belongs on your library bookshelf for show, if nothing else.
Inside the package is a denim black protective carrier case that has the headphones and two sets of detachable leads, one a one meter 3.5mm jack and a longer three meter 6.35mm jack. The headphones fold flat for ease of transport in this case.
The headphones themselves have a feeling of high-end quality about them. Without the cable the headphones weigh only 385 grams. They are very comfortable indeed.
In terms of specification, the headphones are open backed so there is no reflected noise in the sound presentation. The sound is presented from a planar magnetic driver. This is a thin lightweight diaphragm where the entire surface area is evenly driven. This allows the diaphragm to deliver sensitivity and consistency over a huge dynamic range (10Hz – 50,000 Hz) that no ordinary ear could hope to decipher. The diaphragm design ensures a high resolution performance with minimal distortion.
Importantly (for me at least) the pads can be changed or replaced if required, this is usually the bit that fails for me so this is a positive step.
These PM-2s, retailing at £699, are siblings of the PM-1s that retail £400 more however the drivers and many of the components are the same. I have yet to hear the PM-1s and look forward to doing so, particularly if I can do so in conjunction with the HA-1 headphone amp, which is by all accounts stunning also.
Oppo’s summary of the differences between the two headphones is summarised on their website.
http://www.oppodigital.com/KnowledgeBase.aspx?KBID=90
The review will follow this post, so look out for that here. Oppo PM-2 review to follow.