Monolith M1060 on Amazon
Sennheiser HD650 on Amazon
At the $300 audiophile headphones price point the Sennheiser HD650 headphones is one of the top choices with its proven audiophile grade audio with a slight bump to the bass. Now that Monoprice has released its Monolith M1060 planar headphones at $300, it is definitely a contendor for your hard earned money for audiophile grade headphones in this price range. While the Sennheiser HD650’s are mostly made of high grade plastic they are very light and you hardly notice that you are wearing them, the Monolith M1060’s on the other hand are made out of wood and metal and are quite bold in size and look and you will definitely feel that they are on your head when you are wearing them. While the Monolith M1060’s were first plagued with some build quality issues, they have all been fixed in the revision 2 of the headphones (which is what you will get when you buy them now). Comfort wise the Sennheiser HD 650’s are definitely more comfortable with their velour pads and overall light weight. The issue with the comfort on the Monolith M1060’s are that they are quite a bit heavier than the Sennheiser’s and the faux leather pads tend to make your ears sweat after prolonged use. Having said that the Monolith M1060’s ear pads are quite plush and comfortable for short listening sessions. The most important thing to consider when comparing audiophile headphones is the sound, and given that both these headphones cost about the same at $300, your money is best spent on the planar based Monolith M1060 headphones as they just produce better sound due to the planar technology used on them which the Sennheiser HD650’s don’t have. The audio on the Monolith M1060’s just has a better sound stage, the response time for the audio is great, and the bass on the Monolith M1060’s just kill the Sennheiser HD650’s. The Monolith M1060’s are also better for gaming as they allow you to hear footsteps of approaching enemy very well and the nice deep bass they produce for explosions etc sounds really good.
