I just got my PSB M4U1 headphones...

I first heard these in the Glasgow branch of Richer Sounds late last year (well, their big brother, the M4U2, which comes with an inbuilt active amplifier and noise cancellation) and they simply blew everything I'd previously heard out of the water.

I'm on minimum wage, part time earnings so I simply had to lust after them for months while I put away whatever I could to save up for them.

Well, today they came from Amazon after a long, long wait!

Apart from the fact that some elements of the package were showing tell-tale signs of being an open-box customer return (contacted Amazon and they swiftly replied with some options) the headphones themselves are working fine and on my head as I type this.

Well, I was worried I'd misheard or misremembered what I'd fallen in love with half a year ago... I hadn't. They're outstanding, ten minutes with them in the demo room told me that and it seems I was right!

I've never heard anything analytically pull a recording a part and yet pull it off as musically as this. I started a thread the other day about EQ'ing headphones to get them to sound right, I was playing with some Sennheiser HD202 II headphones which were a quick replacement for my fallen apart Koss Porta Pros. The Sennheisers needed a good amount of tweaking to get them to sound decent, but these, straight out of the box I can tell I may never need to ever, ever EQ them!

Well, I know I'm going to enjoy the next week of randomly rediscovering my collection!

Any other PSB headphone fans around here?

 

I'm glad to read your post, congrats on your new headphones!

I too, tried the M4U2 a while back and really liked them. They are a bit more than I can justify spending, so I was thinking about the M4U1, but I was worried about how they would sound as compared to the M4U2's. I thought the M4U2 really kicked in with the built in amp.

 

I'm planning on using these purely as a home listening set, they're never going outdoors! Hence I wasn't too fussed about the amped mode, nor the noise cancellation, so I was absolutely chuffed when I found out about the M4U1 and set my heart on them.

I had to save a ton of Amazon vouchers and the like before I plumped for them, but as I (still) listen to them I know for once (reliability aside, time can only tell) I've made one of my best hi-fi purchases, ever. They're astounding.

One thing I desperately look for in my listening experience is detail level, and these are just phenomenal. The ridiculous thing is they analytical in the most musical way possible, it's difficult to describe, soulful, musical and detailed beyond anything I've heard before. I've thrown varieties of genres and tracks at it and it just churns out pure aural pleasure each time... I thought the clamping force would start to annoy me and nope, not a jot. Very surprised!

If you're worried about the differences they're tonally identical, although I have read reviews that state the M4u1 manages to sound slightly better than the M4u2 (perhaps the lack of circuitry taking up air space in the cups? Or removing the entire circuit and extra signal path? Who knows?) I need to finish building my Objective2 headphone amplifier!

 

I'm a new convert to Paul Barton's headphone designs, having just bought his NAD Viso HP50s. I think the share a lot of similarities with your M4U1's. I'm loving the NAD's a lot (despite their fashion-victim dorkiness). Jude Mansilla did a comparison for Head-Fi's gift guide that gives a slight edge to the HP50, but I suspect their virtues are very, vey similar.

Jude's write-up:

After his success with his own PSB headphones, Paul Barton turned his attention to a headphone for NAD Electronics. The resulting headphone--the NAD VISO HP50--is, in my opinion, his best headphone yet. To my ears, there's a familial sonic resemblance to the PSB M4U 1, both of which use Barton's "RoomFeel" technology, which is intended to provide the rich and natural experience of listening to a set of high-end loudspeakers in a room.

Like its PSB siblings (I call them siblings since they have the same father in Barton), the NAD VISO HP50 sounds outstanding, with impactful bass that is very taut and well controlled. The overall balance of the VISO HP50 is, to my ears, just slightly on the warmer side, but still very resolving. Again, listening to it reminds me at times of its PSB sibs, but with greater refinement and a smoother presentation. Like the Sony MDR-1R and the Sennheiser MOMENTUM--two of my other favorite portable over-ears--the VISO HP50 is mellow enough to make for fatigue-free long-term listening, yet detailed enough to get the audiophile in me deep into the music.

Additionally, in designing the NAD VISO HP50, Barton addressed two of my biggest quibbles about its largish PSB siblings, with the HP50 being more compact, and able to fold flat for greater portability. However, the NAD, like its PSB relatives, is still rather large and awkward on the head (especially when viewed from the front).

Without a doubt, though, the NAD VISO HP50 is one of the easiest to recommend headphones at its price, and can very capably serve as both a portable over-ear or one's main headphone at the desk.​

 

Here's one. I have the M4U2. Just wish they were a bit more portable.

 

I had never heard of the NAD Viso HP50s, nor that Paul Barton had designed them! If you go to the NAD product page there's not a single mention of him as the designer, which is a shame!

The following sounds very similar to the M4U headphones " impactful bass that is very taut and well controlled," "mellow enough to make for fatigue-free long-term listening, yet detailed enough to get the audiophile in me deep into the music"... The detail they can resolve is pretty remarkable, but I've yet to get a hint of fatigue, even on the brashest of recordings I've heard through it so far.

They are chunky and clunky, I certainly won't use these outdoors, the Sennheiser HD202 IIs have been relegated to that (until I around to soldering up my blooming Porta Pros!) and they're slightly plasticy, but feel sturdy enough. Really hope they last me!

 

Absolutely... Wonder if that 'RoomFeel' can only be achieved with cans this size? They're huge!

 

I too bought the NAD VISO HP50's and I absolutely love them. I was eyeing the PSB's for a while and they were the leading candidate until I pulled the trigger on the NAD's. Paul Barton's sound signature is great in both of these phones. I'm sure you will spend countless hours rediscovering your music library again, as I am doing right now. The addition of an Audioquest Dragonfly 1.2 was the icing on the cake for me! Enjoy your new cans bleachershane. Your saving has paid off for you.

 

I'm surprised I managed the wait! But I am indeed rediscovering my music collection, every night since they turned up has been an enjoyable night of musical reacquaintance, punctuated with moments of "I've never heard the phasing on the drums in "Pilgrimage" by R.E.M.!" and "Is that a vibraphone on Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams"... I've never heard a vibraphone before!"
Thoroughly enjoyable headphones, cannot wait to get my Objective2 headphone amp finished, hopefully this weekend...

 

HUGE fan!!!!

Got mine for Christmas. Best set of cans I've ever heard. They blow my Sennheiser 595's out of the water.

 

One other thing I'd say is that aside from their astonishing sound quality, their build quality is just as amazing. Love the brushed aluminum backs, and the heavy duty aluminum hinges. They just have a solid look and feel to them. My Senn HD595's were plastic-y and flimsy. And I paid MORE for them!

 

It seemed to me that the PSBs got rave reviews from the critics, but attracted little attention. I've posted about them several times (particularly in response to recommendations on noise cancelling phones). It will be interesting to see if 'phones with a NAD label fare better.

 

I heard the M4U2 headphones at a local store. They were plugged into a cell phone and I couldn't believe how good they sounded. Of course the M4U2's have a built in amp. From that point on I wanted a pair to plug into my laptop. I just can't justify buying them when I have a pair of Sennheiser 580's that I plug into a Head Direct EF1 amplifier. But the bug is biting I wonder what would be more comfortable to wear the M4U's or the NAD HP50's ?

 

Hello Donny, I was wondering if you could please tell me how well the NAD Viso HP50's benefit from the Audioquest Dragonfly 1.2. You described it as being "icing on the cake". Could you please go into a little more details? Like in what area's does it improve the sound? And by how much? Was it an obvious improvement? I'm about to purchase the NAD Viso HP50's myself, and I was thinking about getting the Dragonfly 1.2 along with it. You're the first person I've come across who owns the HP50's and the Dragonfly 1.2. So I'd greatly appreciate it if you could get back to me. Thank you in advance.

 

Nice story! I'm happy for you fella...

Enjoy!

 

Hello JamesMan2,
The Audioquest Dragonfly is an amplifier and DAC for your headphones. You can hook it up to a pair of powered speakers or you can use it with an amplifier or receiver and drive speakers as well.
Here is a link http://www.audioquest.com/usb_digital_analog_converter/dragonfly-dac.
The Dragonfly takes the Viso-50's to another level. The phones sound good on their own, but the 24-bit ESS Sabre™ conversion chip in conjunction with high resolution music files sound amazing. The music is noticeably clearer, defined, with greater separation. Bass is fuller and less distorted. Even your MP3's will sound better. I currently use iTunes and have imported a lot of CD's on to it. I also have downloaded music from HDTracks in 96/24 and 44.1/16 bit files and have them imported into my iTunes. I use the NAD phones with the Dragonfly plugged into a USB port and I love it. For the price I consider the Dragonfly a bargain. It won't do everything, but what it does it does very well. If I could afford better phones and DAC I would. But for me, this fills the bill for a low budget audiophile. There are plenty of reviews for the Dragonfly. Research them and you will see they agree. Better yet, get a demo if you can. I hope this helps and answers your questions. Please contact me if you have any more questions.

 

I got a pair of these to go with my Fiio X5 purchase a few months ago and have been loving them. Actually I hadn't been planning on getting new headphones but the revealing nature of the X5 almost forced me too as it was instantly apparent my old phones weren't going to cut it. I'll admit it's the first time I ever crossed the $100 mark before on headphones (I know, total newbie) and I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

 

Pictures please.

 

Thank you for the reply Donny. I have looked at the reviews of the Dragonfly, and I've heard many good things about it. But I hear some people say that their headphones don't benefit much from it. That's why I wanted to ask you if it did with the Viso HP50's. Once again, thank you for your answer. I really appreciate it. One more quick question, does it improve the sound-stage at all on the HP50's?

 

I wouldn't say it improves the sound-stage, as in making it sound wider or giving it more depth, because the sound-stage in the phones are very good already. I would say there is better separation and definition of instruments though. What the Dragonfly does is make a very good headphone sound even better.
I listened to the Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies which are also a DAC and headphone amp (http://www.wooaudio.com/products/wa7fireflies.html) at the Axpona Expo this spring and they made some incredibly expensive headphones like the Audeze LCD-2 and the Sennheiser HD-800's sound even more amazing. So I guess it depends on your equipment as much as your ears. I would advise you to take your phones to a dealer and audition it and then decide. I am very satisfied with the Dragonfly. If I could swing the Woo Audio Fireflies and power supply and one of those high end headphones I would. But since I can't the Dragonfly allows me to get the most out of what I can afford.

 

Good to know, thanks again Donny. Would you say the improvement is worth the $150? Once again, is the improvement that noticeable? Would a random stranger be able to tell the difference without you telling him?

 

I will challenge you to answer your own questions by taking your phones to a dealer and test them for yourself. Then you can tell me if it is worth $150. You claim that you have heard that some people say their "headphones don't benefit much from it." I can't answer for them as to why. You have read "the reviews of the Dragonfly" that claim "good things about it." But who best to answer that question than yourself? I can tell you I am very satisfied with its performance and many reputable reviewers seem to back this up http://www.stereophile.com/content/audioquest-dragonfly-usb-da-converter-page-2 , http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audioquest-dragonfly-v12-usb-dac/ , http://www.whathifi.com/audioquest/dragonfly-v12/review , http://revision3.com/tekzillabites/audioquest-dragonfly-12-dac-review/. but only your ears will confirm or support what you read and what you are told. So James, go and listen and then tell me what you heard. Please report back. Thanks!

 

Wondering if anyone has compared these cans to the new Sennheiser Momentum 2's?

 

I just received a pair of the M4U 2's I ordered off of Amazon. The crazy thing is, the day after I placed my order the price jumped from $299 to $399. After a little research, it wasn't just Amazon.
Looks like I ordered at the right time.

 

Lenbrook seems to offered a reduction on several NAD and PSB items through roughly the end of January. I saw lowered prices at a number of stores. Now they're back to their original prices.