Oppo PM-3 Review and Measurements

I can't say I totally agree with Hands on the review, especially on the subject of bass quantity.
I have written a review in German over here. I will translate some key points.

I bought the PM-3 for personal use a little over a year ago but at that point Marcus had already written the review for Headfonics so I never bothered to write my own. I also got the Meze 99 Classics lately so I started comparing them and finally decided the PM-3 was worth another review.

Build quality and comfort has been discussed enough already. At this price point, Oppo scores full points for both with the PM-3. Isolation is very high too. I don't think I have to go over it again. I especially applaud the user-exchangeable cables (support for balanced) and the very precise rasterization.

As for sound, I noticed a few flaws, that in the end are not enough to discredit the PM-3 as one of the best closed headphones.
I have a rather thin head. I'm not an egghead and I don't look like I should ever be taking the position of a quarterback. However, I do think that my head shape does not stand out of the norm. The PM-3's ear pads fit very nicely around my ears. I have used the PM-3 with and without glasses and the bass quantity does not change as drastically as the measurements in the first post would suggest. But I also cannot claim to experience strong bass at all. It's far less than most closed headphones, including Meze 99C or ATH M50. In my review I actually mentioned similarities to the Beyer DT1350, both in quantity and dryness. The Oppo does have around 3 dB too much warmth that I would have rather seen in sub-bass extension. Nowadays I prefer a studio tuning so I don't think that a bit of added warmth will make most believe the PM3 are bassy.

Going on to the midrange, the PM-3 perform extremely well. Oppo nailed the key frequencies from 500 Hz - 3 kHz which ultimately upheave it above the competition. This adds a lot to tonality and precision, both for male and female voices. However, the transition to higher frequencies is pretty flawed by a sucked-out upper midrange/ lower treble. I am missing up to 5 dB between 5-6 kHz until they're back on the reference target at 8 kHz.

Sadly, the treble cannot impress as much as the midrange. It rolls off too quickly after 8 kHz already. I do think that some roll-off sounds natural, but the PM3 exaggerates far beyond anything tolerable. The treble is recessed and only a bit of shimmer shines through. Of course one does not have to fear any sibilance or pierce. In the review I wrote that a marketing team would probably describe the treble as silky smooth. Personally I find "dull and muffled" a more suitable description.

Soundstage feels compressed. Forward bass and lack of treble extension push the music to a very intimate level. Despite the lacking upper midrange, the separation is pretty good.

My assertion may sound bad up to this point, but I guess it's my German character that prefers to highlight flaws instead of strengths. There is no perfect headphone and overall, I prefer PM-3's flaws over most of the competition's.
The overall sound is a little bit grainy, not-well saturated. It feels like a veil is laid over the sound. But it allows a high amount of details for people that take a closer listen. As compared in the review, the Meze 99C will be a lot more dynamic and contrasty. Parts of the sound seem exaggerated and overshadow details. In fact, most headphones will seem very in-your-face when put up in a 1-on-1 with the Oppo.
Conclusively, the PM-3 feel very mature. They are a great recommendation for people that like multi-layered Jazz tracks, a precise midrange, a laid-back presentation and who like to hunt down details on their own.

The planar magnetic can easily handle some equalizing although the higher frequencies can get fuzzy when boosted too much. Bassheads can add some low-end without problems; the bass distortion is relatively low.

Tag: Thad E Ginathom

 

Thanks to @Hands, and to @k.e.: I had asked about the possibility of a translation of his review.

Back then, when I was thinking of something more serious to put on my head and over my ears, I enthusiastically boarded the Oppo PM-1 hype train, although I did fall out with the [HF] management over criticism of the company re stuff like European pricing and having nothing whatsoever to do with other oppos like the ones that make phones and dvd players, despite having the same name, logo, typeface, corporate style etc etc. Yep: I understood, although I did not agree

Anyway, life is now free of HF, and largely free of hype trains too. Looking around for something low[ish]-cost*, two years ago, I took Tyll's advice on a Noontec Zorro II for travel. Yes, it is good for travel, and whenever I lie in a strange bed, just plugging headphones into my phone, I am very happy with it. It is good for travel: it is not good for travelling, as it has minimal isolation.

Should I find myself lifting the embargo on hifi and flight tickets, I'm now fairly sure that I could buy PM-3 with confidence of comfort and a sound that would probably suit me. That's all fairly academic, but embargo or not, if I was no longer even interested in a what-if or two, then I wouldn't be here.


*Bought from Amazon.co.uk, and it awaited me when I arrived for my trip there. Cheaper than India, but not as cheap as USA. Which would also be a problem with buying Oppo.

 

Thanks for the excellent measurements, I finished my Oppo PM3 review, and

I'm with TMRaven, the loaner pair I had ,to my ears had a slight roll off up top with the upper mids elevated, also looking at your Thin Glasses data, I can say I did find the bass to be very even, with the mids being the most elevated! I kept mine on for the entirety of the review.

Over all though I liked it, I compared it to the Modded ES10 I got from BillP, and while his ES10 has much better timbre, the Oppo PM3 had better overall detail and imaging. I was certainly impressed with it

 

Hope people don’t mind me bumping this thread, but seeing how build quality is an important criteria, thought this might be relevant.

I got my Oppo PM-3s in June 2015. I was looking for a travel headset, as I do around 20 international trips a year and end up spending a lot of time on airplanes. Travelling with my Fostex TH-600 in a Slappa case quickly got pretty tiresome, the case is almost the size of a football.

After a lot of research online, I settled for the Oppo PM-3s. They fold to a very compact space, and the case even fits a DAC/AMP.

In terms of listening experience, until recently, I was a bit underwhelmed. I was used to very spacious headphones with a massive sound stage - I have EMU Teaks at work and Hifiman HE-1000s at home. So sound stage as a primary criteria coloured my impression of the Oppo PM-3s for a good while. Recently, I have come around to the fact that in travel context (closed and compact), sound stage simply is not a possibility. After admitting that to myself, I have started to enjoy my PM-3s way more, and appreciate them for what they are good for.

Coupled with the Oppo HA-2, and later HA-2 SE, they do deliver a great, clear, reasonably rich sound. With the Oppo HA-2 SE DAC/AMP, the bass slam is surprisingly good. It’s certainly not in the Fostex territory, but I find it still very good for a travel headset. The mid range is vivid and pleasant. The treble for me does not feel exceptional, but is not fatiguing either, which can be a problem with tighter sound stages. So actually, sound stage aside, the sound is pretty great for something that’s made for use on the go. Couple this with excellent isolation, and the Oppo PM-3s make a very good travel headset.

The build quality is important when travelling, naturally. Well, after two years of extensive travel, my pair looked like this:



I was gutted to see both the pads and the headband rip right open. I’d have white bits all over my shirts whenever I used them. Then I emailed Oppo and asked if they could service them. They offered to swap the pads and band for a very reasonable £54, including shipping.

I shipped my pair in, and two weeks later I was treated to this:



Unbelievably, these are the very same pair, but they look brand new. I asked for a replacement cable, which they threw in. They also replaced the case as well. I was stunned when I opened the box, I did not expect to see a pair that looks and feels brand new. For travel headphones the repairability is a huge bonus. With the repair, I will get another 2 years out of the pair, making the total life 4 years at least - not bad for a £349 pair.

Bottomline is, two years later, I haven’t found a better sounding compact travel headset than the Oppo PM-3s (when coupled with the Oppo HA-2 SE). Once you make peace with the close sound stage dictated by their size and isolation, they do deliver an exceptionally good sound and isolation on the go, for a price not that different from, say, Beats or Bose headphones I most often see in airplanes. Coupled with fantastic customer service and replacability, they are an essential companion for a traveller.

 

Thanks for the long-term report, @Chittagong. I've actually been considering these lately to pair with my HA-2. You've answered some questions that I had both about compactness and isolation for plane travel. I will also be using them for international travel.

 

I am pleased you found the writeup helpful! I was undecided whether such a late review would be useful, but ultimately I was just so happy with their service that I wanted to share the story. And even though they were introduced almost 3 years ago, at least I have not come across a better pair for travel. Occasionally I read up Sine reviews, but they don’t seem to do anything substantially different. Plus, the synergy with HA-2 is certainly really very good, especially the bass boost really elevates the PM-3s.

I used to have a HA-2. When the HA-2 SE came out we got one and did blind testing with my wife. She enjoyed the og HA-2 more, and I enjoyed the SE more. They are very similar, so while I went with the SE I am happy to use either.

 

I have a pair and they are a good compact headphone for traveling especially flying when you do not want to disturb your neighbors. I consider them mid-fi and hardly ever listen to them at home, that is what the HD800S are for.

 

I have a pair of Sines and loaned an pair of PM3s for a month or so. The Oppos are way more comfortable and just a more thought out physical design. But, they have an overly laid-back and warm sound to them that's just too much for me. I need some grit, sizzle and punch too (I'm also not a huge fan of HD650, btw).

The Audezes sit kind of wonky on the head and really benefit from the bassier signature of the Cipher cable, but damn it. They just sound so much more lively to me with the music I listen to (rock, metal, pop, hip-hop etc.). That 10-band EQ app is just dandy when using Cipher too. PM3 sounds pleasant as hell, but it doesn't get my blood pumping. I can't quite put finger on the frequencies that are missing in the mids and highs, but these do their best to not offend in the slightest.

When I'm on an aeroplane top-notch sound quality isn't a real priority, how could it really? QC35 is the best compromise I've found. Blocking out that monstrous noise of the motors is a godsend. Bose's SQ is ok enough and they're a joy to wear comfort-wise. Not to mention the wireless-ness.

 

I agree that the PM-3s aren't the most engaging soundwise but honestly the comfort factor with good noise isolation sort of won me over. I've had the PM-3s for about 2 months now and I have to say that the sound signature has grown on me. With the sort of sound they have it doesn't seem so boring if you acclimate to it.

 

Balanced cable with the PM-3: Did I hear a difference?

Background: I debated whether it would be worth it to post this given that Oppo digital is defunct, but I noticed that there really wasn't much written about the use of balanced audio with the PM-3 out there. It's only vaguely mentioned in a few marketing articles and in passing by reviewers with few people actually having tested it. I recently acquired a balanced cable for the PM-3 with a 4 pole 3.5mm connecting to the headphones and a 4 pin XLR on the other end. I personally prefer using XLR connectors for durability reasons and not having to fuss with adapters as much. But I was also curious as to whether it would change the sound at all. Hopefully someone out there was wondering the same thing and sees this. This is the only closed back I currently own and it is my go to whenever I am away from home. I listen using a Jot with integrated balanced DAC, I use the focal clear and HD6XX both with balanced cables regularly at home.

Treble Differences: One of the more common complaints about the PM-3 is that the top end roll off is too intense. I've seen descriptions ranging from veiled to rolled off to glaring omission of anything above 8K. When using the pm-3 with a balanced cable and the setup described above I am noticing a increase in the aggressiveness of treble attacks. Guitar strums on Kacey Musgraves "Pageant Material", Paramore "26", Norah Jones "Shoot The Moon" are all more pronounced than they were before. Not by a ton but certainly immediately noticeable. The treble does not get anywhere near as clear or aggressive as the the Focal Clear's or arguably even the 6XX with the signature veil but it's certainly a step towards that direction.

One of the pitfalls is that with the stock cables nothing ever sounded harsh, which is both a blessing and a curse. It was pleasant to listen but sometimes abrasive treble is necessary for the enjoyment of a particular genre like rap for instance. With the balanced cable the treble can occasionally reach into the realm of the offensive. I noticed this on many Fall Out Boy songs like "Our Lawyers Made Us...." and "Of All The Gin Joints..." or "Real Champagne For My..." or SZA "The Weekend". Sadly, the entire genre of pop punk sounds this way. These songs were a bit much in the top end and felt overwhelming to listen to despite not being siblant per se. My guess is the top end got more "peaky" such that there is the overall impression of veil but you still get this phenomenon.

Mid Range: The mids have the impression of being much more in your face due to the upper midrange and the presence regions seeming a bit boosted. Maybe even shouty. The vocals on Jenny Lewis w/ Watson Twins "Rabbit Fur Coat" are a lot more immediate than I remember them seeming. It's like she popped up in from of my face and started singing at me from 6 inches away. Not necessarily bad, but not what it should sound like though. There is slightly more of a sense of soundstage even if it does sound like singers are singing directly into your ears. You still feel like this is happening in a small recording booth you can see if you close your eyes.

Bass (Cannon): I am by no means a bass shy person, and this may be a specific property of the Jot's balanced output, but these have become planar bass cannons. Using dvsn "Do It Well" or Kelela "Floor Show" as bassy references, I have to say I was a bit taken aback. The PM-3 was always a little bass boosted but this was surprising. The bass kind of reminds me of a scaled down LCD-2C though the 2C straight outclasses the PM-3 driver. I do think it kind of throws off the balance of the sound signature too far towards the bass, but it's not an unenjoyable byproduct.

Conclusion: Overall, I just can't think of a reason to use the PM-3 when the Focal Clear or LCD-2C pretty much accomplishes all of these things in packages that outclass the PM-3 in almost every way, but nevertheless it was an interesting experience. The PM-3 with balanced cable can sound almost as aggressive as a vanilla Focal Clear without the transparency, which trust me is a tall order for even the more treble tolerant people out there. I wouldn't recommend going out and purchasing a balanced cable seeing as they go for over 150 dollars at the very least these days. At that point I would just try to save a little more and find a used LCD-2C.