Joined in 2023 
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There is one credible video review online and the reviewer cites their sound as dead flat and amazing. The 120Ohm load impedance makes the NDH 30 a viable option for OTL tube amps as well. Unfortunately, I’m out of tube amps, so I couldn’t test that theory. Bass Materials and manufacturing standards are all top-tier. The headband is made from hard-wearing sprung steel, while the covering plates of the earpieces are made from quality aluminium. A significant amount of the components on offer here are made from robust metals and screwed together, providing audiophiles looking for long-term investment a service-friendly pair of headphones. It’s the perfect combination of high-quality aesthetics and an overall appearance that exudes a “built to last” philosophy. How it Handles Treble response.... Neutral, without sounding rolled off., and its in this area of the Neumann's sound that is a bit of a mystery, as to have very flat treble response YET such stark clarity......is impressive Let me now take care of this part of the opinion piece as this will be the answers to what most of us want to know.
There are many aspects of audio performance that can be measured, and the idea of manufacturer specifications is to guarantee that what you’re buying will measure a certain way. Some of these specifications are more important than others, and in the case of both microphones and monitoring systems, it’s easy to get hung up on frequency response as the be‑all and end‑all of performance. But is it? Also, as a NDH 20 owner & someone heavy into Sound Monitoring, I may be slightly biased but while I only own the NDH 20, I have also heard the DT 1700 Pro separately & side by side.
What’s Included?
While most of the frequency spectrum on the NDH 30 is faithfully reproduced, they have a curious upper-mid scoop starting at 1.5kHz right up to 3.5kHz. Audibly, it makes the overall tonality calmer and inoffensive but also robs voices, strings, and synths of their bite. Thus the listening experience is very easy on the ears but also quite uninvolving. Technicalities The sound is nowhere near flat. The bass is super hyped and there is a weird peak around 3-4k. These factors make the headphones unsuitable for mixing/mastering purposes, and also a little bit fatiguing. I personally don't find them enjoyable either, even just for sitting down and listening to music. They are good but for the price, I definitely expected more. My favorite headphones (Sennheiser HD600s) cost half the price and deliver better in almost every aspect. Neumanns have better imaging and lower bass extension (which is too much for my taste). So if you're a bass head go for it, but if you listen to music with distorted guitars, be aware. Die Stereobühne ist auf Grund der geschlossenen Bauweise nicht so weittragend wie bei den DT990 oder NDh 30, aber dafür dringt absolut kein Geräusch nach aussen oder nach innen. Für mich deutlich wichtiger, das Panorama mische im Feintuning über die Monitore.
I am left handed so the right side headphone lead is preferable for me. Unlike with the silver (original NDH 20) option, only one cable is supplied which is straight cable. Whilst that is still my preference to use, I would however have liked the coiled option to be included (especially at this price point). The ear cups even though they are circular are comfortable for me, but may not be the case for those with larger ears. The headphones clamp tightly on my head and surprisingly also are very comfortable when wearing glasses…..Now to how do they sound?!! Transparent and high frequencies were a little harsh upon first listen, but I put this down to previous headphones HD650 being much more subtle in the higher register. Bass is there but again less then I am used to, but I like this for mixing as they are close to that of the Neumann KH80’s, so it’s easy to work with them both, without nothing drastic changing on either option. I did also try these with Sonarworks ID with which work great in combination with HD650, but really didn’t like using it with the NDH20, as it removed any low end and made higher frequencies even more harsher and abrasive. In the world of microphones, Neumann's reputation is unmatched. Does their first‑ever pair of headphones live up to the name? Fitment on the fixture was VERY difficult. It would not fully surround the artificial ear, and I could not get it to fully seal no matter what I did. Slight movements and changes would vary the levels but in practice, I noticed frequency response did not substantially change. Still, be on notice that my confidence in measurements are not super high (although EQ settings verified that they were good enough for that purpose). Overall Tone of this headphone? > Flat and very clear with ample resolution and a nice soundstage for a closed set of headphones.So, if you liked that set of headphones, but found them bass lite and a bit veiled, then you will love these Neumann's. Yet the more I listened to the NDH 30s, the more I felt that they should displace the Shures at the top of the heap. Perhaps it’s the exceptionally low distortion, but there’s something about the sound that relaxes your ears and makes you feel that you’re listening to music, not to a monitoring system. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I suspect their vestigial softness in the upper midrange might simply represent unaccustomed clarity, rather than a real dip in the frequency response. Neumann don’t publish frequency response plots for either model, but quote upper and lower limits of 34kHz and 12Hz for the NDH 30s. Without any tolerances, these figures are of limited value, and I doubt anyone will notice the differences compared with the NDH 20s’ alleged 7Hz‑30kHz bandwidth. What may be more noticeable is that the NDH 30s improve significantly on the NDH 20s’ already impressive distortion figures, taking THD from below 0.1 percent for a 1kHz input at 100dB SPL, to less than 0.03 percent. Whatever they’ve done, it’s worked, because these headphones sound really, really good. Drawing A Line However, if there's one other part that rivals the microphone in significance, it's the monitoring system. No self‑respecting studio can afford to skimp in this area either, and in 2005, Neumann's parent company Sennheiser acquired German loudspeaker manufacturers Klein+Hummel. Four years later, the studio monitor arm of K+H was folded into the Neumann stable, and since then, there have been numerous loudspeaker releases under the Neumann brand. These have built on K+H's already strong reputation to develop a very highly regarded product portfolio. Let me tell you exactly the sound of these headphones, as when i first started listening hours ago, i recognized such a similarity with another set of headphones.
The NDH 20 implements newly designed 38mm driver with high-gauss neodymium magnets for high sensitivity and low distortion. According to Neumann, these drivers eliminate the need for a dedicated headphone amplifier as they can be just as easily powered by mobile devices like smartphones and laptop computers. It’s not the “feels like I’m wearing nothing” act the Sennheiser HD800 pull off, but I could wear the NDH 30 for a full day. The pads are circular, huge, and cushy. These headphones use clamping force to stay on your head, but it’s never annoying. There are no pressure hotspots and no HD650 cheekbone death grip. The pads on the NDH 30 are plush and let me listen to music for hours without discomfort. Internals Transients are reproduced in a powerful way with these headphones, but don’t demonstrate the same level of precision as headphones at a similar level of technical spec. Also, the stereo image suffers a little from the more muted sound character of the NDH 20. The stereo stage comes across a little limited and seems somewhat narrow, even when playing productions that are synonymous with extreme stereo expansion. Think for example current EDM songs. Warum nun sind Sie eine tolle Ergänzung zum KH120 (oder die KH120 eine tolle Ergänzung zu diesen Kopfhörern) ?I would also like to give a special thanks to Jeff Jent at sweet water for his help though out the many years.
Ultrasone Signature DXP might also work for you though subjectively sound is closer to slightly less refined version of NDH 20. Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!The NDH 30 are primarily designed to be the studio engineer’s tool for peering into mixes when monitor speakers are unavailable. What does it mean exactly? Having headphones tonally sound like calibrated speakers in a decent room has been the gold standard for developing target curves.
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