Oppo PM-3 Quick Review

Oppo PM-3 Quick Review

Thanks to Oppo for the sample

Brief:  Eh? A portable planar you say???  Witchcraft, witchcraft I say!!!

Price:  RRP is US$400 or £350, trip to the US anyone?

Specification:  Lots see here https://www.oppodigital.com/headphones-pm-3/headphones-PM-3-Features.aspx

Accessories:  You get a hard case for them and I got 3 cables.  One with no mic that was 3m long, the other two were “Android and Windows” phone cables with mic’s, one white and one black.  I presume that one should have been an “Apple” one maybe?  I don’t know, the specs don’t really say either, weird.  Oh and a 6.25 to 3.5mm adapter too.  Doh, the big case too.

Build Quality:  Par excellence.  The metal construction is extremely solid.  The soft bits feel soft and of excellent quality for pleather.  The eye says tre premium and the hand agrees.

Isolation:  Adequate.  I’m not big on closed cans for outdoor use but you could.  Should be fine for on a bus or walking with normal traffic noises.  Not really what I’d choose for a Tube commute or a long flight but vastly better than nothing.  Still, a planar that is closed and svelte enough to be portable?!?!?  Just do try to not get too lost in the music, least you require scraping off the front of some bus you didn’t notice.

Comfort/Fit:  Mostly very good.  I did get a slight pinching on my left ear.  Not painful or anything, just a bit of pressure and after a few hours my ear wanted a break to breathe.  The cups were just that tiny bit not deep enough to not be just touching my ear. 

Aesthetics:   Ooooh, fancy.  Oh if only the black ones had bare metal backs (like the white ones are) then they would have been perfect.  Even photos of them in white and all that brushed metal, damn.  I normally hate things in white too but I do love bare metal.  They look as classy as they sound.

Sound:  A little bit unbelievable.  These are planar headphones, they are closed, they are portable and you can run them off your phone????  You would be forgiven for thinking someone was bull shi… err misleading you.  Yet they are, they actually sounded amazing out of the Iphone 5, double take amazing where I had to check at first I’d plugged the right cable into the right socket.  How????  I have no idea how they have done it, it makes no sense but they have.  These are just outstanding, for a closed headphone to sound so light and quick, so open and spacious.  They are so polite and smooth too yet having highly quick transients and superbly delicate uppers.  The lows too are so casually fast and sustainable.  So polite and reserved and accurately clean.  In my head I can’t stop myself thinking of the HD600 but these are better, lighter, faster and yet closed.  The depth is better too as open cans have massive issues reaching low but these being closed can get there with relative ease.  Tonally so politely balanced with just a slight peak towards the upper mids/lower treble region that very rarely got a little over assertive.  Still vocals are so wide, so spacious and elegantly polite.  Oh god it’s such a mature sounding, proper audiophile tuned headphone.

Value:  US$400 for US’ians or £350 for the home of Magna Carta.  VAT does not account for all that discrepancy.  Of course the PM-1 is £1000 so…….probably easier if you just give them your wallet and let them take what they want.

Pro’s:  Never have I heard something closed sound so open.  Sounds practically perfect.

Con’s:  If you want a bombastic, thrilling, party machine, this is not it.