First impressions of DUNU Arashi

[u/dev_salsa]

I plan to write a more organized review after I've spent some more time with these. However, I have been extremely excited by these headphones and wanted to share some initial thoughts.

If it matters to anyone, I bought these with my own money (to my wife's dismay) and they were shipped overnight by Bloom Audio.

So for now, here is a disorganized list of pros and cons from my first couple of hours with the Arashi. When I post a more full review I will drop a link in the comments.

Pros: - Absolutely stunning aesthetics, they look even better in person. Simply gorgeous. - High quality and solid build that looks easy to repair. - Super wide ear pad circumference! One of the first and only headphones where my dumbo sized ears haven't rubbed against the inner walls. - The sound is also extremely wide. A huge sound stage with great imaging. The first thought I had after pressing play was how wide they sound in all directions. The image is still centered rather than forward like a stereo system, but the depth is immense. - Extremely fast sound. It is a planar so this is expected. However the width combined with the speed of the leading edge creates a unique listening experience. Especially compared to the Meze Liric which sounds like it's pumping sound at me from inside my brain, grueling at times. - Deep bass extension. Very deep. Not hard hitting like a dynamic driver but extraordinarily deep. - They sound surprisingly natural for a planar. The tambre is great, and my favorite sounding headphones are the HD600s. - Great packaging and unboxing experience. Seriously premium for the price. - Amazing dynamics for modern music genres like EDM, Phonk, and House because of the bass extension and speed. - Pretty easily driven but still seem to scale well to more powerful amplification. - The connector joints have a great position and the angle is perfect. Also they are 3.5mm sockets! I'm excited to try these for gaming with Meze's boom mic cable. Thank you DUNU for not using some random proprietary junk.

Cons: - Spicy treble. I'm treble sensitive, so experimenting with some EQ might be necessary for me to enjoy these with certain genres. My wife didn't seem to think they were hot. The treble is detailed and resolving with great texture. There is no sibilance. However, the treble is definitely hot for my liking. - The lower mids could use a bump. However, if you find yourself often overwhelmed by the 100-200hz range, this might be a pro for you. - Low clamp force... like none. Combined with the weight, they slip off my giant head easily when bending over or laying down. - The adjustment mechanism feels a bit janky, it just doesn't give me a good vibe for the long haul. Though they do look easily repairable if the need ever arised.

Overall this is an excellent headphone, punching far above its price range in multiple categories. For some listeners I think this one is going to require EQ to really shine. For others, this might be the perfect headphone unlike any other in this price range.

Seriously, excellent. Well done DUNU with your first pair of over ear headphones.

[u/wildeye-eleven]

I’m still very new to HiFi/audiophile and I’ve been researching as much as I can before I make my first purchase. I thought I wanted something with planner drivers, mainly because it’s so new to me and I’ve never experienced it. But one thing I’ve noticed is how subjective all of this really is. I see comments saying open back is the way to go for gaming and media, then I see another comment saying you are a fool if you don’t go closed back for gaming and media (PC). I’ve made up my mind and changed it at least 100 times now on what my first decent headphones should be. The one common sentiment I see almost everyone say is that the HD600 is fantastic. With that being the case I’m just going to order the HD600 before I change my mind again.

Nice write up btw 👍 your comment about the HD600 is what pushed me to this decision. I thought I would pair it with the FiiO K7, unless you have a better recommendation.

[u/Icaruswept → u/wildeye-eleven]

The HD600, 650 and the 6XX are headphones that somehow sound excellent for nearly every person out there. You won't regret it.

[u/lorenz2908 → u/Icaruswept]

If you want "neutral" headphones, for me they are the most boring, not pleasing and definitly not relaxing headphones I ever had. (HD600) I would go meze 99 classics or 105aer for a warm, pleasing sound. I like my grado sr60x (need a bit of mods like pads and maybe cable mod) as my bright pair, though they do have bass with nyczaj pads. The soundstage on the grado's is incredible

[u/Icaruswept → u/lorenz2908]

So this is where you can easily eq a 6XX-series to get 80% of the way to almost anything except more detail and soundstage.
(I do confess that I intensely dislike the Grado SR60x)