The Neumann NDH 20 is a closed-back headphone combining excellent isolation with the carefully balanced sound image and outstanding resolution you’d expect from a Neumann product. The NDH 20 is thus ideally suited to monitoring and mixing tasks, even in loud and noisy environments. Circumaural memory foam ear pads offer high long-term comfort.
Critical listening and mixing
While many other closed-back headphones are marred by nasty resonances in the midband, making it difficult to come to reliable mix decisions, the NDH 20 offers an astonishingly detailed, well-balanced sound image, similar to Neumann’s acclaimed studio loudspeakers. Superior sonics along with large memory foam ear pads make the NDH 20 a pleasure to wear for long periods without fatigue.
The NDH 20 uses newly designed drivers (38 mm/1.5”) with high-gauss neodymium magnets to ensure high sensitivity and minimized distortion, thus allowing the user to listen to the pure audio signal without unwanted coloration. The mechanical construction, too, meets the highest standards. The adjustable headband is made of flexible steel while the ear cup covers are machined from lightweight aluminum. For easy transportation the headphone is foldable and can be placed into the supplied soft cloth bag. Two detachable cables (one straight, one coiled) and a 6.3 mm (1/4”) adapter are also included.
Applications
The NDH 20 is suited to all applications that require high sound isolation such as monitoring for musicians and engineers in the tracking room as well as FOH work. It is also an excellent choice for critical listening, free from disturbance from the outside world and, vice versa, without causing disturbance to people nearby due to leakage. Thanks to its extended frequency response ranging from 5 Hz to 30 kHz the NDH 20 is particularly helpful to check the upper and lower extremes of the audio band.
Unlike most other closed-back headphones, the Neumann NDH 20 is suited to mixing purposes too. An unusually even frequency response and natural stereo image allow for mixing with confidence and ensure compatibility to all playback systems. The NDH 20 is thus an indispensible tool for working on the road. Of course, it is also an excellent headphone for audiophile entertainment.
