Closer Examination

We got a sneak peek at the cable on the previous page, and in fact the two primary adapters use the same cable design too. It starts with a full-size XLR connector headed to your source and placed inside a substantially sized housing with an aluminium alloy sleeve. There's an arrow on the top to help indicate where the source/adapters plug into, as seen above with the 1/4" adapter used here, making for a relatively bulky fitting around the adapter. The cable itself is composed of a quad-strand braid, using high-purity single crystalline copper and silver-plated single crystalline copper mixed in a Litz configuration. The braiding is a touch looser than I'd like, and the cable is delivered folded up, taking time and patience to be completely straight and flexible for coiling/re-shaping, but otherwise a very good cable in terms of low resistance, ease of use and resistance to kinking, no microphonics were felt in use either. The splitter has a similar gunmetal gray aluminium alloy sleeve, which can come apart from the base plastic since it only one end is formed to occupy the plastic inside—another detail where better execution is needed. The cable then splits into two thinner cables to the two channels, each with their own large housings with "L" and "R" markings for the left and right channels. HarmonicDyne is using 3.5 mm TRS connectors here, and the various exposed plugs are all gold-plated for oxidation resistance.


Now we get to the main course in the form of the HarmonicDyne G200 full-size, over-ear headphones. These adopt a very different design compared to the Zeus and Poseidon, with a headband + suspension/support band assembly instead, already I see advantages and issues others mentioned with this headband assembly. Notice the gap with the ear pads at the top, and the lack of a more aggressive inward pressure for the ear cups going on the head. We'll get to this shortly in more detail, as my eyes were now immediately drawn to the multi-layer carbon fiber headband, something you don't see outside of flagship class headphones. Sure, being thin and not imposing, feeling similar to composite material, the carbon is, however, lightweight and strong while being aesthetically pleasing. There are several openings in the headband further shedding weight, the main reason to go with carbon fiber over steel for the headband. The suspension band is impressive, with thick leather composition and integrated foam nuggets for comfort, while allowing room for airflow, thus preventing hot spots on the top of the head. Both bands come together on either side into an enclosure that has HarmonicDyne printed on the outside for subtle branding I can approve of. The inside has L/R markings to help indicate the left and right channels, and screws that keep the assembly intact.


Vertical headband sizing adjustment is achieved through notches in a steel band integrated within the carbon fiber headband, there is a moving piece on either side to action the suspension band moving up and down to allow for several discrete steps. These click into place although there is some play between the steps, getting both sides exactly sized to the same point can occasionally be irritating. Shown above are the two extreme points of the vertical sizing, an average example from headphone sizing, the HarmonicDyne G200 may comfortably be used with small and large heads alike.


Now we get to the primary issue to achieve a great fit - the pivot point where the heat-treated aluminium alloy frame meets the ear cups made of the same material. While material composition is absolutely flagship class, the execution of the design is the issue. The pivot point is too large for the size of the headband assembly, meaning it is easy to twist the headband inadvertently, misaligning the earcups horizontally. The pivots here also angle down slightly as opposed to being more aggressively inwards facing, thus the ear cups with these ear pads have more uniform contact with the head at the lower half of the ear cups more than the upper half. As such, those with smaller/average sized heads might find it difficult to achieve a good seal with the current headband + ear pad design, though there are other pivot points here, that in should, in theory, work very well together. Before we take a closer look at the ear pads and drivers, let me also show off the striking ear cup design, the headphone version of face plates on IEMs, HarmonicDyne loves using intricate geometric patterns on their headphones. These are fairly closed though you can still see the drivers through them, so I would refer to these as semi-open-back headphones. Interestingly, the product page does not classify these as open-back either, and presumably leaves it to the user to decide.


A look from the side also shows exactly how thick the stock lambskin leather pads are, as well as how they are not angled inward as would have benefited this particular headband assembly. Removing the pads is simple enough in that you just pull them off, and putting them back on is more involved and requires careful maneuvering of the stretchy outer fabric into the recess between the ear cups and the mounting bracket for the ear pads as seen above. This also provides a closer look at the 102 mm planar magnetic drivers employed by HarmonicDyne. I do not have enough experience with Monoprice's Monolith series of planar magnetic headphones to confirm whether these share similar drivers as has been alluded to by others. For what it's worth, the drivers in the Monolith M1070C do not look the same, and HarmonicDyne claims these are custom drivers employing a nanocomposite diaphragm—more on these on the next page!


The stock lambskin pads are perforated on the inside and extend slightly to the contact surface too, but otherwise are similar to the flannel pads in having a round opening. There is also a single stitch line on both sets that is aligned towards the bottom, but really there should not be any difference here, given the symmetrical circular shape. The thicker lambskin pads should provide for a tighter seal at the expense of potentially causing the ears to warm up, with the flannel pads are more comfortable and cooler while being easier to dirty. Seen above is the HarmonicDyne G200, installed with the flannel pads and its navy green glory.


Do try both out sets of pads and see what works best, and be sure to also read the entire review to know more about how the two sets affect the sound signature of the HarmonicDyne G200. On the bottom of the ear cups, towards the front is where we find extensions jutting out in a cutout that host the cable connectors from before. The cables plug in easily and are naturally directed away from your body as seen above. The splitter would thus rest on your chest, or a desk when sitting down. These headphones use dual 3.5 mm TRS connectors, which increase compatibility with aftermarket cables, handy if you don't like the stock cable and its involved adapter system. With the two cable sections combining at the splitter, weight balance is still centrally placed as the cable then heads to the source. The cable is ~2 m long by itself, making it too long for portable use and better suited for desktop use with the various source connectors providing for a variety of options to run these from, including the recently released Yulong Aurora I have here for review. It's an excellent combination that I will talk about more separately, and there are also plenty of other fantastic sources I have paired this with, including the FiiO K9 Pro, the Topping E50/L50 stack, the FiiO K5 Pro ESS, and the JDS Labs Element II.