Skip to main content

Oppo’s PM-3 are premium planar cans at a (relative) bargain basement price

Oppo’s gamble on producing niche, planar-style magnetic headphones paid off big time with the culmination of the sleek, stylish, and surprisingly mobile-friendly PM-1 and PM-2. However, with their open-back design, the cans were prone to letting lots of noise in and plenty of music out, making them less than ideal for use at the office or on a commute. Now, Oppo is offering a way to keep the noise out and the luscious tunes in with a new closed-back version called PM-3.

The PM-3 promise to pair superior sound performance with excellent noise isolation and a lightweight body that will let you take your audiophile party on the go. The newly-isolated earpieces are stocked with Oppo’s custom created 55mm planar magnetic drivers, which trade traditional drivers for a thin membrane, layered with a conductor circuit, and placed within a magnetic field for superlative sensitivity and accuracy.

It’s no accident that the highly portable PM-3 were announced just after Oppo’s new HA-2 portable DAC and headphone amplifier, offering a premium pairing for listening on the go. But even without the HA-2, the PM-3 should deliver serious performance with more modest gear, as the new drivers are not only redesigned to fit in a closed-back chassis, but they’re also designed to be driven by less-than-ideal sources like your phone or iPod.

The PM-3 will have their work cut out for them, however, going up against another soon-to-be-released mobile planar magnetic offering, the Audeze EL-8. But the PM-3 have a serious advantage when it comes to price, offered at $400, which undercuts the EL-8 by a good $300.

Whether or not Oppo’s new PM-3 can stand up to the pricier competition remains to be seen, but $400 is a screaming deal for planar cans any way you slice it. We’ll be pulling a pair in for review soon, but if you’re ready to dive in and check out the PM-3 for yourself, you can order them at Oppo’s website today.

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
GPS-tracking, 3D-printed decoy eggs can help root out illegal poachers
Decoy turtle eggs

Poachers pose a major threat to sea turtle nests by stealing eggs to sell in what has become a rampant black market trade in certain parts of the world. Conservation efforts to stop this have, to date, included patrolling beaches for would-be poachers, as well as removing the eggs and placing them in a secure hatchery so that they can be incubated in safety.

Conservationists at the nonprofit organization Paso Pacifico in Nicaragua and researchers from the U.K.’s University of Kent have another idea, however -- and it involves 3D-printed decoy eggs, boasting built-in GPS trackers.

Read more
ATSC 3.0: Where can you get the free NextGen TV format?
KOMO-TV-Tower

ATSC 3.0, otherwise known as NextGen TV, is a whole new way of delivering free, broadcast TV over the air (OTA), and 2020 will be the year most Americans can get their first taste of the new experience. But what exactly is ATSC 3.0, and how and where can you get it?
The 101 of ATSC 3.0

We won't get into all the nitty-gritty of ATSC 3.0 here. If you care to take a deep-dive into the technology, check out our in-depth ATSC 3.0 explainer. For those who are short on time but long on curiosity, here's the CliffsNotes summary: ATSC 3.0 is the latest technical standard for broadcast TV, and it contains a slew of upgrades over existing free OTA TV, including higher resolution (4K or better), high dynamic range (HDR), and even advanced surround sound with the potential for 3D formats like Dolby Atmos.

Read more
Oppo Find X2 launches with whopping 3K-resolution screen
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom review

Update: We’ve spent enough time worth the phone to declare it Oppo’s most well-rounded package to date. Read more in our Oppo X2 Pro hands on.

Oppo launched the Find X2 smartphone on March 6, a new date following the cancellation of Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC 2020). Ahead of the launch, Oppo Vice President of Global Marketing Brian Shen shared a few details about the phone on his own Twitter account, and told us the phone will have a screen with a 3K resolution, and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Read more