If all your pairs have the same issue it is either in your head or your source has a issue or is damaging the headphones in the same way. Planars usually have lower distortion than dd. So i doubt you are able to pick up them in normal listening which is already kind of impossible with dds.

I've changed sources, even changed my stack from the Schiit Modi 3+ and magni 3+ to the jds labs atom amp+ and dac+.

I think it's in my head..

Do you own any iems? See if you can replicate the distortion with iems.

I do! I need to find them.

My wife and my father both say i'm crazy and have never heard clearer music in their lives lol

It is most probably in your head then.

do planars sound similar to dynamics when the driver has been compromised? If so, I definitely don't have that sound.

What song is it? It’s highly possible that your music is just badly mastered

Do you listen to music loudly? If so it could be deistortion from the amplifier you are using. That could be the case but you should check if you can hear the distortion at lower volumes to make sure. If there is still distortion at lower volume what I said is irrelevant.

I had the same problem, and turns out I was just listening to shit audio quality.

>Do you listen to music loudly? If so it could be deistortion from the amplifier you are using. That could be the case but you should check if you can hear the distortion at lower volumes to make sure. If there is still distortion at lower volume what I said is irrelevant.

I just tested this out, I think you're right. I believe it's the volume at which I listen. I require quite a bit more volume than everyone else in my home or my parents.

I am happy I could be of help. You could get a fiio e10k if you want to get something good without paying much (the refurbished ones from ebay are infact just second hand and cost 50€ in EU). Otherwise if you'd like to pay more for higher volume and better sound you could go for a dac, amp stack (best ones that come to mind for their price is topping l30 2 and e30 2 and cost about 300). I should note that any higher than that would be argueably not better in the range of human hearing and the e10k would not have that much difference aside from volume.

What is your source, and what is it set at?

When I use my setup I have windows set to 100% (Spotify at 90 since tracks can vary in volume) then I control all of my volume from my amp/dac. Before that I noticed distortion in my headphones and it was because I was sending a quiet signal (windows at like 30) and then amplifying the signal a lot more with the amp and that was what led to my distortion issues.