Market will regulate this, if too few buy because of too high prices … No one is forced to buy, and what you already have, like the AUDEZE LCD-4, does not sound worse because something new comes out. Raal 1995 Immanis is entirely handmade, piece by piece, and Raal can currently put out ca...

Probably I‘m just a few years too young … However, I know almost everything about Beatles history, where they came from and how they made their way into becoming popular. There was music before the Beatles and what they did didn’t come out of the blue. I even worked with Tony Sheridan for some...

Steven Wilson’s work is simply great. I.e. he lifted the classic “Jethro Tull - Songs From The Wood” into a new dimension, really nice to listen to. His mixes are transparent, dynamic and quite true to the original in a musical sense. Listening to them on Raal headphones is a real treat. I’m...

I tend to play discs (CD, DVD Audio, SACD, even vinyl) more and more these days. Streaming started great in it’s early days. But today the content is replaced by “remastered”, so called HiRes versions more and more, that simply are pushed up to crazy III Loudness War levels: Killing all...

There is no such thing as “DC hum”. DC is 100% inaudible. Hum is AC, typically at mains frequency or it’s harmonics. You are right that audio transformers themself can pickup hum by magnetic coupling to power supply mains transformers. Raal uses ring-core audio transformers that are NOT prone...

There‘s a company “Vesper Audio”. They would be happy to, @Aleksandar R. develop and manufacture small amounts of vegan earpads, or @smodtactical make a single copy of the original ones to your liking. https://vesperaudio.com/ear-pads-and-headbands

Where are these measurements?

What’s not mentioned yet: Raal SR1a/b is designed for and absolutely needs an EQ called “Baffle Step Compensation”. Else it will sound very treble-heavy. Schiit Jothunheim R and the “Amp Ribbon Interface”-box (resistor-interface for power amp), and various Raal / SAEQ amps have it built in...

I’ve discussed ear cup built-in transformers into Raal ‘phones with Alex. The advantage would be, the up to 95% cable’s power loss could be bypassed, so the transformer can be MUCH lighter while delivering the same dynamics. I built a working prototype for SR1a/b that weights just 60g a piece...

There‘s such a great variety of things that influence how headphones are perceived by various individuals: Ear shapes (very important), preferred music styles, listening levels, expectations on sound, … , …, … , …the list is endless. There are certain ‘phones that fit a majority of people, like...

On my listening in Heidelberg I definitely preferred Immanis with the SAEQ Solid State amp. Magna had more synergy with the Felix Envy tube amp.

EQ-ed or not largly depends on the recording for me. As I‘m listening to a wide variety of styles, including Classical and Jazz, I found that the more “processed” the music’s mixes are, the less EQ I want. With contemporary Pop and Rock etc. typically no EQ at all. Never as extreme as...

Here’s my take on how to handle and EQ the Raal SR1a/b: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/raal-ribbon-headphones-srh1a.890603/post-17233113 The major first step is experimenting with the various degrees of freedom in head placement. The short video from the Raal website is sure worth a look in...

The existing sound difference tube vs. solid state cannot be explained by the damping of the ribbon. With ribbon headphones the cable alone has 10-20 times the impedance of the ribbon itself, so the amp can’t “control” the ribbon in a way we know from speakers. You’re right about the coupling...

Don‘t worry. Never had problems with PayPal refunds from fraudulent sellers. That’s the main reason I use PayPal.

What you hear probably is sound from electrostatic effects/attraction. This works even with no current flowing through the likely ripped diaphragm’s metal traces. Diaphragm ripping happens from air pressure buildup inside the cups during shipping when there‘s no separator in between. I had this...

The next best offering is the Raal SR1a/b. Used with well-tuned EQ it gracefully handles the bass down to 30 Hz, and more important, has all the typical ribbon headphones advantages. The icing on the cake is the unbeaten spatial resolution that not even the Sennheiser HD-800S comes close...

The Immanis clearly is the warmer sounding headphone.

Looking at Feliks Audio Envy‘s specs: https://feliksaudio.pl/product/envy/ it‘s not even specified for 8 Ohm load. Max. power is 5W @ 16 Ohm 1% THD, 8 W @ 16 Ohm 5% THD. A transformer always has a lower than nominal impedance in the sub frequency range. Therefore Envy might feel better when...

Imc I could hear a significant difference between the SAEQ HSA-1c solid state- and Felix Envy tube-amp, driving Immanis through the transformer interface. I still could hear a significant difference with SAEQ HSA-1c direct drive, so the transformer does change something, but even passes...

World of headphones March 02.2024 in Heidelberg, Germany, Part III. A find that few of us might be aware: There’s a new player in the Ribbon Headphones Tube Direct Drive amp department: Malvalve offers the “Malvalve Headamp Three“, that I auditioned driving a Raal SR1a with very favorable...

World of headphones March 02.2024 in Heidelberg, Germany, Part II. Again, I‘d just report the obvious that can be retrieved under audio show circumstances. Magna owes to get its own comment: Magna’s best pairing: SAEQ HSA-1c, new transformer interface RCDI-32. Magna shares a lot if...

Some impressions from World of headphones March 02.2024 in Heidelberg, Germany, Part I. Collected under audio show circumstances, I‘d report just the obvious impressions. Listening to Immanis from SAEQ HSA-1c, direct drive, was Immanis’ best pairing for me. All the ribbon qualities I‘m used...

I found vocals very nice on the Immanis. Listened to some vocal-heavy tracks I‘m very familiar with, all was exactly where it should be.

A search revealed this table, referring to the 2016 original vs. the then just changed 2nd version: https://headphone.guru/the-audeze-lcd-4-update-the-best-just-got-better/ The differences in specifications can be seen in the table below: Original LCD-4 LCD-4 Style Open Circumaural Open...