Vorwort:
Die am weitesten bei Bügelkopfhörern verbreitete Treiber-Art ist ein dynamischer Treiber je Seite. Dann gibt es noch orthodynamische („magnetostatische“) Kopfhörer, die auch schon seit einigen Jahrzehnten existieren, sowie elektrostatische und (sehr wenige) hybride Bügelkopfhörer.
Orthodynamische Wandler zeichnen sich oft, wenngleich nicht immer, durch eine schnelle, feste, trockene und präzise Wiedergabe, insbesondere im Bassbereich, aus. Das ist es auch, was ich an meinem HiFiMan HE-400 so mag, wenngleich er tonal ein paar Eigenheiten besitzt. Zusätzlich weist auch er, genau wie mein Audeze LCD-X, einen sehr schön linearen Bassverlauf bis in den Tiefbass auf.
In dieser englischsprachigen Rezension tritt ein neuer Bügelkopfhörer mit orthodynamischen Treibern, der ADVANCED Alpha, gegen meinen Audeze und HiFiMan an und muss zeigen, was er klanglich und technisch der etablierten Konkurrenz entgegenzusetzen hat.
Die am weitesten bei Bügelkopfhörern verbreitete Treiber-Art ist ein dynamischer Treiber je Seite. Dann gibt es noch orthodynamische („magnetostatische“) Kopfhörer, die auch schon seit einigen Jahrzehnten existieren, sowie elektrostatische und (sehr wenige) hybride Bügelkopfhörer.
Orthodynamische Wandler zeichnen sich oft, wenngleich nicht immer, durch eine schnelle, feste, trockene und präzise Wiedergabe, insbesondere im Bassbereich, aus. Das ist es auch, was ich an meinem HiFiMan HE-400 so mag, wenngleich er tonal ein paar Eigenheiten besitzt. Zusätzlich weist auch er, genau wie mein Audeze LCD-X, einen sehr schön linearen Bassverlauf bis in den Tiefbass auf.
In dieser englischsprachigen Rezension tritt ein neuer Bügelkopfhörer mit orthodynamischen Treibern, der ADVANCED Alpha, gegen meinen Audeze und HiFiMan an und muss zeigen, was er klanglich und technisch der etablierten Konkurrenz entgegenzusetzen hat.
Introduction:
ADVANCED, formerly known as ADV.Sound, is a New York-based audio company that is probably best known for affordable dynamic driver in-ears that are named after various cars and an airplane, and they also used to offer a portable Bluetooth speaker named after a car, however things might change with the latest addition to their product portfolio, an open-back planar magnetic over-ear headphone named “Alpha” that is using proprietary drivers and comes with two sets of ear pads (one deep and one shallow set).
The headphone with single-sided mounted magnets on the outside of the 96 mm diaphragm retails for $499.99. What does it sound like, how does it perform, and how does it stack up against my HiFiMan HE-400 and Audeze LCD-X? Well, that’s what I will find out in the course of this exact review.
Full disclosure: The ADVANCED Alpha was sent to me, free of charge, for the purpose of an (as always) honest, unpaid and unbiased review whose outcome and content is not influenced by the manufacturer in any way, and the planar magnetic headphone is treated similarly fairly as the plethora of the audio gear that I bought and reviewed myself.
Technical Specifications:
MSRP: $499.99
Type: Over-Ear Headphone
Type of Driver: Proprietary Single-Sided n48 Planar Magnetic Drivers, 96 mm Silicone Composite
Sensitivity: 90 dB +/- 3 dB (1 kHz, 1 mW)
Impedance: 34 Ohms
Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Maximum Input Power: 20 mW
Rated Input Power: 50 mW
Cable: 1.5 m detachable Silver-Plated Copper, 2.5 mm Jacks @ Headphone side & 3.5 mm @ Player/Source Side
Warranty: 3 Years
Delivery Content:
The Alpha arrives in a quite luxurious box that reminds me quite a bit of the one that came with my Sennheiser HD 800.
It is especially nice since it is perfect for storing the headphone when it is not in use, and it has got holders for the spare ear pads integrated into the lid.
Inside, one will also find another set of (different, shallower) ear pads, along with one cable, one magnetic leather cable tie (that is actually not really necessary and rather useless given that the bundled cable is short) and what is probably the shortest (however intuitive since it has got many pictures in it) and smallest user manual I have ever seen.
Looks, Feels, Build Quality:
Just look at the Alpha – it is a beautiful headphone (in my opinion at least).
The use of red side markers on the right cable and ear cup hinge is a good choice, and just as clever is that the position where the ear pads lock in place is also marked and colour-coded.
In order to save weight, light metals have been used for the headband and outer grille, as well as matte black plastic for the rest of the ear cups.
When it comes to build quality, the Alpha keeps the promise its visual appearance gives, and feels very premium and sturdy. There just isn’t anything that looks ugly or cheap about it.
There is just one design flaw – changing the ear pads, their locks can rip off some of the fine protective mesh screen that covers the driver, and it cannot be put back in place without the help of some glue. So yes, changing ear pads should be done with proper care.
The cable is attached to the headphone through 2.5 mm plugs, and while I thought that I would dislike this choice, I surprisingly completely don’t. They latch securely in place and don’t seem like they would break or fall out anytime soon unless you want them too.
The silver-plated copper cable itself consists of 8 twisted conductors below the y-splitter that split into four above it. While that cable looks good and is very flexible, it appears more like a cable designed for in-ears or portable headphones, and I somewhat question why ADVANCED went for short length and a 3.5 mm plug and didn’t include a longer cable.
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Bundled are two pairs of ear pads – both are made of pleather, however one pair is shallow whereas the other one is deeper. All of them are perforated on the inside and very soft, the deep ones even more so, and the shallower ones have got cloth on the contact surface that touches your face/head.
Comfort, Isolation:
The self-adjusting headband mechanism that several companies are using nowadays, and that was made popular by AKG, works brilliantly on the Alpha. Thanks to the soft, even padding, pressure is distributed quite equally at the top.
If you expect a rather loose fit and clamping force like the one you get with something like the Sennheiser HD 800, then I can tell you that the Alpha will definitely not deliver it – it fits definitely tighter. It’s actually somewhat comparable to the HE-400, actually even a bit tighter, and also tighter than the LCD-X that I would say is still minimally on the slightly looser side when it comes to clamping force compared to most studio headphones.
All in all, I would even say that clamping force is quite close to the Sennheiser HD 600, which might be a tad too tight for some people, however I have personally always preferred tight fitting headphones such as the HD 800, Amperior or Shure SRH440 over loosely fitting models, so I find comfort to be excellent with the Alpha. You mileage may therefore vary.
The included deep pads are by the way super soft and nice, and actually on Audeze-levels in this regard. The shallow pads are soft as well, but ultimately not to the same degree.
If you associate planar magnetic headphones with heavy weight, then you are quite wrong when it comes to the Alpha. While it is a bit heavier than a headphone like the Sennheiser HD 600, it is much lighter than the LCD-X and also still lighter than the HiFiMan HE-400, which has to do with the use of single-sided magnets for the driver as well as the use of light metals for the headband as well as grilles, and plastic for the rest of the ear cups.
Not that much surprisingly, isolation of exterior noise pretty much doesn’t exist at all.
Sound:
For what it’s worth, I have had hair all around my ears during the review.
My main sources for listening were the Stoner Acoustics UDXA prototype, Cowon Plenue 2 and iBasso DX200 (AMP2 module).
The included “shallow” pads were used for listening and comparisons.
Tonality:
ADVANCED include two pairs of ear pads – one pair of deep pleather pads, and one pair of shallower pleather pads with cloth on the face’s contact surface.
No, there is no large sonic difference between the two included pads at all – to my ears, the main (although quite small) difference is that the deep pads showcase very slightly more bass impact and warmth, and tend to have a very slightly different treble tuning around 2-ish and 9-ish kHz (minimally more brightness here while minimally less brightness around 3-ish kHz) compared to the shallow pads.
My personal preference tends towards the shallow pads (again, there are just small differences between the two), that are otherwise similar when it comes to sound quality to my ears, albeit with a slightly narrower but similarly deep and precise soundstage in comparison.
What comes into my mind when I have to describe the Alpha is “balanced” – it is an overall very balanced and quite harmonious sounding headphone.
Bass heads into the slightly warmer, more impactful side, but doesn’t cross the border of being bassy – in fact, if you consider the HD 600’s bass, that actually has got a bit of a hump compared to what would actually be flat, as “neutral”, then the Alpha has got a bit less impact in comparison, and is quite similar to the Audeze LCD-X in this regard, albeit not as warm and full sounding in the lower mids and higher fundamental range, so then you could definitely also consider the Alpha as quite neutral and flat in the bass.
The moderate lift/impact takes place in the lower root beginning south of 200 Hz to my ears when listening to sine sweeps, and extends flat into the true sub-bass without rolling off. Yeah, it is that flat, linear extension that most open planar magnetic headphones have (however with exceptions such as the stock Fostex T50RP Mk3 that rolls off quite early in the bass), the ADVANCED Alpha included, that gives them an advantage over most open-back dynamic driver headphones that extend less linearly into the lower bass and usually roll off in the sub-bass to a smaller or greater degree.
Midrange timbre is where ADVANCED pretty much hit the nail on the head – mostly neutral, with just a hair of warmth with low voices, and a neutral vocal timbre. Just to give two example comparisons, the LCD-X sounds a bit warmer and also a little darker in the mids, and the HE-400 is slightly more forward in the central mids due to its slight bump here (that the Alpha also seems to have, although to an audibly smaller extent in comparison) and darker in the upper mids, giving its voices’ overtones a darker, more laid-back touch.
No matter whether male or female singers are in the focus, the Alpha reproduces them correctly and well.
The highs are generally a bit north of neutral and set somewhat on the brighter side, giving the Alpha a mild, balanced loudness-effect tuning with the mids being just slightly in the background in the mix.
To be more precise, listening to sine sweeps, I can hear a bit of a bump/resonance at 3 (slight), 6 (slight), 8.5 (stronger) and 10.5 (stronger) kHz, of which the 8.5 and 10.5 one are peaks. This statement might have sounded rather critical, but when listening to music, the Alpha doesn’t sound aggressive, strident or really off. No, it really doesn’t – and it doesn’t sound sibilant or unnatural. Nonetheless I definitely wouldn’t mind a bit more evenness.
Bringing in a comparison, the HiFiMan HE-400 is brighter and splashier in the upper highs around 10 kHz compared to ADVANCED’s model. Only the middle and lower upper highs are where the Alpha is brighter compared to the HE-400 that is generally somewhat recessed here.
Generally, I would describe the treble lift as a brightness lift that gives the Alpha a bit of a more analytical character, without making it sound unnatural. In fact, higher note timbre is still good, with trumpets being just a hair on the squeakier side and strings rendered a touch thinner.
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The official measurement graphs available on the Alpha product page show a quite steep peak around 7 kHz that looks rather nasty. Listening to sine sweeps and music, I can say that, at least to my ears, it isn’t nearly as strong, and it’s happening higher than 7 kHz (8.5 kHz to be exact). It might well be that the hair around my ears is dampening it a little, and that my large ears and ear canals are shifting it to a slightly higher frequency. Anyway, it’s definitely milder than my HiFiMan HE-400’s upper treble ~ 10 kHz emphasis, and also very slightly less “intrusive” than my Sennheiser HD 800’s middle treble lift (mainly because it’s happening at a higher frequency).
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To sum it up, ADVANCED has created a coherent, very balanced sounding headphone that sounds mostly realistic, with a focus on some clarity and a mild and well-integrated lift in the lows with great extension (extension is by the way also flawless in the super treble). In fact, if they could get the upper middle and treble a bit more linear, there wouldn’t really be any more room for further improvements as far as tuning goes.
Solely if you want a headphone that is heading into the warmer and darker direction, with highs that are more in the background, or more even, then the Alpha probably isn’t the right choice for you.
Personally, for what it’s worth, I find the Alpha’s highly balanced sound signature to be great and well-suitable to consider the headphone as an all-rounder.
Resolution:
Speed, tightness, control, transients and accuracy are what most planar magnetic headphones are usually known for. And the Alpha is no exception at all in this regard and delivers just that.
Throw fast bass punches in Metal and Rock music at it – it handles them splendidly, with single notes and punches still being very well and clearly distinguishable from each other. Multi-layered Electronic music bass lines? No problem either, and the Alpha even has a some layering and good texture in the bass – not fully at LCD-X levels, but still good on its own. Sub-bass definition? Good, too.
Despite great speed and tightness, the Alpha has still got some texture and layering in the lows – not to the same extent as the LCD-X that could be described as quite “visceral”, but nonetheless good.
Speech intelligibility, fine midrange details and separation in this area are on a high level as well. Energetic, fast piano play? Transients are nicely clean and there is no smear.
What the pure midrange timbre already announces is indeed present in the central frequency range, namely evenness and a good timbre as well as detail reproduction.
Despite its slight central midrange hump, it was the slightly “hard” midrange character that made me perceive the HE-400’s mids as not fully authentic and realistic. Not so with the Alpha that lacks that slight hardness in the vocal range.
Treble separation is good and precise as well, albeit below the comparatively darker sounding LCD-X that ultimately renders high notes somewhat cleaner, more precisely in comparison. In this area the Alpha is quite comparable to the HE-400 however.
More complex orchestral recordings are still separated well and quite precisely.
Soundstage:
To me, the planar magnetic headphones that I own, while having a believable soundstage, aren’t really among the most spacious and expansive headphones that I own or know. It just seems that some dynamic driver headphones are able to reproduce a somewhat wider, deeper and more open sounding stage in comparison.
The Alpha is no exception in this regard – while its soundstage’s base exceeds the space between my ears, it doesn’t really manage to go past my shoulders yet.
Depth is what it doesn’t lack nonetheless, and its soundstage appears overall rather circular, actually slightly more oval than that, to me.
To bring in some comparisons, the Alpha’s stage appears a bit narrower than the HE-400’s to my ears, however also a bit wider than the LCD-X’s.
Imaging on the other hand is precise and the stage doesn’t become muddy or mush with dense, fast or complex tracks.
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In Comparison with other Planar Magnetic Headphones:
HiFiMan HE-400:
One could say that the HE-400 sounds dark and bright at the same time. A weird claim, isn’t it? It’s rather simple to explain though: central mids have a slight bump, followed by a broad, even recession in the lower and middle treble that reduces overtones and vocal glare. In the upper highs however, there is an emphasis that adds some presence and splashiness to cymbals and high notes.
It is a technically really strong, tight, fast and clean sounding headphone with superb extension into the sub-bass that I even use as the header photo for my Kopfhörer-Lounge website, and it sounds tonally balanced, however it has its own tonal character as well, wherefore I personally don’t fully consider it as a great all-rounder but prefer it as a headphone mainly for Electronic music.
Bass extension is similarly excellent on both planar headphones, with the Alpha having the slightly fuller, slightly warmer (could I say “meatier” in comparison?) impact.
The HE-400 has got the darker vocal timbre which comes from its toned-down overtones that generate that bit of darkness. The HifiMan is also a bit more forward in the mix due to its slight bump in the central mids.
While the HE-400 is on the more laid-back, darker side in the lower and middle highs, the Alpha shows some elevation in the middle treble. In the upper highs however, the HE-400 is even a bit brighter and splashier, which is especially noticeable with cymbals.
Both have a similarly tight, precise and fast bass to me, with the Alpha’s however appearing a bit more textured and slightly better layered.
While the HE-400 has got a little bit of “hardness” in the mids to my ears, the Alpha doesn’t. Resolution is however similar to my ears, which also goes for the highs where both are quite similar when it comes to separation and actual details.
The HE-400’s soundstage is a bit wider than the Alpha’s, with similar precision.
Audeze LCD-X:
General tonality of the LCD-X heads a bit into the slightly warmer, sweeter, darker and lusher territory without losing focus on naturalness and balance.
The Audeze is also a detailed sounding headphone with great micro detail resolution, however it doesn’t show it in an aggressive, raw manner, but instead in a calm but tastefully understated way that, due to its somewhat dialled-back presence range, is still surprisingly forgiving with some sub-par recordings without sugar-coating them too much.
Besides its great layering and texture in the lows, it also extends flat into the sub-bass without showing any roll-off.
Personally, I mainly really like the LCD-X for Rock/Metal and occasionally for Electronic music. It also works as a great all-rounder, but I personally usually prefer other models for that purpose.
Extension into the sub-bass is similarly great on both headphones, and both have got quite similar impact and “meat” in the bass. A little higher up on the frequency ladder however, precisely in the fundamental range and lower midrange, the LCD-X is the somewhat warmer and fuller sounding headphone in comparison.
Mids on the LCD-X are a bit more on the warmer side, with also the darker, somewhat more relaxed and more forgiving presence range and upper midrange.
The highs on the Audeze are darker but also more even in the upper treble.
Bass speed and control is similarly good on both headphones, with the Alpha appearing a bit tighter compared to the slightly soft LCD-X when it comes to impact. However, the LCD-X has got the advantage when it comes to layering and texture in the lows, showcasing a visceral, finer layered presentation that is rather typical for Audeze.
Minute details are presented in a finer manner on the LCD-X overall, with a more precise reproduction and separation of small information in the middle and higher frequencies, despite being tuned darker in comparison. However, to be fair, one has to note that the Alpha still comes reasonably close despite its price, although ultimately definitely not with the same level of refinement.
The LCD-X’s soundstage, to my ears, is generally on the smaller side but with fairly good and authentic depth as well as layering.
While the Audeze has got more spatial depth and is a little ahead when it comes to layering, the Alpha offers the wider presentation. Instrument separation to the sides is quite comparable, if not even similar.
Conclusion:
Despite being their first full-sized headphone, ADVANCED decided to take the risk and used a proprietary, single-sided mounted magnets orthodynamic driver for their circumaural headphone that they call “Alpha”. And it’s a quite successful operation – the Alpha offers good tonal balance with great midrange timbre, excellent bass extension and a revealing yet still well-done treble presentation that could only benefit from a bit more flatness/evenness in the upper highs. Together with its typically tight, precise, fast and detailed sound, along with the great design and good build quality, I think it is justifiable to say that we have a good product here.
Nonetheless I don’t want to end the review of this good planar magnetic headphone without mentioning some of its potential flaws and what could be improved:
•the (upper) treble could be a bit flatter and more even
•the choice of a short cable doesn’t appear fully logical to me – ADVANCED should have at least included a second, longer cable for stationary home use
•removing the ear pads, one can accidentally detach some parts of the mesh screen that covers the magnets and large, thin driver foil
•people who don’t like rather high clamping force might find the Alpha to clamp too tightly (not an issue for me personally since I like its clamping force exactly the way it is).
I hope I'll get to hear sometime in the future as well!