Has anyone given the RedGiant a04 a whirl? I know the a00 and a03 got quite a bit of coverage when they were first released, but it seems the a04 and a02 were all but completely overlooked.
Given the a04s have next to zero coverage anywhere and I wanted to try another Canadian headphone (gotta support my home country after all), I decided to take the plunge and try em out. Impressions are based on ~15 hours of use with mostly heavy rock and EDM.
Quick summary:
- FANTASTIC bass. Smooth, uber punchy, and extends deep with tons of juicy rumble. Definitely steals the show.
- Slightly recessed mids, but they are not overshadowed. Female vocals sound especially nice.
- Treble is usually bright and with adequate sparkle, but can be a little overwhelming and grainy on treble-heavy songs and low quality recordings. In general not really an issue. Maybe additional play time will help clean this up.
- Not extremely detailed, but they are no slouch either.
- Build quality is excellent. The housings are all metal, and quite large. They are also pretty heavy. The cable is a nice durable jobbie, and slightly thicker than the average compared to all my other IEMs. Chin slider and shirt clip included. Strain relief on the 90 degree jack is well done, but the lack of proper relief on the housings may be an issues, especially given their weight. Not an IEM you want to hang around your neck.
- Soundstage is about on par with my other favorite single dynamics (FX3X, EB110) but a little more intimate.
- Fitment is where they fall short. I am lucky enough to have pretty average sized ears, and mostly everything I try out fits fine. Once I finally seat these properly, they pretty much disappear despite being so oversized and heavy. They are actually one of the most comfortable IEMs I've used, but getting them in properly takes a bit of work. Someone with small outer ears would have no chance, at all, with these. Without a proper seal, these sound pretty balanced. Get a good seal and out comes that juicy, juicy bass.
I would say these comfortably fit into the bass-head IEM category and as such made me put aside the JVC FX3X and Sony XB50s because, IMO, they one up both of these on pretty much everything (minus ease of fitment). I do like the cable on the XB50 more.
Overall one of my favorite purchases so far