The Alpha & Delta AD01 is the prized first entry of popular reseller, Lendme Ur Ears. They decided to take a stab at the portable audio market, in particularly at the rather crowded $100 price point. It’s certainly a rather ambitious goal. Lets see if they have succeeded in making a splash in the seemingly ever-changing audio scene.
Before I begin I want to thank Teo as well as Lendme Ur Ears for sending me a review sample. If you would rather watch this review, please click on the link below, be sure to like, subscribe, share and comment! I look forward to hearing your feedback!
Design: At the time this review, the AD01 comes in two colours, the sleek black, and a “silver bullet” shade. The pair I have on hand is the black variation with a rather minimalist design, that’s sleek and subtle, reminiscent of a pellet. No branding is found on either the housing or cable, making for a difficult time identifying what company this earphone belongs to. On the flip side, this is quite refreshing in today’s society where we are bombarded with branding and logos left and right.
Overall: 7/10
Accessories: The AD01 comes with the following:
A protective shell carrying case with a lanyard strap
A wide assortment of eartips (3 pairs of narrow bore black single flanges, 3 sets of colour coordinated hybrids, 3 sets of wide bore biflanges). the tips are not of great quality and kind of "papery". I quickly replaced them with sony hybrids and spinfits
* A minor quibble. I would have preferred to have a mesh or pocket for the earphones and various included eartips*
Overall: 8.5/10
Build Quality- Very solid. The all-metal housing exudes a weighty but not intimating feeling. They come equipped with a pair of 2mm DC plug connectors (yes the AD01 come with a detachable cable feature). The cable connectors are secure and feel quite robust, requiring moderate force upon removal and insertion. Lend Me Ur Ears stated that the left and right earpieces are interchangeable are sold separately for easy replacement on their website. They also sell replacement cables in two configurations: the stock black cable and an upgraded bronze/copper, transparent cable (intended to improve sonically). Both cables feel well made, with good very well relieved joints, a compact y split with a strong cable cinch and terminate in L shape headphone jack. However, my issue(s) with the cable is that it tends to retain memory, and carries some cable noise. (the upgraded cable seems to be an improvement in these areas).
Overall: 8.5/10
Comfort- The housing is very smooth and is devoid of sharp edges that may carry the potential to cause irritation for some users. These earphones were designed to be very practical, allowing them to slip in out of your ears quickly, without fuss. (I preferred wearing these cable down, with the earphones sitting flush against my ears). The housing is on the chunkier side, so these may not be as comfortable as the tiny Hifiman RE400, due to the sheer footprint size. I found the soft wide bore double flanges to complement the AD01 on a comfort and a sound perspective, but more on the sound later.
Overall: 8.5/10
Isolation: I found the isolation to be slightly above average. The AD01 as pointed out my by friend nmathesis, is a multivented design, with a vent on the underside of the nozzle, and another vent on the rear side of the housing. That said I found the isolation to be sufficient for outside and commuting use, where I imagine is the environment the AD01 is intended for, see below.
Overall: 7/10
Sound: The AD01 is packed a 9.0mm and a 6.0mm dynamic driver in earpiece. Alpha and Delta had not divulged the materials and the arrangement of these drivers.
That said, in terms of sound signature, I would characterize the AD01 as a slightly V shaped, but takes cues from its competitors with a smooth, warm sound. This makes the AD01 a rather unique because the bass is rich and smooth, but because of the slightly emphasized treble, it doesn’t dull or sleepy.
I was also given the upgraded cable, that was described to improve the sonic performance of the AD01, I personally did not hear any differences between the two cables, but I preferred the upgraded cable because it retained less memory and I was quite drawn to the transparent bronze colour.
Let me clarify below:
Bass: The bass on the AD01 is above neutral. It’s walking a fine line between being bassy, and neutral with a very satisfying punch. The bass is robust and well rounded with a thicker, smooth mid-bass response with great depth and rumble down low without sounding overly boomy. The bass is well rounded with medium speed with a hint of looseness, but nothing overblown.
Midrange: The midrange is cleverly tuned, with good clarity without being buried behind the punchy bass by any means. The lower midrange is a bit on the thicker side, giving male vocals some warmth, with strong presence, and a bit of chesty sound. I don’t listen to much jazz or blues much on the tracks I did test them on, but it made Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble nice and rich. The upper midrange seems to be reined in a bit, to avoid strident female vocals and preventing saxophones from sounding overly energetic, but is slightly thinner, aiding in terms of clarity.
Treble: The treble is nicely detailed without sounding bright. The treble has a slightly emphasized lower treble, giving cymbals a nice crisp response, but tapers off to prevent any added sibilance. The treble is not what I would call “brilliant or ground breaking”, its nicely tuned to be snappy but can benefit with a bit more extension.
Soundstage: Due to the treble tapering off, the AD01 does not have quite have that airy soundstage, but has a nice left and right imaging, avoiding the congestion that warmer-sounding earphones typically suffer from.
Comparing with the Audio Technica Im70 ($150).
These are quite similar with a few notable tweaks. The AD01 has a similar characteristic in the bass, smooth and punchy abeit in the thicker end. However the AD01 has better extension down low, with a better sense of depth and rumble. The Im70 on the other hand, has a “lusher” and more forward warmer midrange, which makes vocals in particularly female vocals quite beautiful. Both are smooth sounding, but I would give the edge to the AD01 in terms of clarity.
Comparing them to the Dunu Titan 1 ($120-150)
The Titan 1 has the edge in terms of detail retrieval, and bass texture and clarity. But a common criticism of the Titan 1s, myself included is the brighter treble that’s a bit metallic, which can be a bit fatiguing for some listeners. This is where the AD01 fills that role, as a smoother alternative, but still has a healthy dose of “pizz zazz” up top.
Overall: 8.5/10
In conclusion,
I’m very pleased to say I can wholeheartedly recommend the AD01 as almost a complete package for someone looking for a slightly bassy all rounder, it comes with a wide array of accessories (plus detachable cables!) with a simple, and practical no- nonsense design. It also has a sound signature that is nicely detailed, that’s rich without being too rich, and is smooth without being completely devoid of energy. Great first entry Lendme Ur Ears! Easily one of my favorites!
Possible areas for improvement:
I hope that the cables have a both a visual and tactile marking to help distinguish between the left and right side (as the earpieces are identical, and interchangeable, this makes for a bit of a task when taking them out of their case
Providing pouches in the hard shell carrying case (2 ideally) to better fasten the headphones and accessories (cables and such).
Trading a bit of that bass for bit more extension in the treble.
The material on the hybrid silicone is a bit hard and brittle on my pair, causing it to rip, I hope for a softer material to be used on future iterations.
Overall: 48/60= 80%
Before I begin I want to thank Teo as well as Lendme Ur Ears for sending me a review sample. If you would rather watch this review, please click on the link below, be sure to like, subscribe, share and comment! I look forward to hearing your feedback!
Design: At the time this review, the AD01 comes in two colours, the sleek black, and a “silver bullet” shade. The pair I have on hand is the black variation with a rather minimalist design, that’s sleek and subtle, reminiscent of a pellet. No branding is found on either the housing or cable, making for a difficult time identifying what company this earphone belongs to. On the flip side, this is quite refreshing in today’s society where we are bombarded with branding and logos left and right.
Overall: 7/10
Accessories: The AD01 comes with the following:
A protective shell carrying case with a lanyard strap
A wide assortment of eartips (3 pairs of narrow bore black single flanges, 3 sets of colour coordinated hybrids, 3 sets of wide bore biflanges). the tips are not of great quality and kind of "papery". I quickly replaced them with sony hybrids and spinfits
* A minor quibble. I would have preferred to have a mesh or pocket for the earphones and various included eartips*
Overall: 8.5/10
Build Quality- Very solid. The all-metal housing exudes a weighty but not intimating feeling. They come equipped with a pair of 2mm DC plug connectors (yes the AD01 come with a detachable cable feature). The cable connectors are secure and feel quite robust, requiring moderate force upon removal and insertion. Lend Me Ur Ears stated that the left and right earpieces are interchangeable are sold separately for easy replacement on their website. They also sell replacement cables in two configurations: the stock black cable and an upgraded bronze/copper, transparent cable (intended to improve sonically). Both cables feel well made, with good very well relieved joints, a compact y split with a strong cable cinch and terminate in L shape headphone jack. However, my issue(s) with the cable is that it tends to retain memory, and carries some cable noise. (the upgraded cable seems to be an improvement in these areas).
Overall: 8.5/10
Comfort- The housing is very smooth and is devoid of sharp edges that may carry the potential to cause irritation for some users. These earphones were designed to be very practical, allowing them to slip in out of your ears quickly, without fuss. (I preferred wearing these cable down, with the earphones sitting flush against my ears). The housing is on the chunkier side, so these may not be as comfortable as the tiny Hifiman RE400, due to the sheer footprint size. I found the soft wide bore double flanges to complement the AD01 on a comfort and a sound perspective, but more on the sound later.
Overall: 8.5/10
Isolation: I found the isolation to be slightly above average. The AD01 as pointed out my by friend nmathesis, is a multivented design, with a vent on the underside of the nozzle, and another vent on the rear side of the housing. That said I found the isolation to be sufficient for outside and commuting use, where I imagine is the environment the AD01 is intended for, see below.
Overall: 7/10
Sound: The AD01 is packed a 9.0mm and a 6.0mm dynamic driver in earpiece. Alpha and Delta had not divulged the materials and the arrangement of these drivers.
That said, in terms of sound signature, I would characterize the AD01 as a slightly V shaped, but takes cues from its competitors with a smooth, warm sound. This makes the AD01 a rather unique because the bass is rich and smooth, but because of the slightly emphasized treble, it doesn’t dull or sleepy.
I was also given the upgraded cable, that was described to improve the sonic performance of the AD01, I personally did not hear any differences between the two cables, but I preferred the upgraded cable because it retained less memory and I was quite drawn to the transparent bronze colour.
Let me clarify below:
Bass: The bass on the AD01 is above neutral. It’s walking a fine line between being bassy, and neutral with a very satisfying punch. The bass is robust and well rounded with a thicker, smooth mid-bass response with great depth and rumble down low without sounding overly boomy. The bass is well rounded with medium speed with a hint of looseness, but nothing overblown.
Midrange: The midrange is cleverly tuned, with good clarity without being buried behind the punchy bass by any means. The lower midrange is a bit on the thicker side, giving male vocals some warmth, with strong presence, and a bit of chesty sound. I don’t listen to much jazz or blues much on the tracks I did test them on, but it made Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble nice and rich. The upper midrange seems to be reined in a bit, to avoid strident female vocals and preventing saxophones from sounding overly energetic, but is slightly thinner, aiding in terms of clarity.
Treble: The treble is nicely detailed without sounding bright. The treble has a slightly emphasized lower treble, giving cymbals a nice crisp response, but tapers off to prevent any added sibilance. The treble is not what I would call “brilliant or ground breaking”, its nicely tuned to be snappy but can benefit with a bit more extension.
Soundstage: Due to the treble tapering off, the AD01 does not have quite have that airy soundstage, but has a nice left and right imaging, avoiding the congestion that warmer-sounding earphones typically suffer from.
Comparing with the Audio Technica Im70 ($150).
These are quite similar with a few notable tweaks. The AD01 has a similar characteristic in the bass, smooth and punchy abeit in the thicker end. However the AD01 has better extension down low, with a better sense of depth and rumble. The Im70 on the other hand, has a “lusher” and more forward warmer midrange, which makes vocals in particularly female vocals quite beautiful. Both are smooth sounding, but I would give the edge to the AD01 in terms of clarity.
Comparing them to the Dunu Titan 1 ($120-150)
The Titan 1 has the edge in terms of detail retrieval, and bass texture and clarity. But a common criticism of the Titan 1s, myself included is the brighter treble that’s a bit metallic, which can be a bit fatiguing for some listeners. This is where the AD01 fills that role, as a smoother alternative, but still has a healthy dose of “pizz zazz” up top.
Overall: 8.5/10
In conclusion,
I’m very pleased to say I can wholeheartedly recommend the AD01 as almost a complete package for someone looking for a slightly bassy all rounder, it comes with a wide array of accessories (plus detachable cables!) with a simple, and practical no- nonsense design. It also has a sound signature that is nicely detailed, that’s rich without being too rich, and is smooth without being completely devoid of energy. Great first entry Lendme Ur Ears! Easily one of my favorites!
Possible areas for improvement:
I hope that the cables have a both a visual and tactile marking to help distinguish between the left and right side (as the earpieces are identical, and interchangeable, this makes for a bit of a task when taking them out of their case
Providing pouches in the hard shell carrying case (2 ideally) to better fasten the headphones and accessories (cables and such).
Trading a bit of that bass for bit more extension in the treble.
The material on the hybrid silicone is a bit hard and brittle on my pair, causing it to rip, I hope for a softer material to be used on future iterations.
Overall: 48/60= 80%