It was only a matter of time and engineering diligence before the CA-1a could see the light of day. What would seem a modest task following the lead the SR1 provided, turned out to be another significant undertaking.
Many design discoveries and repeated testing were required to follow the success of the ground breaking SR1. We knew the CA-1a had to be great. We weren’t satisfied with being a “one hit wonder!” Our future depended on it.
The CA-1a is far more than a SR1 with Circum-Aural ear pads.
An entirely new motor had to be developed. New methods of manufacturing were required. Years of R&D laid ahead of us. We faced many contradictory acoustic and mechanical cul-de-sac.
Pros: Really Wide Soundstage
Great Clarity
Comfortable to Wear
Industrial Design
No Sibilance
Cons: Bass is not much
imaging and separation is not comparable with similar priced headphones
Needs way too much power
Raal Requisite CA-1A
In the Sound!
The Raal Requisite CA-1A is a unique headphone. Utilising a full spectrum Ribbon Driver and requiring either special amplification or a transformer with immense amount of power, this headphone presents a unique sound signature that really brings you in the sound at the cost of a ridiculous amount of power.
Note:
This is a set purchased by myself for usage. Thanks to Jaben for introducing this to me.
TLDR
A little odd, a little weird, with a sound signature that's big and diffused. Requiring an immense amount of power, this headphone can only be used by those who have the literal power to drive it. Its sound is more of an esoteric side, featuring something really unique in its presentation that will definitely delight some but not others. A neutral with a slightly cool signature, the general sound can be described as high clarity, with great mid bass to highs but a sub bass that is generally somewhat quirky, large sound stage and good separation but has a really weird imaging. It’s a headphone that will either make you smile or walk away a little confused
Introduction
Interesting… That was my first impression. The CA-1A in every single way is a really unique headphone. It was designed with a language more aligned to today’s headphone unlike its bigger brother, SR-1A, however its shape, fit and even the earpads is just different from what most headphones of its caliber should feel like. Using a Ribbon driver, this can’t be driven directly from any normal amplifier, requiring a transformer in between to convert the power and lower the impedance. Together, it just comes together as an odd ball of headphones. Does it sound good? Even that is a rather interesting topic. With that let's dive into the CA-1A, the device that puts you in the sound itself.
Build and Package
The headphone package is nothing too special, just 2 boxes. Why 2 boxes, you will be asking. That's because one box holds the headphone while the other holds a transformer. Being a ribbon driver, it has really impedance, requiring you to plug into a the transformer to rectify it. The transformer is a heavy black box that weighs more than the headphone itself. It has a cable that goes from the amp to the transformer, and another cable from the transformer to the headphone. There are amps that can power this amp directly, but do not plug it in directly into a normal amplifier as it may result in a short circuit.
The headphone is rather well built though on the weirder side. The cups are made of carbon fiber, held on by some spring steel with a thin piece of leather for supporting the top of the head. The cups are tilted forward significantly and the drivers are also angled, this makes the angle of the driver to your ear somewhat more forward then normal. The earpads are made of a foam that looks like those you use to pack your goods but are surprisingly soft. The earpads are sticked on to a rather cheap plastic that slides into the headphone. But it does make changing the pad really really easy. Double really!
Comfort
The fit takes a little getting used to. The headphone is rather light at just 440g but the fit is rather unique. Not as eccentric as say the Abyss 1266 or mysphere, it still is a rather interesting fit that is weird but comfortable. Firstly the leather strap on the head is like a belt, with 3 pairs of hole each side to adjust how much slack there is. This gives a total possible of 5 sizing. It may sound really limited but this headphone dont need to be really precise in the height as the driver is really long, 8 cm long. Then the forward tilting earcups. The cups with the earpads rest in a way that applies more pressure in the front then back, this is unlike almost any headphone that applies equal amounts all around and takes some getting used to. The earpads are really soft even though they don’t like their part which makes it still a rather comfortable pressure. The spring still band applies very minimal pressure on the earcups and thus my head. Lastly the cables look thick and durable but are really light, soft and flexible, making them easy to move around. Overall it's a surprisingly comfortable headphone that requires a little getting used to.
Sound
Songs Used
Ultima (FF14 Sountrack)
Ibrara (Ado)
Yuusha (Yoasobi)
Suzume (Radwimp)
Grand Escape (Radwimp)
Unravel (Ado)
Shatter Me (Lindsey)
Setup
Mac -> Chord Hugo TT -> Ferrum Oor + Hypsos
Earpads
The CA-1A comes with 2 earpads. One has open slots while the other essential fully seals the cups. My personal preference is the slotted pads. The sealed version has noticeable improvement in sub bass at the cost of it sounding muffled and slightly veiled, losing a significant amount of top energy, detail and air. As such the slotted version will be used for this review.
Tonality
This headphone is more a neutral with a slight cool tone. The interesting part is even though the tonality is as such, I will not call this a bright headphone as sibilance is very well controlled while the higher treble are sparkly and exciting but never piercing or overly hot.
Clarity, Detail and Seperation
This CA-1A clarity is one of the best. Anything above mid bass all the way to the high is very clearly articulated by the headphone. Switching this to most other headphones feels like you just put a veil over your ears. Details are similar in that nature, with everything above mid bass quite clean and clear. Small little bells to soft drum hits in orchestra like tracks never get lost or merge into other sounds and instruments. This makes listening to complex tracks on these headphones enjoyable.
Soundstage and Imaging
This is one of the interesting aspects of the CA-1A. The sound here feels like a big glob of sound surrounding the listener. Everything felt more diffused and bigger. The CA-1A is one of the more open sounding headphones, even more open then the Diana Phi easily. It’s similar to listening in a hall with quite some properly managed reverb. That’s also where an issue lies, the imaging is similarly diffused. You can roughly tell where it is coming from, but it’s never quite exact, like big blobs placed around a big stage. Going back to the hall with managed reverb, it’s like the instruments are well diffused together with the reverb, while never losing clarity and detail. It feels like a big wall of sound that one should just enjoy rather than try to find where everything exactly is. Now weather you like it or not goes down to personal preference, but it’s definitely something I personally enjoy quite a little.
Dynamics
The CA-1A felt very dynamic to me. Going from really quiet to really loud without ever feeling ever congested. The driver is really quick and its really close to electrostatic in this aspect of swinging from soft to loud with minimal effort. Micro-Dynamics in the instrument is also really clean, little nuances in a instrument can be easily heard without much issue.
Bass
The Subbass in the slotted pads are quite limited. You can somewhat feel it but its very minimal. Mid bass is really fast and punchy with very good definition to their texture. This makes songs that the sub bass for feels and moods alittle lacking on this headphones, but if punchy quick ones are the aim, it performs really well. However if bassy headphone is what you are looking for, this is definitely not the one.
Mids
This is where the good stuff it. I find most of the mids, very natural, smooth and enjoyable. The responsiveness of the driver makes string instrument a delight to listen. Even though the headphone is more of a neutral bright signature, it has no sibilance. This is likely due to cut in the upper mids frequency, which to me I am good with it. Its the few headphones that makes shatter me enjoyable. It does also means female vocals that are meant to be a little hot may sound really tame on this headphones. SImilar to mid type instruments like electric guitar and violin may have less zing to their sound.
Treble
Even though theres a cut in the upper mids, the rest of the treble is pretty good. I find the treble instruments have good amount of sparkle to them. There is also quite alot of air in vocals for tracks that have them like Comet from Ari. Its all nice smooth and airy sounding. It also sounds well extended, with cymbals crash displaying good quality and realism to their sound.
Amplification
This needs alot of power. I overloaded my Fiio M17 (3wpc) and Broadway (1.8wpc) easily. Only the Ferrum Oor, A70Pro and Burson 3X GT had no issues, going over 100 Db with ease. I recommend at least 4wpc to ensure most songs work and sound dynamic with it.
Conclusion
The CA-1A from Raal Requisite is a interesting headphone. Using a unique driver that brings with it perks of soundstage size, speed and dynamics at the cost of imaging and sub bass, this is something one should listen before purchase. You will probably either like it to bits or go Mehhh real quick.
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