Quadfather
Headphoneus Supremus
Hiromi is very good music.1-24-2024
Here are my Day-3.5 impressions of the Austrian/German Made : AA-C, subsequent to the "Honeymoon" initial kiss.
The Woodent Box is excellent.
The Cables are good, cloth, and proprietorial...., as are the Composer's Pads.
The Pads are pleather and comfortable, and can accommodate most ears, tho X-tra large ears will feel a bit constrained.
The Headband is comfortable and ultra adjustable, as are the cups.
The AA-C's are very light on the head, and the overall build/manufacturing quality of the Frame is : "High end tho Delicate".
Now...before i enter into the SQ description for you, i want to dispel some "myths" that are already up and running regarding the AA-C's.
1.) Some have stated that the AA-C's "sound like" the HD800s, or "similar" and that is absolutely false.
2.) Some have stated that the AA-C's "sound like a Hifiman" and that is absolutely false.
A.) Here is my personal evaluation of the SOUND of the AA-C's, and remember that this is subjective and all mine...
Overall..
The AA-C's sound like a E-Stat. A perfected E-Stat.
The over all sound is light and airy with a unique and satisfying low end that does not slam but reaches deep.
Lots of Treble everywhere, so, if you're not a fan of Treble,..., = you've been given a head's up.
And because the Composer provides this type of sound SIG... is why you are going to read and watch a lot of up and coming reviews that talk about "bright" and "treble".. and "clarity".
As that is what E-Stats do best.......Reader., yet the Composer is not an E-Stat.
So regarding the AA-C's SOUND... they offer a crystal clean analytical clarity that is unmatched by any other dynamic driver headphone, or Planar Magnetic, thus created, in my opinion.
They sound unique.
Planar Magnetic headphones, and Dynamic Driver headphones, simply do not reach the level of clarity and resolution afforded by a good set of E-Stats, and the Austrian Audio Composer absolutely reaches E-Stat level clarity and resolution and detail retrieval and instrument separation and textual nuance and euphoric soundstage..
If you buy this gear, you will absolutely hear music inside your music that you've never heard before, that even the Susvara can't discover for you.
And as compared to the Susy... the Composer has a much better soundstage while the Susy has a stronger firmer overall image.
The Susy can't match the Composer for euphoric imaging and similar soundstage presentation.
Its difficult to compare the Composer to other headphones, as it uses its bright clinical sound signature to such great effect, and that is mostly due to how the soundstage presents the Composer's sound.
The Austrian Audio Composer is what i describe as a clinical analytical sonic microscope that reveals it all..
They reveal your source. They reveal your file resolution. They reveal so much revelation regarding what is being produced by your gear and files that it can be just a bit too much.... but in a good way.. And that is what E-Stats offer as well.
Let me talk to you now about their FR and Sound.
Overall, they produce extreme detail and clarity. And to achieve that, they have to be engineered and designed to reproduce sound more clinical than warm, and more neutral than rich. And they Do.
The Crystal Clean clarity and extreme detail retrieval the AA-C's produce is perceived as slightly bright, overall.
This can be very slightly tempered by a Dac or Dac/amp that isn't also hyper clean/bright... However, the AA-C's are going to give you extremely detailed insight into the music, even using an I-phone, as they are just incredibly clean sounding and revealing.., tho Bright leaning...
Their Treble is clinical and its the star of the Show, with the Sub being so well engineered to match and support the high end.
The Composer's midrange is neutral, neutral, neutral.
To produce their "sound" the AA-C's low end is ideally rolled back regarding the upper bass and lower mids, yet beautifully extend down deep regarding their Sub reach and technical layering.
And as i stated previously...One of the things that make this gear so special is the way their hyper detailed and analytical sound is augmented by this unique and beautiful Sub Bass region that is a perfect compliment. However, >depending on your source chain, the Composer's Bass can become quite neutral.
Soundstage is wide and impressively immersive and unique, as its perceived as being all around you.
Instrument separation is among the best you'll ever hear.
Timbre' is very neutral/natural, but because of the AA-C's ultra detail retrieval, you'll always hear them as slightly BRIGHT, yet in general no annoyingly so, yet quite... "E-Stat like"
Im really glad that Austrian Audio has released this Gear as its unique and special.
Nothing else sounds like it, and its stands out and stands up uniquely among the best "technical" sounding headphones that money can buy in the last decade.
Its not sonically engineered as a "laid back and relaxed" listen... not at all.
The AA-C's sound is not soft or relaxed or round or rolled off, anywhere regarding its FR.
This is a Detail Retrieval Machine, that is super comfortable, expertly manufactured, and is very aesthetically pleasing.
I would prefer real leather cups when a gear is this expensive.....
Maybe that will be an option, in the future.
And The Balanced Cable is slightly too long, but its not annoying so.
Ive posted a photo of the AA-C's along with a remarkable new Jazz album by : HIROMI....titled... "Sonic Wonderland".
This title perfectly describes what is waiting for you inside the Austrian Audio Composer's Ear Cups.
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