[WILLDQ]

Does anyone have any information on the Satellites?

 

[RockStar2005]

Does anyone have any information on the Satellites?

 
All I know is they're coming out later this year, but not sure when. The Blue Ella & Sadie though apparently just got released about a week or so ago. More info here. You can join the mailing list (see that page) too for updates STRAIGHT from Blue. I did that too. 

 

[squyzz]

Ok so here's my initial review of these beauties. I simply love them. With every other closed-back headphone I've ever used, I've always compare them side-by-side with my Shure 1540s. These are the first ones that I didn't do that with. The reason, because I couldn't take them off my head. I just wanted to keep listening to them.

They seem to be built very well and they look awesome in person. They're heavy, but they disperse the weight very evenly and are almost as comfortable to me as my 1540's. I love the weird headband mechanism.

As for the sound, I thought they sounded great right out of the box in passive mode. I did have to turn my iPhone sound up very high though, so these planar drivers need power. All I can say is that they present sound in a very neutral way and the timbre sounds very natural to me. The bass is tight and has impact without a trace of bloat, the mids sound liquid and smooth, and the treble extends well with a little bit of sparkle and no signs of sibilance or harshness at all (no Beyerdynamic sizzle). I'm sensitive to treble, and I could listen to these babies all day. The transients seem fast and pace better than my dynamic headphones. These decay very fast like the PM3's. But unlike the Oppo's, these babies have life! Even without burn-in, I think the soundstage is very good for a closed back. The earpads are actually shaped like ears, awesome job Blue, but they're narrower at the bottom and larger at the top, so the soundstage is presented in a way I've never heard before. It's not as wide as my 1540's but it's taller if that makes sense. I love it. I can't emphasize how well balanced all the frequencies are so that really helps to create an expansive soundscape. Nothing trespasses into the other ranges. Turn on the amped mode and the sound gets slightly warmer and the already great treble extends just a little more. Yes, the soundstage gets even larger and everything gets more immersive. I tell you I got chills listening to some tracks by Dire Straits, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, and Adele. You've got to listen to Metallica's live S&M album in amped mode. Good Lord in heaven! The amped mode seems to create a slight U shaped sound signature and it does it so tastefully. I love these cans.

Surprisingly, even on amped mode, I still had to turn the volume up around 80%. These planars are power hungry I guess.

What about sound leakage? They're excellent! I had Tool cranked up to 90% on amped sitting right next to my wife, and she had to lean in to hear anything. They do, however, let more noise in than out. I love these. After over 2 years of searching, I've finally found a successor to my beloved 1540's. These are what I had hoped the P9's would have been.

Listening to Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall in amped mode, made it sound like I was there in concert and she was singing just to me. I will admit that I haven't owned very many open back headphones, but these have to come close with how well they present the music

That's it for now. Time to go listen some more. Cheers!

Thank you for your impressions. These are definitely on my radar.

Yes the internal amp can easily be turned off. I've never heard any HiFiMan products. Sorry.

NP thanks for the reply, good to know I could use my Pure II+ , also does that mean that you need to plug them in from a line out of the DAP if you are using the internal amp? 

Thx for your first impressions, but since you're talking about "these headphones" does Ella and Sadie sound the same ?
If you have both can you write about their differencies ?

I'm wondering if Ella worth the $300 more than Sadie.

 

[shurealltheway]

Thx for your first impressions, but since you're talking about "these headphones" does Ella and Sadie sound the same ?
If you have both can you write about their differencies ?

I'm wondering if Ella worth the $300 more than Sadie.

They share the same Blue house sound but they're not identical. The Ella's resolve more detail and have more pronounced highs (treble). The Sadie's are a little lighter and play MUCH louder. If you're at 85% volume on the Sadie's and then turn the amp on, they will hurt your ears. I never have to turn them up more than 55% volume with my iPhone when the amp is on. I still have to have the Ella's at 80-95% volume with the amp on if I'm listening to mellow music. The planars just require more power to drive. I think the bass on the Sadie's is a little too much. I EQ the bass down for my listening YMMV.

 

[vrapan]

anyone knows where I can find the Ella for sale in the UK?

 

[squyzz]

anyone knows where I can find the Ella for sale in the UK?

i think the answer is nowhere. I asked the same question on twitter for France and the answer is that they will be available in my country within fée months. I think it is the same for UK (and the rest of the world).

I will cartainly tape a pair of Ella if the price do not increase too much crossing the atlantic ocean.

 

[vrapan]

i think the answer is nowhere. I asked the same question on twitter for France and the answer is that they will be available in my country within fée months. I think it is the same for UK (and the rest of the world).

I will cartainly tape a pair of Ella if the price do not increase too much crossing the atlantic ocean.

Thanks after asking the question I found them on sale on Amazon but they are on the expensive side at £675

 

[squyzz]

 after asking the question I found them on sale on Amazon but they are on the expensive side at £675

Too expansive for me
Just ordered a 1k iem
Will see next month if i can sell some stuff by then

 

[RockStar2005]

Brand new PC Magazine review on the Blue Sadie. 
 
Yeah it's a consumer review, but I still dug it anyway. lol Except for the comparisons in the Conclusion. lol I owned the MH40 and MDR-1A...........NEITHER COMPARED really to the Blue Lola I also tried out/owned (esp with regards to soundstage), and based on what I've been reading, the Blue Sadie takes the very few shortcomings of the Blue Lola and does away with them completely (i.e. EXTRA comfort, improved clarity...... esp in the highs, etc). 

 

[disastermouse]

Has anyone compared the Blue Ella with the HiFiMan HE-500?

I'm looking for more comfort and a headphone I could use both with my iPhone/iPad and my iMac 27" (2014)-> Schiit Bimby-> Garage1217 Polaris.

 

[Kukua]

Lovely headphones

 

[whatthebaek]

http://www.pcmag.com/review/351456/blue-ella
 
https://headphonereview.com/over-ear/blue-ella-review/
 
I actually bought shurealltheway's pair and I am thoroughly pleased with them (especially at the price I got them at hehe). One of these days I'll get around to writing a proper review but in the meantime here are my impressions:
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/5prbm7/wore_my_ats_for_6_years_til_the_pleather_peeled/ 
 
tl;dr they're wonderfully fast and accurate, the Amp+ mode adds versatility genre-wise, I don't have the same complaints about volume as shurealltheway and find the volume to be more than enough when amped, sound doesn't leak at all, sound stage is wide enough that I simply get lost in the sound. I teared up to several of my favorite tracks on my first day of owning them :') the only complaints I have are that weight can become an issue with pressure on the top of your head after several hours, and the pads aren't replaceable.
 
I'm super excited to be getting my first DAC/amp in the mail on Wednesday, the LH Labs Geek Out V2+, been listening on Tidal and overall I'm SO glad to have made the investment and taken the plunge with these, and skipping past the stage where others bumble around upper-mid-fi cans. I'm not much of a help when it comes to direct comparisons but a local audio store has a wide selection of open-back planars so one of these days I'll swing by to do some A/B testing.

 

[akg fanboy]

  http://www.pcmag.com/review/351456/blue-ella
 
https://headphonereview.com/over-ear/blue-ella-review/
 
I actually bought shurealltheway's pair and I am thoroughly pleased with them (especially at the price I got them at hehe). One of these days I'll get around to writing a proper review but in the meantime here are my impressions:
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/5prbm7/wore_my_ats_for_6_years_til_the_pleather_peeled/ 
 
tl;dr they're wonderfully fast and accurate, the Amp+ mode adds versatility genre-wise, I don't have the same complaints about volume as shurealltheway and find the volume to be more than enough when amped, sound doesn't leak at all, sound stage is wide enough that I simply get lost in the sound. I teared up to several of my favorite tracks on my first day of owning them :') the only complaints I have are that weight can become an issue with pressure on the top of your head after several hours, and the pads aren't replaceable.
 
I'm super excited to be getting my first DAC/amp in the mail on Wednesday, the LH Labs Geek Out V2+, been listening on Tidal and overall I'm SO glad to have made the investment and taken the plunge with these, and skipping past the stage where others bumble around upper-mid-fi cans. I'm not much of a help when it comes to direct comparisons but a local audio store has a wide selection of open-back planars so one of these days I'll swing by to do some A/B testing.

what happened to shurealltheway? He just sold his pair he was praising and quit headfi?

 

[whatthebaek]

  what happened to shurealltheway? He just sold his pair he was praising and quit headfi?

From our brief exchange on eBay he said that his main reason was because he had to crank the volume higher for the kind of music he listens to, and at the end of the day that battery drain wasn't ideal as a portable for travel/work. He also said a Blue employee had told him that the new Sadie headphones have a similar sound signature while being more efficient with power and that he'd be looking into those. I personally have not had the same complaints about volume even in passive mode, and in amped mode the headphones are almost too loud when cranked all the way up. As for battery life, I haven't seen a noticeable hit using an iPhone 7+, and the Geek Out I'm getting will certainly help out with that!
 
edit: I just saw that he deactivated his account, no idea what's up with that! I made the association between his account here and the eBay seller I bought it from when he mentioned several specific bands he'd listened to these with and shouted him out, unsure if that maybe made things weird or what lol

 

[RockStar2005]

  From our brief exchange on eBay he said that his main reason was because he had to crank the volume higher for the kind of music he listens to, and at the end of the day that battery drain wasn't ideal as a portable for travel/work. He also said a Blue employee had told him that the new Sadie headphones have a similar sound signature while being more efficient with power and that he'd be looking into those. I personally have not had the same complaints about volume even in passive mode, and in amped mode the headphones are almost too loud when cranked all the way up. As for battery life, I haven't seen a noticeable hit using an iPhone 7+, and the Geek Out I'm getting will certainly help out with that!
 
edit: I just saw that he deactivated his account, no idea what's up with that! I made the association between his account here and the eBay seller I bought it from when he mentioned several specific bands he'd listened to these with and shouted him out, unsure if that maybe made things weird or what lol

 
They say that planar magnetic headphones require more power to properly drive them, so I could see that being an issue. 
 
That is strange. I think I've talked to him a few times on here but that's about it. Maybe he's gonna change his username to Bluealltheway?! lol That would actually make sense.