Sticking a Dolphin in your ears!
First Impressions
[COLOR=353535]Here we have a chinese iem offering that once again beggars belief that headphones of this quality can exist for this amount of coin! Something like this was unheard of even a few months ago. What the heck is going on? I can’t even imagine how the chinese iem market will look in a few weeks, never mind a few months![/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]For the better part of a week now, I have been testing two new samples, courtesy of AK Audio, so a big thank you to them for giving me this opportunity. The iems in question are the
Super Dolphin 6BA (I will shorten it to Dolphin for sake of brevity) and the
AK 2016 Custom 6ba iem.[/COLOR]
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The Dolphin AK 2016 Custom 6BA
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[COLOR=353535]I will be talking about the Dolphin today, which uses 6 balanced armature drivers. It is available with either MMCX or 2 Pin cable connectors (my unit has the 2 pin connector). [/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]This is my first experience with a 2-pin connector and suffices to say I won’t be going back to M[/COLOR][COLOR=353535]MCX anytime soon. A common point of failure for many iems with removable cables is the connector, and MMCX connectors are more prone to issues developing over time. [/COLOR][COLOR=353535]The Dolphin’s rock solid and sturdy connector ensures that this iem will last a long time.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]The included cable is very soft and supple, easy to manage and not prone to tangling. Even the memory wire portion, that rests over the ear, is pleasantly flexible and not in the least bit annoying. The cable itself has a braid and terminates in a 90 degree L jack. The strain reliefs on both ends are very well done so the cable should hold up like a champ.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=353535]The Dolphin housing/shells are black, adorning the name in red and blue. The faceplate is made a multiocolor pattern shell (not sure what the technical term would be) but eye catching and pleasing nonetheless.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]While the shells are a tad on the big side, they are comfortable once inserted into your ears. The Dolphin sports a durable build quality and sturdy construction, ensuring that it will easily withstand the rigors of daily use.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]The Dolphin has an insane amount of sound isolation, especially when you use tips that give an optimal seal. I was on the subway yesterday and I couldn’t hear ANY outside sounds while the Dolphin was playing music. And mind you, this was at a low volume. This makes them perfect for long noisy commutes, where you can easily enjoy your music at lower volumes and not damage your hearing in the process.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=353535]So that's all good and dandy but how do the buggers sound? Well in one word: Impressive! Allow me to tell you why
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[COLOR=353535]Overall the Dolphin is a clean and airy sounding iem, with a breathtaking midrange and tight bass that has great impact. I felt that it also had a slight emphasis on the mids, making a perfect complement to the airy and well extended treble.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]The treble is just about perfect to my ears, very extended and airy without being bright or peaky in the slightest (I am quite treble sensitive). The Dolphin’s treble strikes a delicate balance between sounding analytical and sounding musical. It has great resolution and tons of micro-detail. All the elements of a song are there, easy to delineate and follow individually from beginning to end. All the details are there, but they are not pushed in your face. I am not quite sure how they pulled off the treble without sounding cold and analytical but that’s china for ya. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]The Dolphin has a natural soundstage that is more true to life and not exaggerated. It is not limited to inside your head and definitely sounds out of head, possessing more width than height. But what impressed me most was the sense of depth the Dolphin portrayed, it felt as if you are peering into the record; As if your music was being played in a room, positively cavernous![/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]In addition to its impressive sense of depth and staging, it has incredible separation and layering of instruments that make you feel as if you are enjoying a live performance. Accurate positioning of sonic cues make for a believable and natural sonic presentation that will leave you wanting more.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]This leads to the star of the show, the midrange! This one really took me by surprise because how fantastically it renders female vocals, positively ethereal. If you enjoy female vocals AT ALL you really owe it to yourself to hear the Dolphins, it is simply breathtaking. The way in which it renders the details, vocal textures, ambience and atmosphere is something I have yet to hear on other headphones
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[COLOR=353535]The Dolphin is not a one trick pony however, if you are a metal head this is also the iem for you. The way distortion guitars are so textured and detailed is simply mesmerizing. Drum hits come through loud and clear with great impact, giving the iem great PRaT.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]The bass is neutral with no bloom or midrange leak to speak of. It is tight and punchy with impressive impact, quickly getting out of the way when its not called for. It is distinct from the rest of the mix but not emphasized in anyway but still easy to hear in your music. While the Dolphin sounds good with EDM, its not going to give you the bumping bass you need to really enjoy electronic music.[/COLOR]
The Shells look stunning, one of the prettiest iems I have seen coming out of China
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[COLOR=353535]So overall, the Dolphin is light and quick on its feet, think Philadelphia Cream Cheese light lol. It is quite revealing without coming across as analytical, retaining a surprising sense of musicality, with impressive depth and a holographic presentation. The Dolphin is an all rounder that will sound great with most music but really shines with Female Vocals and Metal. I will say it again, if you are as big a fan of female vocals or metal as I am, you should give the Dolphin a listen! Heck these are even great for monitoring given how balanced they are from top to bottom. And lastly, for those of you who are massive Havi B3 Pro 1 fans like myself, you are sure gonna get a kick out of the Dolphin![/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]You would think that the Dolphin would eviscerate lower quality music files, right? WRONG. It is surprisingly forgiving of poorly encoded files, which means that your cheapo mp3s should sound just fine. Furthermore, the Dolphin scales with better gear so it will grow along with your collection. While it sounded great running straight out of my Macbook Pro and BlackBerry Z30, it was noticeably better out of something like FiiO X7 with line out to VE RunABOUT 2.0. Heck it sounded awesome sauce out of my Sansa Clip+ (<3 <3).[/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]I avoided saying anything during first few days because I wanted to make sure that it was not new toy syndrome or a honeymoon phase, because if you can’t tell by now, I absolutely love the Dolphin! It does a lot of things right and really shines when driven out of a good source. This is the real McCoy, proving that you really ndon’t have to spend thousands to get top tier quality sounds![/COLOR]
[COLOR=353535]**As always YMMV. I have tried to capture how the Dolphin sounds to the best of my ability and as accurate as possible. These are my impressions and should be taken as such. I reserve the right to change my opinion as time goes on.**[/COLOR]
They really are something special!
