[WDitters]

Hi WDitters,
Have you cared to try the io6 through the stereo cable input and if so, did you notice better sq than using BT? I am wondering if the dual usage is viable - BT on the move and wired at home using external amp/dac?

I have .. and yes, the SQ is audibly better wired than via BT .. depending of course how you drive it .. However both via 3.5mm analog paired with a a decent amp (LG V40 quad-dac comes to mind, any of the Audioquest Dragonfly Red of Cobalt DACS, or an iFi Micro BL or xDSD amp) and via USB mode on the internal 32/96 dac the difference in SQ is obvious.

So in answer to your question, dual usage not only is viable, I think it's recommended ... But even with this clearly being the case, the difference between true high-end cans remains obvious .. That gap cannot be bridged with a headamp.

 

[WDitters]

Well that's weird, because our resident Dali rep says otherwise.

Makes me really curious ... In power on mode, wireless usage, in identical setups, with identical battery capacities, the IO4 and IO6 theoretically should have similar battery life ... If the batteries are identical, the amps are identical (save for the ANC function), the drivers are identical and the DACs are identical, there simply is no reason why battery life shouldn't be comparable to say the least ...

I would understand how switching ANC on would impact battery life as that typically involves high speed sound processing and generating an inverted audio signal for it to cancel outside noise. On almost all other ANC cans there is a visible difference in battery life between ANC on and off ... So common sense would almost suggest that the whitepaper is correct ...

 

[VilMo]

I have .. and yes, the SQ is audibly better wired than via BT .. depending of course how you drive it .. However both via 3.5mm analog paired with a a decent amp (LG V40 quad-dac comes to mind, any of the Audioquest Dragonfly Red of Cobalt DACS, or an iFi Micro BL or xDSD amp) and via USB mode on the internal 32/96 dac the difference in SQ is obvious.

So in answer to your question, dual usage not only is viable, I think it's recommended ... But even with this clearly being the case, the difference between true high-end cans remains obvious .. That gap cannot be bridged with a headamp.

Thanks, this confirms my per-conceptions. I already have EMU Teak that I enjoy and probably Dali will not match it, but hopefully it can provide different sound signature for enjoyment of different tracks. Dual/triple usage (BT/USB/stereo wired) is welcome option and I am glad that quality scales as well to the limit of the drivers and the headphones in general.

 

[Marshmallow85]

I agree with WDitters, wired SQ is significantly better vs BT, hence dual usage would make sense. Also, in my opinion, been able to listen wired without battery power is one of the biggest advantages vs PX7.

 

[WDitters]

Thanks, this confirms my per-conceptions. I already have EMU Teak that I enjoy and probably Dali will not match it, but hopefully it can provide different sound signature for enjoyment of different tracks. Dual/triple usage (BT/USB/stereo wired) is welcome option and I am glad that quality scales as well to the limit of the drivers and the headphones in general.

To be honest, I have experienced similar improvement in all wireless cans that also had an option to connect via wire. The simple fact that codecs such as LDAC, AAC, SBC and even APTX (HD) apply at least some form of compression makes that a wired connection is almost guaranteed to outperform a wireless connection. In that sense there are so many factors that come into the equasion ... What source material does one use (Spotify 320kbps versus Tidal or Qobuz HD), what cabling, what amplification etc .. Remember .. the end-result will always be determined by the weakest link ..

 

[WDitters]

Does anyone already have some real-world experience with the Dali's ANC during flights? How do they compare to for instance Bose/Sony? The Stuff review mentions "gentle noise cancelling" but on the other hand, the ANC technology seems to have been sourced from Sony, the current ANC rulers ..

 

[Brintkiks]

Makes me really curious ... In power on mode, wireless usage, in identical setups, with identical battery capacities, the IO4 and IO6 theoretically should have similar battery life ... If the batteries are identical, the amps are identical (save for the ANC function), the drivers are identical and the DACs are identical, there simply is no reason why battery life shouldn't be comparable to say the least ...

I would understand how switching ANC on would impact battery life as that typically involves high speed sound processing and generating an inverted audio signal for it to cancel outside noise. On almost all other ANC cans there is a visible difference in battery life between ANC on and off ... So common sense would almost suggest that the whitepaper is correct ...

The whitepaper that you have is an early press example (with a few errors), which wasn't published on our website. The updated whitepaper on our website doesn't mention this, because it is simply not true. As previously stated, you can't improve the battery life of the IO-6 by turning ANC off. This is due to the fact that the ANC chip is also the amplifier, so it will always be on...whether or not ANC is turned on or off. I hope this makes sense.

 

[WDitters]

The whitepaper that you have is an early press example (with a few errors), which wasn't published on our website. The updated whitepaper on our website doesn't mention this, because it is simply not true. As previously stated, you can't improve the battery life of the IO-6 by turning ANC off. This is due to the fact that the ANC chip is also the amplifier, so it will always be on...whether or not ANC is turned on or off. I hope this makes sense.

It does to some extent .. I still am curious what the technical differences are between the IO-4 apart and the IO-6 .. Is it only ANC or are there more differences? Does the IO-4 also have an amp that should remain on all the time? Or does the amp in the IO-4 somehow consume less power or battery has a higher capacity battery?

 

[Brintkiks]

It does to some extent .. I still am curious what the technical differences are between the IO-4 apart and the IO-6 .. Is it only ANC or are there more differences? Does the IO-4 also have an amp that should remain on all the time? Or does the amp in the IO-4 somehow consume less power or the battery has a higher capacity?

The DALI IO-4 and IO-6 share the same Bluetooth chip, which also works as the amplifier in the DALI IO-4 - and is much less battery hungry. In the IO-6, the signal is passed on from the Bluetooth chip to the ANC chip, which then functions as the amplifier, but is twice as battery hungry compared to the Bluetooth chip. And had we been any other headphone company, we would probably have scaled the battery size according to the chip (to save money), but we decided to keep the same battery in the IO-4 as well as the IO-6, which means a double up on battery life for the IO-4.

 

[WDitters]

The DALI IO-4 and IO-6 share the same Bluetooth chip, which in the DALI IO-4 also is the amplifier, which is much less battery hungry. In the IO-6, the signal is passed on from the Bluetooth chip to the ANC chip, which then functions as the amplifier, but is twice as battery hungry compared to the Bluetooth chip. And had we been any other headphone company, we would probably have scaled the battery size according to the chip (to save money), but we decided to keep the same battery in the IO-4 as well as the IO-6, which means a double up on battery life for the IO-4.

Ha ... That properly explains it, thanks. The difference between the two models is now a lot clearer... ...

 

[Marshmallow85]

The DALI IO-4 and IO-6 share the same Bluetooth chip, which also works as the amplifier in the DALI IO-4 - and is much less battery hungry. In the IO-6, the signal is passed on from the Bluetooth chip to the ANC chip, which then functions as the amplifier, but is twice as battery hungry compared to the Bluetooth chip. And had we been any other headphone company, we would probably have scaled the battery size according to the chip (to save money), but we decided to keep the same battery in the IO-4 as well as the IO-6, which means a double up on battery life for the IO-4.

Thank you for the detailed explanation Brintkiks. I assume ANC amp is better/more powerful than BT amp? Otherwise, why use power hungry ANC amp if BT amp would be as good. Correct me if im wrong.

Cheers

 

[smaragd]

@Brintkiks would you be able to advise when the IO-6 will be available in Hong Kong?
I’m looking forward to try it.

 

[WDitters]

Thank you for the detailed explanation Brintkiks. I assume ANC amp is better/more powerful than BT amp? Otherwise, why use power hungry ANC amp if BT amp would be as good. Correct me if im wrong.

Cheers

Good question .. Normally Noise Cancelling is has to factor in both sounds coming from the outside and sound coming from the inside, and preferably avoid to impact the sound coming from the inside as that would influence the SQ .. I guess handling both the amplification and the Noise Cancellation on one chip makes sense as that would eliminate (or minimize) any potential timing issues.

 

[Emperror]

After very long consideration, Dali IO6 stay with me. Although the M3 has more bass, which I basically like, the sound clarity is amazing in IO6, just like the amount of audible details I just fell in love ...

 

[buzzlulu]

Brintkiks
I asked last week when the IO6 will be available in the USA. No reply was received. There has been 1 or 2 other requests on this thread as well which have not received any replies.

Some manufacturers consider us to be a worthwhile market

Calls to Lembrook have been unhelpful with complete lack of knowledge of ANYTHING. At one point I was told to call the sales rep for my area (NYC) however no reply has been received from him.

Several DALI dealers I spoke with indicated no plans to carry them. A dealer who had interest to special order has also failed to follow through and provide information. .

In this competitive market with many other options available from B&O, B&W, Sony and Bose I think DALI is doing real harm to this product launch due to the complete lack of information / lack of interest by the distributor. As time passes without release of further information it is natural for people to start losing interest and move on to the multitude of other product offerings in the market.

FYI the four well known manufacturers listed above all sell via Amazon, Crutchfield, BestBuy etc. While the desire to sell via the established line of Dali 2 channel retailers is admirable unfortunately here in the USA we have more “bad” 2 channel dealers than good. I have a NAIM 2 channel setup and customers often gripe that we get shortchanged in good service compared to our fellow NAIM users in the UK whose dealer network is exemplary.

DALI might consider seeking distribution from several of the large online dealers such as Amazon or Crutchfield. That would also open sales up to many customers who are not geographically near a DALI dealer