[smaragd]

Took the plunge and ordered from Amazon Germany.
Becomes tax free when shipping out of the EU.
Thanks for the great feedback and support.

 

[Brintkiks]

For me the dali/h9/mw65/Etymotic diffuse field curve of neutrality isn't real neutrality of the real life sound.

And what do you base this assumption on? I think you are mixing apples with pears... You are of course in your own right to think what you want, but base your assumptions on facts.

 

[angelom]

And what do you base this assumption on? I think you are mixing apples with pears... You are of course in your right to think what you want, but base your assumptions on facts.

Please read my post good. I saying "for me" and this meaning is my opinion, and this opinion coming from my experience. I never saying this is fact. Maybe you first trying basing your reply in good reading my post.

 

[NY24]

I'd like to add listening to hans Zimmer on these headphones are just a joy, can't get enough.

 

[spybyscript]

I picked these up a few days ago and think I have enough experience now to give an initial opinion.

My headphones:
Campfire Cascades
Access to Sony 1000xm3 & B&O H9i (family members)

So on to the review...

Setup:

I did testing with the iO6 with a windows 10 machine & amazon music with ultra-HD tracks where possible, HD otherwise.

Comfort:

For me comfort is important. For the cascades I have the large leather pads (the ones that ship weren't quite there, didn't like the cloth). The cascades are comfortable, but bulky, and due to the larger pads more comfortable than the rest in this comparison.

The Sony's are not that comfortable over long use; the clamp and padding are light and end up hurting my ears over an hour or two. The B&O are just a bit more comfortable and come out being similar to the Dali iO-6; the round shape isn't ideal but the way they adjust to your ear and the padding material end up making them more usable over time.

In comparison the Dali are pretty comfortable; they aren't that noticeable when wearing them, although they can get a bit warm. The Sony 10000xm3's become painful (to me) after an hour or two of using them.

Audio (wireless, for Dali):

I'm not sure why people have said these are bass-lite or weak on bass; going to a song like Brass Monkey the bass was there and sounded fine. I mean, nothing like what the Campfire Cascades put out, but with the dampers removed (both optional and built in) that thing is a bass canon. Compared to the Sony it handled the bass in the songs with refinement and didn't drop out the mid's or highs at all. I then switched over to some other songs like Bubbles/Letter from Yosi Horikawa to test soundstage and how easy it is to pick up the small sounds. Compared to the Cascades... there is no comparison at all wireless vs the wired Cascades. The Cascade just sounds better. Compared to the Sony and B&O... the Dali's were clearly better; the Sony's sounded more muffled and B&O sounded more tinny and definitely lacking in bass. However, the Dali over wireless needed to be turned up quite a bit higher for perceived volume; the Cascades at 25% volume were louder than the Dali's at 70%. The Sony and B&O also were louder. Overall, when there is audio playing the Dali iO-6 picks up more detail than the Sony and B&O do by a long mile.

One note: when there is nothing playing there is a noticeable hiss with the iO-6 even with noise cancellation/transparency turned off. This is present if the headphones are turned on.

Audio (plugged in with cable):

Volume is much more comparable to the Cascades once plugged in and not playing through bluetooth. Audio level is definitely improved; the iO-6 sounds much better plugged in than it does over bluetooth. Again, doesn't touch the Cascades (especially with songs that have bass) but they sound better than the Sony by a pretty big margin. The sound-stage seems to be better when wired.

Note: if the headphone is 'on' the internal dac produces a noticeable hiss. When you plug in and make sure the headphones are turned off this hiss will go away; the audio quality is much better with the built in dac turned off.

Noise Cancellation:

The Dali's noise cancellation is... ok? It is nice that it can be turned on and will do noise cancellation without being connected to a device playing audio, but it is nowhere near the equal to the Sony's implementation. They work better than simply passive, but aren't that good compared to the competition. If noise cancellation is a primary factor, the Dali's loses there.

Connectivity:

They are -much- easier to use than the Sony with multiple devices. They remember multiple devices and are pretty trivial to switch, although that said nothing compares to the Apple bluetooth options when it comes to connectivity. It's very easy to use the built in controls of the Dali, turning the various modes on/off and no accidental touches that are easy to trigger on the Sony headphones.

End thoughts:

I think these are better than the Sony and B&O and are great wireless headphones. The noise cancellation works, but is probably one of the weaker implementations out there. There is a noticeable hiss when nothing is playing that can be annoying that only goes away if you use these wired and turned off; the headphones shine when wired and have great audio quality when being driven through an external dac or just the device they're plugged into. There is a much more noticeable improvement than you'd get with the Sony's; they almost seem like they were more intended to be driven through a wired connection.

I think the Dali's are great headphones for the price; comparing them to my "at home" set isn't really that fair, but they're good enough for music/netflix/etc wireless and comfortable enough that I don't have as much urge to drag the bigger wired headphones around.

 

[Dougeefresh]

Anyone knows where I can get this (IO-6) in the U.S.? Hopefully with a hassle-free return policy. Thanks.

 

[spybyscript]

Anyone knows where I can get this (IO-6) in the U.S.? Hopefully with a hassle-free return policy. Thanks.

No where yet. If you live close to the Canadian border they can be found up north pretty easily though.

 

[Lakerfreak]

Anyone knows where I can get this (IO-6) in the U.S.? Hopefully with a hassle-free return policy. Thanks.

Amazon.

 

[WDitters]

Additional auditioning material:

MQA Tidal Masters
https://listen.tidal.com/playlist/9ad0b834-47a2-4266-8b7c-f52825f04946

10 of the best Hi-Res albums on Tidal according to What-Hifi
https://www.whathifi.com/features/10-of-the-best-hi-res-albums-on-tidal-masters

15 hi-res albums on Tidal to treat your HiFi system, again by What HiFi
https://www.whathifi.com/features/15-hi-res-album-downloads-to-treat-your-hi-fi-system

KEF Audio System Workout
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/162f2681-972c-4887-aec4-2ec729a6e14d

DALI CD Vol 1
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/baa945b8-6278-479e-a609-ca810e5e340a

 

[fiolmattias]

Does anyone got a playlist for Apple Music that they want to share?

 

[WDitters]

Does anyone got a playlist for Apple Music that they want to share?

10 of the best songs to test your speakers - What Hi-Fi
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist...est-your-speakers-what-hi-fi/pl.u-4qmlCme51vv

10 of the best tracks to test your headphones - What Hi-Fi
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist...t-your-headphones-what-hi-fi/pl.u-5W6lSVp02jj

 

[tiagopinto]

Indeed. I made it into a habit to put any new headphones through 200h of alternating white pink and brown noise . .. My pair of DALI IO-6 now just reached 100h and it has audibly improved meanwhile.

What source do you use for this burn-in process?

Thanks.

 

[tiagopinto]

I have put together a little playlist on Spotify for people who appreciate the heavier side of things (there a couple of lighter songs in there too) all of these are songs I have enjoyed on Io 6s

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/36Td3rKxIVoUbHUuhdW4Ev?si=byHoo4XFQxewWqKPdhciIg

Thanks. I’m following.

 

[WDitters]

I have an MP4 file containing pink white and brown noise, extracted and converted from here

Playing that in a constant loop whenever I am not using the headphones

 

[tiagopinto]

I suggested to @Brintkiks that DALI develop replaceable earpads in various sizes . The bajonet catch that they have put on the DALI IO is perfectly suited for that... He seemed to like the idea ... So fingers crossed.... Until then I will just keep folding my earlobes into the cups. So far it has only been a minor nuisance, largely compensated by the fantastic sound of these cans..

@Brintkiks is it a possibility that Dali is making different earcup sizes for the bayonet?
I would jump on the iO-6 instantly.
I’m going to use the “chosen ones” for around 8+ hours a day. SQ is definitely the most important parameter for me. But comfort is very important too.

Thanks.