[Maukey]

I usually put my glasses on with its earpieces resting on the earcups of my headphone. But whether it works or not depends on your frame.

Haha. This is exactly what I started doing this morning. I don't see how anybody can say these are bass lite. With what I was hearing due to the seal being broken because of my glasses, I'm wondering how many of those saying these are bass lite wear glasses or don't have a proper seal. These are VERY sensitive to seal. The funny thing is, I still thought they were clear and detailed even without the proper seal, I just wasn't getting much bass impact. Now that I've fixed the seal issue, the bass is very neutral and in line with the rest of the frequencies. It still doesn't have the slam and excitement of my Senn M3, but still hits hard when the track calls for it. This has changed the game for me now. The M3s might be going back. I just love that these are different than pretty much every other Wireless ANC headphone on the market when it comes to it's sound profile. I actually find them more comfortable than the M3, has better battery life, and I actually prefer the connect to one device at a time approach vs. the M3s connect to two devices at one time but no way to conveniently manage the connections like the Bose N700 and B&W PX7 with their apps.

I do have a question for Brintkiks. Do you recommend using these passively or with the electronics turned on when connecting to an external gaming amp/dac? I know, I know, I can use my own ears to determine which I prefer. I'm just curious as to your opinion, or the opinion of others if they've had experience with this.

 

[WDitters]

I do have a question for Brintkiks. Do you recommend using these passively or with the electronics turned on when connecting to an external gaming amp/dac? I know, I know, I can use my own ears to determine which I prefer. I'm just curious as to your opinion, or the opinion of others if they've had experience with this.

That's also a matter of taste in the end, but I personally prefer them completely passive when connected to my Dragonfly/iFi.... But on the other hand, the Dagonfly is so damn portable that wired plus ANC while traveling also works a miracle ...

 

[fiolmattias]

That's also a matter of taste in the end, but I personally prefer them completely passive when connected to my Dragonfly/iFi.... But on the other hand, the Dagonfly is so damn portable that wired plus ANC while traveling also works a miracle ...

Doesn’t Dragonfly + ANC just increase the volume, but still uses the Dac and amp of the Dali? In other words, if you turn on the ANC you are not using them passively.

 

[NY24]

Hey Brintkiks can you advise what's the most watts we should use to charge these headphones to avoid not damaging the battery? my iPhone charger is 12W but im thinking of maybe getting the 18 or 30 w USB charger.

 

[WDitters]

Doesn’t Dragonfly + ANC just increase the volume, but still uses the Dac and amp of the Dali? In other words, if you turn on the ANC you are not using them passively.

Well, the Dragonfly will for sure be used. Not sure if by switching on the DALI ANC the internal DAC enters the signal path again (@Brintkiks ?j,
but when I do that in the office I nevertheless notice the improved SQ coming out of the Dragonfly...
But I guess that when I am in a plane, it matters somewhat less as there will be all kinds of interference anyway

 

[ewetcr]

If I understood correctly, analog input will either go to passive if the power is off, or through the amp if it is on, either with ANC or without it. Now, via Bluetooth or usb, which comes as digital info from the wire or interpreted by the Bluetooth chip, it'll need to go through the DAC first, then to the amp. Note that via usb the cans need to be powered On, whether you have ANC on or off doesn't matter in that regard.

 

[AntonRisto]

From what other people have said, there is a "burn in" period (50 hours to 200 hours) before the headphones perform to their full potential. I've had the Io-4 for about 3 weeks and speaking from a 100% subjective perspective, I've either been listening to music with a more prominent bass or the bass on the headphones is more pronounced. So, perhaps give it a bit more time and maybe even subject them to the noise generator for a few days that was posted last week.

Okay, thanks for that info. I might have to get them and try them at home for a few days since I only tried them for about 45 mins in the store. And I'm not sure how long they had been tested before that since they haven't been available in the store for long.

By the way, can you still use them while charging via the USB-C cable?

 

[WDitters]

By the way, can you still use them while charging via the USB-C cable?

Yes you can .. I sometimes use them wirelessly while connected to the USB slot on my Surface Pro charger
Also, if you use them connected to you PC via USB, you can use the built-in DAC as output device and charge the cans at the same time ...

 

[ilatimer1]

I know what you mean I kept the Dali as I prefer the sound to compared to px7 & returned the px7 but Have you tried momentum 3 they have amazing sound excellent detail like Dali but with serious punch but do have a completely different signature.

So now I have the Dali IO-6s, the PX7s and the Momentum 3s. I have to say I think the momentum 3s are the best sounding headphones for me and the type of music I listen to (hard rock/metal). I really want to pick the Dali's, but my problem is that they are so clear the treble level actually hurts my ears and the bass is a little subdued IMHO.

 

[shabta]

Has anyone tried the ANC directly against the Bose or the Sony? How different is it from those two headphones? Also has anyone worn them for 12 or more hours in a row? How comfortable is it? I do a lot of travel, the sound signature described of Dali sounds like a winner for me. But I have great headphones at home (HD800S and Kaldas RR1), so I care a lot about ANC and comfort for travel.

 

[fiolmattias]

Has anyone tried the ANC directly against the Bose or the Sony? How different is it from those two headphones? Also has anyone worn them for 12 or more hours in a row? How comfortable is it? I do a lot of travel, the sound signature described of Dali sounds like a winner for me. But I have great headphones at home (HD800S and Kaldas RR1), so I care a lot about ANC and comfort for travel.

I own Sony xm3, and have worn them both for about 6hrs as the longest. I get about as tired from both of them. I would wear neither longer than that. But that is my head, I feel the preassure at the sides of my head a lot in most headphones. I find the Sonys a warmer, but not that it bothers e when I sitt still.

The ANC in the Sonys are really in a league of their own. That said I find the Dali good enough for busses and trains. With some audio on, either music or podcast, I hear nothing from the outside.
I have never been on a airplane with them, so I can't comment on that, but my guess is that they are good for that as well.
The passive noise cancelling on the Dali are on the other hand a lot better then the Sonys. I took a 4hrs train ride and the phones were turned off and gave a decent seal against the train sound. The Sonys can't do that.

 

[shabta]

I own Sony xm3, and have worn them both for about 6hrs as the longest. I get about as tired from both of them. I would wear neither longer than that. But that is my head, I feel the preassure at the sides of my head a lot in most headphones. I find the Sonys a warmer, but not that it bothers e when I sitt still.

The ANC in the Sonys are really in a league of their own. That said I find the Dali good enough for busses and trains. With some audio on, either music or podcast, I hear nothing from the outside.
I have never been on a airplane with them, so I can't comment on that, but my guess is that they are good for that as well.
The passive noise cancelling on the Dali are on the other hand a lot better then the Sonys. I took a 4hrs train ride and the phones were turned off and gave a decent seal against the train sound. The Sonys can't do that.

Thanks for the reply. I actually use ANC w/o music sometimes to sleep on planes. So, maybe sony is the way to go, I have Bose QC25s and the guy next to me let me try his sony. It had better noise cancelling, better sound, and I could use it wireless. Maybe good to hear from someone who has tried the io6 on a plane?

In europe, most trains aren't that loud. Although when I go to NYC it is definitely a plus on the subway to have good ANC.

 

[Javawocky]

I have both right now. I think the IO-4's and IO-6's with ANC off sound the same. The bass is lighter than most headphones in this category and not overemphasized, as others have described. They sounds awesome, but if you like strong bass you will likely be disappointed.

Others have suggested that maybe the IO-4's are tuned to sound like the IO-6's with ANC on. I do not believe that to be the case from my usage and it seems unlikely.

The IO-6's with ANC on still sound very good. Some headphones sound obviously worse with ANC on (I recall the B&W PX were quite a bit worse with ANC on), these just sound a little different but still very good, IMO. ANC on results in mildly stronger bass and it seems like frequencies in the vocal range are a little more recessed.

If you are concerned about not getting enough bass, I'd recommend the IO-6 so you have the ANC option that will help a bit, even if you don't really need the ANC at the time.

@ulmer. I had a chance to listen to both the 4 and 6 today and I agree with your assessment of them. The 4 sounds the same as the 6 with ANC off, while switching ANC on adds some bass and makes the sound ever so slightly claustrophobic. Still very good though and for bass actually better. They also sound very similar to my B&O H9i with ANC off and the 6 possibly better with ANC on (or just different).

 

[AnakChan]

I’ve been playing around with the iO-6’s ANC & I used to own the Sony WH1000-XM2. The Sony’s noise cancellation as definitely much more aggressive whilst the iO-6 is a little more “natural”.

The iO-6 seems to cut down lower frequencies background wooing ambient sound whilst nearby voices/vocals are still quite audible. The Sony’s seem to cut out all ambient noise almost akin to picking up sounds an external mike, and filtering out everything there.

Dali’s description of the ANC cancels out is quite accurate from what I hear :

When ANC is activated, the IO-6 actively cancels low frequency noise - eg. in the shape of a repeating and rhythmic deep background rumble. Be it in the office, on an airplane, bus or train or when mowing the lawn.

 

[shabta]

I’ve been playing around with the iO-6’s ANC & I used to own the Sony WH1000-XM2. The Sony’s noise cancellation as definitely much more aggressive whilst the iO-6 is a little more “natural”.

The iO-6 seems to cut down lower frequencies background wooing ambient sound whilst nearby voices/vocals are still quite audible. The Sony’s seem to cut out all ambient noise almost akin to picking up sounds an external mike, and filtering out everything there.

Dali’s description of the ANC cancels out is quite accurate from what I hear :

Thanks! As much as I am tempted (there's a retailer online in france offering io6 for 320), I think that what I really care about is supreme ANC and convenience. The Dali ANC sounds meaningfully worse, so I will skip it. The sony m3 is on special for 229 euros. I appreciate the answers to my questions.