On my search for a affordable bluetooth headphone, I've noticed people on Head-Fi peer pressuring others to jump up to a $1,300 bluetooth headphone that is the best headphone ever.
I saw posts that Dali was advertising that their expensive headphone sounds just like an electrostatic headphone and with the lowest distortion in a headphone.
I've attached a video below.
@2:36 - 6:08
The Dali employee here is saying almost all headphone drivers on the market are "cost effective, commoditized, no focus on the driver" they have the solution that no one else has, with the lowest distortion possible.
I felt like Sound Science was the best place to inquire about this.
I sent a message to Gregorio about this topic, and he gave me really good insight of his thoughts! There are some red flags in their marketing material such as not fully publishing evidence that their driver is actually audible in reducing distortion. Greg also mentioned that Dali's marketing is "in this case Eddy Currents and Magnetic Hysteresis but more commonly something like jitter or skin effect and then make some claim about your product being better because it reduces or removes the effect but the consumer can’t verify the claim because it’s a complex effect that only scientists/engineers specializing in those specific areas will fully understand."
I wanted to post in the Sound Science to get more thoughts on this style of Audiophile marketing that utilizes Scientific Concepts.
Is this a way just to squeeze money out of people? Creating a problem and then selling the solution?
https://www.dali-speakers.com/en-us/sound-academy/tech/patented-soft-magnetic-composite-smc/
I've attached a link to Dali's webpage about the patent for the Soft Magnetic Composite driver.
I wanted to add pricepoints for a couple of products.
Dali IO-12 Bluetooth Headphone cost $1,300 USD
Dali Kore Flagship speaker utilizing SMC driver costing $120,000 USD
I definitely am not interested in purchasing a headphone for $1,300 USD.
I am worried that people are being squeezed out of their money due to peer pressure or having to fit into a crowd to have the best headphone.
Replying to the original post... (rarely visiting here, sorry for the late reply).
Here's what I figured out of the Dali IO-12 drivers after a few months of ownership:
- They are far, far better then than drivers in the Dali IO-6 and IO-4: bigger sound stage, more layered, better resolution in the whole FR range, better dynamics. That is likely due to the improved magnetic circuit, so there is ground for Dali's SMC claims.
- However, they are far from being even close to good electrostatic drivers (Stax and others). Dali should clarify the reference there.
- They are close, but ultimately not as good IMHO as the drivers used in the closed back Denon D9200 and D7200, and Fostex TH900.
Here I make a note that the D9200 and TH900 drivers use almost-too-strong (1.5T) magnetic field (close to the theoretical 2T limit), i.e. the drivers work closer to magnetic saturation, which is the likely reason for their problems in the treble rendition, but in turn they offer much better musical resolution. The IO-12 drivers are closest to the rather neutral Denon D7200 drivers, only a bit more shouty without pads and in passive mode. Both don't have any treble issues.
However, in active mode (hifi setting), I find the IO-12 drivers very good, currently the best in wireless headphones (IMHO), and that includes the T+A ST, ML 5909 etc. - YMMV (some or many people still prefer the T+A ST, which is fine and legit, just not for me).
If Denon would make the D7200 an active wireless headphone with or without ANC, I'd buy it immediately.
Until then, I am more than happy with the IO-12.
Even though I have world class e-stat systems which are far better, several classes above, I am still often lazy enough to not switch them on, and just listen wireless via the IO-12... they are that good, at least after some ear pads optimizations to my ears. Since that, the overall experience has been close to the top passive closed back headphones with very good amplification (with some differences here and there). Considering the total price of those systems, IMHO the IO-12 is a screaming bargain for the musical experience and convenience it offers.