[Roderick]

It's the lack of innovation that bothers me. It's great that speaker manufacturers start making headphones but would be cool if their expertese translated into products that push the industry forward. Few examples from alternative universe: Klipsch, a legendary speaker manufacturer founded in 1946 starts making headphones and we get this, Klipsch hp-3.

Good thing that Klipsch really did not do that and instead they went on and they gave us this. But KLH did come up with that first headphone. With their 63 year experience they could have done more than just a new version of Sivga SV007 .

Bowers&Wilkins, quality audio since 1966. This is Bowers&Wilkins P7. That would have been stupid and I'm glad this is the real P7 Sad thing is that RBH decided not to use their 44 years of experience into making something unique but used chinese oem instead. You can find the RBH headphones under many names, M&O, urbanfun, MTV and so on.
Imagine a world where this is Fostex TH900. It is actually Telefunken Audion. Flagship headphone of a audio company established in 1904 is Taiwanese Yoga CD2500. .

What if Focal Utopia was this instead of this?

If Mcintosh had not decided to go all beyerdynamic with their mhp1000, if Adam had designed something new with SP5 instead just using Ultrasone tech and if KLH, RBH, Emotiva,Telefunken and many other companies had done their own thing we could have many interesting headphones today. If Focal, Klipsch and Bowers&Wilkins had chose the re-use, rebrand, oem route we would have missed out on a lot of great headphones.

 

[Beagle]

the Phoenix has a polyethylene diaphragm with a vapor deposited graphene lattice? I am surprised no one has mentioned that before in all the Sivga Phoenix reviews or did I miss something?

If all they've got to offer is another colored, sunken midrange headphone, does it matter?

 

[trellus]

If all they've got to offer is another colored, sunken midrange headphone, does it matter?

depends on the ears judging them

 

[Mhog55]

Maybe for people who want larger pads on their Sivga Phoenix?

 

[Youcan1]

The KLH Ultimate One is actually a pretty good sounding headphone. I'd still have them if the ear hinge didn't break (I may even try to get another pair if I can get them for under $100). The junk ear pads are keeping me away from the Phoenix. If the Emotiva goes on sale during Black Friday I may give them a try (I've been missing the X2 bass impact). Sivga/Sendy definitely gets around. My Monoprice M570 has the exact same headband/hinges as the KLH Ultimate One. They must be the go to factory for companies looking to get into headphones.

 

[Roderick]

The KLH Ultimate One is actually a pretty good sounding headphone. I'd still have them if the ear hinge didn't break (I may even try to get another pair if I can get them for under $100). The junk ear pads are keeping me away from the Phoenix. If the Emotiva goes on sale during Black Friday I may give them a try (I've been missing the X2 bass impact). Sivga/Sendy definitely gets around. My Monoprice M570 has the exact same headband/hinges as the KLH Ultimate One. They must be the go to factory for companies looking to get into headphones.

You are correct about KLH and M570 headband/hinges being the same. It's the same system used in many cheaper chifi headphones like bosshifi b8, blon b7 and monoprice m650. Just the size and shape varies depending on the shape of the cups. So emotiva headband is not M570 like Josh said and I did not doublecheck that(sorry). Emotiva headband is more like one on monoprice m1070 and m1570. I wonder if those are Sivga OEM. Previous m1060 and m565 were made by goldplanar.

KLH's might be fine headphones. I'd like to hear those someday but won't be spending $300 on a set (350€ at KLH europe). I definately don't need one but I would like to open them up and see what is inside.

 

[Youcan1]

You are correct about KLH and M570 headband/hinges being the same. It's the same system used in many cheaper chifi headphones like bosshifi b8, blon b7 and monoprice m650. Just the size and shape varies depending on the shape of the cups. So emotiva headband is not M570 like Josh said and I did not doublecheck that(sorry). Emotiva headband is more like one on monoprice m1070 and m1570. I wonder if those are Sivga OEM. Previous m1060 and m565 were made by goldplanar.

KLH's might be fine headphones. I'd like to hear those someday but won't be spending $300 on a set (350€ at KLH europe). I definately don't need one but I would like to open them up and see what is inside.

I agree. On eBay you can find the KLH for well under $200 USD. Good luck getting them shipped overseas though. I pretty much only buy headphones on sale.

 

[shortstack31489]

Has anyone got to demo these yet?

 

[Ableza]

Quick review: Emotiva Airmotiv GR1

The new GR1 headphones arrived and this is my impression of them after about 90 minutes of listening.

First, the packaging is very nice with a custom box and molded plastic carrying case. The case even includes a belt loop with a spring-clip carabiner in case someone wants to use these as portable headphones. The phones and cable nestle nicely into the case.

The overall aesthetics of the headphones are very nice, with gunmetal finish on the metal parts, a wooden (apparently) ear cup and a custom Emotiva logo back plate. The head band pad and the ear cups are vinyl-covered memory foam. The ear pads are shaped for right and left use with a nice large marking inside the cup to remove all doubt about which one goes where. The perforated ear pads are removable so they could in theory be swapped with something made from velour or real leather if desired.

The removable cable connects to the ear cups using standard 2.5mm connectors, so it could be swapped with any number of aftermarket cables if desired. The cable is super flexible, and I detected no significant microphonics when using the headphones.

The ear cups are relatively small: the owner's manual says 2.25 inches inside diameter. Much smaller than the Sennheiser HD580 that I will compare to these, and even though I do not have what I consider to be large ears they did not go around my ears, sitting on my earlobes. The headband is easily adjustable and has a nice click to it when you move it through positions, indicating that it should stay where you put it. The headband pad is relatively thick. Some reviewers have noted similarities to headphones from Monoprice and others, but I have no experience with those for confirmation.

Comfort for me is marginal. As mentioned, the ear cups are too small for my ears. The GR1 is very light weight but the clamping force seems higher than normal. The weight of the phones was supported by clamping my ears rather than being distributed across the headband. After a 30-minute listening session I wanted to take them off, as my ears were both starting to hurt and to sweat. This may not be an issue to some users but to me it was a big negative as I tend to listen for long periods while working.

So how do they sound? These headphones sound recessed, like there is a huge dip in the midrange, with over-emphasized bass. They sound like Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Compared to the overall neutral tonality of the HD580 the GR1 sounds like a home theater system with a subwoofer set +10db too hot. I wished I had an EQ to tone these down. The top end is nice, not shrill or fatiguing, but the big bass bump with recessed mids reminded me of an old set of Sony car stereo speakers. All bass and treble. Perhaps these will appeal to gamers or those listening to a movie on their phone. With their low impedance and super-high efficiency (105db) they are likely a perfect match for use with a phone or tablet. I could imagine that soundtracks with explosions or big bass effects would be killer on these. But unless you listen to primarily EDM I cannot recommend these. My 20+ year old Sennheiser were far superior in my opinion.

Overall, some users may find these enjoyable and even lots of fun. They are not to my taste.

 

[Mhog55]

Quick review: Emotiva Airmotiv GR1

The new GR1 headphones arrived and this is my impression of them after about 90 minutes of listening.

First, the packaging is very nice with a custom box and molded plastic carrying case. The case even includes a belt loop with a spring-clip carabiner in case someone wants to use these as portable headphones. The phones and cable nestle nicely into the case.

The overall aesthetics of the headphones are very nice, with gunmetal finish on the metal parts, a wooden (apparently) ear cup and a custom Emotiva logo back plate. The head band pad and the ear cups are vinyl-covered memory foam. The ear pads are shaped for right and left use with a nice large marking inside the cup to remove all doubt about which one goes where. The perforated ear pads are removable so they could in theory be swapped with something made from velour or real leather if desired.

The removable cable connects to the ear cups using standard 2.5mm connectors, so it could be swapped with any number of aftermarket cables if desired. The cable is super flexible, and I detected no significant microphonics when using the headphones.

The ear cups are relatively small: the owner's manual says 2.25 inches inside diameter. Much smaller than the Sennheiser HD580 that I will compare to these, and even though I do not have what I consider to be large ears they did not go around my ears, sitting on my earlobes. The headband is easily adjustable and has a nice click to it when you move it through positions, indicating that it should stay where you put it. The headband pad is relatively thick. Some reviewers have noted similarities to headphones from Monoprice and others, but I have no experience with those for confirmation.

Comfort for me is marginal. As mentioned, the ear cups are too small for my ears. The GR1 is very light weight but the clamping force seems higher than normal. The weight of the phones was supported by clamping my ears rather than being distributed across the headband. After a 30-minute listening session I wanted to take them off, as my ears were both starting to hurt and to sweat. This may not be an issue to some users but to me it was a big negative as I tend to listen for long periods while working.

So how do they sound? These headphones sound recessed, like there is a huge dip in the midrange, with over-emphasized bass. They sound like Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Compared to the overall neutral tonality of the HD580 the GR1 sounds like a home theater system with a subwoofer set +10db too hot. I wished I had an EQ to tone these down. The top end is nice, not shrill or fatiguing, but the big bass bump with recessed mids reminded me of an old set of Sony car stereo speakers. All bass and treble. Perhaps these will appeal to gamers or those listening to a movie on their phone. With their low impedance and super-high efficiency (105db) they are likely a perfect match for use with a phone or tablet. I could imagine that soundtracks with explosions or big bass effects would be killer on these. But unless you listen to primarily EDM I cannot recommend these. My 20+ year old Sennheiser were far superior in my opinion.

Overall, some users may find these enjoyable and even lots of fun. They are not to my taste.

Thanks for the write up. Now we know how the Phoenix will likely sound with the larger pads.

 

[Beagle]

Quick review: Emotiva Airmotiv GR1



So how do they sound? These headphones sound recessed, like there is a huge dip in the midrange, with over-emphasized bass. They sound like Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Compared to the overall neutral tonality of the HD580 the GR1 sounds like a home theater system with a subwoofer set +10db too hot. I wished I had an EQ to tone these down. The top end is nice, not shrill or fatiguing, but the big bass bump with recessed mids reminded me of an old set of Sony car stereo speakers. All bass and treble.

Thank you for sharing. I love not spending money!

 

[Youcan1]

Thank you for sharing. I love not spending money!

There are other reviews I've seen that are a lot more positive. The descriptions do sound a lot like the Phoenix. So either the driver is the same with a different coating or the cup shape/material affects the sound more than I realized. I'm guessing another big factor is how well these things fit on your head/ears just like with those headphones.

Here's one (scroll to bottom):
https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/emotiva-gr-1-headphones/17478/45

Here's another:
https://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/57942/gr-headphones

 

[Ableza]

There are other reviews I've seen that are a lot more positive. The descriptions do sound a lot like the Phoenix. So either the driver is the same with a different coating or the cup shape/material affects the sound more than I realized. I'm guessing another big factor is how well these things fit on your head/ears just like with those headphones.

Here's one (scroll to bottom):
https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/emotiva-gr-1-headphones/17478/45

Here's another:
https://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/57942/gr-headphones

Yes, like I said in my review, liking how they sound is a personal choice and some people will enjoy them. To each his own.

 

[Youcan1]

Yes, like I said in my review, liking how they sound is a personal choice and some people will enjoy them. To each his own.

Exactly my point. Never take one person's opinion as gospel. You said the mids are very recessed and another guy called this headphone mid forward.

 

[Beagle]

Exactly my point. Never take one person's opinion as gospel. You said the mids are very recessed and another guy called this headphone mid forward.

Well, that's where measurements can play a part, to find out who's hearing 'correctly'? I don't rely on measurements to determine whether or not I will like a headphone but it does provide a basic guideline to the frequency balance that the headphone has.