ScuderiaHeadFi
Member of the Trade: Tune HiFi
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2010
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UPDATE: Shigzeo has a thread dedicated to his impressions on these new DBA-02s updates that just came out, to which y0 linked below. For the sake of accumulating one continuous conversation, go ahead and post over there.
I am tingling with excitement to have received my new set of DBA 02 MK2s in the mail today. (The official spelling of the product name is as above, in the thread title.)
First impressions:
The material experience: Packaging was nice, though not overly luxurious. There was a little dust on the tips, but otherwise no reason to gripe over (nor glorify) these new IEMs as delivered. I tried the tips that came fitted on the mkIIs out of the package, and immediately found a comfortable, well-isolating fit. The variety of tips included should ensure that everyone finds something comfortable. The cable jacket is a bit rubbery and has just a touch of memory. These are meant to be worn over the ear and come with earhooks to help with that.
The sound: As I just said, I got these and opened them up only a few minutes ago. So far, I have only listened to Amon Tobin's newer album, Isam. This is music that can be defined as built on ambience or feel - it is experimental electronica that seeks not to be musical, but mesmerizing - driven by the most thumping low bass and attention-grabbing highs possible. It also presents an amazing test of timbre, as purely synthesized sounds are dropped in under, over, or alongside meticulously chosen and produced samples of real instruments (or found objects to which he has taken a musical fancy).
While a far cry of an improvement over my last IEMs, which were a budget remedy to my commuting needs, I'm a little disappointed. Balance is excellent, reproduction of timbre and extraction of detail superb. This is what balanced armatures are made for. However, they are a little boring. While I knew beforehand that I was not getting the same list of attributes provided by dynamic IEMs in the same price bracket, I thought, based on reviews of the original DBA-02, that the mk II would have a little more life, a little more zing. Bass quality is respectable, but for an album like Isam, slam is completely lacking.
At any rate, I am going to play with these for awhile, and report back to you all on how everything turns out. I'll give them more time, more music, and try them across a wide variety of sources to see how they end up working. Until then.
I am tingling with excitement to have received my new set of DBA 02 MK2s in the mail today. (The official spelling of the product name is as above, in the thread title.)
First impressions:
The material experience: Packaging was nice, though not overly luxurious. There was a little dust on the tips, but otherwise no reason to gripe over (nor glorify) these new IEMs as delivered. I tried the tips that came fitted on the mkIIs out of the package, and immediately found a comfortable, well-isolating fit. The variety of tips included should ensure that everyone finds something comfortable. The cable jacket is a bit rubbery and has just a touch of memory. These are meant to be worn over the ear and come with earhooks to help with that.
The sound: As I just said, I got these and opened them up only a few minutes ago. So far, I have only listened to Amon Tobin's newer album, Isam. This is music that can be defined as built on ambience or feel - it is experimental electronica that seeks not to be musical, but mesmerizing - driven by the most thumping low bass and attention-grabbing highs possible. It also presents an amazing test of timbre, as purely synthesized sounds are dropped in under, over, or alongside meticulously chosen and produced samples of real instruments (or found objects to which he has taken a musical fancy).
While a far cry of an improvement over my last IEMs, which were a budget remedy to my commuting needs, I'm a little disappointed. Balance is excellent, reproduction of timbre and extraction of detail superb. This is what balanced armatures are made for. However, they are a little boring. While I knew beforehand that I was not getting the same list of attributes provided by dynamic IEMs in the same price bracket, I thought, based on reviews of the original DBA-02, that the mk II would have a little more life, a little more zing. Bass quality is respectable, but for an album like Isam, slam is completely lacking.
At any rate, I am going to play with these for awhile, and report back to you all on how everything turns out. I'll give them more time, more music, and try them across a wide variety of sources to see how they end up working. Until then.
