[audiofrk]

  I swear, having spent my second all-night listening sesh w/ the Alpha Dog Prime I can hear the evolution of Mrspeakers, and not merely of Clarks engineering, but his work at his Art. I don't give a sh__ if that sounds corny. I'm rockin' these things right now w/ my Cavalli Audio LAu, ( via Nordost Heimdall 2 or Double Helix Molecule Elite Hphone cables)  - just using digital playback today/last night unfortunately - but my favorite digital front-end: My MacBook Pro/Amarra Symphony SSD / McIntosh D100 balanced DAC...
 
These are, for me, far more natural-sounding that their predecessor, and actually feel more-so as well,  across the frequency spectrum. When I say feel, I mean I have a much more immediate physical connection to the music through these All-Clark-Designed drivers wrapped in an Alpha Dogs body than I did w/ my original Alpha Dogs. I actually sold them once I got the Mad Dog Pro! But the Prime, I'm giving this thing a work out, and it's like a classic 911: It loves it when you throw all sorts of sharp turns and straight aways at that biiiiiaaaaaatttt_____!
 
So, thus far, initial Impressions (considering my original Alphas) - and don't tweak Alpha Dog owners - this is the name of the game - they keep on pushing themselves:
and I have a feeling Dan will do right by you... But HERE WE GO:

As mentioned: FAR more natural sounding across the frequency spectrum - creating this wonderful full-bodied, resolute and dimensional soundstage/sound-field.
 
I also feel greater impact in the low bass extension, and again, to use the word resolute - as it's the only one that captures this - the bass is also far more detailed and natural. The subtleties, capturing the nuance, is also refined in the Prime (h___ NO that was not an intentional rhyme).
 
OVERALL - for me, as a genuine fan. I mean - Dan gave me what I really started to NEED ABOUT 2 YRS AGO OR SO - a pair of musical CLOSED-BACK PLANAR HEADPHONES! And I still love my OG Mad Dogs today. But I've passed those along to a budding audio and music addict recently...
 
So - I'm psyched to tackle this review, and I wanna hear what other guys are thinking! THIS and the RHA T10i have BOTH presented as extreme winners to me - and are the ones that I really wanted to do well this year - so the sun is shinin'.....
 
Back to Listening!!!!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I was enjoying another pair for a bit - but Dan insisted on sending another pair for the review - and he was RIGHT ON!! -  and Dan THANKFULLY got it to me on time to write it up at Headphone.Guru BEFORE RMAF and later Audio360.org. 

Hate to pit to great creaters against each other but Mike how does the Alpha prime compare to LFF paradox slant and enigma?

 

[zachchen1996]

 
Hate to pit to great creaters against each other but Mike how does the Alpha prime compare to LFF paradox slant and enigma?

 
Yeah, and the TH900 too?

 

[Lorspeaker]

whew...this is getting more n more tempting.

 

[tuckers]

I ordered it today

 

[aamefford]

I ordered it today

You Dog! Oh wait - kind of a pun. Never mind. Seriously, congrats!

 

[Frank I]

For those interested http://headphone.guru/mr-speakers-alpha-prime-the-alpha-evolves/

 

[mikemercer]

   The best headphone that I own and use just got even better? Do want. I hope we can upgrade if possible because I don't want to pay the hefty full price...

I believe Dan is going to offer an upgrade path - I'm just not sure when - but I'll ask him at CanJam!
 
I just reviewed the Alpha Prime for Headphone.Guru.
If anybody's interested, HERE'S THE LINK!
 
  

 

[mikemercer]

  For those interested http://headphone.guru/mr-speakers-alpha-prime-the-alpha-evolves/

OOPS!
 
Thanks Frank!
 
I didn't see your previous...

 

[mikemercer]

 
Hate to pit to great creaters against each other but Mike how does the Alpha prime compare to LFF paradox slant and enigma?

I don't have enough time w/ the paradox yet to make a comparison - but I will soon!
I also have an enigma on the way!!!
 
Will get on this once it arrives!!

 

[audiofrk]

I don't have enough time w/ the paradox yet to make a comparison - but I will soon!
I also have an enigma on the way!!!

Will get on this once it arrives!!

Thanks mike

 

[Praguepolo]

  I believe Dan is going to offer an upgrade path - I'm just not sure when - but I'll ask him at CanJam!
 
I just reviewed the Alpha Prime for Headphone.Guru.
If anybody's interested, HERE'S THE LINK!
 

I sure hope Dan finds a way and that he's aware there are a lot of us out there that would pay a reasonable amount (e.g. the 400 USD suggested) for an upgrade. Having purchased the Alpha Dogs and a nice Double Helix cable to compliment them, another 1000 USD investment on the Primes would wipe my budget out for the foreseeable future. If you can carry our concerns and wishes to Dan at Can Jam (gotta love the alliteration) it would be most appreciated. 

 

[reddog]

I believe Dan is going to offer an upgrade path - I'm just not sure when - but I'll ask him at CanJam!

I just reviewed the Alpha Prime for Headphone.Guru.
If anybody's interested, HERE'S THE LINK!


 
 

A wonderful review Mike, now I can not wait to upgrade.

 

[mrspeakers]

Since people requested frequency response here it is...  This is our target curve.  
 
For those who are not familiar with headphone measurements, don't try to make sense of the data over 5KHz, there are too many interactions between the test fixture and headphone.  Generally, our measurements correlate pretty well with InnerFidelity's frequency response and THD but don't get carried away, you can't overlay our results to theirs and expect a direct match.  
 
A few notes for those not into the measurements; the "rolloff" around 1K is not really rolling off.  The headphones are very smooth with noise and tones.  And yes, the bass on most units is that flat, and yes, it's a closed headphone with one minor vent and the same isolation you've been used to with the Alpha Dog.  The "peak" at 7KHz does not result in sibilance, this is mostly a measurement artifact.  
 
We are going to publish that the -3dB point is 15Hz, but so far every unit we've built has easily beaten that.
 

The THD is materially improved relative to the Alpha Dog.  
 

 
The impulse response is exceptional, with very little overshoot and a very rapid decay envelope.  This in part explains the resolution and speed the headphone conveys.
 

 
 
As you can see, except from one blip at 540Hz (all headphones have some blips like this) the THD from 100-10KHz is mostly the noise of our test fixture, so THD is mostly below 0.3%.
 
None of this explains the sound, though.  But I know you all were curious.  This data is not averaged or smoothed in any way, I just took the data from the set I was building for RMAF and thought it'd be interesting.  (I can confirm that we will have at least 5 for sale at RMAF)  These measurements are from the first production units, not from our prototypes and reference units.
 
Thanks, and see some of you at RMAF!

 

[mrspeakers]

First production run is under way...
 

 

[swspiers]

How do we know those aren't just re-badged?
 
(I am so just kidding, but wanted to make the joke before someone wrote it in a serious way)
 
Love the Alpha Dogs, and can't wait to read about them once they get out in the wild!