[maakheru]

I received the email saying my Alpha Dogs are on the way! I need to go ahead and sell my Grado 325is that I have never really listened to since getting the Mad Dog 3.2s. Every once in a while I would put them on, listen to half a song, then hurriedly take them off my ears and get back to the Mad Dogs.

 

[kstuart]

Some first impressions of the Alpha Dog:
 
* Definitely neither "warm" or "dark"... but also not "bright".  Very well balanced in that respect.  Not as warm as the Mad Dog (as others have said).
 
* Very sensitive to fit and placement on your head - of course, once you get this right, it's easy to just put them in exactly the same place every time. I found that I had to rotate the ear pads to make them parallel to my ear shape (in the same way that people have been doing with the Mad Dogs), in order to get the correct bass response.
 
* Even more resolving of micro-details than the Mad Dog.
 
* I now have verified my earlier statement that one should not spend your entire DAC/Amp/Headphone $600 budget on just the Alpha Dogs.   They will be fine while you are saving up for an amp, but they are even less efficient than the Mad Dogs - I really have to turn up my amps to get the same dynamics as on more efficient headphones.  If you don't have any more left on the knob to turn up .... then it will sound "dull".  So if you only have $600 total for the forseeable future, then get the Mad Dogs and $300 worth of amp or DAC/amp.
 
more later...

 

[koiloco]

  Some first impressions of the Alpha Dog:
 
* Definitely neither "warm" or "dark"... but also not "bright".  Very well balanced in that respect.  Not as warm as the Mad Dog (as others have said).
 
* Very sensitive to fit and placement on your head - of course, once you get this right, it's easy to just put them in exactly the same place every time. I found that I had to rotate the ear pads to make them parallel to my ear shape (in the same way that people have been doing with the Mad Dogs), in order to get the correct bass response.
 
* Even more resolving of micro-details than the Mad Dog.
 
* I now have verified my earlier statement that one should not spend your entire DAC/Amp/Headphone $600 budget on just the Alpha Dogs.   They will be fine while you are saving up for an amp, but they are even less efficient than the Mad Dogs - I really have to turn up my amps to get the same dynamics as on more efficient headphones.  If you don't have any more left on the knob to turn up .... then it will sound "dull".  So if you only have $600 total for the forseeable future, then get the Mad Dogs and $300 worth of amp or DAC/amp.
 
more later...

I am trying to read between the lines here 

  you got to give me more than what you did to figure out...

 

[kstuart]

Further impressions:
 
* The Alpha Dog has really nice presentation of instrumental timbre and detail.   The tuning accomplished by the structure of the new cups really helps to get a even, accurate presentation of the sound of instruments.  The Mad Dog is also good at this - its lack of "ringing" gives it greater clarity than, say the HE-400 - but the lack of soundstage depth causes multiple instruments to interfere with each other (what is usually termed "congestion").
 
* Something about the new cup design of the Alpha Dog allows it to have significant soundstage depth, separating instruments away from each other, and making them individually identifiable.  The combination of this with the excellent timbre, gives a very natural presentation of instruments not unlike some Magneplanar speakers.
 
* This makes the Alpha Dog really excellent with classical music.  I listened to the amazing section of the RCA Living Stereo SACD of Scheherazade - "The Story of the Kalendar Prince" at 8:20-9:30 where Reiner gets a huge orchestra to turn on a dime like a jazz trio.   The various instruments in the outstanding recording are spread out in front of you, left to right and front to back, and sound beautiful.
 
* In contrast, the accuracy of the Alpha Dog is not quite as compelling a factor with modern music like EDM.  Such music has no real soundstage, and is so processed that it is impossible to tell what it is supposed to sound like - what is "correct".   So, whatever produces the most enjoyable sound is best with modern music - regardless of accuracy.   Amongst my headphones, the Mad Dog has the most enjoyable sound with EDM.  The Mad Dog enhanced the exaggerated dynamics, harmonics and strong bass of Skrillex's "Rock 'n' Roll", while its midrange clarity made the effects all the more enjoyable.  The more accurate and nuanced presentation of the Alpha Dog was no advantage with this track, especially since there is no soundstage depth of significance in the recording.
 
* So, if you listen to little or no jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass or classical at all, you will probably find the Mad Dog more to your liking.  Its added warmth, slightly better dynamics, and better pairing with lesser equipment is ideal for 21st Century music styles.  However if you listen to a good portion of those classic styles and also some modern music, then the Alpha Dog is an excellent choice, because its rendition of modern music is good enough to enjoy any piece of music.   However, having both the Mad Dog and the Alpha Dog, I would find myself plugging in the Mad Dog to listen to EDM and even some reggae...

 

[kstuart]

 

  Some first impressions of the Alpha Dog:
 
[ .... ]

I am trying to read between the lines here 

  you got to give me more than what you did to figure out...

I don't usually imply things that are not stated.... the references are to an earlier exchange in the thread, where someone wanted to spend their entire budget on the Alpha Dogs, perhaps that is what is puzzling you.
 
I'm happy to answer any specific questions.

 

[koiloco]

  I don't usually imply things that are not stated.... the references are to an earlier exchange in the thread, where someone wanted to spend their entire budget on the Alpha Dogs, perhaps that is what is puzzling you.
 
I'm happy to answer any specific questions.

Nope, no question.  Thx for your honest impression.  I personally share many of your points about the AD.

 

[DigitalFreak]

For those interested, the AK120 drives the Alpha Dog very very well with headroom to spare
 

 

[eac3]

* So, if you listen to little or no jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass or classical at all, you will probably find the Mad Dog more to your liking.  Its added warmth, slightly better dynamics, and better pairing with lesser equipment is ideal for 21st Century music styles.  However if you listen to a good portion of those classic styles and also some modern music, then the Alpha Dog is an excellent choice, because its rendition of modern music is good enough to enjoy any piece of music.   However, having both the Mad Dog and the Alpha Dog, I would find myself plugging in the Mad Dog to listen to EDM and even some reggae...

 
 
Thanks for your impressions. 

 

[deafanddumb]

I have to say guys that I had my first taste of both the Mad Dog and Alpha Dog headphones at the weekend at our headphone open day, Mark the UK Distributor bought them along, we had a good turnout and everyone was really really impressed with both but mainly the Alpha Dog's, I really do not think that in the UK there is anything like them for the money, they are incredible value offering performance that no other headphone in my opinion could get close to, open or closed back, needless to say I signed on the dotted line to be a MrSpeakers dealer

you can see fellow Head-fi'er 'ninjapirate's' excellent pictures from our event here -

http://www.head-fi.org/t/687283/headphone-open-day-hifi-lounge-uk-november-16th-prizes-and-special-one-off-prices/15#post_9996778

Cheers,
Paul.

Paul, I'm in the UK. Where are you selling from and is there a website? Thanks.

 

[Vipers]

Being that I am not a paid up advertiser yet, hopefully soon, I won't put my details here, I will PM you though with my info.
 
We are expecting stock hopefully a couple of weeks before Christmas, no promises but that is the plan, already sold 2 pairs so I don't think that the initial stock will last long.

 

[Craigster75]

Could someone describe the vocal presentation of the Alpha Dogs compared to other headphones in terms of detail, transparency and forwardness?  

 

[vipervick]

Just ordered!!!

 

[kstuart]

  Could someone describe the vocal presentation of the Alpha Dogs compared to other headphones in terms of detail, transparency and forwardness?  

The instrumental detail of the Alpha Dog is its strongest point.  The custom cups and the individual tuning combine to give a very flat and even frequency response which gives a very natural timbre, and the combination of that natural timbre and instrumental detail is its "signature quality".  So vocals sound natural and detailed.
 
To me, transparency is the sum of the whole system's reproduction of music, so probably I use the word differently than you.   I find the Alpha Dog vocals to be neither "forward" nor "recessed".  (Although probably slightly more forward than the Mad Dogs.)

 

[koolas]

Could someone describe the vocal presentation of the Alpha Dogs compared to other headphones in terms of detail, transparency and forwardness?  

My gf is not a specialist, but she says they sound better than RHA30 (open version of M50), cleaner, sound is more defined, however she noticed the space is limited while on RHA30 it seems to never end. I personally think RHA30 sounds almost the same if it comes to signature, but Alpha Dogs give that extra detail, and extra blackness to the background, and more 3D effect even if there is a feeling that space is limited. Don't be fooled though, the space in AD is huge, it's just that you feel it ends around maybe 30 ~ 40 meters from your head.

BTW If you were listening on loudspeakers, how big is your room? It's probably way smaller than image materialized be Alpha Dogs.

 

[Craigster75]

My gf is not a specialist, but she says they sound better than RHA30 (open version of M50), cleaner, sound is more defined, however she noticed the space is limited while on RHA30 it seems to never end. I personally think RHA30 sounds almost the same if it comes to signature, but Alpha Dogs give that extra detail, and extra blackness to the background, and more 3D effect even if there is a feeling that space is limited. Don't be fooled though, the space in AD is huge, it's just that you feel it ends around maybe 30 ~ 40 meters from your head.

BTW If you were listening on loudspeakers, how big is your room? It's probably way smaller than image materialized be Alpha Dogs.

Thanks for the description.  My home theatre room is 25 feet x 15 feet.