I was encouraged elsewhere to post this here. It’s bits and pieces of my impressions.
I’ll say it off the get go. MrSpeakers products have quite a bit more production variety than most other headphones at the price range. Difference in quality can sometimes be seen as well.
Anyway, I have owned both the 2014 Mad Dog Pros and the 2014 Alpha Dogs, both of which I enjoyed thoroughly and consider them great value for their price and more. This is partially due to the lack of good closed back in the price range though.
I had not heard the Alpha Prime, and my opinions were based mostly on impressions and measurements. This is a summary of my thoughts on the Alpha Prime originally:
“I have not heard the AP, but I have owned and heard both the later version of MD and AD…enclosure makes a huge difference, although in the case of speakers, that's more valid, as headphones barely have space inside and between the driver and ear for enormous differences in enclosure design to change drivers’ characters.
However…the price was unwarranted and not in the same league built-wise and sound quality wise as similarly priced headphones in the $1K range. The enclosure of the AD and AP are exactly identical. YET for the same pads, headband, drivers and enclosure, you pay $400 more. I don't know how much work was done on the drivers themselves, but it can't warrant $400 more. I can buy a pair of HD 800 drivers for $500.
And at the end of the day, based on impressions and comparisons I have read, it just doesn't look or feel or sound like a flagship when compared to other flagships, and it is at most an incremental update, more neutral, compared to the AD. Speaking of the $600 Alpha Dog and the R&D and trial and error that has gone into it and its improvements over the original Fostex and the Mad Dog, it certainly gives you the sound quality for its price and more. And the extra cost of the pads and enclosures and all the nice extra touches certainly warrants at least $500-$600 for the finished product.
Nevertheless, with the Alpha Primes, there is just so far you can extend a $50 driver and $150 headphones before you hit a ceiling and modification becomes so incremental in its improvements, the time consumed is the only thing you're charging customers for (and MrSpeakers prices that extra time and effort and possible failure rates of driver modification at $400 extra over the Alpha Dogs). Based on MrSpeakers own estimates, there is a 75% failure rate when it comes to modifying the drivers for Alpha Prime. That failure rate is being passed on to the end user.”
Come a few weeks after and I have now had a chance to hear 2 different Alpha Primes, both with noticeably different sound signatures (though not significantly so), which is disappointing given both are supposed to be the same product. What I said above were more or less validated through my experience.
First of all, for all intents and purposes, it is identical in terms of aesthetics to the Alpha Dog. Nothing new here.
There is quite a bit of bass, but it lacks the impact, and warmth of Alpha Dog or anything else. It's thinner and hollower than its predecessors.
The treble is good, except for the occasional peak and sizzling, which I find horribly annoying. Only shows up on some recordings though. What it reminds me is when you turn the treble nob on vintage amps up a bit more than it should be.
There is zero air and airiness a lot of us enjoy. None at all. It's just missing the soundstage and natural sound some other headphones have. It's worse than the Mad Dog in this aspect, and that was already a closed-in headphones.
There was distortion at higher volume.
And the worst part of all, it lacks everything in the mids. Whether it was vocals or piano or anything, just sounded low-fi through and through.
Nothing has any presence, and compared to my HD800, the Alpha Prime lacks crispness and rolls over all the details. Just in general, female vocals, pianos and acoustic music sounded wrong. Not even close to proper. I’d say the mids on the Amperior or Momentum was much better presented than the Alpha Prime, and that’s a $700 price parity.
Now, for a pair of headphones, it sounds adequate. Certainly not terrible. But for a $1000 pair of headphones, especially compared to its peers in the $1000 category, give or take $300, it is just non-competent. It isn't even close. I find it a step backwards from the Alpha Dog. It sounds more like a more refined Mad Dog (in some aspects only) than a better Alpha Dog.
In the end, it isn't a terrible headphones. They sound good, but only for perhaps half the price. Maybe $600. DEFINITELY not $1000. I cannot imagine how anybody could be paying a $1000 for these, wait months and be able to smile while listening to them. They don't sound good at all. I had to force myself to listen to them for several hours each (two Alpha Primes) over two days, just to be able to pinpoint what the heck was wrong with them.
Again, I heard two different Alpha Primes, and while there were differences in the sound, one had more sibilance than the other, and the other had better mid and low bass, both pretty much had all the problems I explained above.
Also remember, they are VERY difficult to drive. They are more inefficient than any Fostex modifications I have ever seen. Bring your best highest power amp you have for orthodynamics.
I should include that the two Alpha Prime and all comparisons to my existing headphones were done through the Concero HD -> Auralic Taurus MKII, and using balanced cables with the Alpha Primes.
Disclaimer: YMMV, and these are all subjective personal opinions and impressions of my own. I am young, have sharp ears, play a number of instruments effectively, and have been described to have pitch perfect ears as a teenager. In no way am I implying all Alpha Primes sound like this, or everybody’s impressions will be similar. Thank you for reading.
