Auditioning the Atlas now at Addicted to Audio... So here goes, and yes it will be a bit of a comparison with the Noble Kaiser...
First impressions are that this is a rollicking, big and imposing headphone... But my gosh I hope I can get a good fit once they are in my hands in a few weeks time.
Aqya: Subsystem (You Are My Salvation remix)
The bassline rolls and the kickdrum pounds with authority. I love it!! But as others have said it is almost as though one must peer over it to witness what else is going on. It’s definitely not bass bleed per se. Obviously this pair is not burnt in yet having just arrived today.
-Seems to me the Atlas may be rather source sensitive. From the iPhone 7 Plus it is fairly clear I could do better. But to reiterate, this pair has seen no one else’s ears but my own yet which may be a factor.
Hosini: Syna
Not quite the same fluidity of the Noble Kaiser K10, though piano notes have a nice smooth quality to them with good attack, sustain and decay.
Pola & Bryson: Cinematic Fireball (Tom Middleton remix)
Now here the bass really, really impresses! Warm, with a certain texture, punchy on the mid-bass and controlled as the bassline ebbs and flows. Vocals sound taut, highs are clear but there are remnants of the Vega’s darker signature too.
Alejandro de Pinedo: Capricorn
The saxophone here sounds just a little too big, a little chewy. The vocal harmony that follows sounds nice, gorgeous even, but there’s something missing here that sent my hairs standing on end when listening through the Kaiser.
(Bear in mind this could come down to fit, the air pressure of the room and of course my source. There is a lot to like here besides, but time is limited).
AR Rahman: Mumbai Theme Tune
The flute hits a nice burnished high, the violins sing harmoniously, but here the bass overwhelms beneath.
Mike Oldfield: The Great Plain
This is beautiful. Strings here sound beautiful, and if nothing else this piece of music is a showcase of all kinds of strings. It’s like opening a door to some strange other dimension upon hearing the lower and middle reaches of the treble spectrum. Then the orchestral bass drum tumbles in with authority. A quite horizontal soundstage completes the picture.
Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing
I recall the Vega presenting this song in a strangely dingy dive bar-like aesthetic. The Atlas combines a pure studio (Mark Knopfler’s vocals) combined with a tiny pub front room atmosphere. Cymbals clash with a glorious sparkle, while the guitars exalt with deadly accuracy, captivating as I hear nuances never heard before. The bass guitar provides the foundation for it all nicely.
Machine Head: “Davidian” (Live)
The Shure SE846 presented this live recording juicily but not accurately in a tiny space, as though the venue were a small basement space a la Melbourne’s Cherry Bar. The Noble Kaiser, meanwhile, brought the venue to life in true to life fashion. Both did a great job reproducing the rawness of the music.
The Atlas removes a small portion of the noise and distortion overall; but there are nuances, moments and passages where Thor’s hammer really comes down. Of all three IEMs the Atlas seems to convey thenmost energy when this song is played.
Dave Clarke live @ ADE Essential Mix 2015
Thumping techno should one would think be something the Atlas can handle with aplomb like the Shure SE846. No question! And like the Noble Kaiser one can also hear what he’s doing in the mix, but even more besides!
I don’t know if any club in the world can do some of what I’m hearing here.... There’s an almost 3D “whomph” during the track that goes “Sometimes I feel like I wanna go bang!”
Shackleton: Hypno Angel
Surprisingly few IEMs get this right. Not so here. The Atlas delivers on the combination of timbre, soundstage, ominous bass and eerie chanting vocals that bring the desired atmospheric effect. Attack, sustain and decay throughout seems spot on, along with echoes working to full effect.
Special Request: FabricLive 92
Flicking through this excellent mix and it soon becomes apparent where the Kaiser showed off in full view the flawed recording quality of a track, the Atlas gives it a good home. The snare drums have timbre like I’ve never heard while bass is big without being boomy.
As the mix transcends from old skool electro/breaks to drum & bass things really do get heavy. There’s an ambient track 66:30 in that has a short-lived bass rumble that towards its close literally shook my skull from the inside out.
Oh yes...
Pink Floyd: “The Great Gig in the Sky”
24 bitdepth FLAC
One more before I overstay my welcome at A2A (although I am putting two hours of good burn in time on this demo pair)...
The piano and guitars sound absolutely beautiful here. Imagining has the piano almost beneath my chin line and to my sides which is interesting. More the recording’s fault rather than the Atlas I think but things fall apart slightly at this song’s climax. The Kaiser did I think a better job of conveying the raw emotion of Clare H Torry’s voice.
But then I skip to “Us and Them” and I can hear the Atlas really bring the magic. I’ve never heard the saxophone in this song quite like this before.
Earlier I had listened to Calibre’s “Keep the Faith”, at which time I thought the bass was overpowering. Already it seems to have tightened up. It is no longer dominant, however impactful it is.
. I assume that DSD would have come from SACD. The early (2002) Norah Jones SACD derived from a CD mastering that was just converted to DSD. Later on, another revision of Come Away With Me was made that's proper DSD.
