[fiolmattias]

Have anyone compared these to the IO-6?

 

[bronco1015]

These are definitely on my radar.

 

[WDitters]

Detailed review from Techradar: https://www.techradar.com/audio/headphones/wireless-headphones/dali-io-12-review

She enjoys the sound and finds the ANC to be more effective than the Focal Bathys and Bowers & Wilkins PX8.

It’s a little bit sad that heapdhones like these often get compared to the wrong competitors. Nothing bad or wrong with the Bose and or Sony ANC type wireless headphones, but in my mind the €200-600 segment belongs more to the quality consious business traveler than to the traveling audiophile ... A bit funny to compare the IO-12 with Bose and Sony, and not with Mark Levinson, Solitaire T.

Note: Then again, this often seems to be the case. I admit sometimes having to grin when I see shouting titles such as "The best ANC Headphones available for 2023" only to see for example JBL to make that list

 

[angelom]

Dali iO12, T+A Solitaire T and Mark Levinson No. 5909 (headphones, cases and earcups sizes)

 

[Fabik]

@angelom and @WDitters It looks like you already have the iO-12, let me know your first impressions! How do they compare to the ST, how would you rate the soundstage, bass, mids and treble?

 

[polymathic]

@angelom and @WDitters It looks like you already have the iO-12, let me know your first impressions! How do they compare to the ST, how would you rate the soundstage, bass, mids and treble?

In my experience, @angelom and @WDitters don't rush to give early impressions under the excitement of a new purchase. They will do some serious listening and comparisons before giving some first impressions.

It looks like the iO-12 will be fantastic for people with large ears.

 

[WDitters]

In my experience, @angelom and @WDitters don't rush to give early impressions under the excitement of a new purchase. They will do some serious listening and comparisons before giving some first impressions.

It looks like the iO-12 will be fantastic for people with large ears.

Mine have not arrived yet ... But indeed, good assessment of how we usually approach things

 

[Fabik]

In my experience, @angelom and @WDitters don't rush to give early impressions under the excitement of a new purchase. They will do some serious listening and comparisons before giving some first impressions.

Haha, they seem to have earned a lot of street cred here But for sure they will decide when they want to say something specific about the iO-12. I don't want to rush anybody, sorry if that's the case. We're doing this for fun and to share our excitement and interest. For my part, I am interested in the first impression, not just the last. I think that's part of the whole process, isn't it?

By the way, my ears are a bit close to the driver's with the iO-12. I have more room with the Bose QC, to be honest. But as @WDitters said, it is a funny comparison! Even though the iO-12 is so heavy, I still find it quite comfortable.

 

[angelom]

In my experience, @angelom and @WDitters don't rush to give early impressions under the excitement of a new purchase. They will do some serious listening and comparisons before giving some first impressions.

It looks like the iO-12 will be fantastic for people with large ears.

Mine have not arrived yet ... But indeed, good assessment of how we usually approach things

Actually, it's very normal for me giving very initial impressions, usually starting with the first day I receiving a headphone/earphone and then continuing with more impressions in next days, weeks and months even.

For my part, I am interested in the first impression, not just the last. I think that's part of the whole process, isn't it?

Yes, I think I'm agree here but you having different variables for the way we listening to things the first day, or later or even the time of the day, type of music, etc.

By the way, my ears are a bit close to the driver's with the iO-12. I have more room with the Bose QC, to be honest. But as @WDitters said, it is a funny comparison! Even though the iO-12 is so heavy, I still find it quite comfortable.

I think comparing with other more cheap options isn't bad. This is useful too because in my experience MANY people have tendency of exaggerating about sonic differences simply because one headphone is very more cheap or expensive than other. BUT, similarly, I'm agree with WDitters that reviewers that comparing very expensive headphones with only Sony or Bose isn't good. For me, in ideal world, you can comparing one very premium headphone with similarly price headphones, but giving some contrast with more cheap options is useful too. Why? Because, in general, this exaggerations about more expensive = better is many times nonsense.

------------------------------------------------------------

Some initial comments:

--- All 3 headphones (12, ST, ML) are made in China. For me this isn't problem (my iPhone 15 Pro and 16" MacBook Pro are made in China). I owning products in the past made in Germany, USA, England, etc that presenting problems too. The more important thing is quality control and that the product is originally having good specifications independently of where the product is made.

--- For my good surprise, the 12 is very comfortable even if more heavy than majority of ANC headphones. No discomfort with earpads or headband or clamping force. The earpads covering all my ears with sufficient nice free room. Yes, I need wearing more long time but I think I can saying confidently that the 12 is very good for long listening sessions. I only worry a little about heat, but maybe this is because now I'm changing headphones all the time for comparisons.

--- Even if the ST having antiallergenic vegan leather (that, for my big surprise, working great for me) and the 12 having genuine leather (my normal preference in headphones all my life), the standard (cheap?) plastic in the 12 earcups is a big contrast to all the plastic parts of the ST that are made of specific excellent quality compound that is nothing like normal plastic at all. The surface of the 12's earcups are looking like you can scratching easily. The plastic in my ST looking like the first day after 12 months.

--- The 12 looking very, very big when you are wearing. Some people saying they don't like that the ML looking very big in public...well, the 12 is looking really more big even.

--- The playback buttons working really well in the 12. No swiping, always only clicking, and this is great and having very responsive action. And a very good thing is that the clicking isn't making loud noise that can be very irritating in other headphones (the new Bose QC Ultra, for example, is really terrible in this aspect)

--- Volume is 30 steps for iOS and macOS. Great. And you have more max volume than in the ML and ST.

INITIAL SOUND IMPRESSIONS.

Today I only comparing in Bluetooth mode with ANC and transparency off --- the 12 is in "HiFi" setting, the ST is in BT "High Quality" mode, BUT the ML is with "enhanced" bass because when ANC is off then the bass in "neutral" position isn't sufficient (with ANC on you having big boost and isn't my preference).

--- My quick result today is this: I prefer the sound of the ST, then the 12, then the ML.

--- I think general public will preferring the 12 first, and maybe the ML second (specially with ANC on that giving more bass).....then the ST.

--- Bass in ST is better, with more texture (notes having more delineation) and the low end is going down more, meaning that having better extension. The ST is have a very tasteful lift in sub-bass while keeping a very neutral tonal balance in the complete frequency range. Next is the 12,a nd then the ML with more mid bass weight.

--- Mids are more present in the ST (I love this) than the 12 and ML, and the 12 having better, more realistic, weight in midrange than the ML. The weight of the mids in the ST having better weight too than the 12, with little more authority (best word I can finding).

--- People that liking treble, or listening to a lot of classical music (specially more old orchestral recordings) maybe very possibly preferring the 12 or even the ML that having more treble presence even. (I prefer the 12's treble than the ML's, but still prefer the ST's treble than the 12's). I think that the treble frequency is the more difficult getting correctly in headphone reproduction, and the ST's treble is remarkable, in my opinion.

--- The ST presentation is more intimate than the 12 and ML. Both the 12 and ML having more big soundstage, but I still prefer the complete tonal balance of the ST even if soundstage is more small.

--- In general, until this moment (I need more testing!) I think the ST having a more honest and genuine reproduction of what a recording or master is presenting. The ST, like I saying several times in the ST thread, maybe is a little boring for some/a lot of people (for me isn't at all!). But if this is the type of sound that you appreciate, then is difficult finding better clean window for what the album is presenting.

--- I don't know if is the unique tech of the ST, but I hearing the music little more clean in the reproduction (clean of artifacts) than in the other 2 headphones, like I'm listening to wired headphone and not via bluetooth. BT "High Quality" mode in the ST giving 35 hours of battery instead of 70 hours of BT in normal mode (more typical of BT/ANC headphone) because of the process happening in hardware that is completely different from all BT/ANC headphones, including the new Dali iO-12.

 

[WDitters]

Alas .. I will have to be patient once again ... Delivery for the IO-12 is scheduled for 14:00-19:00 today .. But I will have to leave to the airport around 13:00 for a business trip to Vienna later this afternoon ... That puts my first acquaintance with them squarely into the weekend

 

[krenzler]

I do wonder if the IO-12 with its rubber driver surround will benefit from extensive "burn-in"?

 

[JustCans]

Just a note about the discussion about portability with these;
You can in fact use the much smaller IO6 pads on these, making them the exact same size as a pair of IO6's

Having a pair of both pads will make them a lot more versatile.

Edit: Personally tested and confirmed. Haven't have enough time with the IO6 pads to make a good note about the difference in sound.

 

[angelom]

I don't doing my ANC testing yet but I want saying this about changes in sound with ANC on:
When ANC is on you hearing a clear boost in bass in the io-12 comparing with bass in 'hifi' mode. With the ST you having a boost in bass too when ANC is on comparing with the ST's 'high quality' mode, but this boost is more big in the 12 than in the ST. The same boost in bass with ANC on is very more big in the ML than in the 12 or ST.

 

[angelom]

EDIT: Please read this post after 20 days where I making a discovery about multipoint connection performance.

----------------

Multipoint connection isn't working well with the io-12 for me. Is erratic. I'm using iPhone 15 Pro (iOS 17.1) and 16" 2021 MacBook Pro (Sonoma macOS 14.1), both devices with the more recent firmware updates.

Connection to both devices is very, very quick when you first switching on the headphone. BUT after you pause first device and play the second device, the music is playing fine and very quickly in second device, BUT when you want pausing or playing or playing next/previous track from the headphone controls in the second device, the device isn't responding anymore BUT you can looking at the first device and seeing that is pausing or playing or playing next/previous track but with no sound (the volume control is always working fine in the 2 devices, by the way). So, you must doing all this actions manually directly in the second device's playback functions or use ONLY one device for things becoming normal operation from the headphone.

This happening equally if I starting using my iPhone and then going to my MBP, or if I starting with my MBP and then going to my iPhone, always the second device will playing quickly after switching but then not pausing or playing or playing next/previous track from the headphone, only using the second device's playback controls.

This isn't happening with my Solitaire T or ML 5909.

Somebody saying that the io-4 and io-6 can updating using a cable connection to a (Windows) computer (similar like my 6 years old b&w p7 wireless, here I using an old MBP), so I hope Dali fixing this quickly with firmware update and that this is possible with both Windows and Macs.

 

[Metalingus]

Dali always impress with quality but compared to something like Airpods Max, even Bathys, these look horrendous. Like airport $15 headphones with no brand.