[angelom]

Is a pity that Jimi Hendrix albums never having a good original recording/master and, unfortunately, not even in subsequent (re)masters. But, after saying this, even when the Solitaire T, that in my experience more times than not, is offering little better/more realistic sound performance for rock and pop than the iO-12, the Dalis are doing the best job of all ANC/BT headphones (including the ST, of course) when extracting better sound from this not great sounding Hendrix albums. I discovering this some months ago, but today Hendrix is again in rotation in one of my playlists and I decide that I must sharing this discovery in this thread.

 

[David67]

Is a pity that Jimi Hendrix albums never having a good original recording/master and, unfortunately, not even in subsequent (re)masters. But, after saying this, even when the Solitaire T, that in my experience more times than not, is offering little better/more realistic sound performance for rock and pop than the iO-12, the Dalis are doing the best job of all ANC/BT headphones (including the ST, of course) when extracting better sound from this not great sounding Hendrix albums. I discovering this some months ago, but today Hendrix is again in rotation in one of my playlists and I decide that I must sharing this discovery in this thread.

That's great to read as I'm a massive fan of Jimi. So far, I've only been listening to 21st century music.

 

[angelom]

I love a lot of David Bowie's music (not all) and, like the majority of people that appreciating Bowie's music very much, his best albums, in my opinion are, without doubt, from early 1970s until the very excellent 'Scary Monsters' (1980). 'The Next Day' is a really, really very good comeback album after many years of not so good music by DB.

Bowie dying 8 years ago (2016) and his last album, 'Blackstar' (that he making when he already knowing that he will dying soon), is so very excellent and, for me, very possibly his best album from all his discography ---'Hunky Dory', 'Scary Monsters' and 'Ziggy Stardust', for me, being his second, third and fourth best albums--- and very possibly this creativity being the result of the urgency of knowing his time in this earth isn't very long.

One more time the Solitaire T, even when is really a great headphone, can't reproducing so excellently the sound of 'Blackstar' like the iO-12 (the ST making this album more warm and thick sounding than is appropriate).

 

[Daniel4IEM]

I heard there have been some quality control issues with IO-12. Curious to hear more context and impressions

 

[musingclouds]

I heard there have been some quality control issues with IO-12. Curious to hear more context and impressions

Where have you heard this from? All the reviews from this thread seem positive as well as all the reviews I see on retailers like Amazon

 

[flippant1]

I heard there have been some quality control issues with IO-12. Curious to hear more context and impressions

I did my "due diligence" and read every review and post before buying my pair. I can only say I can add to the positive reviews online. My pair is top quality, from the unboxing to the build quality to the sound quality. They are beautifully made and sound far better than any Bluetooth experience, such as the AirPods Max and Focal Bathys. They aren't quite in the league of summit-fi headphones I own, but they are in a league of their own among Bluetooth, far surpassing what has been available.
My pair of Dali IO-12 look, feel, and sound beautiful.

 

[David67]

I heard there have been some quality control issues with IO-12. Curious to hear more context and impressions

You didn't specify what the QC issues were.

Personally, another satisfied customer experiencing no issues whatsoever with the Dali IO-12. They are very comfortable and and a pleasure to listen to music through these cans.

 

[musingclouds]

I got my model from Thailand and also am supremely pleased as well

 

[Daniel4IEM]

Where have you heard this from? All the reviews from this thread seem positive as well as all the reviews I see on retailers like Amazon

It was a head-fier who said it generically and why I asked this forum. Glad to hear no known issues here

You didn't specify what the QC issues were.

Personally, another satisfied customer experiencing no issues whatsoever with the Dali IO-12. They are very comfortable and and a pleasure to listen to music through these cans.

 

[musingclouds]

Anyone have any recommendations on how to care for the leather cups?

 

[flippant1]

I recently received the Dali iO-12 and would like to share my experiences with you and look forward to a lively exchange about the headphones. I've already written about the headphones elsewhere, but I'd like to repeat my comments here (thanks @angelom for the tip).

My first impression with these gems: Bass like the B&O H95, but clarity and stage like ML5909 on Bluetooth HiFi mode. Best of both worlds! I'm very impressed actually.

The next day I tested the ANC without music while my girlfriend was driving on a German freeway (kind of a funny test, shout out to her!) with the windows up and radio on. I had the Bose QuietComfort, the ML 5909 and the Dali iO-12 with me and tested them side by side.

The clear winner was the Bose QuietComfort. It did the best job of blocking out the radio and almost all the noise from the road. In second place was the ML 5909, which was quite effective at blocking the lower frequenzies (e.g. road noise), but not as effective as the Bose at blocking radio noise. Last but not least was the Dali iO-12, which was surprisingly... well, ineffective or dare I say bad (?) for the price of 999 Euros. However, the ML 5909 and Bose had their problems with wind getting into the microphone and amplifying it a little in the headphones. Not the Dali iO-12, but maybe it has to do with the angel the wind hitting the integrated microphones.

That said, I don't think the Dali iO-12s are suitable for 'on the go' use. The headphones are quite large and don't sit as firmly on your head as the Bose, ML or B&O. And the extra case is huge, even bigger than the XM5's. And as I said, the ANC is good enough for home use, but I wouldn't personally take them on the train, plane, etc.

As for my personal user experience with the new Dali: I really like the voice feedback, but the little buttons on the side of the earcups still confuse me a bit. I keep pressing the wrong button. However, the large buttons on the flat side (where the Dali logo is lasered in) are really nice. I like the tactile feedback and the small increments to adjust the volume.

The Dali iO-12's transparency mode sounds quite realistic, but your own voices are still muffled. Still not at the level of the AirPods Max.

Having used the iO-12 for about 8 hours now, I have to say that the built-in bass EQ is quite nice, but it does muffle vocals a bit. I am not a hi-fi professional, and we certainly need more opinions on this, but I think you could say that the bass EQ bleeds well into the mids. This isn't bad when you're listening to electronic music without vocals, but I prefer the hi-fi EQ on most of the time. But it is still nice to be able to change the EQ quickly with just the click of a button... and maybe I feel that the mids have too much bass because the sound in hi-fi mode is sooo clear and sooo nice! The dynamics, the sound stage and clearity with fairly deep bass keeps me grabbing to the Dali rather to the ML 5909.

Any questions? Please let me know, I am more than happy to help.

Has anyone found the headphone stand that id featured in the Dali io-12 presentation from

I recently received the Dali iO-12 and would like to share my experiences with you and look forward to a lively exchange about the headphones. I've already written about the headphones elsewhere, but I'd like to repeat my comments here (thanks @angelom for the tip).

My first impression with these gems: Bass like the B&O H95, but clarity and stage like ML5909 on Bluetooth HiFi mode. Best of both worlds! I'm very impressed actually.

The next day I tested the ANC without music while my girlfriend was driving on a German freeway (kind of a funny test, shout out to her!) with the windows up and radio on. I had the Bose QuietComfort, the ML 5909 and the Dali iO-12 with me and tested them side by side.

The clear winner was the Bose QuietComfort. It did the best job of blocking out the radio and almost all the noise from the road. In second place was the ML 5909, which was quite effective at blocking the lower frequenzies (e.g. road noise), but not as effective as the Bose at blocking radio noise. Last but not least was the Dali iO-12, which was surprisingly... well, ineffective or dare I say bad (?) for the price of 999 Euros. However, the ML 5909 and Bose had their problems with wind getting into the microphone and amplifying it a little in the headphones. Not the Dali iO-12, but maybe it has to do with the angel the wind hitting the integrated microphones.

That said, I don't think the Dali iO-12s are suitable for 'on the go' use. The headphones are quite large and don't sit as firmly on your head as the Bose, ML or B&O. And the extra case is huge, even bigger than the XM5's. And as I said, the ANC is good enough for home use, but I wouldn't personally take them on the train, plane, etc.

As for my personal user experience with the new Dali: I really like the voice feedback, but the little buttons on the side of the earcups still confuse me a bit. I keep pressing the wrong button. However, the large buttons on the flat side (where the Dali logo is lasered in) are really nice. I like the tactile feedback and the small increments to adjust the volume.

The Dali iO-12's transparency mode sounds quite realistic, but your own voices are still muffled. Still not at the level of the AirPods Max.

Having used the iO-12 for about 8 hours now, I have to say that the built-in bass EQ is quite nice, but it does muffle vocals a bit. I am not a hi-fi professional, and we certainly need more opinions on this, but I think you could say that the bass EQ bleeds well into the mids. This isn't bad when you're listening to electronic music without vocals, but I prefer the hi-fi EQ on most of the time. But it is still nice to be able to change the EQ quickly with just the click of a button... and maybe I feel that the mids have too much bass because the sound in hi-fi mode is sooo clear and sooo nice! The dynamics, the sound stage and clearity with fairly deep bass keeps me grabbing to the Dali rather to the ML 5909.

Any questions? Please let me know, I am more than happy to help.

Anyone have any recommendations on how to care for the leather cups?

Has anyone been able to purchase the Dali headphone stand featured at the debut in Munich and on whatshfi.com website: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dali-io-12?

 

[Bahnhof Zoo]

Hi all. First post here, long time reader. Wanted to chime and say thanks for all of the great commentary on the Dali IO 12. Expecting them to arrive tomorrow. I’m coming from the sennheiser momentum 4 which I quite enjoy, Sony xm4s and xm5 prior to that (I know). Throw in wired stints with the fidelio x2hr and even the Koss Porta pro among others. I’m looking for one pair over over ears that are versatile with great sound and these seem like they’d fit the bill. I’m in no way un happy with the sound quality of my momentum’s. In fact I enjoy them tremendously but this pair have me intrigued and, not gonna lie, after reading everything I’ve read which is just about everything on the internet related to these headphones I’m expecting to be blown away. We shall see I guess. Anything I should know coming from the m4? Should I expect night and day difference? Curious if anyone else made the same jump?

 

[musingclouds]

Hi all. First post here, long time reader. Wanted to chime and say thanks for all of the great commentary on the Dali IO 12. Expecting them to arrive tomorrow. I’m coming from the sennheiser momentum 4 which I quite enjoy, Sony xm4s and xm5 prior to that (I know). Throw in wired stints with the fidelio x2hr and even the Koss Porta pro among others. I’m looking for one pair over over ears that are versatile with great sound and these seem like they’d fit the bill. I’m in no way un happy with the sound quality of my momentum’s. In fact I enjoy them tremendously but this pair have me intrigued and, not gonna lie, after reading everything I’ve read which is just about everything on the internet related to these headphones I’m expecting to be blown away. We shall see I guess. Anything I should know coming from the m4? Should I expect night and day difference? Curious if anyone else made the same jump?

You’re going to have your mind blown. But give it a few hours of burn in whether you believe in it or not

 

[Faketastic]

Hi. Another first time poster and long time lurker. I´ve had the IO-12 for a week now, coming from a pair of Airpods max for the same usecase. This time I wanted one pair of headphones that cover "everything" and after deciding against the Bathys, the IO-12 it was.
So far I'm really impressed and I really smile more when listening to music now. But, I have one issue; when walking, sitting on a bus or in a car with minor movement, there is a faint "rattling" sound from the right ear cup. It's not loud so I can only hear it with acoustic music, but it's very distracting. Listening to Bill Callahan walking in a moderate pace and the rattling could easily be heard.
Anyone else experiencing the same issue? I just wanted to check before I go back to the store.
Thanks!

 

[streetbeat]

I’m coming from the sennheiser momentum 4 which I quite enjoy

With that said...

Anything I should know coming from the m4? Should I expect night and day difference? Curious if anyone else made the same jump?

...IMO the only night and day difference is gonna be massive lack of bass response comparing to M4s I have both and M4s are so joyful for genres like drum and bass, jungle, dub, etc.
But maybe that would appear to be the sound you have been looking for. Depends on how your ears are trained and (even more) on actual music choices.