[gammi]

Ha! The VM-1a is something special--that's true. I think it's too early to count the Zahl out, though. It might just be an easily fixable grounding issue with my chain.

Maybe try this, worth a shot for "only" $99
https://ifi-audio.com/products/gnd-defender/

Also grab a $15 multimeter from your local auto parts store or Walmart/Target and check if there's any DC voltage on your outlet. IFI makes a DC blocker as well if this is the case.

If you haven't already, make sure everything is plugged into the same outlet.

 

[Hiker816]

Maybe try this, worth a shot for "only" $99
https://ifi-audio.com/products/gnd-defender/

Also grab a $15 multimeter from your local auto parts store or Walmart/Target and check if there's any DC voltage on your outlet. IFI makes a DC blocker as well if this is the case.

If you haven't already, make sure everything is plugged into the same outlet.

Thanks!!

 

[yyzSB]

This is probably answered elsewhere in the thread.
Can I run Immanis off of a VM-1a? How does it do?

Considering grabbing tubes of some sort to compare against my AHB2, LA90D, etc.

I've also considered the WA33.

Amazing. I took my VM-1a to my demo of the Magna and Immanis. I have no interest in changing the amp. I bought the VM-1a (again) specifically for the new phones and that turned out to be the correct call.

There is no volume issue that I came across with the VM-1a. There was some concern that it would be too loud. Not the case with the RME DAC I heard it with.

 

[simorag]

Very interested in the Solaja Audio pairing, how did it Sound?

I certainly won't buy another amp, so I have to rely on your impressions

Ditto what @ThanatosVI said--please tell us more about that Solaja Audio amp! I'm actually so desperate for impressions, I started a thread to try to induce people to provide them: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/solaja-audio-amplifiers-impressions-thread.972799/

Edit: Also, great photography as always!

Could you give impressions on these other amps/how Immanis sounded on them compared to your chain at home? Any clear winners/losers in terms of synergy?

Although the Room 137 was a rather quiet room with all the goodness mentioned in my previous post at my disposal for quick comparisons, and the hosts were kind enough to let me use my USB dongle loaded with my reference tracks, I don't feel comfortable to articulate my impressions in detail, let alone drawing conclusions.

With that said:

- The Solaja 300B amp is a serious candidate for the best match so far for the Immanis, to my tastes. A mix of spatial prowess, bass cleanliness, midrange purity which seems just the transposition of the Immanis virtues in the language of an amplifier, with some treble sweetness on top. Looks gorgeous as well, it could become a classic top echelon headphones amp, and if you own highly efficient loudspeakers it could do double service making the price and the real estate occupation more manageable.

- Among the amps available the tube ones were standing out the most, it may well be my personal preference for a big, holographic sound, with some bloom and treble sweetness (plus the bias from looking at those glowing glass bottles). The Viva was grabbing the Immanis by the guts in a fiery way, exposing an impressive amount of bass quantity and scale, whereas the Solaja was more refined overall. The 845 are crazy hot, the machine is literally a space heater, which for me is a serious issue.

- No clear winners in show conditions, and all the available amplifiers were obviously carefully selected as working well with the Immanis. Synergy really depends on preference at this level. As for the AIC-10, the show setup with the 8ohm interface / front XLR plug comes reasonably close to what I have at home (speaker out -> 16Ohm interface), but I recommend AIC-10 users to go through the speaker tap heartily.

I would add that the Magna, while being outstanding on their own and certainly playing on a similar level of Susvara, when auditioned in direct comparison with the Immanis is clearly a step below, in my humble opinion / to my tastes. I found the Immanis superior in every single aspect of what I consider relevant.

 

[Hiker816]

Although the Room 137 was a rather quiet room with all the goodness mentioned in my previous post at my disposal for quick comparisons, and the hosts were kind enough to let me use my USB dongle loaded with my reference tracks, I don't feel comfortable to articulate my impressions in detail, let alone drawing conclusions.

With that said:

- The Solaja 300B amp is a serious candidate for the best match so far for the Immanis, to my tastes. A mix of spatial prowess, bass cleanliness, midrange purity which seems just the transposition of the Immanis virtues in the language of an amplifier, with some treble sweetness on top. Looks gorgeous as well, it could become a classic top echelon headphones amp, and if you own highly efficient loudspeakers it could do double service making the price and the real estate occupation more manageable.

- Among the amps available the tube ones were standing out the most, it may well be my personal preference for a big, holographic sound, with some bloom and treble sweetness (plus the bias from looking at those glowing glass bottles). The Viva was grabbing the Immanis by the guts in a fiery way, exposing an impressive amount of bass quantity and scale, whereas the Solaja was more refined overall. The 845 are crazy hot, the machine is literally a space heater, which for me is a serious issue.

- No clear winners in show conditions, and all the available amplifiers were obviously carefully selected as working well with the Immanis. Synergy really depends on preference at this level. As for the AIC-10, the show setup with the 8ohm interface / front XLR plug comes reasonably close to what I have at home (speaker out -> 16Ohm interface), but I recommend AIC-10 users to go through the speaker tap heartily.

I would add that the Magna, while being outstanding on their own and certainly playing on a similar level of Susvara, when auditioned in direct comparison with the Immanis is clearly a step below, in my humble opinion / to my tastes. I found the Immanis superior in every single aspect of what I consider relevant.

This is all incredibly helpful--thank you!

 

[adrianm]

And noise--I'm hearing noise. I'm noticing this through both the 16 ohm and 32 ohm interface inputs, in both Class A and Class A+Servo mode on the Zahl, and with my Supratek preamp both in and out of the chain. To make sure I wasn't imagining it, I switched back to the VM1a. All the problems instantly and obviously vanished.

It could be that the Zahl just doesn't have good synergy with the Immanis. I think it might be something else, though.

I also got some noise through my Ca-1a at one point, but it was there on the Stealth as well. It happened when I was A/B-ing the Rossini and the Chord Mojo at the same time. Unplugging the second source from the HM1 fixed it for me. Weirdly enough it was only one one of the channels, with the Mojo.

 

[TheAttorney]

The incredible holographics of the Immanis continue to catch me off guard.

How does HM1's sound stage knob affect the Immanis, particularly wrt image solidity and focus? In both directions (increasing and decreasing the sound stage size).

 

[Hiker816]

How does HM1's sound stage knob affect the Immanis, particularly wrt image solidity and focus? In both directions (increasing and decreasing the sound stage size).

Stay tuned--will report back later today or Monday.

 

[adrianm]

How does HM1's sound stage knob affect the Immanis, particularly wrt image solidity and focus? In both directions (increasing and decreasing the sound stage size).

The hm1 doesn’t affect image solidity and focus because the center image effectively remains the same. At least it hasn’t for Ca-1a (too wide at 2-3) , Expanse, Stealth, Susvara, D8k Pro Le, so i don’t imagine it will here. The already wide headphones become too wide at times. For Stealth it works wonders, putting it almost on par with DCA Expanse with 1 notch (depth does not change). Dcs Expanse feature does also increase depth but it adds more reverb so it might be a hit or miss. Definitely another ball game processing wise. HM1 is way more passive and comes with 0 downsides imo. Combining the Hm1 soundstage knob with dCS Expanse can produce some wild results, but not really listenable.

 

[Hiker816]

How does HM1's sound stage knob affect the Immanis, particularly wrt image solidity and focus? In both directions (increasing and decreasing the sound stage size).

With the caveat that I still haven't solved the noise (or whatever else it is) issue I'm having with the HM1 driving the Immanis, I spent some time playing with the soundstage knob today. The effect I perceive from the soundstage knob (not just with the Immanis, but all headphones) may be a little different than how others hear it. At the extreme left setting, the center of the image sounds close and distinct, but everything outside the center sounds pushed back, as though the musicians are arranged in a tight V-shape with the point facing me. Turning the knob to the right, the center stays fixed, but everything lateral of that moves toward me. At the far right setting, the musicians are arranged in a gentle concave arc in which the musicians on the sides have wrapped around to my left and right. With headphones other than the Immanis, the musician at the far left and right sound to me like they remain the same distance apart, but the knob moves them forward or back such that their relative angle to me narrows or widens. With the Immanis, that is mostly still true, but I am hearing a bit of lateral separation now--the farther right on the knob, the closer the musicians positioned at the sides move to me, but they also seem to spread farther away from one another (but only a little bit). Even with this Immanis-unique characteristic, the overall effect to my ears is to make the soundstage more intimate (with respect to depth, but perhaps not laterally) the farther to the right on the knob I go (I may be alone in perceiving it this way). The effect of this, with respect to solidity and focus, is that with the knob to the left, the center image is completely solid and in focus but everything else is not--almost like the other musicians are standing behind the center musician. Swing the knob to the right, and the other musicians step out from the center and move toward me, which brings them more into focus and adds a lot of lateral solidity. I love that effect, even if it's unnatural, and often crank that knob all the way to the right. YMMV, of course. Hope it helps!

 

[gammi]

With the caveat that I still haven't solved the noise (or whatever else it is) issue I'm having with the HM1 driving the Immanis, I spent some time playing with the soundstage knob today. The effect I perceive from the soundstage knob (not just with the Immanis, but all headphones) may be a little different than how others hear it. At the extreme left setting, the center of the image sounds close and distinct, but everything outside the center sounds pushed back, as though the musicians are arranged in a tight V-shape with the point facing me. Turning the knob to the right, the center stays fixed, but everything lateral of that moves toward me. At the far right setting, the musicians are arranged in a gentle concave arc in which the musicians on the sides have wrapped around to my left and right. With headphones other than the Immanis, the musician at the far left and right sound to me like they remain the same distance apart, but the knob moves them forward or back such that their relative angle to me narrows or widens. With the Immanis, that is mostly still true, but I am hearing a bit of lateral separation now--the farther right on the knob, the closer the musicians positioned at the sides move to me, but they also seem to spread farther away from one another (but only a little bit). Even with this Immanis-unique characteristic, the overall effect to my ears is to make the soundstage more intimate (with respect to depth, but perhaps not laterally) the farther to the right on the knob I go (I may be alone in perceiving it this way). The effect of this, with respect to solidity and focus, is that with the knob to the left, the center image is completely solid and in focus but everything else is not--almost like the other musicians are standing behind the center musician. Swing the knob to the right, and the other musicians step out from the center and move toward me, which brings them more into focus and adds a lot of lateral solidity. I love that effect, even if it's unnatural, and often crank that knob all the way to the right. YMMV, of course. Hope it helps!

If you want to have fun playing with the Immanis soundstage, please download the SteelSeries GG app. I'm always suggesting it to people because it's crazy how well it works for a free app. Push everything forward like I have and it'll sound like you're listening to speakers in front of you. It's a gaming focused app, supposed to help you hear things better in games, but it's fun to play around with music too.

 

[tunes]

Are there any comparative reviews between Susvara and Immanis? I was dissatisfied with the lack of bass and sub bass for the SR1a and although the out of head experience was unique, I always preferred the Susvara with smoothness and bass quantity and punch as well as sub bass that could be felt.

 

[Hiker816]

@MokhaMark stopped by for a visit today. After checking out some of my kit, he tried the Immanis off the Zahl. He heard a bit of sibilance compared to the VM1a, but said it seemed pretty mild. He wasn't picking up the noise/grainy-ness and mid-bass boomy-ness I was. Perhaps I'm losing my mind? I'll continue experimenting.

More importantly, though, he brought Immanis' younger sibling, the Magna.

To my knowledge, other than Danny, @MokhaMark has the only Magna in the US at the moment. Which makes it even more remarkable that he left his Magna with me for a longer-term comparison! I did not expect that and am really taken aback by the generosity. Thank you, MokhaMark!!

Having both on hand allowed me to try the dual outputs on the VM1a for the first time. (Still need to volume match, though, since the Magna is a bit harder to drive).

I don't think I'm getting much work done this week.

 

[nwavesailor]

WOW!!!
The generocity of HeadFi members is frankly remarkable and stunning @MokhaMark .

You are now one of the few in North America (or anywhere) that has BOTH of the Raal to do a true A/B.
I am looking forward to your take @Hiker816 as I prefer a more forward, detailed and dynamic presentation!

 

[tunes]

The real question in my mind is whether the Immanis is so good Susvara owners would be willing to part with it. I loved the electrostatic detail, gigantic stage and speed of the SR1a but its anemic bass and sub bass was just too disappointing for more than occasional use not to mention the need to constantly fiddle with the angulation and proximity of the drivers to the auricle. So I am anxiously awaiting an audition with the Immanis and Envy to make the decision. Can the Immanis compete and exceed the richness and full bodied expression of a symphony or jazz quartet the way a really good amped Susvara can?? That is the question to justify another $9,000 upgrade.