RAAL 1995 headphones, Magna and Immanis
Mar 11, 2024 at 4:18 PM Post #601 of 2,357
I agree 100% if in the future there is an updated and blatantly better versio of the sr1a I imagine I would jump at it,my comment was based on the sr1a being the only version of its sort available
I don’t think Alex has given us any reason to doubt that with sufficient time he will apply himself to converting his current ideas into the reality of a new/revised model. What he described to us in Heidelberg sounded truly fantastic and original. I just need enough time to recover from ordering Immanis and Envy at the same time before it appears on the market. And for Mokhamark, both purchases were fully ‘approved’ by she who must be obeyed and that means Immanis does not necessarily result in the end of your marriage.
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 4:30 PM Post #602 of 2,357
I don’t think Alex has given us any reason to doubt that with sufficient time he will apply himself to converting his current ideas into the reality of a new/revised model. What he described to us in Heidelberg sounded truly fantastic and original. I just need enough time to recover from ordering Immanis and Envy at the same time before it appears on the market. And for Mokhamark, both purchases were fully ‘approved’ by she who must be obeyed and that means Immanis does not necessarily result in the end of your marriage.
Thank you for the reassuring words! I just have to be careful the number of boxes coming in is not disproportionate to the number going out. She is always re-assured by the sound of the tape gun in the morning preparing something to ship away, which means my hobby is in balance with nature.

But seriously, it will be interesting for my own listening if the SR/Magna combo keeps the upgrade itch relieved.
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 4:54 PM Post #603 of 2,357
… I'd probably need to change some things in my system to add a little more body and oomph in the lower region. …
… Which headphones resemble Immanis the closest? Doesn't have to be 1:1, just the pair that You guys find to share the most similarities. It can be something from a lower price bracket with similar characteristics.
The next best offering is the Raal SR1a/b.
Used with well-tuned EQ it gracefully handles the bass down to 30 Hz, and more important, has all the typical ribbon headphones advantages.

The icing on the cake is the unbeaten spatial resolution that not even the Sennheiser HD-800S comes close.

Here’s my take on the SR1a/b EQ that leads it’s bass into a new dimension.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/raal-ribbon-headphones-srh1a.890603/post-17233113
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 4:54 PM Post #604 of 2,357
I agree 100% if in the future there is an updated and blatantly better versio of the sr1a I imagine I would jump at it,my comment was based on the sr1a being the only version of its sort available
Yeah, there's two things I'd like to see:
-A multi-ribbon version of the sr1a
-A RAAL Requisite branded version of the Magna, aka the Magna dual ribbon tech in a cheaper package like the CA-1a instead of being premium branded and knock $1-2k off the price.
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 5:01 PM Post #605 of 2,357
Thank you for the reassuring words! I just have to be careful the number of boxes coming in is not disproportionate to the number going out. She is always re-assured by the sound of the tape gun in the morning preparing something to ship away, which means my hobby is in balance with nature.
Just throwing this out there: Provided you don't work from home, there are some big advantages to keeping your audio setup in your work office. :ksc75smile:
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 7:04 PM Post #607 of 2,357
The next best offering is the Raal SR1a/b.
Used with well-tuned EQ it gracefully handles the bass down to 30 Hz, and more important, has all the typical ribbon headphones advantages.

The icing on the cake is the unbeaten spatial resolution that not even the Sennheiser HD-800S comes close.

Here’s my take on the SR1a/b EQ that leads it’s bass into a new dimension.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/raal-ribbon-headphones-srh1a.890603/post-17233113
I would have thought that Magna shares the most similarities apart from the venting system on Immanis which gives better spatial presentation. Then after Magna we have the CA-1a. If it comes down to how important price is then CA-1a is an absolute no brainer; it clearly performs at a very high level when you take price into account. Used with the right source components you can get very good sound out of the CA-1a; and what you lose in the soundstage and spatial qualities compared to the SR-1a/b you gain in the stronger more weighty bass. In other words you should try both the SR-1b and the CA-1a to find which works best for you and the types of music you play.
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 8:25 PM Post #608 of 2,357
I don’t think Alex has given us any reason to doubt that with sufficient time he will apply himself to converting his current ideas into the reality of a new/revised model. What he described to us in Heidelberg sounded truly fantastic and original. I just need enough time to recover from ordering Immanis and Envy at the same time before it appears on the market. And for Mokhamark, both purchases were fully ‘approved’ by she who must be obeyed and that means Immanis does not necessarily result in the end of your marriage.
wow,immanis and envy...now thats living
 
Mar 11, 2024 at 10:06 PM Post #609 of 2,357
I would have thought that Magna shares the most similarities apart from the venting system on Immanis which gives better spatial presentation. Then after Magna we have the CA-1a. If it comes down to how important price is then CA-1a is an absolute no brainer; it clearly performs at a very high level when you take price into account. Used with the right source components you can get very good sound out of the CA-1a; and what you lose in the soundstage and spatial qualities compared to the SR-1a/b you gain in the stronger more weighty bass. In other words you should try both the SR-1b and the CA-1a to find which works best for you and the types of music you play.
Just one correction here;

Both Magna and Immanis have a front leakage zone.
Compared to surface area of the ribbons, Magna has a much larger leakage zone.

The differences between them come from the sheer size of drivers, size of earpad chamber and the type cable that comes with them.
Otherwise, they had the same treatment of importance and there was nothing done differently in Immanis compared to Magna, except for different voicing, which was a consequence of different surface area at my disposal, allowing for voicing to different "scale" of sound.
 
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Mar 12, 2024 at 3:39 AM Post #610 of 2,357
Just one correction here;

Both Magna and Immanis have a front leakage zone.
Compared to surface area of the ribbons, Magna has a much larger leakage zone.

The differences between them come from the sheer size of drivers, size of earpad chamber and the type cable that comes with them.
Otherwise, they had the same treatment of importance and there was nothing done differently in Immanis compared to Magna, except for different voicing, which was a consequence of different surface area at my disposal, allowing for voicing to different "scale" of sound.
Alex, I was basing my comment on what somebody said earlier in the post. They believed Magna had more bass than Immanis and that this was probably caused by Magna having a tighter seal around the pad because it was not venting like Immanis. If I am now guilty of creating or perpetuating a false rumour, a most heinous crime, I must stand here in disgrace. Not only that, having had my previous complaint about your philosophy in life “thrown in the bin” 🚮 I now feel I must take time out for a period of reflection and soul-searching. BUT, as I will be taking this time out while in the company of Immanis and Envy 🤭 I think I will survive……though my bank balance is devastated and could take years to recover….
 
Mar 12, 2024 at 6:34 AM Post #611 of 2,357
Alex, I was basing my comment on what somebody said earlier in the post. They believed Magna had more bass than Immanis and that this was probably caused by Magna having a tighter seal around the pad because it was not venting like Immanis. If I am now guilty of creating or perpetuating a false rumour, a most heinous crime, I must stand here in disgrace. Not only that, having had my previous complaint about your philosophy in life “thrown in the bin” 🚮 I now feel I must take time out for a period of reflection and soul-searching. BUT, as I will be taking this time out while in the company of Immanis and Envy 🤭 I think I will survive……though my bank balance is devastated and could take years to recover….
LOL
(not about your bank account)
 
RAAL 1995 Stay updated on RAAL 1995 at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/raalribbon https://raalribbon.com/
Mar 13, 2024 at 11:55 AM Post #612 of 2,357
Any comparison with the Susvara yet? That looks like an headphone which should share many characteristics with the new Raal 1995s.
 
Mar 13, 2024 at 12:17 PM Post #613 of 2,357
Any comparison with the Susvara yet? That looks like an headphone which should share many characteristics with the new Raal 1995s.
I really hope that neither the Magna nor the Immains have any resemblance with the Susvara in terms of openness. Despite the refinment of the Susvara in rendering vocals etc., I recall having a very disappointed reaction when hearing the Susvara after coming from the Sennheiser HD800s. Not quite the same "revelation" feeling I had when listening to the SR1A for the first time. The SR1A made me abandon the Sennheiser and made me feel the Abyss as a much less interesting concept than the Raal, for my kind of music at least. The point is that the SR1A is a completly new concept/beast in comparison to almost everything else. If the Immanis still belong to the same concept and share the same signature sound than the SR1A, while improving on other aspects, that would already be a great achievement, as far as I am concerned.
 
Mar 13, 2024 at 12:29 PM Post #614 of 2,357
Any comparison with the Susvara yet? That looks like an headphone which should share many characteristics with the new Raal 1995s.
Magna/Immanis and Susvara both share beautiful, natural tunings and will sing on any genre you care to throw at them. The Raal flagships are on another level technically, with arguably the best resolution of any commercial headphones. That said, the Susvara is capable enough that I don't feel I'm missing anything when I'm listening to it.

Although I plan to purchase the Immanis down the line, I suspect I'll also keep the Susvara long-term as a complementary option. It's just that special.

One listener's take, FWIW.
 
Mar 13, 2024 at 12:46 PM Post #615 of 2,357
I really hope that neither the Magna nor the Immains have any resemblance with the Susvara in terms of openness. Despite the refinment of the Susvara in rendering vocals etc., I recall having a very disappointed reaction when hearing the Susvara after coming from the Sennheiser HD800s. Not quite the same "revelation" feeling I had when listening to the SR1A for the first time. The SR1A made me abandon the Sennheiser and made me feel the Abyss as a much less interesting concept than the Raal, for my kind of music at least. The point is that the SR1A is a completly new concept/beast in comparison to almost everything else. If the Immanis still belong to the same concept and share the same signature sound than the SR1A, while improving on other aspects, that would already be a great achievement, as far as I am concerned.
In my experience, the ribbon drivers reproduce bass in a completely different way to any planar. To be clear I have not owned the Susvara in over a year, and would suggest it's bass is superior to most planars, but still a different overall result than ribbons. I overlapped the Susvara with SR1a for around 6 months. The SR1a (and I will find Friday the new ones) have a detailed and textured bass that reproduces the specific frequency and timbre with texture and accuracy, no matter how low it goes. It does so with less compression of the ear drum for sure, but the ribbons avoid this type of "one note" bass that many planars are victim to. Taking the strong clamping force of most planars with the completely sealed cup, the bass can indeed be impactful, but I also find it less realistic sounding. I am not talking about EDM or reggae, where the sub-woofer effect is a crucial part of the musical intent, but for acoustic bass sounds, I prefer ribbon over planar every day of the week. There are times when you may want your eardrum to flex into your ear cavity, but most of the time I prefer to hear the bass with the type of accuracy the Raal give. Speaking for myself, planars disappoint me now for most genre. Forgive the generalization.
 

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