[jlbrach]

sadly for my wallet I liked the immanis more immediately as did my girlfriend...danny told me how much he liked the magna and I wish it was my preference as well!!

 

[BassicScience]

This is helpful, and also gives me pause. I love the punch of the CA-1a and haven't found it fatiguing (for me) over 8+ hour listening sessions, and would hate to give up that punch. "Silky" and "smooth" always makes me nervous as I usually haven't gravitated toward that kind of sound. I wonder if the right amp can add to the Immanis what the Magna seems to have more of. Maybe I will give Danny another call.

Using adjectives to convey sonic impressions can be tricky. Silky and smooth might connote middling resolution, compressed dynamics, or a frequency response that is very even-handed. The Immanis certainly doesn't suffer from the first two of those! The Magna sounded marginally more punchy, but its bass wasn't quite as well-textured as the Immanis's, and I preferred the Immanis bass overall. Honestly, the biggest differentiator between the two was the notably larger soundstage of the Immanis, to my ears at least. In terms of overall tonality, they sounded quite similar, based on my limited audition at CanJam.

 

[number1sixerfan]

The Immanis is more like the SR1a with a bigger and fuller sound as Danny describes. Though the Immanis has a lot more bass than the SR1a, and beautiful bass at that.

These are really the only two improvements to the Sr-1a I can imagine. So it's just reinforcing to hear that with the Immanis. Really looking forward to them.

--------

And +1 on pointing out that adjectives are subjective and hard to interpret. The Sr1a in comparison has been described as lean, bright and aggressive at times (not being inflammatory here, the Sr1a is phenomenal with only one quirk for me). But if coming from them, hearing silky/smooth while also being nearly as detailed and even more open... well sign me up lol

That said, reading all of the impressions, I still don't have a full grasp of what the tonality and overall presentation is like. Seems like they're a bit more warm/neutral than the Sr1a/CA-1a while doing most of everything else similarly? But not sure. If it takes the strengths of both and improves on timbre and tone, for me, it would be a big win. Just hoping it does both in those regards.

 

[yyzSB]

On a side note. There are 2 new releases out today that I have been waiting on for a while.

Jose James - 1978
The Black Keys - Ohio Players

Both sounds very nice.

 

[jlbrach]

Using adjectives to convey sonic impressions can be tricky. Silky and smooth might connote middling resolution, compressed dynamics, or a frequency response that is very even-handed. The Immanis certainly doesn't suffer from the first two of those! The Magna sounded marginally more punchy, but its bass wasn't quite as well-textured as the Immanis's, and I preferred the Immanis bass overall. Honestly, the biggest differentiator between the two was the notably larger soundstage of the Immanis, to my ears at least. In terms of overall tonality, they sounded quite similar, based on my limited audition at CanJam.

agreed, what jumped out at me immediately was the soundstage and since I love space in my music the immanis immediately got my attention but the magna is outstanding and might well be better for some depending on their listening choices

 

[nwavesailor]

I keep thinking back to my years working for an audio manufacturing company.

The owner was very good at talking to a potential or existing customer and would spend a long time going through the various options and choices. At the end he would often say:

‘People just want someone to tell them what to buy!’

He didn’t talk people into the TOTL or the most expensive option just laid out the pros and cons.

With so few hearing the Magna or Immanis outside of an audio show at this point I need to take into account those who have spent time with these hp in a quiet environment.

I dpoke with Danny a few days ago and valued his opinion as a musician as well as having heard all the Raal offerings over the years.

We are, as a group, somewhat neurotic and also suffer from FOMO.
We just want to make the right decisions in choosing between these 2 new Raal offerings.

 

[yyzSB]

agreed, what jumped out at me immediately was the soundstage and since I love space in my music the immanis immediately got my attention but the magna is outstanding and might well be better for some depending on their listening choices

I immediately felt a tiny bit of irritation on my ears with the Magna, just like I sometimes occasionally do with the CA-1a. My assumption because of this was that it was a punchier headphone than the CA-1a. With the Immanis I did not feel this bit of irritation and I listened to the Immanis the most. I get ear irritation very easily, so take that in context.

My 2-channel comparison with the CODA and the KRELL amps is very appropriate from a physical sense. I never get any irritation with the KRELL amp. So smooth and a likely a bit toned down on top. With the CODA you are not getting that smoothness and you can get fatigued, especially with bad recordings. Now I kept the CODA #16 and sold the KRELL for 2-channel. For headphones, I want that KRELL sound, and I think the Immanis offers that. The KRELL Duo 175XD amp was also the very best amp I had with the old RAAL amp interface and the SR1a. Needed to tone down the brightness on that old setup. The Immanis is doing this toning down for my ears.

On Zeppelins, When the Levee Breaks, I was hearing so much more detail than anything I have heard before on this track and it was not fatiguing at all (smoother and fuller sound). Maybe the Magna also had the same detail, but I was not interested in hearing that once I zeroed in on the Immanis. The resemblance of the Immanis to my old KRELL amp made me want that immediately.

Take my comments for the Magna as someone who heard only a few tracks. Unlike the Immanis where I did most of my listening.

 

[Kiats]

I will be here next year as well, so we will certainly meet, my friend!

Look forward to it!

 

[nfandi]

I immediately felt a tiny bit of irritation on my ears with the Magna, just like I sometimes occasionally do with the CA-1a. My assumption because of this was that it was a punchier headphone than the CA-1a. With the Immanis I did not feel this bit of irritation and I listened to the Immanis the most. I get ear irritation very easily, so take that in context.

My 2-channel comparison with the CODA and the KRELL amps is very appropriate from a physical sense. I never get any irritation with the KRELL amp. So smooth and a likely a bit toned down on top. With the CODA you are not getting that smoothness and you can get fatigued, especially with bad recordings. Now I kept the CODA #16 and sold the KRELL for 2-channel. For headphones, I want that KRELL sound, and I think the Immanis offers that. The KRELL Duo 175XD amp was also the very best amp I had with the old RAAL amp interface and the SR1a. Needed to tone down the brightness on that old setup. The Immanis is doing this toning down for my ears.

On Zeppelins, When the Levee Breaks, I was hearing so much more detail than anything I have heard before on this track and it was not fatiguing at all (smoother and fuller sound). Maybe the Magna also had the same detail, but I was not interested in hearing that once I zeroed in on the Immanis. The resemblance of the Immanis to my old KRELL amp made me want that immediately.

Take my comments for the Magna as someone who heard only a few tracks. Unlike the Immanis where I did most of my listening.

Where you use the word “smooth” Alex described the Immanis as “more refined” but with all the detail and clarity of the ribbon drivers still fully present and correct.

 

[yyzSB]

I keep thinking back to my years working for an audio manufacturing company.

The owner was very good at talking to a potential or existing customer and would spend a long time going through the various options and choices. At the end he would often say:

‘People just want someone to tell them what to buy!’

He didn’t talk people into the TOTL or the most expensive option just laid out the pros and cons.

With so few hearing the Magna or Immanis outside of an audio show at this point I need to take into account those who have spent time with these hp in a quiet environment.

I dpoke with Danny a few days ago and valued his opinion as a musician as well as having heard all the Raal offerings over the years.

We are, as a group, somewhat neurotic and also suffer from FOMO.
We just want to make the right decisions in choosing between these 2 new Raal offerings.

Where you use the word “smooth” Alex described the Immanis as “more refined” but with all the detail and clarity of the ribbon drivers still fully present and correct.

Tomato - toomatoe. I think we are saying the same thing. As I mentioned in a prior post. I have never heard the amount of details in the song, When the Levee Breaks, as with the Immanis. Even Danny said the exact same thing. The bass guitar being fleshed out from the huge drumming sound was really cool to hear. I think the Immanis has more details than the SR1a because I never heard that bass guitar separation from the drums. The Immanis was really impressive to me. Infact, so was the SR1a and the CA-1a when I first heard them. Now I have higher expectations and the demo today exceeded those.

Danny mentioned that the 3 Immanis drivers allow for specialization of the frequency range (or something like that). This allows for us to hear better placement and details like we experienced on that song.

I should add that the streaming that we used was not reference level. We had issues getting access to ethernet, so we used Wifi and a computer into a RME DAC, then into the VM-1a. I will have better streaming in my office.

I just made a list of 5 items I am going to put up for sale this weekend to raise the cash for the Immanis. I feel great now that I have figured out how to raise the funds. Nice to also clear out some audio stuff that needed some housekeeping.

 

[nfandi]

Tomato - toomatoe. I think we are saying the same thing. As I mentioned in a prior post. I have never heard the amount of details in the song, When the Levee Breaks, as with the Immanis. Even Danny said the exact same thing. The bass guitar being fleshed out from the huge drumming sound was really cool to hear. I think the Immanis has more details than the SR1a because I never heard that bass guitar separation from the drums. The Immanis was really impressive to me. Infact, so was the SR1a and the CA-1a when I first heard them. Now I have higher expectations and the demo today exceeded those.

Danny mentioned that the 3 Immanis drivers allow for specialization of the frequency range (or something like that). This allows for us to hear better placement and details like we experienced on that song.

I should add that the streaming that we used was not reference level. We had issues getting access to ethernet, so we used Wifi and a computer into a RME DAC, then into the VM-1a. I will have better streaming in my office.

I just made a list of 5 items I am going to put up for sale this weekend to raise the cash for the Immanis. I feel great now that I have figured out how to raise the funds. Nice to also clear out some audio stuff that needed some housekeeping.

Have you had any thoughts yet about what Mitch might do with Magna or Immanis?

 

[simorag]

That said, reading all of the impressions, I still don't have a full grasp of what the tonality and overall presentation is like. Seems like they're a bit more warm/neutral than the Sr1a/CA-1a while doing most of everything else similarly? But not sure. If it takes the strengths of both and improves on timbre and tone, for me, it would be a big win. Just hoping it does both in those regards.

The tonality of the Immanis is - to my ears - neutral / cool. The midrange and treble are crisp, sparkling, with a substantial amount of treble energy. The bass foundation is substantial as well, although very tight, which provides a balancing act to what otherwise would have been an overly lean / bright palette to my tastes. To put things on a (subjective) perspective, on a scale 0 (pitch black) to 10 (white heat bright), I would put Immanis on 6.5, whereas SR1a and HD800 would be 7, Warwick Aperio 6.5, CA-1a 6, AB-1266 with Superconductor 6, Utopia OG 6, Susvara 5.5, X9000 5, HE-1 4.5, Valkyria 4.

The tone leans towards a studio tuning with little concessions to romance, I would not use "smooth" as a descriptor for the high frequency response, unless you compare to overtly bright cans. In my book, smooth comes with a pleasing roll-off and an organic texture, which I would not associate to the Immanis treble sound. I would describe Immanis treble as a pure, grain-less, liquid, agile.

The presentation is very big, open and propulsive, exciting. The sound breathes, and comes from out of your head like no other phones, except the SR1a with open-angled earpieces (terrible for bass, though). The transparency and detail is astounding, both micro and macrodynamics are startling. Imaging is the best I have experienced.

There is a good amount of body to the sound, more than the SR1a, less than Susvara, Valkyria, LCD4 or X9000.
Slam is good, yet not at the level of what the best planars can do in the sub bass, neither at the level of what the best dynamics can do on bass.

It is a true ribbon sound, stingy, insanely fast and resolving. They extract information from the recordings down to plankton level, but - luckily- they dont overwhelm / distract you like SR1a / Aperio. They are ruthelessly revealing, rather unforgiving. They are inducing an attentive, alert listening attitude rather than a laid back abandon.

The Immanis are very sensitive, responsive to changes in the setup (cables, electronics, power, software), so there is room to optimize a system around them tailored for one's tastes, where all I have noted above can be changed to some extent.

I sense they will love big-tubed electronics.

Furthermore, a remarkable aspect of the Immanis - which seems to be a characteristic of RAAL headphones - is that they respond very well to EQ (of which in general I am not a fan), to the point that they can be modelled into a very different tonal balance (like in an Abyss-level bass monster or a 'buttery smooth' X9000 midrange) without totally disrupting their unique nature or compromising their transparency. I bet when Mitch will have the chance of preparing some professional filters, they will be very much worth trying.

 

[Hiker816]

The presentation is very big, open and propulsive, exciting. The sound breathes, and comes from out of your head like no other phones, except the SR1a with open-angled earpieces (terrible for bass, though). The transparency and detail is astounding, both micro and macrodynamics are startling. Imaging is the best I have experienced.

There is a good amount of body to the sound,
...

They are inducing an attentive, alert listening attitude rather than a laid back abandon.

Now that is exactly what I'm talking about! And exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the detailed impressions--they're incredibly helpful!

 

[nfandi]

The tonality of the Immanis is - to my ears - neutral / cool. The midrange and treble are crisp, sparkling, with a substantial amount of treble energy. The bass foundation is substantial as well, although very tight, which provides a balancing act to what otherwise would have been an overly lean / bright palette to my tastes. To put things on a (subjective) perspective, on a scale 0 (pitch black) to 10 (white heat bright), I would put Immanis on 6.5, whereas SR1a and HD800 would be 7, Warwick Aperio 6.5, CA-1a 6, AB-1266 with Superconductor 6, Utopia OG 6, Susvara 5.5, X9000 5, HE-1 4.5, Valkyria 4.

The tone leans towards a studio tuning with little concessions to romance, I would not use "smooth" as a descriptor for the high frequency response, unless you compare to overtly bright cans. In my book, smooth comes with a pleasing roll-off and an organic texture, which I would not associate to the Immanis treble sound. I would describe Immanis treble as a pure, grain-less, liquid, agile.

The presentation is very big, open and propulsive, exciting. The sound breathes, and comes from out of your head like no other phones, except the SR1a with open-angled earpieces (terrible for bass, though). The transparency and detail is astounding, both micro and macrodynamics are startling. Imaging is the best I have experienced.

There is a good amount of body to the sound, more than the SR1a, less than Susvara, Valkyria, LCD4 or X9000.
Slam is good, yet not at the level of what the best planars can do in the sub bass, neither at the level of what the best dynamics can do on bass.

It is a true ribbon sound, stingy, insanely fast and resolving. They extract information from the recordings down to plankton level, but - luckily- they dont overwhelm / distract you like SR1a / Aperio. They are ruthelessly revealing, rather unforgiving. They are inducing an attentive, alert listening attitude rather than a laid back abandon.

The Immanis are very sensitive, responsive to changes in the setup (cables, electronics, power, software), so there is room to optimize a system around them tailored for one's tastes, where all I have noted above can be changed to some extent.

I sense they will love big-tubed electronics.

Furthermore, a remarkable aspect of the Immanis - which seems to be a characteristic of RAAL headphones - is that they respond very well to EQ (of which in general I am not a fan), to the point that they can be modelled into a very different tonal balance (like in an Abyss-level bass monster or a 'buttery smooth' X9000 midrange) without totally disrupting their unique nature or compromising their transparency. I bet when Mitch will have the chance of preparing some professional filters, they will be very much worth trying.

Still no Lampizator?

 

[ThanatosVI]

Using adjectives to convey sonic impressions can be tricky. Silky and smooth might connote middling resolution, compressed dynamics, or a frequency response that is very even-handed. The Immanis certainly doesn't suffer from the first two of those! The Magna sounded marginally more punchy, but its bass wasn't quite as well-textured as the Immanis's, and I preferred the Immanis bass overall. Honestly, the biggest differentiator between the two was the notably larger soundstage of the Immanis, to my ears at least. In terms of overall tonality, they sounded quite similar, based on my limited audition at CanJam.

To me silky always translates into non fatiguing treble.