[number1sixerfan]

There are overlaps of course, but no redundancy with the Susvara IMHO. The Immanis is more energetic, engaging and exciting, more transparent and wider sounding. The Susvara is comparatively smoother (but also duller), has a fuller midrange and more oomph in the sub-bass. I am in the minority here, but overall I found the Susvara very good at everything but they had nothing that carried me away as 'special'.

Interesting as well. I think for now, I'll just hold off and in the long run I can determine if I should go back to it. I have a lot I'm going to part with, but for comparisons sake am hanging on for now (Sr1a, CA-1a, Expanse, and 009). I know the used market will be a bit less than ideal by the time I put them up, but worth it for the in-depth comparisons.

The Horizon and Immanis make a beautiful pairing indeed, based on early listening it is a transformative experience compared to my previous DAC.

I almost went for the Pacific. Actually auditioning the Pac was what brought me into Lampizator. It is a truly magnificent DAC as well. A friend heartily recommended the Atlantic III TRP for the 'closest possible to analog' experience (if that's a preference), which I never tried personally.

That's good to hear. It seems that no matter the model, nearly everyone is just thoroughly impressed. And that goes for very experienced users, which is really promising. I'll probably have a Pacific or GG by the time I get the Immanis, so I'll share similarly.

I’ll be happy to loan you my Susvara again after you receive an Immanis. The thing about the Susvara is that it perfectly toes the line between resolving and organic for me. Even after I own one of the new Raals, I imagine Susvara will still get meaningful play. TBD, of course.

I owe you too many beers already, I just couldn't accept lol. I'll just be looking out for your impressions over time!

 

[Hiker816]

There are overlaps of course, but no redundancy with the Susvara IMHO. The Immanis is more energetic, engaging and exciting, more transparent and wider sounding. The Susvara is comparatively smoother (but also duller), has a fuller midrange and more oomph in the sub-bass. I am in the minority here, but overall I found the Susvara very good at everything but they had nothing that carried me away as 'special'.

That is exactly the kind of news I was hoping for. I came away with the very same impression of the Sus (albeit limited to CanJam and some private meets). The differences you noticed between it and the Immanis are precisely the differences I would want. Can't wait to hear the new RAALs.

 

[Leto Dal]

LOL I have bigger projects than that about tube rolling, but I am not in a hurry. In its stock form the Horizon is already providing a major sound change (for the better) that I want to taste for a little while before taking the next step



It has been this one with the Immanis. Chills all over my arms, increased salivation, just the kind of reaction I was striving for!

​

There are overlaps of course, but no redundancy with the Susvara IMHO. The Immanis is more energetic, engaging and exciting, more transparent and wider sounding. The Susvara is comparatively smoother (but also duller), has a fuller midrange and more oomph in the sub-bass. I am in the minority here, but overall I found the Susvara very good at everything but they had nothing that carried me away as 'special'.



The Horizon and Immanis make a beautiful pairing indeed, based on early listening it is a transformative experience compared to my previous DAC.

I almost went for the Pacific. Actually auditioning the Pac was what brought me into Lampizator. It is a truly magnificent DAC as well. A friend heartily recommended the Atlantic III TRP for the 'closest possible to analog' experience (if that's a preference), which I never tried personally.

Thanks for the writeup! on which amp did you compare Susvara and Immanis?

 

[gammi]

I found the Immanis silky smooth and preferred to the stronger sounding Magna. I had two 2-channel amps that had similar characteristics. The CODA #16 reminded me of the Magna and my KRELL Duo 175XD of the Immanis. I used to say the KRELL was buttery smooth. The Immanis was silky smooth. Just from the Serene headphone test I could tell that the Immanis was the way I would go. I like to listen to rock music the most and a smoother presentation helps with that type of music.

Interesting you found the Magna stronger yet preferred Immanis for rock. I would think the "stronger" headphone would do better with rock considering dynamics/impact and generally just a "stronger" headphone are usually desirable for rock. Can you expand on this some?

I tend to prefer a strong sound--that's why I like the Valkyria and love the dynamics of the CA-1a off the VM1a. But I've also heard Aleksandar and Danny describe the Immanis as simply a bigger and fuller sound than the Magna--like a bigger speaker driver. Did you think the Magna has anything over the Immanis in terms of dynamics and punch? Or did you mean something else by "stronger sounding"?

I found the Magna to be more impactful when I listened at CanJam NYC. Danny had an Infected Mushroom track on his iPad there and that was the first thing I listened to. WOW, my jaw literally dropped when the bass hit. I turned to my friend with me and said you gotta hear this. I then tried the same track on Immanis and I would say the Immanis would have been the best bass I ever heard, if I hadn't heard the Magna first. The Magna edged it out in bass impact a bit.

By the way, Steve Guttenberg was also demoing Immanis/Magna next to me during this. I got the impression he enjoyed it. I mean how couldn't he, it's an awesome headphone.

I think I'll probably wind up buying the Magna largely because I own (and love) my SR-X9000 which is very open, airy, and smooth. Magna + X9000 seems to be more complimentary than Immanis + X9000 just going off of my CanJam impressions. I'd use X9000 for jazz/orchestral/acoustic and Magna for rock/electronic/pop/hip-hop. But we shall see if that changes after my home demo.

Actually I think I just figured out a great way to describe Magna and Immanis.
Magna is the best upgrade from CA-1a
Immanis is the best upgrade from SR1a

 

[jlbrach]

Actually I think I just figured out a great way to describe Magna and Immanis.
Magna is the best upgrade from CA-1a
Immanis is the best upgrade from SR1a

I agree

 

[yyzSB]

Actually I think I just figured out a great way to describe Magna and Immanis.
Magna is the best upgrade from CA-1a
Immanis is the best upgrade from SR1a

I agree

If I am listening to Moterhead, maybe the Magna would be preferred. However, when I listen, it is for a very long time, and this is after 8+ hours of work while listening to 2-channel. I can see myself having no issues with the Immanis, the Magna maybe a bit too much for my tired ears.

In the past year, I have had an arms race with my 2-channel and my SR1a/CA-1a systems in the office. The reappearance of the VM-1a put the phones ahead. Putting my CODA #16 amp with the $1000 Magenpan LRS+ speakers put that ahead of the phones. Now with the Immanis and the VM-1a I think that is the new office king.

BTW - I will be selling my CA-1a + Star-8 cable in a little while. I do not need 2 phones.

 

[Hiker816]

I do not need 2 phones.

Certainly not. 2 is way too few.

 

[nwavesailor]

Certainly not. 2 is way too few.

I don't know how I'd manage more than 2 or 3 hp and actually listen them all.
There has to be a favorite at any given time that gets the lions share of time.

I 'only' have 3 now and will be adding a Raal when production and deliveries ramp up. I'll be selling off at least one hp if the Raal is as stunning as I hope it is!
Perhaps I am an outlier and most Hed-Fiers have WAY more than 3 hp?!?!

 

[normie610]

most Hed-Fiers have WAY more than 3 hp?!?!

I have 4 at the moment. Does 4 equal to way more?

 

[nwavesailor]

I have 4 at the moment. Does 4 equal to way more?

Nah, 4 is not WAY more……..

 

[simorag]

Thanks for the writeup! on which amp did you compare Susvara and Immanis?

When I owned the Susvara, I drove them out of the speakers taps of my AIC-10. In the same period, I tried it on several amplifiers (mostly speaker amps), ranging from high-end 300B to high-powered solid state ones (some are listed here, plus many others followed), with consistent results. Out of curiosity, my favorite combo was with the Viva Audio Solista.

 

[rlawry]

I have 3 phones that I use for critical listening and regularly rotate among them to change the presentation. Sometimes if I know beforehand which recording I am listening to I might choose a certain phone that enhances the sound of that recording.

 

[rlawry]

I own a pair of SR-1b phones along with 3 other closed-back models. It is imperative that I use closed-back phones so as to avoid projecting sound into my living room and bothering others in the house. The SR-1b doesn't seem to blast sound into the room but from what I have read on what others here have reported on that aspect of the new Magna and Immani phones, apparently they do project a lot of sound from their open backs. One post likened the new phones to desktop speakers. Unfortunately this would be a deal breaker for me, unless someone reports a different experience.

 

[nfandi]

I own a pair of SR-1b phones along with 3 other closed-back models. It is imperative that I use closed-back phones so as to avoid projecting sound into my living room and bothering others in the house. The SR-1b doesn't seem to blast sound into the room but from what I have read on what others here have reported on that aspect of the new Magna and Immani phones, apparently they do project a lot of sound from their open backs. One post likened the new phones to desktop speakers. Unfortunately this would be a deal breaker for me, unless someone reports a different experience.

Sorry to say this but they do project a lot of sound out of the rear of the cups. Alex has designed them to vent forward so that the person wearing them gets a sense of crossfeed and space in the sound. Looking on the bright side your bank account will be very relieved.

 

[simorag]

To sum up in one sentence: Insane sound quality!

Could be the most clean and transparent sounding headphone I ever heard (and I heard basically all TOTL out there). Even better thing, Immanis provide the fullest body notes compared to other Raal products (with smoother treble as well).

I was extremely focused this time round and I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to hear first. so to the Ocean 11 room and Raal it was...



extremely happy to have finally met @Aleksandar R. he is without a doubt one of the nicest guys in the business! friendly and easy to talk to and absolutely zero airs about him. he is just as nice in real life as he is on the forums. this dude is the real deal!



Raal 1995 Immanis
cool steampunk-esque appearance. extremely comfortable. not heavy on the head. nice soft supple pads. slightly annoyed that the hinge mechanism allows the cups to rotate a bit too much, such that the earpads can get stuck on the yokes.

i tried a few sets of the Immanis and the first one was hooked up to the Raal HSA1b amp. the source was Tidal off an Eversolo; looking for songs was a bit fiddly and cumbersome, having to tap on a tiny keyboard on the screen, but nonetheless managed to play a few of my favourite songs.

My first thoughts were wow... the immanis sounded so, so good! bass was strong, punchy, detailed, textured. mids were full, and top end was smooth but not overly so and definitely not blunted. mids we're detailed and crisp as well, and I didn't feel any bleed from the mid bass. low end seemed even better than ca1a, and top end was more agreeable than the sr1b. it's not abyss 1266 bass but I'd say it comes pretty close. I'd put the low end even above Solitaire-P.



after a few songs on the hsa1b/immanis combo, I moved one seat to the Raal vm1a/immanis setup. I was very interested to hear what the vm1a would bring to the table, especially as I already have the vm1a.

The vm1a and immanis are such an amazing pairing. it takes everything I heard from the first pairing and just bests it completely. my jaw dropped and I can't remember how many times I mouthed out "wow!". I had some friends telling me to expect something special, but I had no idea it would be this good. I literally had goosebumps when the bass dropped or when the chorus kicked in. and add that to the massive staging... u gotta hear this for yourselves.

this pairing.. the immanis is very full and rich sounding. not something I'd expect from ribbons. staging and out of head sensation is one of the best I've heard so far. for an over ear hp, I'd say it equals and quite possibly beats the sr1b (wings at 30deg or so). it is also a very well controlled presentation with zero etch/edginess.

the Immanis is one of the best headphones I have ever had the pleasure of trying. I have not had such a wow moment as this, the most notable one previously being hearing the abyss out of a speaker amp, and that was some time ago. I previously lusted for an X9K setup but I think after hearing the Immanis, e-stats are probably no longer in the running.



I also managed to try the Magna. physically slightly smaller in size than the immanis. sound wise, I have to agree with what some other folks have said about it. it does seem the more dynamic headphone than the immanis; bass is slightly punchier and upper mids and mids are a bit more forward. however, on the Immanis, the low end is more detailed and u can extract out more info. the Magna top end was a bit aggressive at times and I definitely preferred the smoother, lusher presentation of the Immanis. the Magna does have a smaller stage and layering and front/back depth are not as good as on the immanis. occasionally felt a bit too intimate/slightly closed in.



The SAEQ Armageddon.
this is a really cool amplifier. it drives normal headphones, and can also drive the immanis thought the ribbon interface; it drove 3x immanis simultaneously without breaking a sweat. I was surprised to find out that it is also a speaker amp and can output up to 20w.

The immanis out of the armageddon is a dream.. very luscious and meaty sound off this amp. tbh I don't know which I prefer more ie the armageddon or the vm1a. I'd probably be happy with either. everything good I heard on the vm1a I heard on the armageddon and vice versa.

If you're not a fan of the aesthetic (I was somewhat turned off by the shiny gold accents), don't fret; the amp is built to order and is fully customisable. the local dealer told me you could order this in any colour you want. hot pink anyone?

The price of the amp is actually quite agreeable. it was less than i was expecting, given the quality of the amp and functionality. I won't disclose the price here, but inquire with your dealer for yourself and be pleasantly surprised. i can tell you this; it is far far less than a MK465, WA33 EE, Feliks AE Envy, Riviera, Viva Egoista etc. and for the sound it outputs, that's just makes it an all the more sensible buy.

...

not long after, we were just hanging around chatting when one of my friends came up with the idea of trying out the Immanis with the MK465. he was really interested in the 465 and wanted to see if it was any good at driving the Immanis.

I went to Matsuda-san with Google Translate asking if we could try our own hp with his amp, to which he graciously agreed. I went back to Ocean 11 to ask Aleksandr for permission to take his Immanis and interface 3 rooms down, to which he also said "oh yes, of course!"



and here we have possibly the world's first pairing of the Mass Kobo 465 and Raal Immanis!



the look on my friend's face says it all! I tried it for myself and it was impressive. the 465 needs high gain to run the Immanis; mid gain won't cut it.

IMHO, the 465/Immanis trumps 465/Susvara easily. but though we didn't manage to compare amps side by side, from short term memory alone, I'd still give the nod to the armageddon/vm1a + immanis pairing. not sure if that comes as a surprise, given the Immanis was tuned/voiced to the Raal/saeq amps. it was a more effortless and spacious/wider presentation with the raal/saeq amps, but at the same time having dynamism and density/richness.

Of course I spent more time with the best product of Canjam Singapore 2023, the Raal 1995 Immanis. Two of my friends, who are serious summit-fi headphone collectors and enthusiasts immediately placed their orders. After listening to it for the third time today, I am 99% certain that they are a step above in performance from the Susvara or the TC or the X9000.





While they are unmistakably Raal in their speed, texture, resolution, and airiness; these babies have a very realistic bass impact, a tonally rich midrange, and a certain spookiness to how images just materialize from an inky black void. Everything just seems to flow, with vivid lifelike imaging, and certain cohesiveness that for the first time in 2 years made me miss full-size headphones. These do what no IEMs can. I recently brought in the Susvara and the Utopia and I prefer my IEMs to both. But the Immanis are a different beast. They are probably the best headphones on the market at present.

Raal Immanis and SAEQ Amp:
With this combo, I can say I have never heard such a realistic sound before. It felt like I am sitting in a grande orchestra and everything felt so lively and natural. Summit-Fi is surreal!!

Lots of highly deserved praise from Singapore, well done @Aleksandar R. !