[FullBright1]

Bellisima... Ciao....

piacere mio

 

[disastermouse]

Have no fear.
This Raal Gear has impressive "stage" and "imaging".
Best of all, it sounds really good down low, in the middle, and to the top.
Its very balanced, and you get these 2 sets of pads that really offer 2 different sounds.. and both are good.

I did a simple tape mod on the "notched' pads... that i first performed on the Empyrean and Elite.
With the Raal, you have the notches at 12'o'clock and at 6pm on the installed from the Factory set... So, .. first i put some tape around both pads on the outside, and this gave me a 3rd "sound".. I later tried putting a bit of tape only across the bottom notch of both factory installed pad,.... and this has become my favorite way to listen to the Raal"s, as the bass is increased but not as much as with the #2 set of pads, and the treble is extended.
So, its just all good with this gear's sound.

Versus DCA Expanse? I’ve heard the Expanse, but haven’t yet heard the Raal.

 

[FullBright1]

Versus DCA Expanse? I’ve heard the Expanse, but haven’t yet heard the Raal.

YIng and Yang
Zig and Zag.

Tonally very similar.
FR is very similar.

I was just comparing them.. again.
The Raal sound Is sweeter, and the Expanse sound has more presence........ is the most obvious sonic difference.

 

[redbaaron]

...Now I just need to play the waiting game until the TI-1a inventory is exhausted and the North American dealers start carrying the TI-1b.

My preorder from Moon Audio just shipped. I asked a customer service rep beforehand why they had the TI-1a listed. He replied the site is incorrect, and they're actually shipping with the TI-1b. After that, they updated the product description to show the TI-1b. Will confirm tomorrow after I receive it.

 

[TheRunningIr0n]

My preorder from Moon Audio just shipped. I asked a customer service rep beforehand why they had the TI-1a listed. He replied the site is incorrect, and they're actually shipping with the TI-1b. After that, they updated the product description to show the TI-1b. Will confirm tomorrow after I receive it.

I ended up purchasing my set at the end of November directly from the RAAL website once I learned they ship their units from California. Your discovery is good news for people on the east coast though.

Some impressions:

So far I am finding the CA-1a to be very competent and in the range of what one would consider to be a 'flagship'. In terms of speed and resolution, it's around the same level as my electrostats while having more satisfying bass and sub-bass impact. The bass timbre is less like an electrostat or planar and more closely resembles what I hear from the 58mm titanium cone of the Audio Technica ADX5000 if it were much faster, more linear, had lower distortion, and higher output. I haven't seen any CA-1a measurements but by ear it would not surprise me if it charts with a few irregularities in the high frequencies. On a dead neutral equipment chain of a Topping D10 into a Flux FA-10 Pro, there is a small but noticeable bump which could come off as aggressive to people who are treble sensitive. Using the 3.4w @ 50Ω XLR headphone output from a Soekris DAC1541 into the TI-1b has provided sublime synergy by de-emphasizing the aforementioned bump and mildly emphasizing low midrange and bass frequencies.

I also plugged the CA-1a into another warm-sounding AIO in the Holo Audio Cyan but the 1.6w @ 32Ω XLR headphone out was not powerful enough to achieve normal listening levels. No word yet on using the Soekris through the Flux FA-10 pro because both have floating grounds and I'm a coward. Maybe once I've installed a chassis ground on the Flux I'll get back to you.

One thing I will nitpick that is admittedly, very subjective: I wish RAAL had used a larger ribbon in the design. It's understandable that they had to balance ribbon size with load requirements to ensure the product is usable with most headphone amplifiers and I probably would not have been able to use the Soekris directly had they scaled it up. I'm just a sucker for the influence a large transducer has on the perception of imaging and soundstage. It tends to compensate for the overly focused in-your-head presentation unique to headphones and especially IEMs relative to loudspeakers. So you can imagine that the even tighter dispersion pattern of a ribbon would worry me a bit. Luckily, the CA-1a's ribbon occupies enough surface area of the cup and is at the right distance to convey recordings as larger in scale than most dynamic headphones but won't quite reach the grandiose heights of the larger Hifiman HE1000 or Perun Audio ROCK which have become my respective planar and electrostat references for this.

Overall, I'm really happy with the CA-1a and I feel it represents a step forward for the industry. At this stage in the hobby I attribute a lot of value to companies that try new things in addition to pursuing high performance. We're unfortunately past the period in history when a bunch of consumer audio companies were comfortable investing in a broad range of unconventional technologies to see what would stick but RAAL has brought some of that mojo back.

 

[redbaaron]

My preorder from Moon Audio just shipped. I asked a customer service rep beforehand why they had the TI-1a listed. He replied the site is incorrect, and they're actually shipping with the TI-1b. After that, they updated the product description to show the TI-1b. Will confirm tomorrow after I receive it.

Confirmed, the TI-1b arrived with the CA-1a from Moon Audio. I'm really happy about what the transformer gives me, but it's actually kind of hard to place it ergonomically. The polycarbonate texture is neat, though.

First impressions of the CA-1a:
They are very sweet sounding. It's like the best parts of planar and electrostatics, but made more pleasant and natural.
So far I like the coffee bean pads best with a nice little EQ bass shelf. I find them quite comfortable, not scratchy at all.
Driving them off a THX AAA 789 on level 3 (highest) gain.
The upper mids/lower treble is almost magical to me.
The cable is a bit microphonic I noticed.
Love the spacial presentation, it's just right for me in terms of stage size and "closeness".
I've never heard the SR-1, maybe one day now that the new transformers exist.

 

[FullBright1]

Confirmed, the TI-1b arrived with the CA-1a from Moon Audio. I'm really happy about what the transformer gives me, but it's actually kind of hard to place it ergonomically. The polycarbonate texture is neat, though.

First impressions of the CA-1a:
They are very sweet sounding. It's like the best parts of planar and electrostatics, but made more pleasant and natural.
So far I like the coffee bean pads best with a nice little EQ bass shelf. I find them quite comfortable, not scratchy at all.
Driving them off a THX AAA 789 on level 3 (highest) gain.
The upper mids/lower treble is almost magical to me.
The cable is a bit microphonic I noticed.
Love the spacial presentation, it's just right for me in terms of stage size and "closeness".
I've never heard the SR-1, maybe one day now that the new transformers exist.

Sweet, magical, planar meets electro.

Thats it.

They like a clean amp, as a "round toned" amp, is giving the sweet too much sugar, perhaps.....but, to each his own set of ears...


-Happy Listening.

 

[RogueCrusher]

Edited : 8-31-2022

Raal-requisite Ca-1a - Mini Review.

1.) Box. (2) Black Substantial Cardboard Boxes. .. One contains the ohm converter Brick and a short 4 pin cable . The other black box contains the RaaL Headphones and 2 sets of custom pads and a nice black cloth headphone cable.

2.) Cable : 3 Meter obo. Black Cloth, nice.

3.) Pads.. 2 Sets ..... Slanted, comfortable, total black foam design

4.) Headband : Its Leather, and very soft

5.) RaaL Ca-1a overall comfort : Its Good. The headphone cups are comfy and the headphones frame design sits well balanced on your head. The clamp force is soft. The Ca-1a will fit larger heads, smaller heads and any size ears.

6.) Build Quality : Solidly Retro
.........
-------
I am reviewing the Raal right out of the box, first listening impressions. Call it "Honeymoon" if you like.

Let me say that Ive never heard the Previous Raal Ear Phones, so i can't comment by comparison regarding if these sound better, similar, or etc.

Now let me get right to the gear.
Its a classic in the making. And what i mean by that, is that this one is going to take time to appreciate, because what it does is very special and it takes time for the special to stand up and be counted.
IN this last 12 months, ive owned or own the Susvara, the ZMF Verite closed, the Final Audio 8000 Pro, the Abyss TC, my 3rd set of Rosson Rad-O's, the DCA Stealth, DCA Noire, Senn 800S, The Hifiman Stealth and XS and HEKSE and HEKV2. Ive owned again the Empyrean and for the 1st time and not the last time....the Meze Elite. And i can say with assurance that this new Raal sounds nothing like any of those gears. It has a uniquely engineered reference sound that i wager will eventually become a "keeper" regarding real Audiophiles who will take a chance on it.
Its not a set of headphones that break music into bits and pieces of FR for you to dissect.. Instead it sounds more like floor standing speakers.
Its a unique gear that offerers a beautiful sound that is easy to listen to for long sessions.
Its very enjoyable to indulge yourself in/with for hours because its warm and natural sounding and has ample detail.

Its obvious from the design that the cups and the overall aesthetic presentation of the CA-1A is unique.
This is a somewhat retro design, designed strictly for excellent sonic performance,
Within 2 mins of listening to the Raal's fine sound, you realize that you are listennig to something special.
There are 2 sets of Pads.. One is designed to simulate the Previous Raal headphone's sound, and most listeners who prefer outstanding neutrality + excellent detail will love them.
The 2nd Set, produces more richness in the low end and slightly more soundstage.
Both "sounds" are uniquely lovely to hear.
The first few days i owned the RaaLs, i used the solid cups, and for the last few days, ive used the cups that proved the most neutral sound.
Both "sounds" are really something to hear.

And first let me say quickly, that you operate the headphones with any amp that has decent power. The "OMN" Brick is 16 or 32, and you plug it into the Amp's Balanced Headphone out, and then you control the CA-1a's volume with your Amp's volume knob. Kinda ingenious. And you are dealing with Ribbon speakers, so, all in all, its impressive... And, there is no sense of being tied up or tied down with cables.... Its really plug and play simplicity.
Im using a Ferrum ERCO, a Fiio K9 Pro, and a TEAC UD-505 and the Topping A90 Discrete, and they all work perfectly with the Raal's setup requirements.
This Raal sounds good with every amp-dac combo ive used.

So...."how does this RaaL gear sound"? And is the CA-1A, worth : $2500.00
Well, you will be the final judge upon ownership, but i'm happy to provide you with some basic idea of what to expect when you hear them for yourself.

Now, what does this gear do for sound.... how to describe it?

A.) Natural and Beautiful.

And the reason the RaaL sounds so very natural and beautiful, is based on its Ribbon Driver Tech.. Ribbon Tech sounds nothing like a Planar and nothing like a Dynamic, and nothing like the HEDD-phone Ribbon system or any set of headphones that use Beryllium drivers.
This RaaL is one of the most natural sounding headphone sounds ive heard.
The best way i can describe it's sound, is that its slightly warm, very natural, nicely detailed., and not dry.

There is no hyped treble, there is no sucked out mids, and there is no lack of bass extension.
No one frequency is dominate. The CA-1A's sound is balanced, deep, detailed, natural, and has a mildly "analog" tonality that i was not expecting to hear from 2 RIBBONS strapped to my ears..
Frankly i was expecting the Raal to be a treble canon, and its not that at all.
Its a immersive audiophile sound that offers warmth and fullness and nice detail.
Its not a Hifiman, whereby the treble is trying to overcook the detail. Its not a recent Abyss whereby the upper mids are hyped for the same reason... The Raal Gear uncovers what is in the music and plays it for you beautifully.
-
1.) Treble.: Its detailed but its not etched. Its not dominate or bright at all. Its a fatigue free Treble. RaaL has designed the Treble to be accurate vs hyper extended.
All the micro information is there but not like a Planar where you often get too much..such as what Hifiman Treble produces.

2.) Midrange : Perfect. Its sweet and natural and smooth and non-aggressive . This was my 2nd biggest surprise regarding the Raal, as i had anticipated that the Ribbons would produce a bit of edge in the midrange, but there is none. In fact its in the Midrange that the CA-1As produce their Magic.

3.) Upper Bass : I dont detect any bloat, but because the Ca-1a's overall tone is quite warm, it could be that the upper bass is the reason. It does not encroach upon the midrange, but there is a noticable fullness to the upper bass frequency.

4.) Deep Bass : Its textured. Its full when using the non-notched pads. Its dynamic but not quite a "slam". Bass is more than ample, its quite full, and is in no way lacking in extension or resolution.

5.) Soundstage : Very Immersive, Its not so wide that you lose "in the front", and there is a deepness to the SS that helps the overall sense of "Euphoric" that this gear presents.

6.) Instrument separation : Very accurate

Micro Detail : Revealing but not hyper-detailed.

Macro Detail : Again, no shortage.

Timbre : DEEP and Natural

Overall Resolution : One of the best Gear's ive heard regarding being able to deliver a supremely natural sound that is also accurately detailed.


How does this gear stand up against the BEST : Audeze, Hifiman, Final Audio, Abyss, & Meze, To my ears, its in the same league but does not sound like any of those.

And from the overall perspective regarding Genuine Audiophile Sound... The CA-1a is certainly performing as a high end "audiophile gear". It's tonal balance and the beautiful naturalness that it presents make this gear very special.
The lovely sound it produces is unlike Planar or Dynamic sound.
It offers a richness in the overall tonality that is soundly unique.
Ribbon Tech, as created by Raal for these headphones bring out the beauty in the music, yet offers very insightful detail.

Verdict : If you were not quite satisfied with the Empyrean or Elite,...... and the DCA Stealth, The LCD-5, and the Susvara just weren't 'it"... then you should give the Raal CA-1a a listen for a few days.
Its very good.
-
-

-
-

Thank you for taking the time to review, document and post your experience with this here offering.

Rather than run this from a 4pin male headphone XLR connection off the front of my amp (iCan Pro Signature), could I not run it off the back of the amp with a Y cable via the Balanced outputs (L and R female 3 pin XLR) to single Male 4 Pin XLR into the RAAL TI - 1B transformer?

I would just need to find around a 4 foot balanced dual 3 pin XLR to single male 4 Pin XLR cable so that I can have this transformer permanently connected but sitting on the floor under my entertainment console ready to plug the ribbon headphones in whenever I wanted to use them. (Does anyone know where to find such a beast? I’ve only been able to find ones that are like 20-30cm)

 

[RogueCrusher]

Confirmed, the TI-1b arrived with the CA-1a from Moon Audio. I'm really happy about what the transformer gives me, but it's actually kind of hard to place it ergonomically. The polycarbonate texture is neat, though.

First impressions of the CA-1a:
They are very sweet sounding. It's like the best parts of planar and electrostatics, but made more pleasant and natural.
So far I like the coffee bean pads best with a nice little EQ bass shelf. I find them quite comfortable, not scratchy at all.
Driving them off a THX AAA 789 on level 3 (highest) gain.
The upper mids/lower treble is almost magical to me.
The cable is a bit microphonic I noticed.
Love the spacial presentation, it's just right for me in terms of stage size and "closeness".
I've never heard the SR-1, maybe one day now that the new transformers exist.

As far as placement and connection:
Rather than run this from a 4pin male headphone XLR connection off the front of my amp (iCan Pro Signature), could I not run it off the back of the amp with a Y cable via the Balanced outputs (L and R female 3 pin XLR) to single Male 4 Pin XLR into the RAAL TI - 1B transformer?

I would just need to find around a 4 foot balanced dual 3 pin XLR to single male 4 Pin XLR cable so that I can have this transformer permanently connected but sitting on the floor under my entertainment console ready to plug the ribbon headphones in whenever I wanted to use them. (Does anyone know where to find such a beast? I’ve only been able to find ones that are like 20-30cm)

 

[bagwell359]

ASR killed these, but than again they hate Nelson Pass amps and Schiit products so there u go. I was considering buying them blind to save the effort to hear them - but that's silly for any audio product over a few hundred bucks.

 

[redbaaron]

ASR killed these, but than again they hate Nelson Pass amps and Schiit products so there u go. I was considering buying them blind to save the effort to hear them - but that's silly for any audio product over a few hundred bucks.

Yeah, Amir really did them a disservice.

There's a thread where Aleksander from RAAL/requisite explains and stands by their design decisions, and he directly addresses Amir's measurements:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/raa...eadphone-is-here-headamp.963873/post-17184868

 

[FullBright1]

ASR killed these, but than again they hate Nelson Pass amps and Schiit products so there u go. I was considering buying them blind to save the effort to hear them - but that's silly for any audio product over a few hundred bucks.

ASR is a waste of time if you are looking for a accurate headphone review.
They mistreated Abyss, and they have now done the same to RaaL.

How bad are Amir's ears?
He thinks that the DCA Stealth, (closed) is the finest headphone sound ever created.
So, honestly, you can get a better review of Headphones from Z Reviews.

 

[bagwell359]

ASR is a waste of time if you are looking for a accurate headphone review.
They mistreated Abyss, and they have now done the same to RaaL.

How bad are Amir's ears?
He thinks that the DCA Stealth, (closed) is the finest headphone sound ever created.
So, honestly, you can get a better review of Headphones from Z Reviews.

Yeah. I don't go for objectivists with an axe to grind (so common). But I was looking for reviews. But they obviously looked at measurements and decided before hearing them. Still now I have to hear them.

 

[FullBright1]

Yeah. I don't go for objectivists with an axe to grind (so common). But I was looking for reviews. But they obviously looked at measurements and decided before hearing them. Still now I have to hear them.

Ribbon Tech. does not sound like Planar or Dynamic Drivers.

The Closed Raal's are very natural sounding, without any leading edge sharpness. The tone is fluid and sweet and avoids sounding like its in your head.
Its Immersive but not like you find with Hifiman 1000s, which tend to place the music "in space"... So, the Raal's soundstage immersion is not anything like that, yet its immersive.

As compared to the recent DCA Expanse....... The Expanse has a more technical and mid forward and leading edge defined sound., but similar in Tone , as both produce the sound of vocals and guitar and strings, and piano and drums and bass, very authentically.
With both Gears, music sound's REAL.

If a Reader is wondering....."should i get the Susvara new", or buy the Raal Closed and the DCA Expanse.

That is not even debatable to my ears.....Go with the 2, all day and all night.

 

[deafenears]

I don't know why you write closed RAALs when the CA-1a is still open-backed but "circumaural".

Maybe something you know that we don't?