[REVIEW] Rhapsodio RDB+ V1 Hybrid (2BA + Dynamic driver)

[meiaen]

Quote:

Oh my RDB+ v1 are already delivered to my house in Tokyo already since Monday. The problem is that I extended my holiday in Australia so no one is there to receive them!!

I did bring the RDB+ 2v1 with me to Australia though.

Mimouille, just think of the v1 as tai kor "big brother" , and the 2v1 sai kor"little brother" .

 
Mine is stuck at custom right now hoping it would be delivered by tomorrow. ><

 

[Gintaras]

so far two more happy owners of v1 not counting me and others who have them now

 
Anak, i am curious about your big and small brothers comparison, i hope the bigger brother is a better one

 
Right now i put on RDB+ and listen to my all-time favorite Magnification album from YES, sounds insanely great, i am flattered. Big kudos to Rhapsodio team & Charles. and thanks to H2O for pointing me to RDB IEMs... yes, my wallet hates you mate but my ears love you

 

[H20Fidelity]

I have mine going now with my favourite artist atm Taylor Swift, through Rocco BA (by choice) and silver plated cable because her vocals just sound so crisp and clean. She hits these peaks that set the RDB+ v1 right off. More people need to try these, certainly..

 

[Gintaras]

now i swapped back to EB50 listening to Sade... wow, curious, now i know why some people claim EB50 are superb neutral...... now i can feel RDB+ is pretty U shaped while EB50 sound neutral from top to bottom... RDB+ excels in detail, air, black space, bass attack... but EB50 excels in neutrality offering more black space and more relaxed presentation and almost no coloration.
 
what i love is either of my setups or IEMs give me a huge listen pleasure... so i am happy as a pig. could not be more happy with RDB+ 

 
RDB+ is really something special and very unique sounding, bright clean full sounding... it reminds me about some greatest English three way floorstanders. meanwhile EB50 is a honest workhorse, it does not wow you straight away but it grows on you with time, reminds me pretty much about studio monitors in squeezing out fine detail while avoiding any coloration.
 
so far two perfect combos i discovered:
 
1) fabulous sounding luxury combo = RWAK100 + RDB+v1
2) great sounding budget combo = C3 + BH + EB50
 
so far listening continues :-D

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

so far two more happy owners of v1 not counting me and others who have them now

 
Anak, i am curious about your big and small brothers comparison, i hope the bigger brother is a better one

 
Right now i put on RDB+ and listen to my all-time favorite Magnification album from YES, sounds insanely great, i am flattered. Big kudos to Rhapsodio team & Charles. and thanks to H2O for pointing me to RDB IEMs... yes, my wallet hates you mate but my ears love you

 
I can't wait to get back to Tokyo and raiding my mailbox now. The big and little brother concept to me was easier to remember than the naming. Big brother is the 10mm DD (RDB+ v1), whilst the little brother has an 8mm DD.
 
I'm not gonna apologise for your wallet yet though until I've listened to the RDB+ v1 

. So far with the RDB+ 2v1 at least, it's proven to be very good value for money 

!

 

[Gintaras]

Update, my T1 arrived today... Game Over guys, Rwak100 + RDB+v1 + T1 = Best High End Portable Combo you can get without the need to rob the bank. Fantastic setup which makes RDB shine... It's so good that I stopped thinking of any upgrade, I just found my musical Nirvanna

I am afraid to wet my pants before i can even describe how good is this, you must hear it to know what you have been missing without them :-D

 

[Gintaras]

Excellent news! What cable are you using?

mate, the cable is Duo Crazy OCC Plus, i ordered this separately and it came along with stock cable which will do for backup. so far sounding great cable.

 

[meiaen]

Quote:

Update, my T1 arrived today... Game Over guys, Rwak100 + RDB+v1 + T1 = Best High End Portable Combo you can get without the need to rob the bank. Fantastic setup which makes RDB shine... It's so good that I stopped thinking of any upgrade, I just found my musical Nirvanna

I am afraid to wet my pants before i can even describe how good is this, you must hear it to know what you have been missing without them :-D

amping the RWAK100 doesnt make that much difference plus it makes the portability of it incomprehensible unless you need more power to drive full size can. anyway nice to have someone who have the same set up as me but i think i have a different cable 6n mono crystal copper. i just hope to receive it tomorrow canada post is killing me on the waiting time

 

[Gintaras]

Mei, Yes and No... the amp is unlikely to change much detail level and sonic attributes related to RWAK DAC section BUT a good amp can add to the sound signature. this is exactly what i planned and what T1 did. T1 added tube like liveliness to the sound, believe me this little amp got such a great synergy that there is nothing else i can wish for. 
 
so amping RWAK makes sense. and RWAK still gives you great flexibility because it can be used unamped and still give you hours of musical joy while amping will give you even more benefits in terms of possibility to alter sound signature.

 

[lee730]

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amping the RWAK100 doesnt make that much difference plus it makes the portability of it incomprehensible unless you need more power to drive full size can. anyway nice to have someone who have the same set up as me but i think i have a different cable 6n mono crystal copper. i just hope to receive it tomorrow canada post is killing me on the waiting time

I felt the RWA AK100 was lacking in dynamics big time and the T1 really helped to relieve that. But as you say it does take away from it's portability which was a turn off in that regards. Horses for courses .
 
@AnakChan I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions on the V1 model as it is supposedly the same as the original 1Plus2 (which you didn't find that appealing on first listen?). I'm sure if you give it some time it may wow you. For me it only took a couple hours and I was hooked, even over the AKG3003 which I had for a week or so prior .

 

[Gintaras]

perhaps right about AK100 but RWAK is very nice DAP and can do nice job without amp. what T1 does is adding lucidity making sound tube like. mind this i could happily listen to RWAK+RDB without any amp too but curiousity killed the cat and also my wallet

 
one quick observation, if you like neutral sound presentation from top to bottor then you might be better served with v2 which according to Rhapsodio and Anak are way more balanced... i understood it this way that v1 offers Fun element while v2 is more coherent across the entire range. so far so good considering their competitive pricing.
 
something tells me there is no IEM to beat balanced neutral presentation of my Musical Fidelity EB50, this small single BA cans are simply amazing value for hard core audiophile, the only problem with them i hear is poor fit for many... in my case fit was not a problem so i am very happy to have them. BUT... beware, sometimes totally balanced sound can also be fatiguing and dull. balanced equipment also tends to reveal every single fault of sonic presentation, believe me EB50 are very picky on material and source, my Cowon sounds like trash with EB50 .. so this is not everyone's cup of tea... this is why many people in fact prefer some sound coloration. all in my humble opinion.

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

I felt the RWA AK100 was lacking in dynamics big time and the T1 really helped to relieve that. But as you say it does take away from it's portability which was a turn off in that regards. Horses for courses .
 
@AnakChan I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions on the V1 model as it is supposedly the same as the original 1Plus2 (which you didn't find that appealing on first listen?). I'm sure if you give it some time it may wow you. For me it only took a couple hours and I was hooked, even over the AKG3003 which I had for a week or so prior .

 
I'm hankering to listening to it too but a family emergency required me to extend my stay in Oz whilst my v1 waiting in my mailbox in Tokyo. If I knew I was going to extend my trip longer I would have asked Charles to send it to me here instead of back home.
 
I don't know much about Rhapsodio history & Tralucent's therefor don't know how close it is to the original 1Plus2 sound. The last time I heard the original 1Plus2 was back in October last year and doubt if Musica Acoustics still has the original 1Plus2 in their hands anymore. All I can do is to compare it to the current 1Plus2.
Quote:

perhaps right about AK100 but RWAK is very nice DAP and can do nice job without amp. what T1 does is adding lucidity making sound tube like. mind this i could happily listen to RWAK+RDB without any amp too but curiousity killed the cat and also my wallet

 
[snip!]

 
Lee730 had the RWAK100 actually. He never had the standard AK100 version.

 

[Gintaras]

[size=10pt]Lee, sorry my fault, Anak thanks for pointing me.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]To tell the truth I found RWA AK100 with RDB+v1 and T1 amp to be a brilliant combo for my needs. I still find RWA AK100 pushing well when unamped. Do not get me wrong, I speak only for myself here. Still I never heard Rocoo so cannot say much.[/size]

 

[lee730]

Also synergy with the gear will play a big roll in it all .
 

 

[goodvibes]

Guys, in the EB50, are we talking about a single Siren driver? It can be good but it's only got so much to offer. More of a PL50/A151 competitor. MF marketing at it's finest.