THE COMPOSER OPEN BACK FLAGSHIP by AUSTRIAN AUDIO

[musicday]

Congratulations, best headphones you owned/heard?

 

[stersa]

Ufff..maybe ALL TOTL,s...Immanis,Tungsten,X9000,Susvara,Susvara UNV,ABYSS,HD800S,UTOPIA..many,many..

Today,only have AA The Composer..but next week,will arrive SUSVARA OG and Maybe X9000 ..both 3/4 times yet..WHY ??because will arrive an IFI iCAN PHANTOM ..and I need taste with TOTL,s another time..

Some say that if it is so good with SUSVARA, X9000, etc., etc., I want to try it myself. I have always preferred to try it at home, rather than read what others say.

Best Regards

Sisco

 

[Nomax]

NOMAX

PS.lol

 

[noplsestar]

NOMAX

PS.lol

Interesting that goldensound also wants to change the cable. He says in the video he doesn’t like the stock cable and I don’t really know what exactly he doesn’t like. As I see it, I don’t „dislike“ the stock cable, I just find that an upgrade cable gives you so an audible step up and brings out the virtues of the headphone just a bit more than the stock cable. So I am kind of baffled that Composer owners seam so hesitant in buying upgrade cables. Okay, the connector is a thing to manage. But meanwhile there are some options available. When you look into other flagship headphones like Focal, Susvara etc. there are tons of upgrade cable owners. Here it is rather quiet and I am inclined to think it’s because of the „pro“ attitude of AA. And that’s cool. As said once, no one needs to upgrade of course. I am just wondering why so few people try to compare the stock cable to an upgrade cable. It’s a shame I don’t have time to be at the head-fi meeting tomorrow in Vienna, as I could bring my Arctic Cables Aeris (I still try to sell in order to finance their flagship cable) as also Oratory will be there with some measuring equipment. Hopefully next time!
Anyways, nice to see Resolve is reevaluating his opinion on the Composer!

 

[TRHH]

Do you mind describing the issue with piano that you hear with the suede pads?

It is to bright on many jazz piano recordings. Almost "shrill" - but that is maybe not the right word for it. But something in that direction

 

[noplsestar]

It is to bright on many jazz piano recordings. Almost "shrill" - but that is maybe not the right word for it. But something in that direction

I hear you. And that’s exactly what I meant (in the German composer thread) that everybody is talking about how the highs are diminished and there is more bass where I hear it differently: there might be more bass overall, but there is less punch (and less bass speed).
In addition to the recessed mids there has to be some kind of peak in the highs (or high mids?). Anyhow, this peak is probably what makes the piano too high (unnatural sounding) as well as altering the voices - for me - which ends up in being a bit artificial sounding.
Maybe that’s because the mids are recessed and now when I crank up the volume a few notches, this artificial highs are created? I don’t know. The only thing I hear is 1. slower, less punchy bass 2. recessed (lower) mids 3. strange highs (which results in a bigger stage).
But maybe it’s because of my audio chain, who knows …

 

[stersa]

Well, my opinion on the Suede pads is that they make my The Composer more focused on the mids, and with less sub-bass... I don't have any problems with the highs - they are thicker pads, so they separate the driver more... I think that's why the sub-bass softens more... but the mids, for me, are very good... and especially for the summer, they are much more confortable in my case.

We all hear differently...this is more than clear

Best Regards

Sisco

 

[Nomax]

It always has been....and always will be...the more pleasant the performance to your ears is..the more you are invited to turn up the volume further
(I can also understand why AA chose this banana plug....it's not just because of the Conatact surface)

NOMAX

PS.the law of perception

@noplsestar

I won't be there tomorrow either...I still have to do my reports on the Luxsin/Noire XO as well as the FiiO FT7

 

[jamesjames]

It is to bright on many jazz piano recordings. Almost "shrill" - but that is maybe not the right word for it. But something in that direction

Thanks for that (I haven't heard the new pads or spacers). As much as I like it, I feel the tuning even with standard pads rests on something of a knife's edge. Frequency measurements suggest the acoustic chamber (the driver housing + pads) is delivering higher relative levels of mid-high frequency energy than other phones I like (eg, HD800S, ADX5000, MyShere, SR-009S) - and higher relative levels of low-frequency energy. Changing any of the physical parameters (eg, with new pads) will almost certainly have complex consequences for the presentational balance - but I feel the tendency toward a 'strident', mid-forward presentation is already there with the standard pads. It wouldn't be surprising to find that the standard pads are nevertheless reasonably effective in taming this tendency - and were an important consideration in developing the original tuning.

 

[headstef]

Thanks for that (I haven't heard the new pads or spacers). As much as I like it, I feel the tuning even with standard pads rests on something of a knife's edge. Frequency measurements suggest the acoustic chamber (the driver housing + pads) is delivering higher relative levels of mid-high frequency energy than other phones I like (eg, HD800S, ADX5000, MyShere, SR-009S). Changing any of the physical parameters (eg, with new pads) will almost certainly have complex results - but I feel the tendency toward a 'strident', mid-forward presentation is already there with the standard pads. It wouldn't be surprising to find that the standard pads are nevertheless reasonably effective in taming this tendency - and were an important consideration in developing the original tuning.

Since this graph was published
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...agship-by-austrian-audio.969871/post-17786765 ,
I have always wandered if the Composer can really sound natural enough or musical enough. I can only speculate it doesn't but alas I haven't listened to it (not available for a demo in Greece).
Anyway, there are many graphs and comparisons with other well known headphones in the posts following the above (page 56 and around). Of course graphs can say everything about the tonality of a headphone.

 

[jamesjames]

Since this graph was published
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...agship-by-austrian-audio.969871/post-17786765 ,
I have always wandered if the Composer can really sound natural enough or musical enough. I can only speculate it doesn't but alas I haven't listened to it (not available for a demo in Greece).
Anyway, there are many graphs and comparisons with other well known headphones in the posts following the above (page 56 and around). Of course graphs can say everything about the tonality of a headphone.

As I've posted, I think the Composer is excellent with classical music - although to my ear not quite as excellent as some others. And I would have to say it indeed seems to me a little less 'natural' than the phones I prefer. I feel it presents a vibrant, mid-forward image with great clarity that's very impressive - but perhaps hyper-real on occasion. Keith Howard's website (https://headphonetestlab.co.uk/home-welcome-longer-version) presents measurements for the dynamic phones I've mentioned in very convenient form - allowing easy, standardised comparison. I feel the Composer sounds like it measures - as do the HD800S and ADX5000 for example. I would agree measurements don't say everything about phones - certainly not whether they will appeal - but they say a lot.

 

[noplsestar]

Here is a link to an interesting post of Amit on YouTube where he asked ChatGPT about measurements

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxhTyXjp93QIMS7vGwT_vYC0RybZSwhIwW?si=IGt81aVdA3g_ohLx

 

[jamesjames]

Here is a link to an interesting post of Amit on YouTube where he asked ChatGPT about measurements

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxhTyXjp93QIMS7vGwT_vYC0RybZSwhIwW?si=IGt81aVdA3g_ohLx

It's been interesting over the years to watch hi-fi reviews swing from measurements-only, to impressions-only, to somewhere in between (which is where I think most people are today). Personally, I'm glad we appear (generally) to have moved beyond doctrinaire commitment to one camp or the other - it makes for much better discussion on sites like this one.