So... now on to impressions/mini-review:
Build Quality:
Dan kept assuring me that these are pre-production units, and that the final products will be even more solid. But I could have sworn I could wear a pair to World War 3 and come back without a scratch. They are extremely solid, and very well-built as is. If Dan was selling them at the show, I would have paid for a pair immediately.
I think the Alpha Dogs are among the most solidly built headphones I have ever held in my hands. They did not feel like a headphone put together with parts from other headphones. They felt like a completely new product.
Comfort and isolation:
I don't think anyone can claim that the Mad Dogs are uncomfortable. But somehow, I thought the Alpha Dogs were even more comfortable than the Mad Dogs. I felt that clamping force, how big the ear pads are, how they push against your ears, etc... were calculated very meticulously. They achieved as perfect a seal as possible. They couldn't completely drown out ambient noise, but they did an amazingly good job considering. I think only active noise canceling can do better.
Sound quality:
Haha, here's the juicy part. I did write that these sounded "unbelievable", right? I meant that in a good way.
Test setup is as pictured. Burson Conductor or Schiit Lyr and Bifrost were the primary sources here. Dan wasn't cheating with $2000+ amplifiers. You can get amazingly good sound out of the Alpha Dogs with a <$1000 setup.
But if I just did a plain listening test, then it wouldn't be cool. So Wolfetan44 helped me out. He and I brought our own headphones over for a bit of fun. Paradox T50RP and Audio Technica ATH-W1000X.
Please note that the ATH-W1000X is very close to my personal reference sound signature because I modded it, and I'm very familiar with it, so it'd be an unfair comparison for the Alpha Dogs just on that point alone.
How did the Alpha Dogs fare against those 2 headphones?
Pink Floyd's Money - Dark Side Of the Moon (HD quality): this was one of the tracks that Dan had on his computer. I have heard this song probably no less than 100 times. And I have heard it out of a lot of headphones. Up to and including the SR-009 and Abyss.
Paradox T50RP: a bit narrow and claustrophobic to my ears, but good clarity, good details, and very good depth and layering ability. Despite having smaller soundstage than the other 2 headphones, this one held its own.
ATH-W1000X (modded): expansive and very good soundstaging, very good depth, layering, details. Like I said, it's very close to my reference sound signature, so almost nothing is lacking to my ears. If upper midrange was a bit more subdued, it'd be perfect.
Alpha Dogs: surprisingly, soundstage is almost as big as the W1000X. Details are a bit more subdued than the other 2 headphones to my ears, but smoother than Paradox. If my W1000X was at stock, I'm sure the Alpha Dogs would decimate them. As is, I think the Alpha Dogs is a better value than the W1000X just because you don't have to fiddle with mods and so on to get them to sound right.
Eric Clapton's Lonely Stranger - Unplugged: this was my own music. I couldn't find this track on Dan's computer, but he allowed me to load my own music. So I went to town with the "authority" that was just granted to me. (sorry, Dan! I couldn't resist it!)
Paradox T50RP: being that this is a live recording, the Paradox did a good job with instrument separation and layering. Details were simply amazing. However, there was still that claustrophobic feel. Midrange was fairly good, but not as liquid as the other 2 headphones.
ATH-W1000X (modded): huge soundstage. It sounded like I was sitting there on the stage. Midrange was a tad more forward than the other 2 headphones, so it was quite weird... given that the soundstage was so huge. Otherwise, very good details, very good midrange presentation, and overall very pleasing.
Alpha Dogs: soundstage a bit lacking compared to W1000X. But. But. BUT. Okay... BUT the overall presentation was more pleasing and natural than the W1000X. Why? Because of that midrange emphasis on the W1000X. ADs don't have that midrange emphasis, so they sounded more natural. The presentation is obviously more colored with the W1000X. ADs presented a far more natural and linear presentation. Even though I said that the W1000X was closer to my reference sound signature, I was leaning toward Alpha Dogs with this song. That's a huge feat for the Alpha Dogs.
E.S. Posthumus' Ebla - Unearthed: this was also my own music. This track was solely there to test imaging and soundstage performance.
Paradox T50RP: again that claustrophobic feel. I think soundstage is inherently a weakness with this headphone. Though the layering ability was just amazing. I also loved how details were rendered.
ATH-W1000X (modded): crazy expansive soundstage. Unnaturally big. I'd only heard bigger soundstage from 2 headphones... the ATH-AD2000X and Sennheiser HD800. Due to the midrange emphasis, imaging was spot on, and I could almost pick out individual voices in the choir. This was probably an unfair fight for the other 2 headphones, or so I thought until I heard the Alpha Dogs.
Alpha Dogs: very good expansive soundstage. Not as big as the W1000X, but again, more coherent. There wasn't that much of a midrange emphasis, so vocals took a backseat, but it made the soundstage more natural. I didn't expect to, but I think I enjoyed the Alpha Dogs a lot with this song. Best of all, I remembered there was a cavernous feel to the soundstage when I was listening to this track with the Mad Dogs. There was no cavern with the Alpha Dogs. They sounded truly like "soundstage" of an open-backed pair of cans.
E.S. Posthumus' Nara - Unearthed: the next track in the same album. I often used this track to test bass performance.
Paradox T50RP: soundstage notwithstanding (I don't think I need to keep whining anymore), bass was pretty well-rendered. I could use a little bit more of it, but it sounded pretty good to my ears with this headphone. And it never bled into the midrange. However, due to the soundstage, bass felt a little more... one-directional. Like it came from just one source instead of multiple.
ATH-W1000X (modded): directional information is recreated very well. I could clearly hear where bass is coming from, and whether it was from a small or big drum. However, it felt like sub bass rumble could be a little bit more pronounced.
Alpha Dogs: surprisingly, again, these came out on top in a track that I didn't expect them to. Impact was lacking compared to the W1000X, but bass sounded very linear. Sub bass rumble was well on par with the rest of the frequency response, and soundstage was just lacking a tiny bit behind the W1000X. Needless to say, that means they were better to me than the Paradox.
Overall, I'd say the Alpha Dogs was the most well-rounded of the three headphones mentioned, despite the fact that I own and really like one of the two that I compared the Alpha Dogs to.
If I have to pick a headphone out of the three, the Alpha Dogs would be the obvious decision. It was more comfortable than the other 2 headphones, it isolated far better than my W1000X (the W1000X is actually semi-open rather than fully closed like the Alpha Dogs), and I wouldn't have to apply any further modification for them to sound great.
And yeah, that was how the Alpha Dogs sounded unbelievable to my ears. I came into the review expecting them not to be able to measure up to my W1000X, which... if I have to add, I do prefer over the HD800, LCD-2, HE-500, and TH900. No joke. All 4 of those headphones were available at the meet for me to demo and compare, so it wasn't like I just pulled that out of nowhere.
I think the Alpha Dogs are clearly the best closed headphone under $1000. Bar none. And that's because the TH900 exists. And technically, I think the TH900 does have slightly better imaging compared to the Alpha Dogs. Just like how my W1000X can still beat out Alpha Dogs at certain things.
But... this is a big but... the Alpha Dogs is priced at $599. The TH900 new is $1499 even after the recent price drop. You're paying more than twice the price tag for something like a 5% improvement.
My modded W1000X is probably a better competition at around $499, but... I put in multiple hours tuning the sound, the ear pads were swapped (the L3000 ear pads are like $100 a pair!), and I had to put in a lot of things afterward (felt, dynamat extreme, etc...). The actual value of that W1000X is close to $800 - $900 not even considering the hours I spent trying out different things that didn't work, and I don't think I can replicate a second pair that's even close to that. And even after all that, it's still not as comfortable as the Alpha Dogs, nor does it isolate as well as the Alpha Dogs.
Additional note: after hearing the closed-back Audeze prototype, I still maintain the above sentiment... that the Alpha Dogs are the best closed headphone under $1000. But that's not because I know anything else about the prototype (other than how it sounds like), but because I think the Alpha Dogs still offers something unique for the money.
