[BTD1]

Anyone had a chance to compare the Aperio to the Expanse or anything else at CamJam SoCal?

 

[linshu1992]

Anyone had a chance to compare the Aperio to the Expanse or anything else at CamJam SoCal?

I wrote a little bit here on Bravura vs Expanse. Note my daily driver is Susvara so I generally prefer a slightly brighter sound. Expanse sounds veiled and dull to me, but I think certain types of music (lofi, lounge music) can be enjoyable. Bravura is very good in that it's very correct and life like. If you like prominent mids or exciting bass, you won't find them on Bravura (probably not on Expanse either; its tonality sounds pretty flat to me). Aperio takes everything good about Bravura to another level. Instrument & vocal are eerily real.

I spent quite a bit effort building my reference at canjam for Aperio. Never heard of Warwick before but they just came out of nowhere with this f**king black magic. I'm glad to provide whatever I know.

 

[Palyodgree]

I wrote a little bit here on Bravura vs Expanse. Note my daily driver is Susvara so I generally prefer a slightly brighter sound. Expanse sounds veiled and dull to me, but I think certain types of music (lofi, lounge music) can be enjoyable. Bravura is very good in that it's very correct and life like. If you like prominent mids or exciting bass, you won't find them on Bravura (probably not on Expanse either; its tonality sounds pretty flat to me). Aperio takes everything good about Bravura to another level. Instrument & vocal are eerily real.

I spent quite a bit effort building my reference at canjam for Aperio. Never heard of Warwick before but they just came out of nowhere with this f**king black magic. I'm glad to provide whatever I know.

Linshu I read all your comments on the CamJam thread , that would of been a lot of fun to experience all those combinations, we have similar musical tastes I’d like to add you know immediately when things sound right , well more realistic as recordings go . One of my references I use for evaluating the human pitch is my wife’s voice / vocals , she’s a studio vocalist . The studio had renovations done and a couple recording mic’s modified they needed to put to the test, I have a number of outtakes including some exceptionally well recorded cello I asked the owner if I could get copies of.

You immediately know when things sound right with me vocals and acoustic instruments played in an acoustical space the Bravura system does an exceptionally good job at the asking retail price .

Does my wife sound she is actually there in front of me singing , I checked this in real time the answer is no of course however what I’ve experienced listening to the Bravura system it gets my highest recommendation as an affordable system for anyone looking for a touch more realism with listening to their favourite music.
As for finding faults with the Bravura system sure there are some they are not perfect and certainly will not appeal to everyone of course, finally it’s difficult and not so reliable reading others experiences like always it’s best listening in your own home with your own music and your own ears .

 

[HONEYBOY]

I wrote a little bit here on Bravura vs Expanse. Note my daily driver is Susvara so I generally prefer a slightly brighter sound. Expanse sounds veiled and dull to me, but I think certain types of music (lofi, lounge music) can be enjoyable. Bravura is very good in that it's very correct and life like. If you like prominent mids or exciting bass, you won't find them on Bravura (probably not on Expanse either; its tonality sounds pretty flat to me). Aperio takes everything good about Bravura to another level. Instrument & vocal are eerily real.

I spent quite a bit effort building my reference at canjam for Aperio. Never heard of Warwick before but they just came out of nowhere with this f**king black magic. I'm glad to provide whatever I know.

Are you saying that you didn't find the mids on either the Bravura, or probably the Expanse to be prominent? If so am a bit surprised by that, as I find them both more forward in the midrange than the Susvaras. We do agree that Susvaras are slightly brighter than the Expanse, but I actually get more resolution from the Expanse than I do with the Susvaras off of a Ferrum stack. I can understand if someone has preference for more treble energy then they could describe the Expanse as dull. I personally wouldn't call it that. I do like the treble energy of the Susvara, but I think Expanse is more realistic, achieving better detailing without needing to overdo on the treble.

 

[Andrewteee]

I briefly compared the Bravura and Expanse + Ferrum Oor/Hypsos last night. Briefly, and the systems were in separate rooms, so not an immediate comparison. I've been focused on the Expanse + Ferrum Oor/Hypsos since the Expanse was new and I've been burning it in. The DAC is an older Resolution Audio Cantata V3. Music was stunning guitar playing from Djelimady Tounkara.

For the moment, I prefer the Expanse + Ferrum Oor/Hypsos. The Bravura is very, very good, but I got deeper enjoyment out of the Expanse combo. Perhaps the Bravura was a bit more technical, the Expanse a bit more musical. Perhaps? Early days.

I think the DAC in the Bravura is what holds it back. It is an all-in-one solution ( a heck of a value!) that surely involved tradeoffs. If only there was an analog in on the Bravura.

 

[linshu1992]

Are you saying that you didn't find the mids on either the Bravura, or probably the Expanse to be prominent? If so am a bit surprised by that, as I find them both more forward in the midrange than the Susvaras. We do agree that Susvaras are slightly brighter than the Expanse, but I actually get more resolution from the Expanse than I do with the Susvaras off of a Ferrum stack. I can understand if someone has preference for more treble energy then they could describe the Expanse as dull. I personally wouldn't call it that. I do like the treble energy of the Susvara, but I think Expanse is more realistic, achieving better detailing without needing to overdo on the treble.

Yeah I can totally understand if people prefer the warmer sound of expanse. I compared expanse with susvara on two amps, one is Feliks Audio Envy and the other is either Red October or Nautilus, and both times I felt the notes simply don’t stand out as much as Susvara (probably
due to its brighter signature). But note this is all quick impression on show floor and I probably only spent a few minutes. Def not ideal for comparison. I just wanted to see if I would personally like Expanse. After all, this is all about what each of us likes!

 

[linshu1992]

Linshu I read all your comments on the CamJam thread , that would of been a lot of fun to experience all those combinations, we have similar musical tastes I’d like to add you know immediately when things sound right , well more realistic as recordings go . One of my references I use for evaluating the human pitch is my wife’s voice / vocals , she’s a studio vocalist . The studio had renovations done and a couple recording mic’s modified they needed to put to the test, I have a number of outtakes including some exceptionally well recorded cello I asked the owner if I could get copies of.

You immediately know when things sound right with me vocals and acoustic instruments played in an acoustical space the Bravura system does an exceptionally good job at the asking retail price .

Does my wife sound she is actually there in front of me singing , I checked this in real time the answer is no of course however what I’ve experienced listening to the Bravura system it gets my highest recommendation as an affordable system for anyone looking for a touch more realism with listening to their favourite music.
As for finding faults with the Bravura system sure there are some they are not perfect and certainly will not appeal to everyone of course, finally it’s difficult and not so reliable reading others experiences like always it’s best listening in your own home with your own music and your own ears .

Totally. Though I need to clarify, when I say realness, it’s a combination of very good detail and 3D imaging. I don’t have a lot of experience listening to vocals in person, so I can’t comment if the headphones accurately reproduce the original sound. It’s very possible some colors were added, even if subtly, for better or for worse!

 

[Palyodgree]

I have to listen to the Aperio system now ,

 

[DJJEZ]

I had the Bravura on home demo for 2 weeks and compared it against my main reference systems which you can see in my Signature below. This was also my first ever experience of an estat which I wanted to have before I plunge deeper into estats which I'm about to do.

The unboxing experience, overall design and build quality for an all in one system at this price point is just seriously impressive. The metalwork, finish on the amp and volume dial etc is just beautiful and extremely solid and well made. Really nice braided cables on everything on as well.

Setup was a breeze, literally plug and play and download 1 driver from the Warwick site and your done.

Listening to this system was vastly different to anything I've experienced before as I've only ever heard planars and dynamics. The 2 stand outs for me were the resolution and soundstage size/sense of space. My favorite headphone is the Abyss 1266TC which sounds absolutely massive in soundstage width but The Bravura sounds HUGE in both width, Depth and height. Every single instrument within the soundstage had this insanely huge space between everything. You can pick out and place things extremely well. It sounded similar to a hifiman Arya in size but in my opinion even bigger in all directions.

The resolution is probaly better than nearly every planar that I've heard so far. Just exceptionally detailed. Can only imagine the type of resolution that aperio has.

Midrange is lush and beautiful. Absolutely no complaints here. Didn't sound like it had any dips or peaks in the midrange and I'm pretty sensitive normally.

Timbre is also another standout. Instruments sound extremely correct and natural and beats most planars I've heard or owned. I personally find the hifiman susvara more convincing but a susvara needs an extremely expensive amp and dac behind it to truly hear what it's capable of.

The entire sound is very slightly smooth I would say and lacks very little fatigue, there is no harshness at all to the sound. This is the benefit of having an all one system that can be perfectly tuned and not have to worry about different amp and dacs synergy.

My only real complaint for me is the bass. I regard myself as a basshead and it's partly why I love the 1266TC so much but the bass on the Bravura is very hit and miss on tracks and genre. The Bravura is a very fast headphone which estats are known for but with bass heavy music like techno/rap etc I found it very hit and miss and just missing a serious weight to the sound. Extremely bassy music I'm used to came across too light and missing impact/heft/sub bass but then certain rap music which I was expecting to be not great sounded pretty decent. My daily driver is a 1266tc so my perception of bass and the standard i expect is probaly a little distorted so take that as you will. I honestly think my focal utopia is better for bass.

A couple of other negatives I have are

1. When the headphones were on my head while music playing, when you move your head the music and soundtage literally moved around. Like if I tilted my head the soundstage would tilt as well. Extremely bizarre and unsure why this happens. Are other estats like this?

2. The clamp was a little bit too much for me but this is the only negative I have about the comfort. Outside of that they were very light and comfortable.

3. When you move the headphones away from your ears you get this weird type of suction. I'm guessing all estats do this but as this is my only experience of an estat I can't be sure.

4. The dac in my opinion is probaly the weakest link of this system and not being able to add your own is annoying but at this price point it makes sense they have left that exclusively for the aperio.

For the money this thing is absolutely mind blowing and if your not demanding extreme bass or listen to less bassy genres I highly recommend demoing or buying one of these. It also takes up very little of space on the desk so if you have it in an office or smaller desk it's perfect. A susvara, holo may KTE and OOR and hypsos is literally double the price of the Bravura and this thing is trading blows at half the price.

 

[Palyodgree]

I had the Bravura on home demo for 2 weeks and compared it against my main reference systems which you can see in my Signature below. This was also my first ever experience of an estat which I wanted to have before I plunge deeper into estats which I'm about to do.

The unboxing experience, overall design and build quality for an all in one system at this price point is just seriously impressive. The metalwork, finish on the amp and volume dial etc is just beautiful and extremely solid and well made. Really nice braided cables on everything on as well.

Setup was a breeze, literally plug and play and download 1 driver from the Warwick site and your done.

Listening to this system was vastly different to anything I've experienced before as I've only ever heard planars and dynamics. The 2 stand outs for me were the resolution, soundstage size and sense of space. My favorite headphone is the Abyss 1266TC which sounds absolutely massive in soundstage width but The Bravura sounds HUGE in both width, Depth and height. Every single instrument within the soundstage had this insanely huge space between everything. You can pick out and place things extremely well. It sounded similar to a hifiman Arya in size but in my opinion even bigger in all directions.

Timbre is also another standout. Instruments sound extremely correct and natural and beats most planars I've heard or owned. I personally find the hifiman susvara more convincing but a susvara needs an extremely expensive amp and dac behind it to truly hear what it's capable of.

The entire sound is very slightly smooth I would say and lacks very little fatigue, there is no harshness at all to the sound. This is the benefit of having an all one system that can be perfectly tuned and not have to worry about different amp and dacs synergy.

My only real complaint for me is the bass. I regard myself as a basshead and it's partly why I love the 1266TC so much but the bass on the Bravura is very hit and miss on tracks and genre. The Bravura is a very fast headphone which estats are known for but with bass heavy music like techno/rap etc I found it very hit and miss and just missing a serious weight to the sound. Extremely bassy music I'm used to came across too light and missing impact/heft/sub bass but then certain rap music which I was expecting to be not great sounded pretty decent. I honestly think my focal utopia is better for base.

A couple of other negatives I have are

1. When the headphones were on my head while music playing, when you move your head the music and soundtage literally moved around. Like if I tilted my head the soundtage would tilt as well. Extremely bizarre and unsure why this happens. Are other estats like this?

2. The clamp was a little bit too much for me but this is the only negative I have about the comfort. Outside of that they were very light and comfortable.

3. When you move the headphones away from your ears you get this weird type of suction. I'm guessing all estats do this but as this is only experience of an estat I can't be sure.

4. The dac in my opinion is probaly the weakest link of this system and not being able to add your own is annoying but at this price point it makes sense they have left that exclusively for the aperio.

For the money this thing is absolutely mind blowing and if your not demanding extreme bass or listen to less bassy genres I highly recommend demoing or buying one of these. It also takes up very little of space on the desk so if you have it in an office or smaller desk it's perfect. A susvara, holo may KTE and OOR and hypsos is literally double the price of the Bravura and this thing is trading blows at half the price.

Well put, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you described .

 

[hifixman]

I have to listen to the Aperio system now ,

I must say Aperio reminds me of the accuracy close to DCS for the spatial information and realism. I used to like close to face vocal, yet the me now feel the vocal of Aperio is much natural and correct.

 

[Andrewteee]

I had the Bravura on home demo for 2 weeks and compared it against my main reference systems which you can see in my Signature below. This was also my first ever experience of an estat which I wanted to have before I plunge deeper into estats which I'm about to do.

The unboxing experience, overall design and build quality for an all in one system at this price point is just seriously impressive. The metalwork, finish on the amp and volume dial etc is just beautiful and extremely solid and well made. Really nice braided cables on everything on as well.

Setup was a breeze, literally plug and play and download 1 driver from the Warwick site and your done.

Listening to this system was vastly different to anything I've experienced before as I've only ever heard planars and dynamics. The 2 stand outs for me were the resolution, soundstage size/sense of space. My favorite headphone is the Abyss 1266TC which sounds absolutely massive in soundstage width but The Bravura sounds HUGE in both width, Depth and height. Every single instrument within the soundstage had this insanely huge space between everything. You can pick out and place things extremely well. It sounded similar to a hifiman Arya in size but in my opinion even bigger in all directions

Midrange is lush and beautiful. Absolutely no complaints here.

Timbre is also another standout. Instruments sound extremely correct and natural and beats most planars I've heard or owned. I personally find the hifiman susvara more convincing but a susvara needs an extremely expensive amp and dac behind it to truly hear what it's capable of.

The entire sound is very slightly smooth I would say and lacks very little fatigue, there is no harshness at all to the sound. This is the benefit of having an all one system that can be perfectly tuned and not have to worry about different amp and dacs synergy.

My only real complaint for me is the bass. I regard myself as a basshead and it's partly why I love the 1266TC so much but the bass on the Bravura is very hit and miss on tracks and genre. The Bravura is a very fast headphone which estats are known for but with bass heavy music like techno/rap etc I found it very hit and miss and just missing a serious weight to the sound. Extremely bassy music I'm used to came across too light and missing impact/heft/sub bass but then certain rap music which I was expecting to be not great sounded pretty decent. My daily driver is a 1266tc so my perception of bass and the standard i expect is probaly a little distorted so take that as you will. I honestly think my focal utopia is better for bass.

A couple of other negatives I have are

1. When the headphones were on my head while music playing, when you move your head the music and soundtage literally moved around. Like if I tilted my head the soundtage would tilt as well. Extremely bizarre and unsure why this happens. Are other estats like this?

2. The clamp was a little bit too much for me but this is the only negative I have about the comfort. Outside of that they were very light and comfortable.

3. When you move the headphones away from your ears you get this weird type of suction. I'm guessing all estats do this but as this is my only experience of an estat I can't be sure.

4. The dac in my opinion is probaly the weakest link of this system and not being able to add your own is annoying but at this price point it makes sense they have left that exclusively for the aperio.

For the money this thing is absolutely mind blowing and if your not demanding extreme bass or listen to less bassy genres I highly recommend demoing or buying one of these. It also takes up very little of space on the desk so if you have it in an office or smaller desk it's perfect. A susvara, holo may KTE and OOR and hypsos is literally double the price of the Bravura and this thing is trading blows at half the price.

Nice summary! I agree the DAC is the weak point and I wish the next Sonoma amp would have an analog in too.

I love that headphone stand. I have the same one for my Bravura.

 

[amalgor]

Nice summary! I agree the DAC is the weak point and I wish the next Sonoma amp would have an analog in too.

I love that headphone stand. I have the same one for my Bravura.

Which stand is it? Can you share a link?

 

[Palyodgree]

Well I would say the dac in the Bravura system certainly isn’t awful though having more flexibility built into the energizer would be a good move .

 

[Andrewteee]

Which stand is it? Can you share a link?

ROOMs