ETA Ada Headphone Review: Don't Worry, Be Happy

I wish I had more time to listen & compare them more, so I can only really answer with imperfect memory as my guide.

That being said the largest standouts are the mids being more the star of the show with Ada, and the bass being more elevated with the Mini-O.

The Mini O mids are excellent IMO, but the Ada has a bit more emphasis. Combined with Ada's comparatively sedate bass (the Mini-O being colored IMO, the Ada more in line with neutral) the nuances of Ada's mids stand out even more.

From memory I perceive a little more plankton from Ada as well, but that could easily be due to the different tuning. It could also be a better driver in the Ada, I'll let more experienced ears comment on that if they like.

Despite all that, I'm not really a "mid-head" so the Mini-O suits my preferences a bit better. YMMV ofc.

Hope that helps!

 

First of all, thanks to all that made this loaner possible, especially @E_Schaaf and @tommytakis. I really appreciate getting to hear ETA's newest creation.

I found that the Ada was difficult for me to review because it was hard for me to listen critically. I think this was because it was so easy to slip into the music and enjoy myself. The tuning was excellent to my ears, with no annoying peaks or glaring absences. As others have mentioned, the mids were definitely forward, making the sound more intimate rather than expansive, especially with vocals. From memory, the O2 had more bass and better bass extension and texture, but the bass on the Ada was still quite good. The treble didn't leave much of an impression on me one way or the other, to be honest.

Something that stood out to me was the transient response of the Ada. As with other sensitive on-hear headphones (i.e. Grado RS1e and the ETA O2), the transient response is quick and crisp. However, the Ada also exhibited some roundness to the transients such that initial attack was not sharp—just quick and precise. Again, similar to other sensitive on-ears, I found the decay to be quick with less emphasis on the sustain than my other headphones, which took some getting used to during the initial phase of the loaner. That being said, the Ada had more decay and sustain than the RS1e and O2 based on my memory.

In terms of microdetail and plankton, I thought the Ada did very well, but the RS1e and O2 managed to pull out more nuance and they had more obvious instrument separation. But the Ada certainly had enough detail as to not detract from the listening experience.

In terms of synergy and gear, I found that Ada to work well with anything that I tried it with. I used it directly out of my phone with the Apple dongle, with my iFi micro iDSD Signature Finale, with the Magni Piety, and with my DSHA-3F. I found it to scale somewhat, but not as much as most headphones that I've heard. It even worked pretty well out of my SW51+ even though the impedance of the headphones is lower than the output impedance of the amplifier.

Overall, I think these are really excellent headphones, especially for the asking price. These are my favorite of the sensitive on-hear headphones that I've tried (the others being the RS1e and O2), and I would definitely recommend them if they fit your use case. They always caused me to slip into the music and enjoy listening, which is really what this hobby is all about in my opinion. Well done ETA!

 

I've been curious about the ETA ADA headphones since the launch, primarily because they bear a high resemblance to my favorite ETA, the ETA O2, but come with a much more attractive $250 lower price tag. After spending some time with them thanks to the loaner program, here are my impressions.

The ETA Ada offers a generally well-balanced tonal presentation. The overall sound signature is pleasant and easy to listen to. However, there are a few notable characteristics worth mentioning:

• The low bass is slightly understated, while there's a bit of emphasis in the midbass region, resulting in more restricted-LF experience.
• The ada doesn't quite match the extension of the O2 at either end of the frequency spectrum.
• The upper midrange is more pronounced, giving the ada a somewhat mid-centric sound. They occasionally sounds a little too resonant in this region to me.
• To my ears, ada is mildly more withdrawn in brilliance (e.g., sax overtone, hihat sizzling, bass sheen)
• Compared to the O2 (and Grado RS2x as well), the ada audibly falls short in terms of resolution, transient response, and spatial presentation.

If you're looking for a decent pair of headphones and have a limited budget, the Ada is a solid choice. You won't be disappointed by its overall performance.

However, if you have the extra $200-ish to spare, I personally recommend stepping up to the O2. The O2 provides a more refined and immersive listening experience, with superior resolution, transient response, and soundstage. It's like treating yourself to a bit of acoustic luxury.

 

I just got a pair of Ada's... and have the O2's as well. The biggest difference I'm hearing so far is in the bass - more on O2 and less on Ada. and the O2 sounds more impactful (e.g. the beginning of 15 Step by Radiohead), and I'm guessing that's mostly due to the bass.

Fit-wise, I find the Ada more comfortable than the O2. The smaller cup and shape of the pads make for a better fit on me. The ear pads are less floppy & oddly shaped on the Ada. Both are still pretty comfortable for on-ears. Definitely way more comfortable than Grado's, but they can start to cause a bit of soreness if worn for more than an hour or two.

The new headband strap does add a bit of extra comfort to an already very light headphone. There aren't really any hotspots to eliminate, but it adds more grip to your head so it feels more secure. And, I do believe all ETA headphones now ship with the new strap (which can also be purchased a la carte).

And, both these headphones leak like crazy, so while they're nice for portability, this is something to consider.

Overall, I think I prefer the sound of the O2, but the price ($600 vs $350) certainly makes the Ada a much better value.


here's a side-by-side of Ada (left) & O2 (right) cups. On the O2s, my ear actually tends to slip inside the pad and rests against the baffle (which actually isn't uncomfortable).

 

ETA Audio ADA Loaner Impressions

I’d like to thank the ETA crew, sbaf and its mods, and Julie for kindly making this loaner tour happen. I’m sorry for not posting these impressions sooner and for not posting more thorough ones. I wasted the first day of the loaner tour with a terrible pairing (more on this in a second) and the day after shipping out, this little guy, a stray, lost, scared kitten, showed up on our doorstep.



We took him to the vet, no microchip, clean bill of health, and I’ve now spent 3 days dealing alternately with kitten chaos and cuddles as we adopted him – hence the delay in posting this.

The Ada are great headphones, probably my second-favorite ETA headphones after the o2 (not including the ESX900, which I owned and loved, selling it only because closed backs aggravate my tinnitus). I’ve also owned the Mini-S but didn’t find it comfortable; I don’t usually get along with on-ears but the o2 and, in particular, the Ada, are so light as to pose no problem for me whatsoever.

Chain matters a great deal with the Ada. I spent the first two days driving them with an iFi Gryphon, which is usually a great little device. I’ve never disliked it with headphones or IEMs before, but, man it sucked with the Ada – lifeless, dull, fuzzy, lacking resolution, by turns thin or weirdly warm. I have no idea what’s going on here. I wonder if there’s an impedance mismatch or something. I’ve no idea. But this should be no reflection on the Ada: it sounds glorious with other gear. I need to go back and double check my Gryphon’s not on the fritz and if it is, I’ll edit this post.

If the o2 sounded kind of like the HD 800 SDR to me (minus the treble spike), i.e. wonderfully open and airy and spacious, with a slightly light tonality, great speed and resolution, and a tight, fast bass, then the Ada is more like an HD6x0; warmer, mellower, richer, more mid-centric (as advertised), with some sub-bass roll off (but not to the point where it’s really lacking for most music, unless you’re an electronic music fan), but with the much of the o2’s openness and spaciousness. It’s not as resolving as the o2. But it makes for a richer, fuller sound. The two complement each another nicely.

I’d love to see direct comparisons between the Ada and the HD 600. I don’t think the Ada scales as high, but it could well start at a higher tier, sound quality-wise, than the HD 600 from humble sources. I was astonished at how good it sounded from the headphones jack of my M1 MacBook Air.

My one niggle with the Ada is that the upper mids or lower treble, somewhere around there, can be a bit forward at times. I’m susceptible to an emphasis here, I should add. Again, though, this may have something to do with impedance matching. I played Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah as a test track with different setups and noticed that on the MacBook Air, the guitar was more forward, to the point of almost supplanting the vocals as the focal point of the music, whereas on the Yggdrasil A2 --> Stratus, the vocals were restored to their rightful place at the forefront of the song.

Female vocals were glorious but I found some male ones too forward at times, with the Stratus, and sometimes they came across as too up-front, in terms of staging, by which I mean the vocals were presented as though they were right in front of my eyes and not projected forward enough, like sitting too close to the screen in a movie theater.

The tuning otherwise is lovely. Also appealing are the superb clarity, the outstandingly good separation, and the airy and open headstage, which, from poor memory, is less diffuse with the Ada than the o2. The headstage is excellent apart from the lack of depth, with great width and good height. I was pleasantly surprised at how percussive the Ada is. It can hit super hard. The transients are fast but not overly so. Decay is lovely, too.

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I could see the Ada being an ideal one-and-done headphone thanks to its lovely sound and versatility, depending on budget, and if you’re looking for a slightly warm, mellow and rich sound, one that also has plenty of energy and fun thanks to its percussiveness and snappy transients.

Thank you for letting me check out these great headphones!

 

Wait, go back. We need a thread about the kitty...

 

Not feeling comfortable participating on tours at this time (due to health reasons) I bought an Ada. If it didn’t work for me I reasoned it would be easy to sell.

Let me preface that I have a bias against on-ear headphones based on past experiences with several Grado models. The Grados have not worked for me. Maybe some recent model might, but I am disinclined to spend time on them.

Ada convinced me it is possible to make an on-ear that is comfortable on my ears. Bass response appears to be directly proportional to headband clamping force. It took a few days to balance between desired bass response and comfort by adjusting the headband. ETA includes a cable which is very supple, has low mechanical noise and does not add to neck loading. This is a bonus as I usually look for an aftermarket cable to address those issues. Not necessary with the excellent cable included with the Ada.

Ada sounds to me like an electrostatic with greater, better defined bass. Low distortion combined with excellent transient response renders music with lower coloration than I would have expected for a headphone at this price point. Clarity with even tonal balance over the entire spectrum kept me listening for hours each session. Usually I will only listen to an evaluation headphone for 15 minutes before returning to my reference HD800-JAR.

Surprisingly I found the need to cut with a high shelf EQ above 10KHz by 2 dB for most even spectral balance to my ears.

To achieve the best sound for my preferences I adjusted DMG EQuick as shown below:

30 Hz, 0.53Q, +8 dB low shelf
10000 Hz, 0.53Q, -2 dB high shelf
spectrum displayed is a moment from Hidden Orchestra - Scatter

System most used for audition:

Impressive listening with the Modius and if budget constrained could be happy with that. I found myself engaged to a higher level with the Cyan 2, which is no surprise considering I tend to favor R2R NOS DACs.

Those entering the headphone listening space have extraordinary options at lower price points than ever before.

I won’t be selling my Ada.