RAAL requisite audio SR1a Review: HOLY MOLY! Buy this now!

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Jul 12, 2019.

  1. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Well c'mon, for some people considering stax the tough part is investing in an amp that's only good for one brand(-ish), but at least then it's useable for more than one headphone so you can sorta justify it to yourself. With the SR1a + JotR, that's basically a singular system with no upgrade path. With such a high price of entry, that's a tough pill to swallow.
     
  2. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Hello 10k DAC!
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Jot R will happen soon enough. As far as headphones, how do we know that Requisite will only make one model? And it's not like folks with KGSS have 7 different STAX headphones, well except for maybe one or two. Most guys with BHSE or KGSSHV tend to use one or two STAX models.

    --

    As far as I am concerned, Jot R + SR1a > Sennheiser HE1 system. And everything will fit in a travel case too.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2019
  4. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    Danny mentioned at our August event there are plans for a smaller version and little bit less expensive version of the SR1a that would also work with the Jot R. Time frame wise it seemed quite in the air.
     
  5. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Any info on the built in DAC card on the Jot R? I read elsewhere its going to just be a 200 dollar add, so it must be the Modi MB? Would that do justice to the rest of the gear?
     
  6. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Fair point. It does get to be a pricey system, although not nearly as bad as some of the other summit-fi HP/amp combos out there.

    The parts that were head-scratch worthy:
    1) Complaining that a sole-purpose-built amp wasn't able to work more broadly - that's kind of what purpose-built means, right?
    2) Saying that the OG Jot needed to be updated due to the Jot R coming out ("I hope that there will be some form of revision or slight refresh of the primary Jotunheim when this single-purpose R gets released"). Personally don't see the connection!
     
  7. sidq

    sidq Acquaintance

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    My understanding is they're developing a circumaural headphone as a bassier alternative to the SR1a. Perhaps closed back but I can't remember the details.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Probably not. The benefit of Modi MB is portability and darker sound that gels better with the SR1a.
     
  9. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    It uses the same accessory cards that fit in the Jot, Lyr3, Asgard3, and Rag2 (the current AK4490 or Multibit DAC cards, or phono card).
     
  10. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Did you hear this from RAAL? A circumaural closed back with earpads is so fundamentally opposite from open ear speakers.
     
  11. sidq

    sidq Acquaintance

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    Yes I heard it from Danny. I also didn't confirm that they are closed backs, it was a while ago and I cannot remember the exact details. Circumaural and more bass tuned were specifics I'm certain about however.
     
  12. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    He answered that awhile ago. He said he will be developing a regular open back version & closed back headphones with the ribbon tech. But it's not even in the planning stages, just something they will be doing, down the line in a few years.
     
  13. Maxx134

    Maxx134 Dunning–Kruger effect poster boy

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    I was very impressed and amazed and enthusiastic about the
    Raal requisite SR1a at first.

    It has all these great traits outlined in this whole thread, but it is not for everyone, regardless how good it is.

    In the end, it will remain a "specific genre" headphone.

    Every other TOTL "headphone" has more bass impact. The HD800 has more bass & impact than this.

    These are things for the company to improve on, like the wide range of signature changes and performance from headphone angle placement.

    Even though this headphone is in the TOTL headphone arena, due to it's utter astonishing speed and clarity, even outperforming the stax009...

    This is all great, but not complete solution.
    That's why you will need to have other cans to fill in the void.

    This is why some will sell it and choose another.
    The Absolute speed of the Raal, does not always win out, over musicality and more complete sound of other cans like the 009 or the Susvara.
    I indeed some love those specifically for their traits, like electrostat sound or meatier planar sound.

    But even those two, also need specific amps, or speaker amps.

    Most users don't want or need to go thru so much with other top cans, like Sennheiser, Focal, ZMF, Denon, etc.

    Most users don't need last bit of speed & resolve to have musicality, but on the other view, many WILL notice any lack of frequency response or impact.
    That is the "Achilles heel" of this unit.
    Apologies in advance for the criticism.
     
  14. Jozurr

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    I don't think the HD800 have the same level of bass quantity/impact as the SR1a - it's lower. The HD800 only extend lower.

    I am also not sure why you think the SR009 are more musical considering many people find them a bit dead - but like them due to their resolving capabilities, which the SR1a is better at. Susvara? Really? more "musical"? I don't think so.

    The only thing lacking on the SR1a is the bass extension which is also a bit overblown. Price no object, the SR1a make most headphones including the hd800 redundant performance wise, but yes if there preference is for planar bass, or a different tonality like the HD-650, that's different. I agree that these aren't for everyone (no audio gear is but they should satisfy most palates. The bigger consideration is price and diminishing returns compared to other headphones and speakers.
     
  15. MLegend

    MLegend Friend

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    Please don't feel like you need to do this. Valid criticism is appreciated.
     
  16. andyz

    andyz New

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    I have used the SR1a for over a month now. Agree that it is not for everyone but I don't think that is important. It is excellent for me. I have driven it with a Quad QSP power amp (140 W in 8 ohms) and an Air Tight ATM-2 (70 W, but my dealer measured it to 90 W). Both work very well but I have not compared it to the "reference" amps mentioned in many posts.

    I agree that it is somewhat lacking in lower bass, but on the other hand the quality of bass is very good. This can be compensated by some eq. I use an iFi Pro iCan as preamp and this has an optional bass boost in the lowest octave (up to 40 hz), just working very low and not affecting the performance otherwise that I can hear. Of course, there are also other options for eq. I think the low bass boost improves the performance considerably.

    The low bass is the main weakness of SR1a but that can be fixed. Another characteristic of of SR1a is the brightness and it is brighter than most headphones. At the same time the resolution is very high and it is very fast with excellent timing. The sound of trumpets and violins are very nuanced and realistic to my ears. I listen a lot to live performances of classical music and jazz (demanding avant-garde of both). Going for the general impression of tonal balance RS1a is close to live acoustic performance. Live sounds brighter than most headphone and audio systems. It could be that most audio systems fail to reproduce fast treble transients and it sounds better to polish and darken it. RS1a is the best I have heard in this aspect, Stax is also very good but have not the same impact as Raal and not the same spaciousness.

    To me, SR1a is the most realistic headphone for acoustic music I have heard. I also have an Abyss 1266 CC and this have many strong points but it is colored in comparison, especially treble transients and the timbre of instruments, and I get an impression that the sound is transformed in some way. Other planars are similar.

    Listening to SR1a is not the best for relaxed listening. No impressive, silky, dark smoothness to listen to all night. But more realistic.
     
  17. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    I appreciate this write up. I have not put ears on the Requisite, but triangulating the reports the headband comes across as a bit of an "alpha" product and (again based on the impressions) does not do what I want/expect a 'head-phone' to do. I do look forward to further development/iterations of the driver concept however.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's overblown, but in pragmatic terms more evident because the can is bright, sounding a lot like Yamaha NS10 monitors. Requisite makes pro gear, so I figure that's why the voicing is like NS10, for better or worse.

    I keep saying this and I don't know why people don't do it or haven't tried it: EQ. Note that exact EQ settings I used are somewhere in this thread with before / after measurements. Note that the Schiit Jot R will require different settings (different tuning from the RAAL supplied converter box).

    I dislike EQ on headphones because FR response irregularities are caused by head / ear / cup interactions which manifest in the time domain. FR measurements are an average of numbers taken over in time (the impulse response). Therefore, EQ doesn't really fix the issue with headphones. Not so with SR1a. There aren't any sound waves being bounced around or absorbed inside the cup or pads. It's a straight shot to the ear from the drivers with the only influence being the side of the head and the baffle.

    After EQ, I find nothing genre specific about this headphone with the only complain being lowest octave, which again is way overblown because I can still hear the third bass drop on Daft Punk's Doin' It Now, which I can't on most speakers (without subs) or open dynamic headphones, where it sounds more like a soft puff.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2019
  19. Jozurr

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    Yup 100% agree. I have never EQ'ed any other headphone before because of how the sound gets fucked up somewhere else- however the sr1a respond very well to EQ and just increasing lower bass a tad bit mostly fixes any issue I had with the sr1a, sound wise.
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Now if we don't want to use EQ, it's back the HD800 game of using complimentary amps and source. May I recommend a Pass Labs XA25 or Dartzeel NHB-108 with a Rockna Wavedream DAC?
     

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