RAAL 1995 headphones, Magna and Immanis


RAAL 1995 headphones, Magna and Immanis | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

These phones are a circumoral design like my current RAAL CA-1a phones (not like the RAAL SR1a/SR1b). I may sell the CA-1a when I upgrade to 1 of the 2 new RAALs.

I re-purchased the RAAL VM-1a 2 weeks ago in anticipation of these new phones. Though my Schitt Mjolnir and Schitt Aegir stack are about 70% as good as the VM-1a. I used to say 90% as good with my old VM-1a. With the second VM-1a (same as the first) I am using a different tube (1 of 6) and that sounds even better than the OEM tube.

Tube change: New Old Stock (1960) General Electric 6SN7

RAAL 1995 will, at first, focus to headphones and later to loudspeakers, with aim to push the limits of True-Ribbon technology in different applications.

yyzsantabarbara

I like the RAAL SR1a (earphone) more than the RAAL CA-1a (headphone). The CA-1a is like 'normal' headphones. I am not a fan of normal headphones, except the CA-1a. The sound of that is exceptional inspite of it being a headphone. 

 

 

Interesting thread! I will stay attentive... Thanks to the OP for his impressions...

I dont know anything  which can really can beat my AKG K340 on ALL acoustics factors at play not just one or two;  save perhaps the RAAL ...😊

The RAAL 1995 headphones are still very new and this probably was one of the very first shows to have these available for auditioning. If you like the “old” Raal SR-1b headphone and the ribbon sound, then the RAAL 1995 Immanis with its triple drivers will blow you away. It’s a very high-end headphone with a corresponding price tag (around $10k) but when properly driven, it simply is one of the very best headphones on the market (ever).

The speed, spaciousness, positioning, resolution, transients and so on, everything is simply superb. If you have big pockets and just want the best of the best, look no further. The Immanis is the headphone for you, a true end-game setup.

As I have posted on Head-Fi, my problem with conventional cupped or IEM phones is not being able to fully suspend the disbelief that I am listening to music from two small cups where most of the tiny sound is inside my head.  Yes, there are some tricks used by headphone manufacturers to make the sound appear to surround your head but I would posit that if you were blindfolded and asked to identify the source of sound, you would correctly identify the sound coming either from loudspeakers or headphones every time, ignoring the feeling of having the phones on your head.  So the issue is trying to reproduce the spatial and surface loudness aspects of listening to live music in a recording space, which IMO conventional cupped headphones cannot do correctly, even the best ones at that.  

So the phones that best approximate the sound of live music in a performing space are the RAAL SR-1a/b nearfield ear monitors.  No, they don't do this perfectly but they are the closest I have heard in this aspect.  So any cupped phone or IEM, at least at this time, are seriously deficient in this aspect.