Somewhere with half a year I am the owner of surprising ear-phones made completely from zero by Kiev craftsmen. And all these six months this model pleases me with sound and comfort. This product is little known to the general public, therefore, within the framework of popularization of the domestic (for me) producer, I decided to write this review.
There are three people behind the creation of this model. The main work lies on the shoulders of Vasily Koval and Alexander Kaplyuk, Valentin Sergienko, known in the circles of Ukrainian connoisseurs for their leather products, helps them. As it is easy to guess, for VA H-1 he sews ear pads and headband. This model is completely made from scratch, not a single finished part is included in their design. This left its imprint on the price, for manual small-scale production is not cheap. , but I would say that they are more than comparable to other models of this price range.
Specifications
- Emitters: isodynamic
- Acoustic design: open
- Frequency range: 15 Hz to 38 kHz
- Impedance: 14
- Sensitivity: 95 dB
- Maximum power: 900 mW
- Cable: interchangeable, 1.3 m, compatible with Audeze
- Weight: 316 g
Design and wearing comfort
Since the packaging of these headphones does not exist, then I will skip the corresponding section for the pleasure of lapidary lovers. The complete set includes headphones and a cable to them. The wire, by the way, is quite good, with a good silver content. It is compatible with Audeze, so if you want you can also upgrade the Odyssey.
By the appearance of the headphones, perhaps, especially, there is nothing to paint, in the photo everything is already visible, although a lot has been broken around the design of these headphones. They are made entirely from scratch and in practice with a limited edition, so they do not have the same exactness and thorough repetition of the serial models, and some of them may not look fanciful. I, as a connoisseur of handmade and aesthetic steampunk, think these headphones are excellent. Skillful gnomes under the mountain pinned the metal plate of their headband, turned the brass forks and forks themselves. Ancient ents from the best varieties of wood created cups, varnished and polished to a shine. The best furriers Rohan from among people sewed soft ear cups and headband. Powerful majar with their spells created magnets for radiators, and noble elves from the lightest moonlight wove membranes for them at night.
If you throw the jokes aside, then the headphones came out very functional and reliable, there is no plastic, everything is made of steel, brass and wood (the only exception is the Teflon inserts in the forks that ensure smooth sliding). Despite the solidity of the materials - VA H-1 is light enough, their weight without a cable does not much exceed 300 grams, which is against the background of modern isodynamic flagships created under the slogan "the harder, the better" and long overdone for a pound - almost a feather. The previous version of these headphones proudly wore brass rings on the outside of the cups, but they were discarded in favor of improving comfort and counting the cups so as to preserve the previous sound.
Indeed, the VA H-1 is very comfortably worn, but for this it is worthwhile to thank not only light weight, but also comfortable soft ear cushions with the same headband. The weight is distributed evenly, and the headphones can be worn for a long time. Because of the open design, there is no overheating effect on the ears, which sometimes causes discomfort.
By the way, the ear pads attract attention by two interesting facts. Firstly, they are held by the magnets of the magnetic system of the radiator, so that for a comfortable replacement of the ear cups one does not have to pay with distortions that could add additional magnets. Secondly, a small opening is made at the bottom of the ear cups, which serves to discharge the anterior chamber from excess pressure, and allows for a faster return of the radiator.
Due to the open form factor this model is clearly not suitable for street or office use, in the first case you will be disturbed by external noise, in the second you will become a source of noise for your colleagues. This headphone for home listening in a cozy armchair, fireplace and brandy - are very desirable, although not included.
The headphone cable is replaceable, Mini-XLR connectors are used, by default, the cable ends with a 3.5 mm plug, but for your money, developers can fulfill any whim.
In general, the headphones combine convenience and durability, and a good appearance complements the picture.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening.
- NuPrime DAC-10H and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC and Amplifier
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Fidelia as a player
- Lotoo PAW Gold, Fiio X7 and Luxury & Precission L5Pro as portable players
- High Definition Records in Lossless-formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc and others)
Before listening to the headphones were warmed for 48 hours, but as they were warmed up by the manufacturers themselves, I had no time for changes in the sound. I still decided to execute formalities.
If you evaluate the supply of headphones "in general" - then they are slightly darkened, not dark, namely hinting at darkness, like whiskey in coffee hints at the burning heat of a pure drink. The VA H-1 is detailed, but without overexposure with sharpening, musical, but without the turbidity that is sometimes tolerated to achieve this effect. Especially they are good on high-quality recordings, rich in timbres and overtones, any live instruments, beginning with a grand piano and finishing with a bandura, with them acquire vitality and naturalness.
Bass is, perhaps, the first thing that surprises in these headphones. Such a dense and in a good bass bass - a rarity in the headphones. At the same time, it is very well balanced quantitatively, it does not dominate, clogging all frequencies, and does not break into a rumble (do those same holes on the ear-pads help so much?). The textures are fine-tuned and the lower-case tools are divided. The only thing - the headphones are very dependent on the source, and if the player or DAC on the bass has lethargy - they will show it.
Medium frequencies are a bit softened, which allows to achieve a pleasant, not tiring feed, without losing in essential details of music. This model, as I already wrote above, is good in the transfer of the deeply hidden nuances of instruments and vocals, thanks to this record pleases not only with emotions, but also technical performance. The imaginary scene is very good both in depth, and in width, though not a record. The separation of plans is very qualitative, and the tools have the right volume and retain their character. I do not like all these cliches about "you are next to the performer", but in this case, you can not say otherwise, and I do not want to come up with a complicated euphemism.
The upper frequencies are generally good, they are neatly worked out, and even the standard problem of working out fading on HF (regular readers know how much I pay attention to it) almost misses this model. Almost all is well with the amount of RFs, perhaps, only inveterate RF-fobs, which like sun-vampires are afraid of sounds above 3-4 kHz, will find these headphones bright (although, probably, with sources that are poorly controlling HF, there are options). In general, here there is light airiness, and subtle attenuation. However, I'm a bit short of HF quantitatively, but very little, and you can obviously live with it.
There will be exactly two comparisons this time. Headphones of this level should be compared only "on the forehead," and from the tops I have now not so many models.
AudioZenith PMx2. If not an antipode, then certainly a representative of another music school. "Zenith" try to play neutral, monitored, not bringing anything from themselves, while H-1 can sometimes add a little emotion or hide some small error of the record, offering a more integrated feed.
Kennerton Odin. Yes, I'm forgiven the representatives of Kennerton, that I so delay with the review, but their headphones - this is a diamond, to cut which can not be approached without a special mood, so that about them even later. In the meantime, I note that in fact they have something in common with the H-1: emotions, fast detailed bass, accurate HF. But Odin, justifying its higher price, is making another big step forward in this regard. It is very difficult to describe the difference in the level of top models, it consists of small nuances, but once you hear it, you immediately understand what is being said. Odin is more detailed on the MF, it's a little better for HF, but paying for this is more critical to the record.
Compatibility
VA H-1 have a rather small impedance and not the greatest sensitivity, which makes them not the most successful load for bad sources. Some very kopenochnye products sweatshops in China can even break into overcurrent. However, there are about as many quality players on the market as the Gutalina at the mythical uncle of Matroskina's cat. Moreover, the "units" have a very good growth margin and from the high-level source they win quite strongly (primarily due to frequency control), and even with the Paw Gold VA H-1 tops, there is something to show.
Genre model is very universal, although, as I said above, its hobby is live music with "real" instruments, they have a chance to catch all the wah-effects released for a year at a time (unless, of course, the source is rescued) . However, other styles sound well, for example, smart electronic music (thanks to the biting tight bass).
Like Alexander Matrosov, these headphones rush to any flaws in the recording, and even succeed in smoothing the small miscalculations of the workers in the console and the microphone. If the record is frankly bad, then they pass and give out "jambs" to the user. So the sensitivity to the quality of the record, I would have estimated somewhere in 8 out of 10.
Traditional sample tracks
Enigma - Beyond the Invisible. It's hard to come up with more nostalgic music that brings us back to a time when classmates were the main object of lust, and "medlahs" in school dances are the main way to implement it. Unfortunately, broken cassette players usually did not give an idea of the quality of the music, so here it is necessary to give due to the talent of the musicians of the post-factum project. In principle, for the review, you could choose almost any of their tracks, but I chose this one, because I like the clip, shot for him by Julien Temple. The music fits perfectly with the VA H-1, thanks to its good volume transfer and almost standard separation of instruments.
The fourth project of amazing masters of genres mixing from Belarus combines folk, stoner, post-rock and even elements of progression and psychedelics. Adding to this amazing beauty lyrics in beautiful Belarusian language, we get an amazing fusion, which is obligatory for acquaintance to all connoisseurs of the genre. It was also difficult to choose one track from this amazingly integral album, so I had to choose at random, and the choice was more than successful. The VA-H-1 is also good at this music, perfectly transmitting the rich, slightly zhirnovaty sound that Re1ikt on Studio-X was acclaimed by the famous Polish sound producer and sound producer Martin Kilbaszewski, known for his work with Christ Agony, Devilish Impressions and Riverside. In general, the only thing that remains for me is to say that the album is available on the SoundCloud band.
Marillion - Living In FEA R. I do not know what moved the prog rock classics when they called their latest album "Fuck Everyone And Run", but they can not take away the wonderful music skills. Of course, this is not "Misplaced Childhood", but, fortunately, it is not "Afraid of Sunlight". FEAR - a whole work, pleasing and exciting melodies, and musical diversity, and depth - too. Of course, it requires good headphones, and the emotional and musical pitch of the VA H-1 is right there.
conclusions
VA audio H-1 is the case when you get not the headphones, but the "vision" of their creators, their understanding of how music should sound. Fortunately, my perception with the developers of this model is quite noticeable, therefore for half a year these "ears" are one of the most frequently listened models in my collection.
The article is based on materials .
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