Headphones Ortofon - this is an example of what is called "branded sound." Regardless of the models, the Japanese-Danish company retains the similarity of the sound handwriting and does everything to emphasize its vision in this matter. I already talked about their younger model e-Q5, it's time for the older e-Q8 paired with the brand-name amplifier Mhd-Q7.
If e-Q5 for me was associated with the sibumi principle, which means a modest appearance with deep inner content, then e-Q8 is already closer to another principle of traditional Japanese aesthetics, called miyabi. Miyabi expresses elegance, courtesy, lack of vulgarity and sophistication. Nowadays, the miyabi is practically replaced by the Wabi Sabi principle, but in Ortofon e-Q8 the ancient aspiration to perfection and form and content comes to life.
As in the younger model, e-Q8 uses a modification of the radiator with a balanced armature, called siren armature. Its difference lies in the fact that in the role of the anchor appears a permanent magnet, located inside the fixed coil, connected to a membrane that creates sound vibrations.
e-Q8 came in 2014 to replace the company's previous flagship, which bore the e-Q7 index, and is designed to eliminate the shortcomings of the previous model (first and foremost a palpable peak at the junction of medium and high frequencies). The price of this model at the time of review was $ 350 (while a discount of $ 50 is valid). This is $ 150 more expensive than e-Q5, what does the company offer for this money?
Specifications
- Emitter : siren armature with silver wire coil
- Frequency range : 10 Hz - 20 kHz ± 3 dB
- Sensitivity: 120 dB / mW @ 1 KHz
- Maximum power : 5 mW
- Impedance: 40Ω
- Weight: 16.9 grams
- Cable: symmetrical, 1.2 m, 4N silver-plated anoxic copper
- Plug: 3.5 mm TRS, 90 °
Packing and delivery kit
Of all the households, the cat was the most pleased with the packaging of Ortofon e-Q8. With his love for catching sun bunnies, it was simply impossible to miss a box made entirely of shiny silver cardboard. Inside the outer box is another one, made of cardboard, with a hinged lid. Under it you will find the headphones themselves, a large enough cover and a set of accessories. To the headphones Ortofon put 3 pairs of nozzles of different sizes from white silicone, a pair of foam nozzles, a set of replaceable filters and fixing rings for them, as well as a tool for changing filters and cleaning.
I can not once again not sing the praises of the Ortofon nozzles. For many years, having tried, probably, more than a hundred models of headphones, I did not meet baits better than these. They combine incredible comfort and softness, good sound insulation and acoustic neutrality. I made a stock of these baits (unfortunately, small, since they are very expensive at retail), and I use them with all the headphones having a suitable diameter of the sound guide. In case the headphones are delivered without attachments, (like Nails of different versions), Ortofon becomes a real salvation.
Design and comfortable wearing
The appearance of the headphones is not much different from the predecessors of the e-Q7 model. The case is round, metallic, chrome plated. The cable extends perpendicular to the body from the outside, the outlet is reinforced with white rubber inserts. From the decor elements on the body, there are engraving with the name of the manufacturer and the ring groove. I think, it is not necessary to say that the quality of assembly is close to ideal.
The left earpiece is indicated by a small protrusion on the rubber insert, no more channels are marked.
Thanks to the design, the headphones are very easy to fit and suitable even for owners of small ears, they can be worn in the usual way, and passing the cable behind the ear. I prefer the latter method, because the noise from the friction of the cable is less audible. The comfort of wearing in Ortofon is close to ideal, primarily because of the excellent baits.
The cord at the headphones, unfortunately, is not replaceable. For a given price category, I tend to think this is a notable drawback, since the headphone cable goes out of order and loses its appearance more often, and its replacement with e-Q8 will be very complicated. All this is aggravated by the fact that the wire from the top model is snow-white, and even in the cloth braid to the splitter, that is, the dirt will be collected quickly. There is also a small microphone effect, which, however, is easily corrected by the BTE wearing.
Sound insulation is typical for headphones of this form factor, it is quite enough for most situations, except for a very noisy environment.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening:
- Yulong DA8 as a DAC and amplifier
- Resonessence Labs Concero HP as a DAC and Amplifier
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Fidelia as a player
- Fiio X5 and QLS QA360 as portable players
- VSonic Gr01 and HiFiMan Re600 as headphones for comparison
- 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.
The use of siren armature has justified itself in this model. The sound of e-Q8 combines the "best of two worlds" - the shock and drive bass of dynamic radiators with the detail and dynamics of the reinforcement. In this case, since the driver is only one, there are no traditional shortcomings of multi-driver schemes.
Bass is the first thing that is improved compared to e-Q5. He got a little more impact, a little better outline, in general - everywhere added a little bit, as a result, LF are perceived just superb. Of course, purely reinforcing radiators in terms of delineation of LFs are slightly better, but e-Q8 do not lag far behind them, but their bass also has a noticeable density. It goes very well for the living genres of music, from jazz to metal.
Medium frequencies are traditionally the strongest side of Ortofon, they are musical, very detailed and emotionally rich. Vocal, especially female, sounds penetrating and open. The tools are well separated and reveal their character in full. In the e-Q8 music sheet there is a lot of air, lightness and openness, but when necessary, e-Q8 is good in the transmission of "anger" - guitars with distortion, complex electronic effects and similar sounds. In general, very versatile genre headphones.
The upper frequencies are tuned so as to complement the mid-range without attracting attention. HF is a bit softened to avoid sharpness and sybilants, but they are enough to transmit bulk and fading with the smallest details of the tracks. Also good is the detail of the HF, it is comparable with the best samples of the rebar emitters. Removing the peak that existed in e-Q7, benefited the headphones, the sound became more comfortable due to less sharpness.
Compatibility
Headphones are not bad with any source. I tried them with the iPhone 6 Plus, and with the iPad Air, and with the Sandisk Sansa Clip + - with them all listen to the e-Q8 is quite nice, although the bass also loses its elasticity and energy. Nevertheless, in order to fully reveal this model, they need a qualitative source, and with an output impedance close to zero. If you want to get the most - I recommend a proprietary amplifier.
To the quality of records Ortofon's flagship is rather fastidious, but not prohibitively. You just need to be prepared for the fact that poor-quality tracks will also sound poorly.
conclusions
Incredibly comfortable headphones, both in wearing comfort and sound. No excesses, no cutting of corners, a sound quality in its pure form. With e-Q8 it is very easy to forget about the world around, completely immersed in music, this is their strength and main virtue.
Amplifier
Ortofon rightly decided that for the disclosure of headphones data completely, they just need an amplifier. Without thinking about it, the Japanese developed their own version, calling it Mhd-Q7. In general, it should be considered portable, but the unusual shape of the case combined with considerable thickness make its portable use very questionable. Rather, the Mhd-Q7 is an amplifier that can be worn from place to place when used, for example, with a laptop.
The price of the amplifier at the time of the release of the review was .
It is delivered in a large cardboard box. Inside, neatly fixed in the cutouts of foamed rubber, are the Mhd-eQ7 itself, a Micro USB charging cord and a short cable with 3.5 mm plugs.
The level of performance of this device - traditionally at the highest level, the metal case of unusual shape is made entirely of aluminum and looks very stylish on the table. The back side is black, the rest - silvery. At the rear is a slot for charging the device, in front - two input / output sockets, volume control, serving and a switch, and two LEDs for indicating work and charging. The level of performance is such that on Mhd-Q7 it's nice to watch and even touch.
This amplifier is clearly suitable only for sensitive headphones, I would even say that for headphones Ortofon. Its power is very low, and therefore even with most overhead models it will not work very well. It seems to me that it should be positioned more like an adapter that converts the sound so that it is perceived as much as possible with the eQ headphones.
With native IEM, he shows exactly that level of the combination, which is called synergy, that is, the two components in combination give an effect greater than just the sum of their characteristics. The sound is very voluminous, with a large imaginary scene, very musical and pleasant. It softens a bit, I would call the result of the amplifier work "analog". The bass is not the tightest, but well-controlled, medium-frequency orthophonic warm, with vocal singing and soulful submission. The instruments are perfectly separated and show character. The upper frequencies soften slightly to achieve a relaxed, not tiring sound.
Due to the low output impedance, this amplifier fits well with many reinforcement models, giving them a bit of relaxation, which sometimes is not enough for such headphones.
Of the minuses, you can note the presence of a slight noise, heard in pauses between tracks, if you use headphones with low impedance.
Amplifier Specifications
- Maximum power: 55 mW @ 32Ω, 75 mW @ 16Ω
- Frequency range: 13 Hz - 100 kHz ± 3 dB
- Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.06% @ 1 KHz
- Residual noise: 70 μV
- Channel separation : 80 dB @ 1 KHz, 10 mW
- Output Impedance: 0.38Ω
- Power: two Ni-Mh batteries of 1.2 V
- Operating time on one charge: about 18 hours
- Charging time: <4 h
- Charging: Mini-USB, 5 V
- Dimensions (without volume control): 67 mm × 76 mm × 27 mm
- Weight: 150g
- Input and output: 3.5 mm
conclusions
If you like e-Q8, and you want to get even more branded sound, then this amplifier is definitely for you. It is designed, perhaps, for the sole purpose - to make the headphones play exactly as intended by the company's sound engineers, and it succeeds with brilliance. In other cases it is better to watch something more universal.
The article is based on materials .
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