Final Audio Design, a audiophile audio company founded by President Kanmori Takai nearly forty years ago, decided to enter the field of headphones in 2009, applying its experience and scientific theories in audiophile audio design to the design of headphones. We started by designing ear canal headphones, and then launched a heavyweight earmuff headphone named Muramasa VIII named after the demon sword "Muramasa". Not only is the appearance design unique, but the weight of 850 grams is also quite unique.
At the same time, Final Audio Design is also one of the few headphone manufacturers with balanced armature technology, and has also launched a variety of dynamic and balanced armature ear canal headphones; at the end of last year, Final Audio Design officially launched its second Pandora Hope VI, the first earmuff headset, in addition to its full design, is also the world's first earmuff headset with balanced armature and dynamic coil.
Jump to start introducing this unique headset.
When the author interviewed Mr. Takai at the end of last year, he explained why he named it Pandora Hope: The current headphone industry is like a Pandora’s box that has been opened, full of poisonous snakes and beasts, so I hope this revolutionary product will be like the last hope in the treasure box. Listening to Mr. Takai’s narration, he is confident about this world’s first hoop iron earmuff headset.
Mr. Takai’s concept of how to design a good speaker is very simple. It is to suppress the vibration of sound through structure and materials. This seems to be quite basic acoustics. There are many Headphone manufacturers also use vibration suppression as their product appeal; however, in order to realize his theory, Mr. Takai not only strengthens the design of the mechanism, but also uses thick metal to suppress excess vibration.
For this reason, Final Audio Design’s three top models of Piano Forte are made of thicker cutting metal than ordinary ear canal headphones. The previous prototype of Muramasa’s earmuff headphones, which used a 40mm single body, weighed one kilogram. Above all, after mass production, it still weighs 850 grams. As this Pandora Hope VI is positioned at the mid-level, the structure does not introduce an all-metal structure. By mixing ABS and stainless steel, the weight is suppressed to 480 grams.
Pandora Hope VI is still designed by designers who have long-term cooperation with Final Audio Design, so it is somewhat similar to the previous Muramasa design. Through a simple geometric combination, it uses silver, black, silver, and black. It is composed of staggered patterns, with a simple appearance and the popular antique redesign style. Even if it is placed on a headphone stand, it looks like a handicraft.
The main structure of the earmuffs of Pandora Hope VI is made of an integrally cut stainless steel frame, which is covered with a layer of ABS to assist vibration suppression. The headband structure is made of all metal, and the outer layer is covered with a wide artificial Made of leather, when wearing it, you can first pull it to the longest position and then put it on your head and then adjust the length. The black ABS part adopts the same rough surface treatment as high-end cameras and is scratch-resistant. As for the cable, it uses a double-sided 3.5mm mono double-sided cable entry, and the head section has a tenon, but it should not be difficult to find available modified terminal heads.
In terms of technology, Final Audio Design’s self-designed balanced armature monomer is used with a 50mm moving coil unit. The moving coil unit is placed flat and a piece of metal for vibration suppression is locked behind the unit. , in addition, there is no slight inclination like some headphones, but the position of the balanced armature unit is quite interesting. It is located in the front of the frame and is also vertically in-ear; the headphones also use Final Audio Design’s exclusive BAM Balance Air Movement mechanism, said to create huge spaces.
Although Pandora Hope VI weighs 480 grams, after the weight is evenly distributed between the large soft synthetic leather earmuffs and the large headband, the astonishing weight of 480 grams will not be felt when worn on the head. , there is no obvious sense of pressure on the top of the head, but the earmuff design is slightly pressing on the ears, but for long-term listening, I think it is better than many lighter weight headphones. However, if you tilt your head forward or backward when listening, it will You will instantly feel the pressure brought by 480 grams, so it is suitable for quiet listening, and the sound isolation ability is quite good.
Although Pandora Hope VI uses a 50mm dynamic coil, surprisingly it is not a particularly difficult headphone to drive. As long as a portable player can provide a certain level of performance, you can get a good listening experience with headphones. Of course, amplifiers can obtain better information, but they are not suitable for equipment with high driving force. Therefore, if you want to use ear amplifiers, they are mainly used for tuning, and you need to have good control at low gain.
How to best describe the sound style of Pandora Hope VI? The author is a little confused. Pandora Hope VI is a headphone with a distinctive personality just like the president Mr. Takai. After listening to it several times, the author feels that this is a lively, charming and gorgeous headphone; its sound coloration is very obvious, but This will not prevent you from listening to classical music. Its low-frequency dive is not particularly deep, but it can express the sound of an instrument. Its design is a closed structure, but it has a sense of space comparable to open headphones.
Pandora Hope VI is not a decent headphone. Its sound coloration is easy to hear, but unlike some headphones that emphasize sound coloration and are only suitable for listening to specific music, Pandora Hope VI is unexpectedly Both popular and classical music can perform well. The overall style emphasizes the mid-low frequency, and the high-frequency extension is relatively average, but the richness of the mid-frequency is its charm. There is not a lot of low frequency, and the depth is not deep. The style is slightly soft, but not excessive and scattered. , there will be no obvious sound pressure after listening for a long time.
The author believes that the unique sense of space, in addition to the structural design, may be related to the design of the mixed ring and iron. Although Pandora Hope VI breaks the common people's concept that moving iron is only suitable for ear canal headphones, but if Based on the concept of Pandora Hope VI, the author believes that the dual-monitor design is like a bookshelf two-channel speaker. The 50mm monomer is a mid-bass monomer, and the balanced armature monomer is like a tweeter, and through the earmuffs The enclosed space allowed the sounds of circles and iron to echo within it.
Perhaps due to the unique earcup design and no crossover design, Pandora Hope VI does not have the incongruous feeling of different tonal monomer connection that often occurs in ordinary hoop iron headphones, and the sound is transparent. Through the above two methods, the sounds emitted by the two monomers with different characteristics can be interlaced and blended in the earmuffs, creating a unique and gorgeous tone.
Pandora Hope VI has a distinct personality, and may not be a sound that can be accepted by all consumers. What it sells is not the emphasis on detailed analysis, nor the correctness of the timbre. What it sells is Final. The charm and atmosphere of Audio Design, although Mr. Takai said it is like the last hope of Pandora's Box, but the author thinks that for those who like its distinctive and unique sound, its gorgeous appearance is like Pandora's Box. It also tempts people to open it and discover their true hope from its sound.