Reviews
Great product, great service, great experience
"This was my first purchase from HeadAmp and it was a big one so I was hoping for great service. I was not disappointed! The team were quick to dispatch my order and highly responsive to follow-up questions. I would definitely trust these guys for future premium audio purchases and you should too! The Raal are one of a kind. Absolutely loving the crystal clear and SPACIOUS sound. Great for music but honestly I have been even more impressed with home theater use for when the rest of the house are asleep and volume is a concern."
— Gavin O. (5/5)
Incredible headphone
"Open sound with detailed, deep and airy audio at all frequencies. Impressive bass without distortion. The best competitor for the Abyss AB 1266. Only head positioning requires some effort"
— Giuseppe (5/5)
A unique sound signature that may take some serious getting used to...
"Long story short: I have come to love SR1a (paired with the Jotunheim R and Bifrost II from Schiit), but depending on what setup you're coming from they can be quite shocking at first. They way they present higher frequencies and instrument imaging in particular is almost jarring sometimes, but ultimately so incredibly revealing and addictive. I am very thankful to Headamp for allowing my to come in and demo these against some Stax electrostatics (SR1a were an easy pick over the Stax 009 w/ srm-353x). I listen to them fairly "open", with the drivers tilted ~60 degrees away from my ears, and don't find a need to change the angle usually. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had to listen to these headphones several times before purchasing, and even still am only reviewing after owning for ~3 weeks of near constant listening. Previously I had used Audeze LCD-X w/ JDS labs EL amp and EL II DAC almost exclusively for several years. I still love that setup, but they provide such a different experience to the SR1a. By comparison to SR1a, LCD-X are almost "bass cannons", and their stage certainly feels more like they're strapped to your head, and instruments are "on a string" extending away from your ears... However, they are excellent for movies/soundtracks and electronic music with super low-frequency bass (even decaf music). LCD-X feel spacious compared to my previous experience with closed back monitoring headphones (Sennheiser HD-280pro), and even some open back dynamic cans (HD-650pro). The SR1a is quite a different experience to say the least! On "Bridge into the New Age" by Azar Lawrence, the intro melody suddenly had VERY distinct instrumentation that I had not heard resolved previously. "Pools" on Steps Ahead's self titled album is overall beautiful - but the china symbol in the right channel is suddenly INTENSELY dynamic during Brecker's outro solo... it's strange going back to other headphones and seeing that this level of dynamics and high-frequency resolution is just not there. The SR1 has a way of pulling apart dense mixes that I've never heard before. Contrane's "Manifestation" has this dynamic drop as Sanders begins his flute solo that I had never perceived before with other setups - in a strange way you can almost "hear the quiet" that is in a mix? Bizarre and awesome. In Behemoth's "Amen" I can pick apart each instrument entirely throughout the whole song, despite the overall compressed mix and heavily distorted guitars. Meshuggah's album "Destroy Erase Improve" has its polyrhythmic bursts of energy soooo well resolved by the SR1a it's like a different album almost. In electronic music with low bass, the overall magnitude feels incredibly light compared to planar cans lie LCD-x and LCD-4z, but there is more texture to it, not so "boomy" - Geotheory's "Trappist Nights" doesn't have its many synths interrupted by bass information like it does on other setups. And despite SR1a listed frequency range bottoming out at ~30 Hz, Ramzoid's "BCW" and Fabian Mazur's "Thinkin Bout U" Still have fairly resounding low end while retaining the "shape" of the bass better than any planars or dynamics I've heard. The SR1a imaging is unbelievable - Things that I used to think were simply "center channel" type sounds have distinct positions between my ears, like Sonny Fortune's tenor on "Trane and Things" (relative to percussion like the toms). 60s/70s recording that used to have borderline obnoxious LCR tracking with other headphones are pleasant with the SR1a, probably because of their unique position in front of the pinna and lack of "enclosure" made by traditional headphone pads (i.e. The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Ornette Coleman's "Free Jazz"). These heavily panned instruments sound both "away from your ears" and also "out in front of you". On Death's "Symbolic", Shuldiner's vocal echo in the chorus swirls (this is normal), but somehow it's also "sinking beneath you" with the SR1a? Like the physical position the sound is emanating from, not just perception resulting from volume decreasing. Hard to say how this is possible with headphones, but super awesome. I had heard from multiple sources that the Jotunheim R was somewhat lacking power on certain recordings - I do not find this to be the case, especially running balanced from the DAC. I rarely go past 12 when listening to digital sources, occasionally up to 2 when listening to quiet vinyl.I listened to the SR1a with the HSA-1b, as well as with the adapter box paired with McIntosh MHA-150 and Brooklyn amp+. I found the HSA-1b to be fairly comparable to the jotunheim R, the Brooklyn amp+ to be OK overall, and the MHA150 to be horrid (this last one was set up for me by a different vendor, not Headamp, so there may have been issues...). A long way of saying that the SR1a are really pretty amazing and worth a good long listen if you get the opportunity - I've not heard everything there is in the headphone realm, but I've heard enough to say with confidence that these are in a category all their own... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If there are any "audible" cons, would probably be that the higher frequencies have serious energy with these headphones, so on really nasal-y recordings become even more obnoxious (even some of my favorites, like Origin's "Aftermath"). Also, and most importantly, the headband adjustments (up down, how far in front of ears the ribbons sit) are horrid for a headphone of this caliber - very few options, and the gaps are set with holes in the leather that are spaced quite far away from each other, meaning that your head's "sweet spot" could easily fall between settings... no clue how this part made it to production! But all of this can be forgotten once the music starts playing..."
— John H. (5/5)
Wow
"I am completely blown away by these. If you have not heard these, you owe it to yourself to try them. As always, Justin’s customer service is top notch. I wholeheartedly recommend buying from Headamp."
— JY C. (5/5)
The most resolving and revealing headphones ever made
"One of the virtues of headphones, I'm often told, is that you can easily change one pair out for another for a different sound. Many enthusiasts have preferred headphones for different musical genres, or even different artists. At the low end of the price spectrum, that's a sensible viewpoint. No inexpensive headphone has it all, but some can do some things very well. That needn't be true of all headphones, though, and invariably the models that stand the test of time do so because they refuse to compromise on sound quality. That is where the Raal/Requisite SR1A shines. I don't want to give anything up in order to get great bass, holographic voices, huge soundstage, or tonal accuracy. The entire purpose of critical listening is to get as close as possible to the sound in the control room when the mastering engineer steps away from the console. For almost a decade I've relied on the Sennheiser HD800, Stax SR-009, and Focal Utopia to get as close as I could to the sound on the recording, warts and all. I've owned most of their competition, from Audeze LCD4 up to Abyss TC, and not found much that could better those three for accuracy. I love them, and long felt they were end game for me. No longer. Put simply, I don't see myself returning to any of them if I could listen to the Raal instead. There is nothing any of those headphones do this one does not do better. Years ago I owned and loved AKG's venerable K1000, but I was always frustrated by the tradeoff between sound stage and bass quantity. The SR1a, while superficially similar, makes a tremendous leap in sound quality by simply including a small pad running along the entire height of the driver and conforming to your face while listening. This pad helps stabilize the headphone when moving your head around, sure, but it serves a more important function. By essentially coupling the driver to your head it dramatically increases the apparent baffle size for the driver, providing you excellent bass that falls off far less when opening the "wings" of the headphone wider. The Jotunheim R amp also includes a "baffle compensation" switch, essentially a bass boost, for use when the drivers are extended further away from the face. This is a nice feature but I'd rather do it in software, where possible. The the subjective part, how do they sound, how do they feel, how do they look? They sound unbelievable. An evolutionary leap from anything else I've heard. Obviously you're still playing the same music, but these headphones have an uncanny ability to put each song in its own world. By imparting so very little of their own character, they let each album and track speak for itself, just as it was recorded to do. Each voice and instrument is detailed beyond any other reference point I could name. Listening to headphones is always a very out-of-body experience, with voices appearing as if inside your mind rather than on a conventional "soundstage", but the SR1a brings you several steps closer. Live recordings have identiable height and depth, and studio recordings are immersive in the same kind of way binaural recordings are, with you turning your head at every noise and doubting whether that barking dog is in the song or across the street. It is a near-perfect facsimile of real life, and closer than any other headphone ever made. As to feel, it's stellar. They're extremely finnicky to adjust, and I would not be surprised if an eventual V2 of these headphones dispenses with the "handmade belt" height adjustment method they currently rely on, but the frame is extremely light for how bulletproof it feels and the materials are extremely luxurious. Everything that touches your head is beautifully finished leather, and the rest of it is either flawless stainless steel, aluminum, or striking carbon fiber. The only plastic on the headphone itself is the open-cell foam inside the leather head pads, and it's the perfect tool for that job. The look is frankly ridiculous, and to anyone else in the room with you they sound as loud as a speakerphone conversation, but you're not wearing these things on the train. Raal has been a going concern manufacturing ribbon drivers and loudspeakers since 1995, and I'm confident this will only grow their acclaim. If you have any concerns about buying from a small manufacturer, don't. The Sr1a are bulletproof, you can buy any needed replacement parts directly from the (very responsive) company, and they sound so much better than their competition it's silly. This is the top of the mountain."
— Tyler B. (5/5)
RAAL SR1a revolutionary sound
"WOW - WOW - WOW Ok now that I have that out of the way - wow, sorry 😐. I tried these recently for an extended home preview and have been blown away with what RAAAL has done to revolutionize the modern headphone/earspeaker. I have these set up using a Roon server feeding a Lumin T2 streamer/DAC, traditionally I have this feeding my GXS-Mini and Focal Utopia or RAD-0. The SR1a is different from any other headphone presentation I've heard and I owed the K1000s for years. Treble is fast, extremely well defined and not bright or etched, although feed the SR1a crap and crap is what you will hear. On good to great recordings the treble is a revelation. Sounds are fast with great decay and detail. There were several times I took these off to see where an unfamiliar sound was coming from ily to find it was coming from a well played recording that I knew very well but hadn't heard that sound before. Vocals are so transparent that it may ruin you for other headphones, the SR1a places vocalists I the room with you and you hear the vocal from the throat with gorgeous details. Midrange is on the neutral to slightly lean side (paired with the JotR) great and detailed but if you are looking for thick bloomy sounds you have to look elsewhere. Again fast detailed, accurate with great placement both in vertical and horizontal planes with good depth as well. Bass - These have the best bass I have heard, note not the most bass or the biggest bass but the best bass. So what does the best bass mean? For starters bass is well defined and detailed with a good melodic sense that is often lost when bass is boomy. There to me is plenty of bass and you can really hear details in upright bass or electric bass that lost on most all other systems. Comfort - these are somewhat odd shaped and take a small amount of getting used to but ultimately they are comfortable. I prefer them to sit horizontally right at the where the cheekbone meets the ear and centered with the ear canal. I normally like them ope about 34 degrees. For the headphone/music enthusiast that is seeking a top tier experience get the RAAL SR1a - full stop ✋. Yes it is great to have a more traditional alternative for times when I am seeking comfort listening or listening to highly compressed modern music but In general these are now my end game recommend."
— JP11801 (5/5)
