Ribbon Driver Headphones

I started a journey last year when I decided to buy an AMT, or Air Motion Transformer headphone (again). After enjoying it so much, I toyed with the idea of buying other unique driver headphones. Maybe... starting a collection focused mainly on different driver technologies, and trying to obtain one of every kind..? It's not like there are tons of them, so it should be pretty doable, right?

Enter the RAAL CA-1a — my first ribbon driver headphone.

Air Motion Transformer (AMT) Headphones

I love headphones. I love technology. So it stands to reason I like headphone technology. In fact I've written about it here on a couple occasions. So when a "new" innovation in the field springs up, I tend to take notice. It was just such an innovation that motivated me to peck out those original writings some thirteen years ago.

Back then I was quite bullish on the concept of planar magnetic technology. Here was something that promised to deliver much of the speed and resolution of electrostatic drivers, but with the ability to be plugged into any conventional headphone amp. And they were being made by a couple guys futzing around in a garage, producing headphones that rivaled the best multi-million dollar technology from the market's biggest players. It was almost like getting to witness Jobs and Wozniak stamping the first fruit logo on a home computer. And yeah, to me and many others, the writing was on the wall.

I'm less bullish on AMT technology, though. AMT, or Air Motion Transformer transducers, are closer in DNA to planars than dynamics or anything else. Essentially it's like an accordion. You have a folded diaphragm that squeezes and expands to move air. OK it's not really an accordion — an accordion is basically a bellows that squeezes air through reeds. AMT produces sounds through the folds themselves via extremely fast movement. One manufacturer reckons four times faster movement than planars or dynamics. (We'll get to them in a bit.) And like those technologies, you can plug it into an ordinary headphone amp.

Sounds promising so far, right?

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One of the great things about headphones and any audio endeavor is the human ear. Well, the human perception of sound, I should say. A human's aural memory is quite fickle and volatile, especially when it comes to minute details and differences. You can barely remember what you heard one minute to the next, which can make comparisons between audio equipment a pain in the ass, but it has benefits when you have a really good audio setup. When I bought a new LCD, going from a TN panel type to an IPS type, I could immediately tell the difference, and it was striking. I could easily recall how the old screen looked, and even given the amount of time it took to set up the new screen, I had no trouble distinguishing all the improvements it made. This same ability to remember all things visual also meant that as time went on, a short amount of time actually, I got used to the IPS screen, and it was no longer breathtaking to look at. The brilliant colors, contrast, and image stability just became the norm, and the thrill was gone before a month had passed.

With audio, you can't remember shit. In the time it takes you to unplug one pair of headphones and plug in the next, which is less than a minute, you've already forgotten all the little characteristics of the sound enough to not be able to pinpoint the differences between the two, unless it truly is night-and-day (and we're talking a vast expanse between them). This is in sharp contrast to other animals, like birds, who use acute audio memory to discern the subtle differences in the sound of their mate's call from all the other birds in the flock (and in cases of domestic birds, sometimes the ability to imitate sounds with high accuracy). For this reason, every time you play music through your speakers, you're rediscovering them, and even after a long time, they can still shock and amaze you, and thrill you all over again. It's one of the things that makes audio hobbies so much fun, and why they have such a following, while computer monitors and TVs....don't.

They can take me anywhere I want

Of the many earthly possessions I fill my life with to inject into it some level of enjoyment, headphones stand out as one of the most expensive, and possibly most controversial. Early on headphones were something my dad and I shared when we'd make long trips away from home, visiting relatives for what would be weeks of pushing on our threshold of boredom. We'd find a moment to slip out from their company and make a stop by a department store of some sort, what substituted at the time for a fun getaway. Often we found ourselves looking at headphones, sometimes out of a need for a new set or just as a passing interest. We'd pick up a pair or two and bring them home, eagerly anticipating what the fruits our discoveries might bring. Armed with portable CD players (remember those?), we'd compare and contrast between old and new, different models, different styles. "This has more bass," I'd comment, "but that has more loudness." My father might concur, adding, "you can hear the guitar strings better with that one." It would be a fun moment sitting on the couch, trading opinions, enjoying music, and bonding. Unfortunately my father and I don't share a lot of interests, and such occasions are dear in my memory.

So it seemed only natural that my interests in headphones would grow beyond the sparse excursions away from home, into something all its own, a fascination into the quality of audio derived from headsets of unknown characteristics, a sort of treasure hunt within the vast array of choices hanging from the walls and racks of various retailers. Those were all fairly inexpensive though, and it wasn't long before I found myself unsatisfied with what was available at those prices. I wanted to know what lay beyond, what you could really achieve with the headphone form factor. That inevitably led me to the internet, and searches there uncovered a vast wealth of brands and price ranges, and huge communities sprung up around them. I soon came to know the name Sennhesier, and soon after I spent some hard-saved money on a model costing nearly $100. Quite an expensive initial entry into the world of boutique audio headgear, considering my then fledgling enthusiasm. Upon their arrival, I knew instantly there were more to headphones than I had ever known, and my fascination was greatly spurred.