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Quad ERA-1: Opinions

vco1

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The other day I came across the Quad ERA-1 headphones. Until then I never knew Quad made headphones. Turns out they got some mentions on ASR and elsewhere on the net. And in general people seem to like them a lot. One could perhaps say these are a hidden gem.

Most reviews and impressions are from 2020 and 2021 though. And new HP's have arrived on the market since then. So my question is: are the Quads (still) good value in 2022/2023, given they have a €749 pricetag? What are your impressions and opinions on these headphones?
 

staticV3

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are the Quads (still) good value in 2022/2023, given they have a €749 pricetag?
No way:
Screenshot_20221226-125255_Drive.png
 

solderdude

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ERA-1-1024x469.jpg

Some people love a small bump in the 1kHz area. It makes voices clearer, stand out, dynamic and forward. A bit like Audeze but a bit more forward.
Combine this with a recessed clarity and sharpness (2-6kHz) and you end up with a sound signature that is liked by quite a few people.

If that's your thing you could audition it and see if you like it. Worth € 750.- ? not to me but people buying Quad gear may well like it.
Compartive value is very low compared to some hifiman offerings but most likely the build quality is better.

Never heard one but the sound signature it appears to have is not appealing to me. Some EQ will undoubted improve this headphone leaving only build quality, looks, ease of drive and comfort and price as a decisive component to purchase.
 

groovybassist

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I have the Quad ERA-1 and have found they sound a lot better after applying EQ to get them close to the Harman curve (I do this in Roon). There’s a couple of EQ/convolution files out there - I like the one published by ORATORY.
 

Fifoumed

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@staticV3
I bought the Era-1 5 years ago at 400 usd, and discovered at the same time the Wavelet app, the fine Eq process on android tablets and phones (he fact that I prefered the Harmann Eq. was first unknowed). Living on an island, I couldn't listened to any gear: thus the very low distorsion levels of the Quad Era-1, good reliable reports, using ih through a small DAC/amp (Tempotec pro) easy to drive fact and Eq possibility conviced me.
I'm pretty happy with it, but still question me about a couple of things:

- never listening to other files than flacs or spotify, the max channel separation will be 78 dB and the SNr 90dB (compared to approx 110 and 127 with Symetrical), so would I really hear a difference (is it hearable) if upgrading to a 2.5TRRS symetrical connection on a E1DA 9038SG3, or even the asymetrical 9038D instead, compared to an OK-level Dongle DAC/Amp ? Is the asym->sym transition like a scaling in the music signal where you get and hear more details, dynamic and spaciousness, or only a transposition from à system to a other where you need to get more informations (e.g. by switching to the biggest HiRes Files) to be a le to hear a différence ?

- do battery-packed DACs (Symetrical SNr 110 dB, dist 0,01), which will make the cellphone battery Last longer, will sound worse on the kind of music files I'm listening to, or are the numbers difference not relevant to hearing ability ?

- in term of details, dynamic and timbre, knowing that I can use software Eq and need easy to drive headphones, what Open-cans seem thé best options for me ?

Thx for your help !
 
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