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razorblader
40
Oct 8, 2015
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dalethorn
193
Oct 14, 2015
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razorbladerIf 'Rick' worked on the sound of this headphone for 2 years, and the guts are very different from the Esmooth and Meze headphones, then it would sure help to know if the treble on this $200 version is more like a Sennheiser Momentum or NAD HP50 etc. (i.e. near-neutral 'lifestyle' sound), or whether it's more like the Symphonized Wraith v1/v2 (i.e. heavily recessed). That's important to know at this price point.
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I contacted Rick, the head designer at ESS, directly to find out more about the driver technology. Based on my discussions with him, this is what I discovered:
The RLM-713 is a dynamic driver headphone. It does not contain a Heil AMT driver, but has been designed and tuned to mimic the ESS sound. Rick began working on these headphones 3 years ago, and it took him 2 years to get the sound the way he wanted. The casing and headband looks the same as some other woodie headphones currently available online (ESmooth and Meze), but the inside of the wooden chamber and the drivers are different. The wooden case is designed to be like a ported wooden box, with larger than normal chamber. The drivers were designed in the USA by ESS, and the headphones were built overseas. Earpads have a specially formulated, high density foam for natural noise cancelling and more impactful bass. Rick has asked the sites that claim the RLM-713 to be a hybrid headphone to change their stories, but this has not yet occurred. He is currently working on a Heil AMT headphone that will contain ONLY an Air Motion Transformer. He is hoping to have prototypes ready late in the summer, and planning a release for fall (October/November).
So it's just a dynamic driver in the RLM-713.