Quad Era-1 Planar Magnetic Headphones

Product Information

As good as the ERA-1 is, the mid-range is so delicious on the HD600. The ERA-1 is crisper and clearer, more open-sounding. They are actually so similar that I often confuse which one I have on my head. The differences remain as before. The ERA-1 is a tad clearer. The Elear sounds great but a bit more diffuse, or relaxed, could I say, because it’s not entirely a bad thing. They both are well balanced, and punchy, have rich and textured vocals and clear highs.

In direct comparison with the HD600 which is a bit my benchmark tool at the moment, the Quad has a very similar tonal balance with much deeper bass and a livelier midrange that has a lot more presence and never feels hollow at all. Yes I said it, the midrange is better! At least on my setup (Fiio K5 pro). I think this says a lot about how well the drivers are tuned on the Quad once you find the proper pads. Upper midrange sounded meaty and heavy, male voices sounded really imposing as they moved much more air around the room. Listening even to Leonard Cohen can send shivers right down your spine.Paired with Matrix Element X and powered by the extra-detailed Benchmark HPA4 any air-mass moving around and every single tiny detail can’t hide away from Arya. Yes, Arya is very detailed and renders even tiny dynamic swings with ease. The Sundara sounds very good, with great bass, and beautiful mid-range. The trumpet is rendered tenderly. Moving over to the ERA-1, things do however get quite a lot clearer and better defined. The only thing I miss from the Sundara is the “bigger” mid-range, it’s a tradeoff, I guess – the ERA-1 pinpointing everything.

One thing that could have been better is the foam in the pads and head-band. The supplied pads are just fine but memory foam has become sort of an industry standard and is more comfortable. The pads use a proprietary connector ring similar to Focal’s pads and I have not managed to find anyone that offers adapter rings to use with 3rd party pads. You can, however, cut off the pad you like the least, probably the hybrids, and use the adapter ring you’ve cut loose. It fits standard oval pads (Brainwavz etc.) You can also use double-sided gel tape to attache 3rd party pads. Gel tape is always a practical way to attach pads. Amps/DACS: Chord DAVE , C hord Hugo M-Scaler , Cen.Grand 9i-906 "Silver Fox" ( w/Hifi Tuning Supreme Fuse) , Eddie Current Aficionado , Meier Audio Corda Soul , Chord Mojo 2 w/ Chord Poly , Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon V2 , iFi Zen Stream (w/iFi iPower X) , iFi Zen Can , iFi Zen DAC V2 , AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt , C ore Power Technologies USBe Perfect The Quad ERA-1 delivers superb sound quality. The bass is deep, textured and punchy, the midrange is delicate and nuanced and the treble is crisp and clear without inducing fatigue. Concluding, these are two very capable and enjoyable headphones. The ERA-1 is extremely detailed and has pinpoint imaging. They both have a great bass impact and extension, the ERA-1 is, however, better defined, and the HE-500 a bit more bloomy. The mid-range is very nice on both with lots of information but the HE-500 is smoother and more delicious. The treble is a bit hotter on the ERA-1 but both have great detail in the upper regions. The grill mod on the HE-500 contributes to that. MEZE 109 PRO VS ERA-1 In terms of soundstage and depth, Arya with its huge driver assembly and with its window shade system sounds impressively open wide and deep. Mariana Trench deep? Yep, that deep.The Meze has got some serious bass punch. They sound quite similar in many ways. The ERA-1 has a tighter bass, the 109 Pro a bit more oomph. The soundstage is similar, nice and spacious with both. They feel similarly bright with this quite bright-sounding song. In terms of sonics there is almost nothing to complain about them. Hifiman had a really long way in planar-magnetic design and all those years of experience paid off bit time. Hats off to Hifiman for this impressive technical achievement!

Since 1936, Quad has been responsible for some landmark audio products, but none more famous than the iconic ESL electrostatic panel loudspeakers. In a new ERA for Quad, they've drawn on their expertise with electrostatics to design these outstanding planar headphones, ERA-1. Quad engineers have developed a planar magnetic drive film technology which delivers a fast, open and transparent sound - similar in performance to the world famous ESL loudspeakers. Once placed on my head, the fit seems just a little loose. My ears remain fully surrounding by the over-ear cups, but the headband feels like it could sit just a little tighter on my head. The bass is tighter and more detailed with the ERA-1. Cohen’s voice is very nicely rendered by both headphones. Lots of textures and nuances. That is because ERA-1 have among the clearest, purest and unaltered treble response, without being overdone or subdued. Since 1936, Quad has been responsible for some landmark audio products, but none more famous than the iconic ESL electrostatic panel loudspeakers. In a new ERA for Quad, they've drawn on their expertise with electrostatics to design these outstanding planar headphones, ERA-1. Quad engineers have developed a planar magnetic drive film technology which delivers a fast, open and transparent sound - similar in performance to the world famous ESL loudspeakers. No Ordinary Headphone

Quad ERA-1 headphones

Harpsichord and violin. Both these headphones sound great with classical music. However, they are not exactly identical sounding. When comparing directly going from the SR-L700 to the ERA-1, the ERA-1 sounds a bit thin. The soundstage is narrower, yet still, everything has space between them. Once your brain has adjusted it’s no issue. It’s just strange to experience how different and how similar headphones can be at the same time. Being intended primarily for home use, the ERA-1s come with only a single cord, 82” (2m) long. It’s wrapped in fabric and appears to be of good quality, with a 1/8” stereo termination at the player end and a screw-on 1.4” adapter. A semirigid carrying case is included. Now, in my opinion treble area is very different compared to other planar-magnetic headphones I tried in the past as it is much clearer, very extended to the subsonic levels without being harsh and sibilant. I heard differences in the sound of the ERA-1s depending on which set of earpads I used. With the velour pads the ERA-1s had an overall warm character, with their tonal center in the midrange. Changing to the leather pads seemed to add a little more energy at both the top and bottom of the audioband. Although these differences weren’t large enough to make the Quads sound like two entirely different pairs of headphones, I found them significant enough that describing just one sonic signature or the other wouldn’t adequately convey the ERA-1s’ sound. All my former planars needed gobs of power and most of the time you would end up be very limited by portable solutions. ERA-1 are very different in this regard.

Design wise I do find ERA-1 quite non-original and plain looking, nothing too fancy in my opinion. Put them close to 100 USD headphones and they will most likely look the same. 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. It sounds very good on the HD600 – open and detailed, nice mid-range. The ERA-1 has better bass and separation.Cable is detachable, quality is quite nice, without microphonics whatsoever, it is quite sturdy and flexible.