Hardware Reviews

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones for audiophiles

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones review https://the-ear.net

Dali IO-8 wireless headphones

Danish audio brand Dali might not be unique among its audio industry peers, but it is somewhat unusual, because as well as a large range of speakers, it also makes headphones. There are three over-ear models, all intended for portable use and therefore adaptive noise cancelling (ANC) designs. There’s the IO-6 at £350, the IO-12 at £1,000, and now the newly-launched IO-8 at a retail price of £590.

I wrote about the IO-12 here on The Ear, confessing that I started out as an ANC sceptic, but ended up pining for the review sample after it had gone back to Dali. As an all-round package that sounded good on the street or bus as well as at home on the rowing machine, the ’12 made me a convert to portable music.

The arrival of a review sample IO-8 was therefore something of a sweet return since while the it doesn’t sound quite as refined as its more costly sibling, it nonetheless delivers a good dollop of what I came to come to regard as the Dali headphone house sound; openness and directness underpinned by a well-textured and well-judged bottom-end.

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones review https://the-ear.net

The IO-8 will go 30 hrs on a full charge with ANC on, more if ANC is off. As with the IO-12, there’s no app to complicate things, just physical clicky buttons on the righthand ear-cup that turn the ANC on, off, or put it in transparent mode, and enable the usual functions of track selection and phone call answering. If we don’t like Dali’s voicing of the IO-8 there’s a button on the side of the right ear cup that gingers up the bass a tad. But that’s it.

Some might regard such a user-interface as deficient, especially when alternatives (a number of them less costly) have apps that include a graphic equaliser to allow response to be shaped for different music genres. Some might even suggest that the absence of a Dali app is down to cost-paring. I actually think it’s because Dali is aiming at a particular rather narrower market sector – you and me.

The company has supreme confidence – entirely justifiable in my view – in its ability to voice its products for natural reproduction. Dali speakers are among my favourites for just this quality. So no, the lack of an app is driven by design rather than driven by cost. The Danes are too polite to say it so bluntly, but the subliminal message might well be: ‘These are portable headphones for the audiophile. They have voicing that is correct for the natural reproduction of un-amplified acoustic instruments and it can’t be altered. If you want sonic effects, they’re probably not for you.’

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones review https://the-ear.net

The IO-8 is a nicely-finished product with smaller, round ear shells than the larger blocky affairs on the IO-12. The plastics look and feel durable, there’s an attractive textured weave effect material on the top of the headband and comfy silicon cushioning on the underside. The earpads – replaceable – are leather. Overall, the look is relatively understated with nothing in particular that marks the IO-8 out as being towards the more costly end of the spectrum as far as ANC headphones go. Wearers should therefore have no heightened concerns about being headphone-jacked when wearing them out and about. Even if there is no such crime at the moment, I am sure it’ll be along shortly.

Dali says the IO-8 uses the same electronics as the IO-12. It’s in the dynamic drivers’ construction that cost has apparently been shaved, using a 50mm paper/pulp cone with what must be assumed (Dali doesn’t say) is a more conventional voice coil arrangement than the super-low-distortion units to be found in the ’12. With no ability to do a back-to-back comparison – in fact with over 12 months in between listening to the ’12 and the IO-8 – I’d hesitate to offer anything other than a tentative view, but my audio memory wants me to say that the ’12 does exhibit notably lower perceived distortion than its alternatives while the IO-8, on the basis of the review sample, is merely towards the high end of sector-average in this aspect of performance.

Readers already familiar with ANC headphones will no doubt nod in agreement here, but for those that don’t, it needs to be made clear that when we are discussing the sonic abilities of portable headphones like the IO-8s and their numerous rivals, our qualitative judgements are necessarily even more relative than usual. The bottom line is that while state-of-the-art ANC headphones that support the latest higher-rez flavours of Bluetooth can indeed sound very good, we can’t expect CD quality except in relatively rare circumstances.

Bluetooth factor

Different Bluetooth codecs operate at different headline bit-rates, and most default to lower rates in the face of congestion or distance in order to maintain service. Even aptX Lossless, which in ideal conditions can achieve circa 1mbit/s, (and, by the way, is not supported by the IO-8) defaults to slower speeds if the environment is less than perfect.

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones review https://the-ear.net

 

The other practical limitation to Bluetooth performance is the capability of the sending device. For example, we can forget about using any of the faster codecs if we have an Apple phone – it’s AAC-only for the time being – and if lossless nirvana is our goal, then we’d be well-advised to read carefully the small print for codec support before landing on any alternative phone.

Sound quality

For the ultimate detail retrieval and tonal accuracy no ANC headphone of my acquaintance can touch a decent tethered, non-ANC alternative at similar cost or less. In other words, there’s (literally) a price to be paid for the convenience of listening on the move. I’ll not be the first reviewer to observe that in reality we shouldn’t get too hung up on the theoretical abilities of the various codecs either. If we are listening in the real world, perhaps while riding on the number 9 bus from Clapham, the differences are really not glaringly apparent. The quality of the headphone – specifically its drivers and electronics – matters more, and in this regard the Dali IO-8, if we have suitably reasonable expectations, can allow even us picky audiophiles can derive satisfaction from mobile music.

Make that great satisfaction. If we elbow aside our inner audio geek and just live and listen in the moment rather than analyse the degree of detail we are hearing, then the IO-8s are huge fun, delivering strong dynamic expression across the audio band from the lowest notes to the very highest. Bass tune playing is textured rather than bloated and boomy while the degree of top-end extension – also pleasingly textured – leaves a good number of alternatives sounding rolled off, dull and just plain unrealistic. Sound staging is of a high quality. Maybe aided by that notable top-end extension, the IO-8s avoid sounding in-head, and instead conjure up an airy and expansive sound picture, superior to that delivered by most ball-park rivals.

Dali IO-8 noise cancelling headphones review https://the-ear.net

 

Dali’s selectable ANC has been criticised for not quite coming up to the standard of noise mitigation set by Sony’s higher-end headphones (very few makers come out better than Sony in this regard), but Dali understands that if we want the very best sound quality there’s a balance to be struck. The more effort the drivers are putting into delivering an out-of-phase counter to the external noise we don’t want to listen to, the less they can deliver of the music that we do want to hear. Personally, I think Dali has the balance much more right here and that’s one of the reasons why the IO-8 and the ’12 sound so good, even with ANC on.

The IO-8 can be hard-wired in two ways; either via USB lead to the source of choice, or via a mini-jack cable in which case they act as a purely passive headphone with no internal DSP in play. I tried them in both of these modes and found the results intriguing. By going direct via USB cable, Bluetooth is taken out of the equation and it’s possible to hear extra musical detail liberated by not having to suffer codec abuse. Beware though. I only had to hand a fabric covered lead and it proved to generate highly distracting and unwelcome noise through the headphone when rubbed against clothing. This issue did not surface when using a smooth mini-jack lead connected to a headphone amplifier to drive the headphone in passive mode, so I am assuming the unwelcome noises were the result of direct mechanical transmission rather than electronic microphony.

Conclusion

Experimentation with alternative leads might be required if it is planned to make use of the IO-8’s tethered modes, but in every other respect I give the Dali IO-8 a very strong recommendation. It gives buyers at least 80% of the sonic quality delivered by the IO-12, but does so for a little over half the price.

Specifications:

Type: wireless noise cancelling headphones
Ear coupling: on-ear
Transducer principle: closed back, dynamic
Driver: 50mm
Frequency response (+/- 3dB): 10 – 43,000 Hz
Maximum SPL: not specified
Distortion (THD): not specified
Bluetooth codecs: AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive
Connections: Bluetooth 5.2, 3.5 mm mini jack, USB-C
Weight (w/o cable): 325g
Finish: Iron black, Caramel white
Warranty: 2 years

Price when tested:
£499 / €499
Manufacturer Details:

Dali A/S
T +45 9672 1155
http://www.dali-speakers.com

Type:

wireless headphones

Author:

Kevin Fiske

Distributor Details:

Dali A/S UK Regional Office
T 01462 337320
http://www.dali-speakers.com

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