EarphonesEssay

Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 – Just In Time For Christmas?

Most Chi-Fi earphones have a tuning that appeals mainly to Asian ears. Same with fit. This is not surprising as Asia is by far the biggest market for Chi-Fi. Western ears may have problems with short nozzles and may get fatigued from an overenergetic sound triggered by an elevated midrange. What we westerners have been waiting for is an earphone tailored for us. Audioreviews.org was consulted to help with the design, as always 200% pro bono. And we are delighted to have been chosen as cooperating partners.

Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 - Just In Time For Christmas?

Singaporean audio engineer (and new blog colleague) KopiOkaya and I both have received a pre-production Beta model for our joint analysis and comments. The specimens came directly from the team around master tuner and rising star Zhuo Hulang (who tuned the respected Tanchjim Oxygen and Blon Bl-03 models). It Beta features 2 BAs and a DD in (currently generic shells)…the final product will look much fancier. Right now it is not even clear which company will release it. It is said to be priced at around $100 and its possible name is “Otto”, which means “Rose Oil” (奥托) in Mandarin.

Keep on listening!

Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 - Just In Time For Christmas?
initial frequency response of Beta 2+1 earphone
Current frequency response as of 10 Oct 2019. Stay tuned for changes.
This is the FR response supplied by the tuner.
Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 - Just In Time For Christmas?
Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 - Just In Time For Christmas?

Author

  • Jürgen Kraus

    Head-Fier since 2016. He has been known as “Otto Motor” to Head-Fiers, as “Dr. Schweinsgruber” to audiobudget.com users and Youtubers, and as “Brause” to Super Best Audio Friends and the Headphone Community. - For the purpose of confusion, he decided to pose under his real name Jürgen Kraus (“JK”) from now on. - This is a hobby. In “real” life, Jürgen is a professional geologist operating his own petroleum-exploration consulting company Franconia Geoscience Ltd. based in Calgary, Canada. He holds German and Canadian passports. Jürgen had a classical music education from childhood through high school in Germany and he has been following popular music developments since the late 1970s. His understanding of arts and crafts was influenced by Bauhaus pragmatism: “less is more” and “form follows function”.

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Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada)

Head-Fier since 2016. He has been known as “Otto Motor” to Head-Fiers, as “Dr. Schweinsgruber” to audiobudget.com users and Youtubers, and as “Brause” to Super Best Audio Friends and the Headphone Community. - For the purpose of confusion, he decided to pose under his real name Jürgen Kraus (“JK”) from now on. - This is a hobby. In “real” life, Jürgen is a professional geologist operating his own petroleum-exploration consulting company Franconia Geoscience Ltd. based in Calgary, Canada. He holds German and Canadian passports. Jürgen had a classical music education from childhood through high school in Germany and he has been following popular music developments since the late 1970s. His understanding of arts and crafts was influenced by Bauhaus pragmatism: “less is more” and “form follows function”.

5 thoughts on “Tuning A 2BA + 1DD Earphone Called 奥托 – Just In Time For Christmas?

  • KopiOkaya

    Here is the FR from the tuner. It does look a bit different on our end (not referring to scale or smoothing). Maybe I will “interpret” our tuning to what he sees on his monitor.

    https://imgur.com/PRY62dy

    Reply
  • Interesting and interested. Will follow, please post updates.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • The project is presently delayed as the tuning team was fired...and a new team is taking over. These betas have a good punch and bass and stage, but they are overly bright.

      Reply
  • Hi, may I know what happened to this project? I am a fan of your website as well as Mr Zhuo Hulang tuning of oxygen and blon03 that got me curious to research on who he is. i can’t seem to find any details of this earphone at all.

    Reply

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