Sports activities vehicles have a tendency to be much less frequent, and extra aspirational, than SUVs or people-carriers. Headphones with planar magnetic drivers are typically much less frequent, and extra aspirational, than headphones with dynamic drivers. In some methods, the explanations for this are very related. Planar magnetic drivers, which use skinny items of steel held between magnets—are a bit like sports activities vehicles: They’re designed for uncompromised efficiency. Like sports activities vehicles, they’re additionally trickier, dearer, and extra time-consuming to supply. They have an inclination to make the headphones that function them larger and bulkier than the dynamic driver various, which is the one place the place my intelligent sports activities automotive/SUV analogy rolls right into a wall.
The broad level nonetheless stands. Planar magnetic drivers are typically the protect of specialist manufacturers and are typically fitted to headphones costing a terrific deal greater than these various designs that function dynamic drivers. However nobody, it appears, has talked about any of this to Edifier.
Edifier was established in Beijing in 1996 and hit the bottom working the place loudspeakers and headphones are involved. By 2012 it had wholly acquired the honored Japanese headphone model Stax, which, when it comes to status, is a bit just like the time Fiat acquired Ferrari. (I promise, this would be the final of my auto trade comparisons.) Now Edifier has launched a brand new pair of wi-fi over-ear planar magnetic headphones known as the Stax Spirit S5 which might be no larger or dearer than a few of the main dynamic driver designs. They’re unbelievable headphones that convey music and movies to life higher than dynamic drivers can, and they’re nicely price contemplating for audiophiles who could in any other case have bought wired headphones.
That’s the Spirit
The Stax Spirit S5 should not, it’s price noting, Edifier’s first inexpensive planar magnetic headphones to go wi-fi. The place pricing and specs are involved, with one notable exception, it’s exhausting to dispute that they’re the corporate’s most formidable.
So sure, planar magnetic drivers: In contrast to the much more frequent dynamic driver various, which produce sound through a conical diaphragm pushed by a voice coil inside a magnetic subject, planar magnetic drivers use a tremendously skinny, flat diaphragm with implanted wires. It’s suspended in a niche between two magnets that vibrate the diaphragm to supply sound. The magnets should be large enough to cowl the whole floor space of the diaphragm, which is why the sort of design tends to be larger and heavier than the dynamic various. It’s a extra power-hungry association too.
{Photograph}: Simon Lucas
Within the case of the Stax Spirit S5, the diaphragm is a mere 2 microns thick and is embedded with the second era of Edifier’s “EqualMass” wiring. By connecting completely different numbers of wires of the identical width in a symmetrical construction, uniform driving drive could be achieved; the diaphragm will transfer forwards and backwards with the identical momentum throughout its complete floor, protecting distortion to a naked minimal.
The esoteric nature of their drivers apart, the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 function most of what the market tends to demand on the value. They use Bluetooth 5.4 for wi-fi connectivity, and due to the Qualcomm QCC5181 SoC they’ve codec assist as much as and together with LHDC, LDAC, and aptX Lossless. With an applicable supply of music, they’ll ship a lossless 16-bit/44.1-kHz decision, in addition to “lossy” 24-bit/96-kHz. AptX Voice is onboard in an effort to ship optimum name high quality, and multipoint connectivity is out there for the multitaskers amongst us.
Battery life is a really spectacular 80 hours from a single cost, and if you happen to’re negligent sufficient to expire of energy, a 15-minute pit cease will maintain you for one more whopping 13 hours. In case you’ve an Android system working Marshmallow or newer, Google Quick Pair is out there.
The USB-C socket on the appropriate ear cup can be utilized for information switch in addition to charging the battery, and there’s a 3.5-mm enter on the left ear cup for a similar hard-wired goal. Edifier gives each cables within the S5 packaging.
