The Airmotive GR1’s by Emotiva are a a first step by Emotiva into the headphone arena (I hope that statement is true, my research says it is). And if I’m right then they did a bang up job. Many Audio companies that start making headphones usually don’t do this well first time out. Now some have said that these are Sendy Aiva’s or at least they were made in the same plant with the same parts. I cannot confirm this and I am not trying to start a conspiracy thread. Wherever they were manufactured or what there lineage is I don’t know or really care, they sound good. They have beautiful construction and come in a great case. They have one cable that is reminiscent of an IEM cable but slightly longer. Overall their build is on par with much higher end headphones. Their accessories are not (as in the cable), I would have liked to see a slightly heavier cable with a balanced option.

So what did I test these against?

• Sundara – $349.00
• DT1990 – $599.00
• Philips 9500 – $79.00

Compared to the Sundara: The Sundara had slightly better detail and treble. The timbre was much better in the Sunadara. Mid’s were a close race and the bass was much better in the Airmotive.

Compared to the DT 1990: The Airmotive was beaten out in almost every area. but let’s keep in mind the 1990 is $300 more (double the price). And when I say the DT 1990 is better I mean only slightly. The detail was t a little better on the Airmotive, the treble was so close it’s barely noticeable. The mids were slightly better on the 1990’s and the bass was definitely better on the 1990’s. What was really the separator is the timbre. The 1990’s have fantastic timbre and really outshine many headphones above and below this price range.

Compared to the Philips 9500: Interesting comparison I know ( I took a beating from some on using this one). Oddly these have very similar tuning. (That statement made a few people mad) but that’s not to say the 9500 is better. In fact the Airmotive was better in every area than these but not by miles. What I am saying is that on many tracks with these two side-by-side on my desk coming out of the same amp I could not hear a really audible difference on many tracks.

Amping these was interesting also. I found the best experience by far was on the Darkvoice. To start I used the FiiO M11 Pro. I could play these but reaching a “loud” volume was not possible. But wait, these are only 32 OHM impedance? So I moved on to the Monolith Portable THX amp, again the experience was the same. Max volume on the amp was slightly loud but not as loud as the Sundara’s for sure. Not nearly as loud as my Focal Clear’s. Keep in mind that amp puts out 340 mW at 32 Ohms. So I would say forget running these on a phone if that’s your intention. You will be able to hear sound but you will not be able to drive these properly and realize what they can achieve if properly amped.

That said on the Darkvoice 336 Se tube amp being supplied by the ADI-2 DAC the experience was fantastic and these truly shined above their price point. That’s when I think I understood they must have voiced/tuned/designed these using their own gear such as the BasX A-100 which can put 50W out of the headphone jack, hell yeah 50 WATTS!!

The things that were missing such as Bass and lower end Mids were suddenly enhanced to where I like them. I could still have used more bass as the upper end was very good and it seemed a little unbalanced.

A Powerful Desktop or Home system is the only way to go with these, phones and most portables will not power sufficiently IMHO.

For the portable “amping” experience: Detail was fantastic, treble was very good, roll-off and decay of symbols and guitar was really good. Mids were also good but in some cases a little thin and or forward

Bass was not “thumpy enough” for hip hop, rock or R&B. It was tight and present but needed to be raised up a bit. I bring up and harp on the mobile aspect of these because the cable they come with is obviously intended for mobile use. They should include that cable but also a longer balanced cable with a 1/4 jack adapter for home systems or even an XLR.

Overall though these are solid performers and I can recommend without hesitation in their price range.

FYI the button below is just to make things easy for you, I do not receive any commission for this article or if you buy them, I paid for these with my own funds.

The Philips 9500 was surprising to say the least. I had seen many other reviews from reviewers I trust and thought it was likely it would be good. But I was surprised at how good. I am mostly (at least the last last couple of years) an IEM person. I was, you might say, burned out on headphones that “over promised and underdelivered”. But is seemed that IEM’s delivered great sound at a much lower price. Also I could have several pairs with different sound signatures and “looks” and keep them in my nightstand drawer because they are so small. Headphones are another story entirely.

I put these on and plugged them to my FiiO M11 Pro and immediately sat up straight. What the heck was I hearing? did these $79.00 headphones really sound that good? So, I unplugged them and moved them to my desk, plugged them into my RME and left them playing some heavy metal for about 3 hrs. Just to make sure the break in people would be happy, well I really needed to leave them for like 1000 hrs for that, but 3 hrs would have to suffice. Put then back on and settled in for some serious listening. Man, they really were that good. Unbelievable, that price and this sound. What surprises me is that these were delivering most of the detail and clarity as some of the better IEM’s I’ve heard but also great mids and good bass. These had really “fun” sound.

I can’t say enough about how good these sound. I am usually an “IEM guy” but headphones like this have been changing my perception lately about the value of a good set of headphones. Also the experience they can deliver. Great detail, good treble, great mids, good bass, good stage and better than many timbre.

These have been reviewed a lot in the past so I won’t go on to much but these are such a great buy that it’s really a no brainer. If your in the market for some headphones and your budget is small and you haven’t heard these then buy them at Amazon and make sure they are from a “Prime” seller. You can not lose, if you don’t like them just send them back. My guess is you will keep them.

Paring super easy
 

Nora Jones – Cold Cold Heart  – Holy shit!   Very Mid forward her voices was really “there”. Resolution was good. Imaging was good much better than expected.  A little shouty at places where she really starts “singing it out”

Amanda Martinez – AMOR – Guitar at begging felt right tone was pretty good. Drums felt tight and correct. Bass was good, occasionally muddy (only a  little). Again voice forward. I have to say guitars were right there with her voice.

Amanda Martinez – Tomalo – Guitars sounded great, this song sounded as good as it does on some other IEMS I really like. These things are no joke. Bass is excellent on this song. Piano comes in clear. The Timbre wasn’t as good as I would want but for a Bluetooth headset from “beats” I’m shocked at how good they sound..

Beyonce Lemonade album – only listed for a bit, mostly under impressed with these phones and that album

Dianna Krall – Live in Paris -Lets fall in love – her voice forward slightly, guitars sounded great, a little shouty but could definitely listen and be very happy with it.

Background detail was good, could really hear the brush on the snare drum. Still timbre felt off a bit.

Mailia unfastened sounded good, really good. These are really tuned for vocals.

Miles Davis – Someday my prince will come – Piano sounded great on this one, symbols were there, horn sounded good. Hurt my ears a little in some of the high notes.

Over all these are WAY better than I expected. It does seem or “feel” when listening to songs I know well that something is missing, could be the noise cancellation, the back ground is quiet and “dark” and it could be that some frequencies are being cut at the top by the noise cancelation. Great example Miles Davis “Someday My Prince Will Come” a minute into the song some symbol crashing come in seemingly out of nowhere, it sounds very good but then disappears again. When I listed to the same place in that sone on some other IEMS I can hear and feel the build up to that symbol “splash” moment but in these it just appears and disappears. Overall how these sounded fantastic, I mean let’s face it with the strong ear hooks and fit of these they are for playing sports or other activities. These are way better than anyone would need for that, IMHO.  Again everything sounded great just the weird start and cutoff of certain parts of songs which I attribute to noise cancelation.  But really I could listen these for extended periods.

Detail and separation were “good enough”

Very comfortable, after a about 30 minutes I started to feel a little pressure in my ear canal but I attribute that to ear tips that may have been a little too big.

So are these a recommend? Yes they are, for there price point (competing with Apple) they deliver great sound, a very secure fit a very nice carry/charge case. And very easy to use.  The price point (typically found at $178 -$188) which would be expensive for a wired IEM with equal sound quality.