The Grand Archer 1, a Uniquely Skilled Assassin
Out of all the earbuds @Rikudou_Goku has created, the Grand Archer 1 is the only one that comes with an upfront warning:
“Bright-neutral; very low bass quantity, very upper mids/treble focused with lots of treble sparkle and thus leans a lot towards brightness and is extremely airy, not the safest tonality be aware, (Chaconne Killer)”
As a headphone-listener who was turned into an IEM-listener last year, I’m the guy who never dreamed I’d be an earphone-listener, until I happened to ask a simple question about how to get better soundstage for acoustic music and was pointed in the direction of the LBBS. I wrote about the whole experience here:
Two months after my detour into the world of earbuds, I still can’t get the LBBS set out of my ears.
Until now.
I received the Grand Archer 1 a few days ago, and naturally I’ve been listening to them every day, with occasional direct comparisons to not only the LBBS but a couple of other earbuds I’ve picked up, not to mention my IEMs and headphones. One ironic side-effect of these comparison sessions is that I’m more convinced than ever that the LBBS is an absolute value champion at playing my acoustic classical and jazz music. For just $55, it’s better than any IEM I’ve heard (granted, I’ve never heard anything above the $300 level), better than any headphone (same $300 proviso as above), and significantly better than the other earbuds I’ve heard (the best being the Rosemary, which is actually pretty solid at $23, and the ST2021 147Ω, which oddly sounds to me like I’m sitting in the back row of the concert hall, even with sufficient power). I would have been happy with just the LBBS and a BTR5 to drive them for years to come.
But as well as the LBBS delivers in resolution, soundstage, imaging, and timbre (not to mention comfort, by the way, as I can wear them all day), here’s why the Grand Archer 1 is a clear step above in three of my test tracks:
Shostokovich, String Quartet #8, II. Allegro molto: Drawing a bow across a violin (or viola or cello) is a very tactile, occasionally near violent act. It’s many strands of horsehair pulled tight in the bow scraping against four strings made of sheep intestine wrapped in thin metal. There are so many harmonic elements that can be heard in a good recording beyond the simple frequency of the notes being played. In an especially frantic movement like the second in Shostokovich’s 8th quartet, all of those harmonics can come together, with even the breath of the players thrown into the mix, to create something truly exciting. Getting all of those harmonics right is, to me, the definition of perfect timbre. Letting you clearly identify each of the four instruments and where they’re positioned on the stage is my definition of perfect imaging. Conveying it all with crystal clarity is my definition of perfect resolution. And making you feel like you’re sitting in the front row (not too close, not too far) is my definition of perfect soundstage. The first time I listened to this quartet with the Grand Archer 1, I literally said, “Oh f*** me” out loud.
Prokofiev, Toccata, Op. 11, Martha Argerich: Because a solo piano piece is relatively easier to record and reproduce than multi-instrumental pieces, most good headphones/IEMs/earbuds will play it at an acceptable-or-better level. But that doesn’t mean it will be perfect. There are still so many harmonics involved in the physical act of pressing down a key and then the corresponding impact of the hammer upon the strings. The Grand Archer 1 captures all of it extremely well, including the reverberation and decay of each note, and once again you’re sitting in exactly the right spot to hear it.
Coltrane, A Love Supreme, Pt. 1 Acknowledgement: Switching over to acoustic jazz (and about as good as it gets), I hear the perfect timbre of all four instruments at once, most notably the cymbal strikes (so clearly defined on the right side of the stage) and of course Trane’s saxophone (so clearly defined on the left). The overall presence of the music is just amazingly powerful here. I’ve never experienced it so beautifully, on any listening device.
On all of these pieces, when I switch right back to the LBBS, my reaction is, “Yeah, that’s really good, but it’s just… I mean, not quite… I mean, give me back the GA-1s…” As I said, if had never heard these, I probably would have been happy with the LBBS forever, but now that I’ve heard the Grand Archer 1, there’s no going back.
Having said all of this, I have to acknowledge that virtually none of my music is taxing the bass quality of these earbuds. The bass is just fine for me here (from what Riku has told me, it’s slightly better than on the Chaconne), but the upfront warning about “very low bass quantity” should be taken seriously. As I hinted at the top, this is a uniquely skilled set that plays my acoustic music at a level that is (for me) unprecedented. But I’m not going to be blasting the Clash with these.
(Okay, I just tried it, because I had to check. And yeah, I’m not going to be blasting the Clash with these. But I sure as hell am going to be blasting Beethoven and acoustic-era Miles Davis.)
Beyond this built-in limitation, I think the cable is a little thin and just a bit microphonic, although I can fix that by wearing them over the ears. (Not everybody can do that with this type of shell, but it works well for me.) As much as I like balanced connections, I know the practical reasons for why they need to be standard 3.5 and not MMCX-upgradeable. (But maybe someday, Riku?)
Bottom line: For 100 euros, I can’t imagine anything better for acoustic music. I’m going to agree that they are almost certainly Chaconne-killers, even as I admit having no interest in spending three times as much just to compare and confirm.
Riku is great to work with, in every way, and my eagerly awaited package got here very fast. I have a feeling that the next time he creates a set of earbuds that needs this kind of special warning, I’ll be the first in line to buy them!