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Pop and Rock clearly work well also with lead vocals. In the midband this speaker gushes with vitality and forward projection to portray fun and energy. But the Dílis isn't just a party animal. Since the vocal range is tonally balanced and dynamic, any type of music may apply. Take Jazz and the somewhat spry pipes of Lisa Bassenge's A Sigh a Song. The 4405 captured her peculiar timbre believably. Ditto for my usual go-to albums in this genre. Suspension of disbelief was high and live cuts had plenty of live vibe.
But the Dílis is no detail fiend. The most subtle of structures aren't fully resolved. If you need to hear the singer's small articulation noises or the workings of a concert piano's mechanics, you'll need to spend more, say on Nubert's NuLine 264 I reviewed last. With otherwise similar talents those want nearly €700 more but also reward with clearly more detail
In the French's own price class one could opt for something else but will surely pay for a different set of compromises. And that would be sad as this speaker's strengths are very solid. But again, extreme magnification and teasing out of nuances isn't in the cards. This box paints the bigger picture.
Tonally the balance was spot on without having certain bands waving for the spotlight. I heard neutral where mid and treble registers were built upon a solid foundation for equal billing. On top the soft handling of ultimate detail applied too. The treble is powerful and suggests good extension. It supports the impression of a wide bandwidth speaker with together with the expressive mids nets a coherent happy performance.
For all its liveliness this speaker never gets nervous or nervy. The overall effect is potent but balanced, dynamic and controlled save for the low bass. Overall the voicing is very long-term suitable. Staging too is a strength. Over my Geithain ME150, Morelenbaum's "O samba e o tango" has my entire room pulsing to deposit me in the midst of the action. That's a special virtue of the Geithain. Colleague Michael Bruß refers to its type of surround staging as headphone reminiscent.
Here the 4405 do it more classic. One is assigned a clear seat from which one observes the action 'over there'. One is less surrounded and in a field on the other side of the base line. This clearly separates the room into stage and audience. With it there's remarkable order. I've rarely heard such stable sorting with such precise localization. I could point at each sound source with a finger and nearly draw its outline to measure size.
