Country of Origin
Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (4GHz quad-core with Turbo, 32GB RAM, 3TB FusionDrive, OSX Yosemite. iTunes 14.4), PureMusic 3.02, Audirvana 3, Qobuz, Tidal; USB Bridge: Soundaware D300Ref; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp: icOn 4Pro S w. hi/lo-pass filter; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 mono, Enleum AMP-23R; Headamp: Kinki Studio; Phones: HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Aurai Audio Lieutenant w. sound|kaos DSUB 15 on Carbide Audio footers, Audio Physic Codex, Cube Audio Nenuphar Cables: Complete loom of Allnic Audio ZL; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc Krion and glass amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat
2nd system: Source: Soundaware D100Pro SD transport clock-slaved to Denafrips Terminator +; DAC: Denafrips Terminator Plus; Preamp/filter: icOn 4Pro + 4th-order/40Hz hi-low pass; Amplifier: Goldmund Job 225; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox 3awf, Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64, Audirvana Origin and Qobuz Sublime; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2 with iFi iPurifier3; DAC/headfi: iFi Pro iDSD Signature; Headphones: Final D-8000; Active speakers: DMAX Super Cubes
Upstairs headfi/speaker system: Source: smsl SD-9 transport; DAC: Auralic Vega; Integrated amplifier: Schiit Jotunheim R; Phones: Raal-Requisite SR1a; Active speakers: Fram Midi 150
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; Integrated/DAC: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: German Physiks HRS-120; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €5'800
Oleh Lizohub is an expert driver engineer. Having previously worked for a well-known Berlin speaker house, his own firm in the same city goes by Camerton. That's Cyrillic for tuning fork. I reviewed and awarded his Binom-1 in 2019. That was a shockingly compact piano-gloss monitor with a small ported widebander of his own design which really did the 35Hz-25kHz business as claimed. That driver underwent MkII refinements to become this Binom-A1 Rev.2 reviewed by Polish contributor Dawid Grzyb in April 2021. When Oleh sent me a press release for this new driver, I naturally canvassed his website for potential further news. I saw that his isodynamic headphone driver had birthed an elegant thin headphone called Binom-ER. It uses a 6μm polyethelene terephthalate foil covered nearly entirely by conductive aluminum not copper traces which would be too heavy. Those are driven by a super neodymium motor. The driver's support plates are carbon to minimize weight over aluminum. The specs for this thin driver are 8-20'000Hz bandwidth with 94dB/mW sensitivity, a ±5% impedance of 40Ω and weight of 105g.
For the headphone doubling as its driver's proof of concept, "I designed its entire structure to provide maximum isolation of all elements from the sensitive thin diaphragm. This prevents it from reproducing ambient noise from the outer surfaces of the headphone. Hence the ear cushions divide into two acoustically isolated parts. The inner ring suspends on a thin rubber isolator. For this the cable connects to the outer ring of the ear pads and then a special flexible cable connects to the driver. The rigid elements of the ear cups are anodized aluminum alloy and carbon fiber. There's also genuine leather and silicone rubber. Natural pores in the material are used as an acoustic resistance panel on the driver's back. In addition to the acoustic function, the soft suspension of the ear cushions creates high wear comfort."
The impedance spike at 140Hz coincides with the membrane's resonant frequency.
Given the phenomenal speaker preceding it, I had to hear for myself whether Oleh could follow up with equally impressive on-ears. The Binom-1 had been costly but finished impeccably to look the part. For his first headphones, Oleh once again reaches deep into our wallet but pays back with finishing expected from established majors like Focal for Bentley, not a more underground operation. "The next batch will be ready in a few weeks. I'll make sure that you get one." That was February 2021.
