Country of Origin
Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Laiv Audio Harmony and Sonnet Pasithea; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Phones: HifiMan Susvara, Meze 109 Pro; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; 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 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; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; 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; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: iFi Pro iDSD Signature; Head/speaker amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000 & Sonorous X, Audeze LCD-XC, Raal-Requisite SR1a on Schiit Jotunheim R
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €2'195
Yes. No. It's classic dualism at work. It's binary thinking. We're either a one or a zero, a somebody or a nobody. 2023's post-Covid Hollywood saw the term Barbenheimer, a portmanteau of the movies 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer'. Together both blockbusters finally celebrated big box-office numbers again. For this year the studios hope that 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' will repeat those figures. If so, what freaky hybrid will it coin? Glicked? Wickiator? What if we don't want a strange mishmash but both, simultaneously? How to make yes plus no equal yo; zero + one = zen?
An open and shut case.
Enter Palma Audio's DHS-1, a classic dynamic circumaural headphone with a 50mm driver of 26mm voice coil built into a solid-wood Sapele ear cup. Its novel and already patented spin—or rather twist—are the black aluminium cover discs with their golden-ratio perf pattern. Rotating them by 14° either has all holes unobstructed for open-backed radiation; or hermetically sealed for closed-back privacy. High 107dB/1mW sensitivity in the former mode ups to 109dB in the latter whilst impedance remains an unaffected 32Ω. Weight is 490g. Three cables with 3.5, 4.4mm and 6.3mm terminations plus a hard carrying case come with.
The obvious challenge is using the same chamber geometry for both modes without playing favourites. After three years of R&D, our team feel certain that they've aced it. For once the buying question needn't be either/or nor yes/no. For once it can be a cheery Yo! followed by Palma not Adrian. Say hello to the world's first convertible headphone.
Without having to make a poker face about being in the privacy of our home or sharing a cab; having a beastly head amp on hand or a weak-chested portable – we hold all four aces. That hand I wanted to play myself. Thankfully Mario and Pascual proved amenable to sharing theirs.
About sapele wood, it's named after the eponymous Nigerian port city from which this hardwood of the mahogany family exported. It's used in the manufacture of furniture, joinery, veneers, luxury floors, boats and musical instruments. In the latter it shows up for the back, sides and sometimes tops of acoustic and electric guitars, the neck of ukuleles and 26- and 36-string harps. It's thus viewed as a proper tonewood. Its tight regular grain structure and hardness lend themselves to fine machining. About the twist mechanism, "a big part of the challenge was devising a system that hermetically opens and closes the chambers with the same precision and effectiveness on day one as many years of intensive use later. To achieve this, we designed our own mechanism protected under European Patent EP 23383080.1."
Prototypes.
About the brand Palma, it's for the capital of Mallorca, the biggest of the Balearic Islands across from Valencia off the Spanish coast. It makes them the Western equivalent of Asia's Vermöuth Audio who are situated on Bali – two famous island destinations for holiday makers the world over. Fun in the sun with the Palma One?
