Headphones Fischer Audio Billy's Band Edition: Sound in Russian

“Like Sabinin in Glinka’s opera, I exclaim:“ Immense joy! ”. Great happiness fell upon us from heaven. You don't believe yourself. I was amazed how rarely it happened all my life. Delight, enthusiasm, awe, joy ... were tremendous. Still would!"

These words were written in 1898 by the once famous critic Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov after visiting the opera Pskovytyanka by Rimsky-Korsakov, where the young Fyodor Chaliapin played the role of Ivan the Terrible. Stasov was amazed how accurately and deeply he understood the most complex figure of Grozny, the 25-year-old youth, and how skillfully he reproduced it on stage. None of the domestic performer before could not boast of a similar combination of actor and vocal.


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Today, almost 120 years later, I repeat after Stasov - immense joy! After a week of listening to the Fischer Audio Billy's Band Edition headphones, I can say with confidence that domestic companies haven’t released anything like this yet. And among the foreign abundance such a magnificent sound is rarely seen. And if you meet, then at a completely different price.

Do you know the Billy's Band ? Until the summer of 2013, I heard only the name several times, but it was in no way associated with music. In the St. Petersburg office of Fischer Audio, I was shown a prototype of upcoming headphones and put on several tracks. Honestly, not really my music. Billy's Band balances on the verge of several styles, blues, swing, jazz and rock. Does it masterfully, do not take away. But - not mine. And Valentin Kazanzhi, the founder of Fischer Audio , just loves Billy's Band music. And these headphones were not a way to make some more money (I’d say secretly, for the company this model is not commercial at all), but as a favorite brainchild and expression of sympathy for a favorite group.



Headphones are sold in a large black box. On the top is a large (and, it seems, not the most successful) portrait of Billy Novick, the founder of the group. On the back of the box you can admire the entire composition of the Billy's Band. Inside we are met by a solid hard case, and in it lie the heroes of the review.



Cables are removable, with standard connectors. So if you break - you can always find an alternative. The set contains two pieces: one is normal, the other with a remote control and a microphone. So, if necessary, it is possible to use headphones as a headset.



The headband is made of steel, and in the right places covered with soft artificial leather. The place of the joint between the headband and the moving part, to which the cups are attached, is decorated with dark plastic, which at first I even took to be some kind of mineral - it looks painfully solid. The ear cushions are made from a material called “bio-skin” on the official website. Again, I initially took the skin for a natural, so pleasant to the touch. But, to the delight of animal rights defenders to die from old age, this is still a successful imitation.



The cups are made of African sapele wood. Because of its complex fibrous structure, sapele is used in the manufacture of musical instruments (in particular, electric guitars) to increase the spectrum of resonant frequencies. Here and here - it was useful. It is worth noting that Valentin Kazanzhi likes to experiment with varieties of wood, and in the Fischer Audio office you can find special turning equipment.

Inside the cups are newfangled Mylar polymer membranes. He is also known by the names Melinex and Hostaphan. This polymer is very popular and is used in a variety of products - from packaging materials to road signs. And now he got into the headphones, promising "to reproduce the smallest nuances of the musical signal and, at the same time, to provide an incredibly wide dynamic range."

Honestly, I found out all these details when I started writing a review. And at first just put the headphones on his head. And stunned.

Now in the description of many headphones we are promised "accurate studio sound." Like, here's how the musicians hear - and you will hear it. But the time was long gone when the music was recorded immediately from beginning to end with the participation of the whole team. In the absolute majority of cases, we hear a kind of construction from a multitude of duplicates and tracks, assembled and improved along the way by a team of sound engineers. Well, or one person, if we are talking about a budget entry. Therefore, it is more accurate, perhaps, to say that in good headphones we hear music the way the authors conceived it.



Some models demonstrate ferocious meticulousness, pulling out all the details (for example, Monster Inspiration In-Ear ). Others draw something, think it out using their own electronic brains (a vivid example of smart headphones is the Parrot Zik ).

Fischer Audio Billy's Band Edition hide nothing from the listener and add nothing from themselves. They honestly and with breathtaking skill recreate the very structure, invented by musicians and sound engineers, in your head. Great stereo. Careful attention to detail. The widest frequency range. I understand that I am sorting out with superlatives, but in this case everything is really very good. The first word I associate with Fischer Audio Billy's Band Edition is “honesty.” No grimaces and tricks. Just sound sound and accurate flow. Probably, Fyodor Shalyapin once made the same impression against the background of the traditional for that time opera april, though with decent voices.



I studied headphones with the iRiver Astell & Kern player, where you could easily feel the difference between the same song recorded in mp3 and FLAC. The difference was felt so acutely that it immediately got sick to listen to mp3 at all. Moreover, even though I understand that it is almost impossible, I managed to feel the difference between the sound quality of FLAC 16 bit / 44 kHz and FLAC 24 bit / 96 kHz. Any otolaryngologist will tell you that this is a game of imagination, but - as it is. And even on mp3, more or less of decent quality amazed me - how large, almost tangible sound, how exactly all voices and instruments are positioned, and how nice it is to listen to even well-known music.

Billy's Band Edition sounds good in conjunction with smartphones. I tried on the iPhone 5s and Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, and the impression remained the most positive. Of course, on an expensive player, but skillfully made FLAC to listen more pleasant. But even on a more modest technique, the results of the works of Fischer Audio will be clearly distinguishable.



Great headphones. They are good, regardless of geographic origin, and yet it is impossible not to rejoice that such a work of art was born in St. Petersburg. Not shocking and the retail price is 6,500 rubles. Of course, every day you will not buy such people for yourself, but even a not very hard-working student can collect this amount.

There were questions - is it worth it to take the Billy's Band Edition, or can we restrict ourselves to the Coda model, taken as a basis and costing 500-700 rubles cheaper?

If you like the Billy's Band - don't even hesitate, get a more expensive version. At least for the sake of an unusual design and a disk with rare records in the box. If not ... Coda differs from Billy's Band Edition not too significantly. More on this will tell the project manager himself, Valentin Kazanzhi.

Sergei Vilyanov : Valentin, what is the difference between Coda and review heroes?

Valentin Kazanzhi : In fact, there are no fundamental differences between the Billy's Band and Coda models. The difference in price is due only to the more expensive, premium packaging from Billy's Band Edition, the presence of an additional carrying case for this model and the packaging of an exclusive gift CD, which we released specially for this series (Billy's Band never before produced collections of their compositions, and here, apart from well-known records were added and not previously published. In addition, all the material for the disc was compiled and recorded anew, especially for this edition).

Another difference lies in the type of wood and finishing: if CODA is made of ebony wood and lacquer finish, then Billy's Band Edition uses sapele wood and the labor-intensive method of Oil-Finish coating. Considering the half-open design of headphones, the influence of the type of wood used in these twin models is rather aesthetic, since the difference in the sound of wood species in this case is extremely insignificant.



SV .: The musicians say that they like the “wooden” sound, but how really? Does the tree have some unique features that cannot be repeated when choosing metal and plastic as the material?

VK: The musicians are definitely right. Absolutely right. The unique features of wood when used in musical instruments have not been doubted for centuries. But the fact is that headphones can be safely attributed to musical instruments, and moreover to acoustic instruments, where the influence of wood is extremely important. I see the difference between headphones and, for example, a guitar, except in the way of sound extraction. In the first case, the source of the sound is the strings and fingers of the musician (and, ideally, also his skill), and in the second case, the source is the driver (ideally, with high quality characteristics). For nearly a thousand years, acoustic instruments have been made exclusively from natural wood of certain species. And even in our century of polymeric materials and aluminum-titanium high-tech, this postulate is not doubted by anyone.

But the headphones, for some reason, stubbornly rivet from plastic and, in the top series, from metal. What is the reason for this? I think that it’s not worth talking about it - everything is clear. Expensive! And unprofitable! Only a few manufacturers produce their top models with wooden components. Well, maybe, heels from the heels. The tree has its own unique character of sounding (as the masters of musical instruments say, “sings”).

SV .: How much time was spent on these headphones?

V.K .: It took a year to implement the project. Four prototypes were proposed. The musicians of the group tested them very carefully and chose one. It is worth noting that the decision was made not only by the musicians themselves, but also by their sound engineer, who has extensive experience in terms of sound. In principle, even the type of wood, the way it was processed, the ambushur material (protein skin, or, in a popular way, bioskin), the design, the character of the sound - everything was discussed and approved together with the group during repetitive meetings in the Fisher Audio ". Fortunately, the headquarters of the group itself is located in a nearby lane, a 3-minute walk.



Some points in creating this model caused very stormy arguments and disagreements. But it was interesting, and most importantly, everything turned out. It is fair to say that the musicians of the group are very “advanced” and extremely scrupulous in terms of sound quality. These guys are real, professionals in their field, with great experience, worthy of respect. Of course, they have certain sound preferences, the very style in which they create, “Alko Jazz” hints at this. The old classic rock bands of the 80s, jazz, soul, Russian rock from the time of BG and Alice, classical instrumental music - this material was considered by them as a test when approving the model.

And one more important point. Since the creation of a new model is extremely costly and, given our current headphone market, which has shifted its benchmarks towards frankly cheap consumer goods, as well as a very limited batch of models being produced, we would not have paid back half the cost of this project.

It's no secret that only the cost of producing a single promotional sample is poured into a tidy sum (as a rule, 10-20 thousand dollars, this is the cost of launching a new model into production). Therefore, an agreement was reached with the manufacturer that the plant assumes almost all costs, but the model remains at their disposal. And they can sell it to any third-party customer, in case this customer does not supply the model to Russia. Moreover, we honestly indicated on the packaging the manufacturer on all models of the Renaissance series (except, directly, the Billy's Band). Today, this model has already appeared in agile Americans, British and Italians. And nothing terrible in this, we do not see. But the sound is exactly the same will not in any case. Since There is another small change that has already been made here in Russia. So to say, added a pinch of tricky spices.



And the last. Considering the peculiarities of the “tricky” driver used in this model, the headphones really start to sound only after a long “warm-up” for 100-120 hours. Moreover, during the warm-up period, the character of the sound changes dramatically, the sound “floats” either towards the increase of the bass, or towards its complete disappearance, or towards the appearance of “dirt” in the upper range, or the appearance of “sibilants”, which one might think that headphones live their lives. But you need patience! And through these 100-120 hours they will show what they are capable of, to the full! Everything is simple - the moving parts of the system must enter the working mode. Like any mechanism, running is necessary.

Opinion of Ilya Tarakanov, a respected expert in the field of portable acoustics.

At Sergey's request, I quickly tested the headphones, and would like to slightly lower the degree of positive in his review. But I’ll say right away that the model is interesting and will find its customers - at least because of the design.

The appearance of the headphones pleasantly surprised, as well as the build quality. The play of metal cups cups slightly overshadows the positive impression, but this is a trifle. Landing is typical for overhead headphones, comfortable enough - but the constant pressing of the cups to the ears definitely will not allow listening to music for hours on end.

As for the music - the headphones combine a rather reckless supply of low frequencies and, oddly enough, a “monitor” supply of MF and HF - which makes them a truly “taste” model. Genre versatility here and does not smell, have to put up with it (or buy some more headphones).

Finally, I note that due to its mostly “monitor” presentation of musical material, the Billy's Band clearly identify flaws in the MP3 format, and they are definitely shown a high-quality source (for control over the low frequencies) and music files.

PS All ears are different. And sound addictions - too. Therefore, no matter what the authors of the reviews, including myself, write, before you buy, by all means listen to the headphones yourself. And buy only if you personally like them.