Firstly I would like to thank Bob at IMR for sending me this sample to review.
*disclaimer: This sample was provided for the purpose of writing a review, no incentive was given to write a favourable review. All opinions expressed are my own subjective findings
Gear Used:
xDuoo XD-05 Plus / Audio Opus #2 > R2 Aten
- Bespoke Aten driver featuring uprated Neodymium motors with beryllium composite diaphragm + high resolution Piezo ceramic driver
- 5 acoustic audio nozzles + 6 acoustic dampers
- 2 Pin detachable cable (3.5mm and 2.5mm balanced)
- Impedance: 32 Ohm
- Sensitivity: 106 +/- 3DB
- Frequency response: 10 – 50000Hz
- 24ct Gold plated 3.5mm Jack
- 1.4M length OFC cable
- Hard Case
- 6.5mm Adapter
- Huge selection of ear tips for the perfect fit
Packaging, Build Quality and Accessories:
The R2 Aten come in a black fabric pouch, it is quite large and houses all the accessories, personally I really love the presentation and it feels really premium for the price. I really can’t say much else, there isn’t a fancy retail box but the case is brilliant and looks the part.
Build quality overall is great, the housings are more polished than the original R1 which looked a little DIY. There is good strain relief on the cable and the earphones use a standard 2-pin connector. Overall I cannot find a single issue with the build quality, just make sure not to cross thread the filters.
Accessory wise you get a regular 3.5mm single ended cable, a 2.5mm balanced cable, filters to tune the sound, a jack adaptor and assorted tips in both silicone and foam. Literally everything you need is included and more, the accessory set you get with these is really impressive.
Comfort and Isolation:
Once you find the right tips, the R2 Aten are comfortable, the housings are smooth and fit well in the outer ear without creating pressure points. The cable is supple and conforms well over the back of your ear.
Isolation is not supposed to be a strong point on these, they are open back as you can see from the grills. They have limited isolation and at high volumes will leak a little.
Sound:
There are so many filter combinations so I will try and sum up the R2 Aten as best I can without going too deep into filter rolling. It also took me some time to find my favourite filter combination, but more on that later.
The R2 Aten come with the black filters installed out of the box, and they are tuned to be fun and engaging rather than analytical or reference like. They have incredible impact down low and you can really feel the sub-bass rumble. If you are a bass head I guess you might enjoy this, but the lower midrange gets masked a little by this thunderous bass. The upper midrange then has a peak which can introduce a little bit of sibilance, they are quite v-shaped with all black filters. There is however good extension and air up top which reveals plenty of detail.
You get a selection of lower stage filters which mainly affect the bass with Black having the most and green the least. I found pink lower to be my preferred bass quantity bringing the lows more in line with the rest of the spectrum.
The top filters mainly affect the treble but I found some of them to introduce a little bit of unwanted sibilance. You do have to play around a bit with different configurations to find your preferred signature, but that is one of the fun things about the R2 Aten. You can have a pair of bass heavy earphones, or you can tune them to be a little more balanced, it is up to you how you want them.
On to my preferred combination, at first I was enjoying all Red, as it provided plenty of impact with good extension, but they were still a tad too v-shaped for my preference. I then changed to pink lower and red upper, and with this combination I have a fun yet more balanced signature, the lows still hit hard but are a little more controlled in their impact. The Red upper filter seems to be fairly sibilance free yet doesn’t hinder the extension or detail. Now I have found my ideal combination I can listen to the R2 Aten for hours on end without any fatigue.
There are some traits of the R2 Aten that you can’t tune out, they have good resolution with a wide soundstage and excellent separation. They are always going to lean towards a more fun signature, as this is how Bob intended them to sound.
Conclusion:
I actually really like the R2 Aten, they are versatile allowing you to change filters to suit your preferences but at the end of the day they are designed to be fun and engaging. They have great detail retrieval, along with a wide soundstage and excellent instrument separation. I can recommend these for those looking for something a little different and a little more fun.
Sound Perfection Rating: 7.5/10
