Sound Impressions
The following sound impressions of the Composer were completed using the Austrian Audio Full Score One and the Cayin HA-300MK2 as the main analog headphone amplifier. The Shanling CA80 and the Cayin N7 Pre-Out were used for both decoding and transport.
Summary
The Austrian Audio Composer is a neutral, clean, and spacious-sounding set of headphones. It has a reference-type quality but not a straight-down-the-line neutral coloration courtesy of a bit of upper-mids and treble lift.
You will see me refer to this in our comparison section in more detail as it does possess a bit of the K812 spirit. However, the K812 cannot hold a candle to the more coherent and refined tuning from the Composer.
The forte of the Composer is clarity, with excellent resolution and impressive speed. It excels in instrumental separation and layering, particularly through the mids which sound open and very clear in their delivery.
Its amplitude on the treble is noticeable, however, the Composer is deceptively good with its sub-bass extension which, in turn, helps reinforce a strong perception of depth and height to its staging capability.
Much more so than some competing dynamic driver headphones such as the ZMF Headphones Atrium and Focal’s Utopia 2022 which are tapered a bit more sub-80Hz or have comparatively attenuated highs.
Despite the low-end reach, the majority of the Composer’s timbre will come across as neutral in weight with a lack of excessive bass and lower mids bloom compared to those aforementioned warmer and denser sounding headphones.
Again, it’s all about the clarity with the Composer, a lens on the music if you will. As such, some might find the presentation less emotive or euphonic, but with the right amplifier, it can be very revealing and immersive-sounding.
Frequency Response
Whilst the Composer does not have an overly lifted low-end frequency curve, the raw response exhibits an excellent linear extension from around 1k down to 20Hz.
Posted again the Harman Target the Composer bass response is south of neutral in terms of quantity below 100Hz. However, compared to the likes of the K812, Utopia, and the Atrium there is no noticeable attenuation so you will hear the impressive extension.
From 100Hz through to around 700Hz, the tuning rides marginally north of neutral, perhaps more so up to 300Hz and then largely neutral to 1k. There is very little in the way of unbalanced cuts or bumps, just nuanced nudges here and there for presence and a more natural tone, hence my earlier linear description.
Beyond 2k, the Composer corrects a lot of the missteps from the K812 with a stronger 2-3 focus bringing higher pitching vocals to the fore and less 4-6k peakiness that could render the K812 timbre as shrill or steely sounding for higher register percussion and voicing.
That is not to say it has a liquid euphonic overtone through the upper mids. The composer is still a bit north of neutral around 4-5k but nothing that good amp and DAC matching cannot accommodate.
One of the contributing factors to that relative control in the upper-mids is the neutral upper treble around 8-10k. The Composer does not go too hard here compared to the peakier K812.
Yes, it is more emphasized when compared to the Utopia 2022 and Atrium Open so it will sound brighter in that region but it is not an unbalanced and shrill-sounding tuning either.
Timbre
The Composer timbre is clean, and slightly dry with a note weight that does better than I was expecting for a lower register fundamental but otherwise neutral to slightly bright the further up you go.
This is a headphone tuned for detail so the timbral contrast is a bit higher in priority than rounded richness. A shorter decay also helps develop the sense of space and air around the notes giving them some additional clarity during playback.
One thing I have to note is the level of transparency from the Composer. It did very well indeed reflecting both source and amplification traits with the additional bonus of an improving bass response from some of the weightier and more powerful amplifications I have here in the office.
For example, I felt the Full Score One pairing was more to the neutral side for bass body despite the obvious excellent extension. Once I switched to the dCS Lina and Bartok Apex the punch and general physical impact from the Composer lows improved considerably.
The Cayin HA-300MK2 switched its attention to the mid-bass bloom, further emphasizing that slight nudge from 100Hz to 300Hz giving it more richness and warmth. This in turn sweetened the Composer’s midrange and highs giving it a more intoxicating coloration.
Staging & Dynamics
There is a distinct lack of congestion from top to bottom from the Composers presentation. The clarity and layering, particularly from the mids and highs, make this a special headphone for both staging and dynamic range.
After being fed a steady diet of warmer-than-average dynamic driver headphones with close vocal positioning it’s nice to hear a comparative veil being lifted with its airy and clear staging quality.
Like many modern IEMs, I am also hearing a little bit of relaxation between 1-2k which is a common tuning move designed to create a stronger sense of space relative to your listening position.
It is not enough to reduce presence and indeed, compared to the K812, the Composer does so much better for vocal physicality and presence.
Again, I go back to that strong low-end extension which has a very slight lift from 50Hz down to 20Hz. It responds beautifully to punchy or weightier-sounding amplifiers creating some additional perceived depth in what is a very holographic-sounding sound stage.
It is not as huge or wide as something like the HD 800. I tend to find that amount of separation to be somewhat artificial sounding. Whereas the Composer just feels open, tall, and airy but within more natural constraints.
This is a presentation that is more to the immersive and accurate side of the house rather than delivering a detached-like arena quality to its staging.
Synergy
The Austrian Audio ‘The Composer’ is rated at 22Ω for impedance and 112 dB/V for sensitivity, (approx 96 dB/mW @1kHz) so it does not require a huge amount of voltage making it fairly amenable to a wide range of desktop and portable devices.
Desktop Setup
I went with 5 desktop setups including Austrian Audio’s Full Score One, Cayin’s HA-300MK2, the Feliks Audio Envy, both of dCS’s headphone amps, the Bartok Apex, and the Lina.
For decoding, the Holo Audio Spring 2 was used with the Envy and the HA-300 MK2, and the Full Score One was connected to the Cayin N7 1BIT pre-out.
The common theme in terms of preference was good low-end weight and how smooth the final output was.
The Composer does well if you can bring a bit of bass bloom and warmth out on the lows without overemphasizing its upper mids and highs. Especially with modern pop and rock, higher pitching head voices, or instruments in the upper mids or treble register.
Desktop Pairings
Of those five the HA-300MK2 was the most euphonic pairing with the dCS Bartok Apex a close second. The HA-300MK2 has a gorgeous holographic soundstage, especially for width which is where the Composer needs to be for my tastes.
It does not have quite the same depth as the other pairings, however, the mid-bass bloom, midrange presence, and vocal euphony are very satisfying.
The Bartok Apex was more revealing than the HA-300MK2 and offered better sub-bass reach on the Composer. Neither the Bartok nor the Cayin played too hard on the highs treating them to a softer edge that gelled well for high synth notes and percussion.
The Lina is probably the most revealing and resolving of the five and offered the best timing and punch on the Composer lows, especially with the Master Clock turned on. However, it can tease out a stronger treble presence from the Composer which can be jarring with bright recordings with heavy upper-mid percussion energy.
If you are playing out with a more mellow mix of tracks the dCS Lina is an excellent pick for allowing the Composer to show off its ability to pick up on a lot of micro-detail.
The Envy didn’t push out as wide as I would like which is an asset I want when I want a good Composer pairing. It did reach deep with a nice shape to its lows but just felt too narrow overall.
The Full Score One is very neutral in its presentation and lacks the same weight and juiciness as the top two Composer pairing picks. I did prefer it with the N7 Pre-out for the additional warmth on the lows of the Composer but I would not advise pairing this amp with a very neutral or dry-sounding DAC.
Portable Pairings
The portable pairings followed a similar pattern to the desktop pairings with a slight preference for warmer smoother sources over clean and neutral alternatives.
For example, the iBasso DX320 MAX Ti is perhaps the best pairing I could find to show off how resolving and spacious the Composer can sound. It is a brilliant pairing for staging height, micro-detail, and imaging accuracy
However, despite the impressive low-end dynamics, the lighter midrange note weight and stronger treble presence were not ideal for my personal preferences. At times, vocals and higher register notes could get a little too clean and sterilized-sounding whereas I prefer more texture and body.
On the opposite end of the scale was the Cayin N8ii but again perhaps not my favorite combo. Certainly, it is sweeter sounding for timbre with a sparkling treble sheen that was more pleasing than distracting.
However, the lows lacked a bit of density and bite with the Composer. Fulsome yes, but impactful not so much, even with the P+ mode turned on. The overall feeling was beautifully soothing for classics and jazz but too relaxing for more energetic genres.
The halfway house pairings were the HiBy R8 II and the Luxury & Precision P6 Pro. The R8ii gave me that impact and slam I was looking for from the N8ii plus an open set of mids and a slightly softer treble compared to the iBasso pairing.
The P6 Pro produced the richest set of mids and the best texture from the Composer with excellent low-end weight. However, out of the compared DAPs, it had the more attenuated set of highs making it a more intimate-sounding pairing.
Dongle Pairings
I tested it across three dongles just to see how easy it was to drive and with high gain on 2 of them they all did quite well save for a little lack of dynamic slam from the Composer that was more readily available on the more powerful DAP or desktop combos.
Out of those 2 in high gain, the Cayin RU6 was gorgeous for vocal sweetness and treble sparkle without anything shrill coming back from the Composer. It also did very well for midrange bloom if that is your thing, perhaps more so than the RU7.
Where the RU7 came into its own is that sense of space, something which the Composer does enjoy. This combo also has a smooth timbral coloration, meaning treble-sensitive users will enjoy this.
The vocal presence is less impressive compared to the RU6 but that comes up a lot in my testing and is more of a personal preference.
The single-ended HiBy FC6 also did very well in terms of gain and volume headroom and offered the juiciest bass response but lacked the same refined highs as the Cayin dongles. It’s a more intimate experience with the Composer but one I enjoyed if I needed more weight on the lows.
