Designing AB1266
Designing AB1266
Designing AB1266
The AB1266 is all about the sound. Our goal was to capture the sound of the finest speaker systems and music rooms in the world. Most importantly, they had to convey music as naturally as if you were sitting in the room with the band. This was a huge undertaking for a small company.
The first thing you notice when you hear the Abyss AB1266 headphone is what the human brain is so good at recognizing, natural musical sounds, freedom to the music. The headphone is not producing weird sounds that tell the brain it’s a headphone. Instead, you hear cymbals ring out in time without hard metallic sounds, guitar strings resonate inside the guitar body, not some tubby or tin box. Drums have real impact, you hear the rolling of the drum skin, not a thump and it’s over.
Let’s start with the most important component, the speaker or driver. The AB1266 driver must transform an amplified signal to motion so your ears hear only music, not some vibrating plastics or metallics. Getting it right here is most critical, and most difficult.
We started from scratch with an open mind, and used up nearly 5 years of our lives to create unique materials, magnetics, and acoustic design never before thought of in any full range headphone driver. This patented speaker design is unique to the world, hearing them in action is never boring.
Next up was the structure or frame upon where to mount these fabulous drivers. Our extensive knowledge of high-end loudspeaker design and materials told us the finest loudspeakers have minimal cabinet resonances, meaning they do not vibrate and produce a sound of their own that would interfere with the beautiful clarity of our drivers. Typically with loudspeakers this equates to a very heavy multi-layered cabinet, not something you can wear as a headphone.
Headphones tend to be riddled with lots of plastic, moving parts, all sorts of loose fitting components that translate into rattles and noises not part of the music. There was no way we were going to let that happen here.
The AB1266 was designed with a lightweight rigid frame, machined from solid aluminum. Dozens of prototypes were built, and at each level greater intricacy was obtained in it’s anti-resonant construction and artistic detail.
Maskinering til dette nivået av detaljer er intet mindre enn kunst i programmering og verktøy, så vi kjøpte våre egne CNC-maskiner og trent i mer enn et år å gjøre det selv i Western New York, USA. Det var den eneste måten å kontrollere den ferdige kvaliteten på det som skulle være verdens fineste hodetelefoner.
Once we engineered the main frame components, adjustability was necessary, every persons head is different. Trouble is adjustments mean vibration, noise, and points where failure ultimately occurs. We wanted the AB1266 frame to withstand most any abuse, never requiring maintenance or repairs due to broken parts; durability was key.
Engineering boiled it down to a single pivot point on the top of the headband. It took another 6 months designing just this pivot point, ultimately machining our own unique screw and slot design that allows not only width adjustment, but also height, toe in or out, and clamping force. Simpler is better.
Så nå har vi høyttalerdriverne, antiresonansstrukturen og muligheten til å justere for passform. Neste opp er hvordan du hviler AB1266 på toppen av ulike hodeformer så komfortabelt som mulig. I hovedsak måtte den flyte og fungere som et opphengssystem som isolerer hodebevegelser fra musikken. og hva er vel mer behagelig enn en hengekøye. Vi jobbet for å perfeksjonere denne formen, justere skinn- og skumtykkelse, fjæring, så mange små detaljer, slik at denne relativt store hodetelefonen sitter på ethvert hode og føles lett og komfortabel. Vi studerte kreftene som spilte ved å bruke statikk og fysikk for å justere helt ned til måten lærene ble sydd på.
Sist men ikke minst var akustikk, hvordan du oppretter en nær perfekt miniatyr akustisk plass som om du lytter til din favoritt band i et åpent rom. Ear pads, skum, overflate former og dimensjoner alle måtte være eksperimentelt avledet over mange hundre timer med lytting til mange forskjellige sjangere av musikk. Målet var å ri en fin linje mellom ultimate oppløsning og musikalitet mens gjenskape så best som mulig den opprinnelige akustiske plass i riktig perspektiv.
Til slutt, alt som er hørt er den vakre bølgen av musikk fra driverne koblet direkte til ørene i en akustisk finjustert plass å ha de subtile detaljene av instrumentene, stemmene, og rommet mikrofonene plukket opp under innspillingen-musikk i din egen private plass i avgrunnen.
