Dali IO-4

Seven times measure cut once

The Danish brand Dali is well known to all fans of hi-fi acoustics, but these guys are really newcomers to the headphone market. Realizing this, they were in no hurry to go anywhere, for a start they went through a dozen prototypes of varying degrees of success. Until, finally, they got really competitive headphones that meet all the requirements of the time. And it’s true that this is never a Chinese OEM — a separate R&D team was founded to create them, which for several years poached specialists from competitors. Looking ahead, we note that all this was not in vain. Dali IO-4 not only meet modern requirements, but surpass them in many ways. For example, how do you like the ability to work up to 60 hours on a single battery? Of course, here you need to take into account many different factors, such as the sound source and volume, so we immediately say that for the entire time of the test we were not able to defuse them.

The devil is in the details

The list of additional benefits of Dali IO-4 can stretch for several paragraphs, so let's go over the most important ones. First of all, we highlight a well-thought-out control system, water protection of the case, universal USB-C for charging and listening to music from a laptop, as well as damn comfortable ear cushions with “memory” foam, reinforced headband attachments and swivel cups. In terms of comfort and durability, the Dali IO-4 gets 5 out of 5. By the way, if the lack of noise isolation disappoints you on this list, we have good news. In parallel with the IO-4, the Danes released exactly the same IO-6 headphones with almost standard noise reduction.

Signature Dali sound

When designing the speakers, the engineers did not step on the throat of their own song and used paper-fibre speakers, well-known to fans of the brand. It turned out great: IO-4 bribes with overall timbre richness, transparency in the upper middle and an abundance of details even at low listening volumes. Their presentation is dominated by lightness and airiness, with high intelligibility of instruments in the entire register. Jazz, classical music, and in general any music with an abundance of live instruments and details, especially benefits from this. But sometimes you want power and dirt, as in the days of illegal British raves. And here the Dali IO-4 is a so-so assistant, they lack fangs. As for the rest, there are no complaints and sheer delight, you can't expect such sound from a wireless model for $300.