Review: Alpha & Delta AD01

 Disclaimer: We received the Alpha & Delta AD01 and the upgrade cable free of charge directly from Lendmeurears for the purpose of this review. They are not a site sponsor. I promise I’ll try to keep this review short and to the point and under 1500 words.

Lendmeurears

Lendmeurears (LMUE) isn’t new to the Headfonia readers, a long time ago we did a full VSonic product-line review and it was LMUE that supplied us all the samples. LMUE is a Singapore based shop that sells a large line of audio products. Recently they took it a step further and teamed up with a Chinese manufacturer to bring a new brand and a new IEM to the market. The Alpha & Delta according to LMUE means this:”In English, the noun “alpha” is used as a synonym for “beginning”, or “first” while the Greek symbol for Delta is used to denote change. Thus, the name Alpha & Delta was coined to represent a new chapter in LMUE’s history and the wish that this brand will chart a new direction for the company”. 

AD01

Their first earphone is called AD01 and that’s as straightforward as it gets.  The AD01 isn’t just another IEM and it actually has a couple of interesting features for a sub $100 IEM.

First of all the AD01 doesn’t use balanced armatures. Instead it doesn’t use one, but two dynamic drivers. That was specifically done to deliver strong bass and to keep a good overall clarity, we’ll cover later if they succeeded in that. Second, the AD01 is built in a modular way. That means that you can order any part of the earphone should that be needed. New cable? No problem ($21). New driver? Also no problem ($35). Yes the driver/the cables are disconnectable and in case you lose one you only have to spend part of the amount of a completely new set. Excellent!

The stock cable (18N OFC ) isn’t bad but it isn’t the best either. We’ll get back to this in the sound part but I already advise you to get the optional 32N OFC upgrade cable when ordering ($32). The AD01 cables use a 2mm DC Plug so there are a lot of cable you can try with the earphones. I quite like these connectors and even after changing the cable a whole lot of times the cable stays tightly connected to the drivers. The L/R markings are on the cable as the monitors can just be switched. The downside of this is that they’re hard to distinguish when there isn’t a lot of light.

The AD01 came in a pretty normal/basic box and it contained 1 pair of foam tips, 3 pairs of biflange tips, 6 pairs of silicon tips of various sizes, 1 hard case and 1 pair of ear guides. Phew! The driver units inside the earphone are 9.8mm and 6.0mm and have an impedance of only 9Ohm with a sensitivity of 102 dB. That means no extra amplifier is needed and the AD01 works perfectly out of everything. I mostly used it with my AK120II and Luxury & Precision L5Pro

Build quality & comfort

It’s not new that I don’t like universal monitors. My ears or weird and finding a universal IEM that fits and stays in place is a real challenge. Yes there are a few but it’s one of the main reasons why you will always see me walking around with custom IEMs. To my surprise – the AD01 aren’t the smallest – they, with the smallest tips, fit perfectly in my ear canal and they actually stay there as well. They still stick quite a bit out of my ears making me look even more like a weirdo but the most important thing is they actually fit. I always got a great seal and while they don’t block in/out as much noise as customs, they did quite well while commuting.

The units themselves are nicely built, I even tried to open one up but I haven’t succeeded yet in doing that without breaking them. I also dropped them on several occasions but they keep working like never before. In the end I don’t really have a lot to complain about when it comes to comfort and build quality, and that hardly ever happens.

Curious how it sounds? Find out after the click below or HERE.

4.2/5 - (5 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

3 Comments

  • Reply October 12, 2015

    derSchallhoerer

    I also contacted LMUE for a Review of those Alpha&Omega. Maybe they send me a Sample. Meanwhile i placed an order for the VSonic VSD3. I assume that they are worth the 39€ and will replace my SE215 when i’m working out.

    How is the Luxury & Precision L5Pro, Lieven? Only read about it on Headfi and found the Brandname amusing.

    • Reply October 13, 2015

      Headfonia_L.

      And you didn’t get the GR07 as SE215 replacement?
      The L5P is pretty darn nice, but the UI isn’t the best. It needs and update urgently (also to fix the usb dac functionality)

      • Reply October 13, 2015

        derSchallhoerer

        Thought about it, for sure. But i wanted it to keep as “cheap” as possible. Also have the IE80 and the Stagediver 2 and i loved the look of the red & blue shells of the VSD3.

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