Hill Audio Altair • RA Review – Kick B ass

Pros — Beautiful design and quality build; good timbre; value.

Cons — Strong bass pushing mids back; large and heavy earpieces.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Hill Audio Altair • RA is a superbly built, warm, bright, V-shaped bass gun with laid back mids and a good timbre.

You find a series of photos of the Altair • RA on our blog HERE.

INTRODUCTION

The Malaysian online audio dealer Hill Audio was established in 2016. They mainly sell budget earphones to the domestic market but they also partner with OEM & ODM under their own brand name: the previously reviewed Hill Audio S8 [review link] is another example. The company mainly communicates through Facebook and Instagram and they don’t have their own website – and they only sell directly. Their earphones can be found with different accessories under different names elsewhere, but Hill Audio typically have the lower prices.

SPECIFICATIONS

Model: Hill Audio Altair•RA
Transducer Principle: dynamic driver
Transducer Specs: 10 mm with composite diaphragm
Frequency Range: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Impedance: 18 Ohm
Sensitivity: 103 dB
Connector Type: MMCX
Cable Length: 1.25 m
Plug Type: 3.5 mm
Price: $38 (at the time of the review; including registered Malaysia airmail shipping worldwide)
Product Links:…again challenging
Shopee: HERE
Email: hillsonicaudio@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hillsonicaudio

IN THE BOX… 

Hill Audio products don’t come in a paper box for environmental reasons…the Altairs rather come in a generous zippered case that contains the earpieces, cable, and 4 pairs of rubber tips.

Note: the retail version comes with a second cable. 

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, HAPTIC, AND BUILD QUALITY

Similar to the previously reviewed Hill Audio S8, the Altair’s earpieces and cable are a work of beauty. The housing are made of resin and the cavities are completely filled in order to minimize resonance. The fill is impeccable: there are zero impurities such as bubbles or streaks. The four-core cable matches the amber shells colour wise and the jack features a sturdy spring strain-relief. Like with the Hill Audio S8 you have the feeling you are handling a piece of fine jewelry rather than a budget earphone.

ERGONOMICS, COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT

The housings, since they are large lumps of resin, are heavy but ergonomic.  They stick quite a bit out of the ears like old-fashioned hearing aids but they fit well and are comfortable. Isolation is excellent, in fact so good that I missed most of the outside noises on walks through my semi-busy neighbourhood.

SOURCE AND EARTIPS

My phone SE drove the Altairs with ease and the largest included earpieces produced the perfect seal.

TONALITY

JK’s tonal preference and testing practice

That bass is big – and I mean huge. This signature must be intended and it appeals primarily to bassheads. Quite frankly, that frequency response looks not appealing with its huge and well extended bottom end, a very relaxed midrange, and that prominent Chifi double peak between 2 and 4 kHz (which is the most sensitive frequency segment of the human ear and typically introduces shouty vocals — but not in this case). Surprisingly, the sound is better than the frequency response may imply.

The bass is actually well textured, focused with the right decay, and -obviously- impactful…it also stays somewhat focused into the sub-bass. It is not thick or soft at all and has a good kick from the very bottom. There is just so much of it…

The midrange is of good tonal quality but the bass pushes it back, mysteriously without covering the vocals up. The vocals are warm and reasonably dense but can be breathy and lack richness in some cases. These vocals with a lesser bass would work very well for me. They are not only under attack from the low end but also from the higher notes. The good thing about the upper midrange peaks (2-4 kHz; add brightness to the image) is that they are being balanced by the bass and do not introduce harshness and screaminess to my ears. This confirms that the human ears hear the whole frequency spectrum in context.

The high-end starts rolling off within the upper midrange at 4 kHz until it starts climbing at 7 kHz again. This bypasses sibilance in the voices. Secondary peaks at around 10, 13, and 16 kHz (if they are real and not the effect of coupler-insertion interaction) try to counter dullness introduced by the bass and freshen up the image. The treble is smooth, not overwhelming and fits well in the overall picture. Nothing unpleasant at the high end.

Replacing the wide-bore tips with narrow bores only affects the upper treble peaks by moving them by 1 kHz to the left which has little effect on the overall image.

I always felt the need of turning the volume up to move the vocals closer to my ear, but this also increased bass and treble, the combination of which pounded mercilessly against my eardrums. 

Detail resolution is also surprisingly good: the congestion in the upper midrange which plague so many budget DDs does not exist. Soundstage has a good height and depth, which is also not expected. 

In summary, these are good dynamic earphones with extra bass added. Take it or leave it. Their sonic and haptic qualities with a different bass dosage would put them in the $100+ area in my books.

You find our review of the Brainwavz Koel HERE.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

In the end, the Altair’s qualities lie in the eye of the beholder: If you like a very impactful bass and a natural sound, this is a great earphone. If you are bass sensitive and prefer “mid centric”, it is not. Although I belong to the second group, these Altairs kept growing on me, mainly because of the bass quality, timbre, and soundstage. And since they seal well and have this very robust low end, they are useful in combination with bass-light sources such as the Shanling M0, or for commuting, or on the airplane. I will try them out on my next flight. But where everybody would agree is that the Altairs are a well-made piece of beauty.

DISCLAIMER

The Altair • RA was sent to me by Hill Audio from Malaysia for independently evaluating its technical and practical merits. Thank you very much.

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