ZiiGaat Seraphim was created with the mission of reproducing the sound quality of a pair of headphones that cost up to 27 times more, will it succeed?

The audio market is a place where prices are truly limitless, there are pairs of headphones that cost only a few hundred thousand but there are products that cost up to several hundred million! One of the most expensive pairs of In-ear headphones in the world, and also considered by many to have 'top-notch' sound quality, is the Subtonic Storm with a starting price of up to 7,400 USD - equivalent to about 189 million VND!

Once it becomes number 1, there will certainly be many products below that want to learn the sound quality of Subtonic Storm at a more accessible price. And this is the mission that ZiiGaat and reviewer Jays Audio set for their most collaborative product called ZiiGaat Seraphim.

With a selling price of just under 7 million, which is only 1/27 of Subtonic Storm, is this feasible?

The box of this pair of headphones has the main color tone of black, with the product image and configuration used.

As mentioned, this is a collaborative product between ZiiGaat and YouTube audio product reviewer Jays Audio. Inside the box there is also a card hand-signed by this man himself.

Opening the box, Seraphim's accessory set includes 6 sets of liquid silicone tips, 1 set of sponge tips, 2 metal dust stoppers, leather carrying case and connecting cord.

Unlike other ZiiGaat products with black braided wire, Seraphim's wire has only 1 straight strand, is thin and quite light. The 3.5mm and 4.4mm Balanced head replacement feature remains the same, allowing the headset to connect to a variety of sources.

The string is not the only thing that is different from Seraphim, even the ear design is not the same as other ZiiGaat products. The headphones are finished entirely in aluminum, without a single bit of acrylic plastic. The outside surface is embossed with wavy lines, which when exposed to light will give a quite eye-catching effect.

Seraphim's aluminum layer seems to be thin, so the headset is very light in the hand and on the ear. The inside is engraved with the product name and series number.

When installing the cord, Seraphim synchronizes with a white and silver color scheme that looks quite simple but exudes a modern look.

One advantage that remains constant with ZiiGaat's headphones is that the ergonomics are very well done. The headphones are medium in size - small, and come with light weight, so after only wearing them for a short time, it feels like you're not wearing them at all!

If evaluated harshly, Seraphim's design looks quite monotonous if placed next to ZiiGaat's other pairs of headphones - which often have beautiful color-coordinated decorative details. But once you put it on your ears to enjoy music, this is no longer important - comfort is still guaranteed!

Get inspired, not "copy and paste"!

Device used: Computer > Topping DX5 II > ZiiGaat x Jays Audio Seraphim

Earlier this year, during a trip to Singapore to attend the CanJam audio event, I had the opportunity to experience a pair of Subtonic Storm headphones. And just as rumored, this pair of headphones gives a highly balanced sound quality, pushing the level of detail to the maximum and especially has a distinct high sound (treble) that very few other pairs of headphones can do.

So can ZiiGaat Seraphim reproduce this sound quality? In actual experience, these two pairs of headphones do not have exactly the same sound quality, as Seraphim gives a fuller sound, with significantly more bass than the Subtonic Storm. But when we listen closely, we can also see a bit of intentional similarity.

If Storm has its strongest point in the treble range, Seraphim's bass is the highlight of this pair of headphones. Seraphim's bass gives a rich volume, presses down for density, the sound is very clear and especially the layers are clear, not just "smashed into one lump". True to the current trend, the bass of the headphones focuses heavily on the super low frequency ranges (sub-bass), and will gradually reduce energy when reaching the mid-bass to ensure it does not take up the position of other bands.

Trying with Grant's song Are we still young, the drum beat is tight, round and clear, pulling the tail just enough to make an impression but not too long to the point of being uncomfortable. This range won't really be for bass-heads because it's not 'excessive', but given the trade-off of quantity for 'quality', it's hard to complain too much.

In order for the bass and mid ranges to be completely separated, Jays Audio has adjusted the low-mid range at about 300Hz to be lighter. This makes the singer's voice through Seraphim's performance somewhat thin, bright and forward. This will have an impact on deep male singers like Andrea Bocelli in the song Time to say goodbye, he will lose a bit of his deep, masculine voice and sound like he's aged a few years!

On the contrary, in this same song, the bright female voice of Sarah Brightman is very prominent, standing right in front of the listener, making the detail very high. String instruments such as guitars and violins also have a similar trend, having a slightly bright tone, thereby maintaining sharpness, making a strong impression right from the first listen.

If you were to ask where Seraphim learned from his 'elder' who costs nearly 200 million - Subtonic Storm, it would definitely be in the high frequency ranges. Both pairs of headphones, from high-mid to treble, have bright, clean and crisp tones. This directly helps both give a good sense of detail, as well as expand the soundstage to the sides - making it feel like the sound is coming outside the ears, without a 'hard' limit.

Returning to the question at the beginning of the article, can Seraphim reproduce the sound quality of a pair of headphones that cost 27 times more than me? The answer will be no, because the actual experience of these two products still has different final sounds and is not identical - and up to now no two headphones are exactly the same because each type uses completely different speakers and crossover circuits.

However, Seraphim still learned how Subtonic Storm separated the singer's voice from the background, increased details and soundstage by increasing the brightness in the treble range - allowing us to 'see through a narrow window' into what the world of thousand-dollar headphones is like! And when evaluated independently, this is still a good sound quality at Seraphim's price range of less than 10 million.

Looking on the positive side, ZiiGaat Seraphim seems to have been inspired by the strengths of a much more expensive pair of headphones, rather than "copying and pasting" exactly the same thing - something people are also very reluctant to do when choosing to buy any technology product. Comes with a good level of metal finishing and a full set of accessories, it's hard to find anything worth criticizing about this pair of headphones.

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