In latest years, the audiophile pastime has turn out to be significantly extra inexpensive for rookies, attracting many extra folks to the fold. This is due to the speedy development and international unfold of ‘Chi-Fi’; entry-level IEMs from China look and sound fairly good, and do not price an excessive amount of both. The emergence of fine transportable DACs has additionally largely lined for the dearth of three.5mm sockets on fashionable smartphones, making it doable to arrange an honest transportable audiophile package on a finances.
I’ve had an opportunity to check many Chi-Fi merchandise, the most recent of which is the CCA PLA13. Priced at Rs. 3,999 in India, the CCA PLA13 has planar magnetic drivers — one thing distinctive to merchandise on this worth section — which promise nice sound high quality. Is this one of the best audiophile-grade wired IEM you should purchase for lower than Rs. 5,000 proper now? Find out on this assessment.
The CCA PLA13 has small ‘home windows’ on the entrance of every earpiece, letting you have a look at the planar magnetic driver inside
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CCA PLA13 design and specs
The code-like alphanumeric naming of the CCA PLA13 suits in somewhat effectively with the overall look and really feel of the earphones, which arguably pulls off the clear aesthetic a bit higher than the Nothing Ear 1 (Review). With large plastic earpieces and a shiny dark-shaded exterior, the CCA PLA13 feels stable and appears nice. The backs of the earpieces are somewhat simple to look via, whereas the fronts have small ‘home windows’ that allow you to look into the innards, particularly the planar magnetic drivers.
Other attention-grabbing design elements embody the bass vents, clear cable, and the lengthy extension for the ear suggestions that provides the CCA PLA13 a safe in-canal match. The cable seems good, has a microphone and one-button distant, and is removable and replaceable, with commonplace 0.75mm two-pin connectors to plug into the earpieces, and a 3.5mm plug for the supply machine or DAC. Unfortunately the cable is kind of tangle-prone, however is effectively insulated to minimise cable noise.
While the match of huge IEMs tends to typically be difficult, the CCA PLA13 is kind of simple to placed on and take off, though the earphones themselves are a bit heavy. The ear hooks on the included 1.2m cable are fairly effectively made, and stayed securely in place round my ears whereas the earpieces have been worn.
Like most wired audiophile-grade earphones, the CCA PLA13 has a 3.5mm plug for connectivity
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The CCA PLA13 has 13.2mm planar magnetic drivers, with a frequency response vary of 20-20,000Hz, an impedance ranking of round 16 Ohms, and a sensitivity ranking of round 100dB. The impedance ranking makes it simple sufficient to drive the earphones even with atypical supply units corresponding to a laptop computer or smartphone, however pairing the CCA PLA13 with even a primary transportable DAC could make a major distinction within the listening expertise.
CCA PLA13 efficiency
When it comes to private audio, the idea of tuning is vastly underrated, and the hassle that goes into tuning could make even atypical {hardware} sound higher than costlier however poorly-tuned package. However, that does not take away from what superior tools brings to the desk, particularly when paired with cautious tuning of its personal. While the CCA PLA13 will not be as impressively arrange because the far more inexpensive (and dynamic driver-powered) Moondrop Chu, it manages to ship expectedly higher efficiency on the entire, because of its wonderful planar magnetic drivers.
For my assessment, HeadphoneZone (the distributor for CCA in India) supplied me with the iFi Go Link DAC/Amp, which paired effectively with the earphones and helped draw a bit extra energy and drive, other than making it doable to plug immediately into each, iOS and Android smartphones, as supply units.
The cable is usefully removable, though it is adequate that you just will not instantly really feel the necessity to substitute it
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This made the general setup pretty compact and transportable, so that is one thing that you may discover in case you’re in search of a great on-the-go audiophile setup. I did additionally join the CCA PLA13 on to my laptop computer sometimes for this assessment, with notable variations within the loudness and the way the sound felt at roughly equal quantity ranges on completely different units. The DAC made it doable for the earphones to sound louder with none audible harshness within the sound, so the PLA13 undoubtedly advantages from having the absolute best enter sign.
Listening to Pasilda by Afro Medusa, the CCA PLA13 supplied an immersive and energetic sound from the get-go, with first rate efficiency throughout the frequency vary. While there was a good quantity of assault and drive within the low-end, the bass did not really feel fairly as impactful and deep as on the extra inexpensive Moondrop Chu, even when the lows sounded a bit extra detailed, and appeared to increase only a bit decrease. Indeed, it is an arguably extra refined strategy to the bass, and one which higher agrees with the philosophy of audiophile listening.
With the sooner and extra assorted Fake Awake by Andy Moor, the responsiveness of the mid-range and highs on the CCA PLA13 have been higher highlighted. Sharpness and element in even the upper bass frequencies was noticeable, offering spectacular element ranges throughout the monitor with out the sub-bass overpowering the remainder of the monitor via an excessive amount of assault. On the entire, it is a fairly balanced strategy to the sound, highlighting element and notion, and steering away from any apparent biases.
The one variant of the CCA PLA13 offered in India has a microphone and single-button distant, so you need to use it as a hands-free headset or recording machine with suitable supply units. This performance works fairly effectively in case you want it, though this does come throughout as considerably dated and inconvenient within the age of wi-fi audio.
Verdict
Many would argue that the kind of driver is not all that necessary, and there are instances the place even the common-or-garden dynamic driver sounds wonderful, such because the Rs. 14,990 Sennheiser IE 200. That stated, the concept of getting technically superior planar magnetic drivers on a finances IEM is interesting, and the CCA PLA13 delivers a enjoyable listening expertise that’s targeted on element and refinement.
While there are many choices for a starter audiophile, the CCA PLA13 is a comparatively cheap wired IEM headset that could be value contemplating if in case you have a finances of round Rs. 5,000. You ought to ideally pair it with an honest finances DAC for finest outcomes, nevertheless it’s simple sufficient to only plug in and get going, if you have already got a great supply machine with a 3.5mm socket.
