Perhaps it is unfamiliar to audiophiles, the Cella Audio brand. Cella has focused on stage monitoring for more than ten years. Now it is definitely one of the best in China’s stage ear-back brands. Many first-line musicians and singers are their customers. However, since this brand almost only does offline business, its customer base is also people in the circle, and to our ordinary enthusiasts, this brand also seems particularly mysterious.
As the top monitoring brand in China, Cella Audio headphones are usually priced at thousands or even tens of thousands of RMB. As a civilian product, the Spartan/Spartan Pro series are released at low prices, allowing ordinary people to spend a small amount of money. The brand products of celebrities are no small surprises for musical instrument lovers like me. Spartan has designed different units for civilian HIFI headphones and Spartan Pro as guitar monitor headphones.
Outer packing:
From the picture, the packaging of the two headphones is the same except for the color and title. There is a description of the parameters of the headphones. At first glance, they are pretty but they are made of corrugated paper. The outside is protected by a bubble bag. A strong professional atmosphere is coming, so as a musical instrument lover, many effectors and modules are packaged in this style and feel very cordial. But compared to many current civilian audio brands, Spartan’s packaging is obviously a bit crude. After opening the waist seal, there is a white paper box inside, and then you can click the white paper box to see two compartments, one of which is the earphone bag with the headphones inside, and the other is the earphone earmuffs.
Accessories:
The headphone earmuffs delivered are very rich, including large and small double-section earmuffs, large, medium and small single-section earmuffs, large and small sponge earmuffs. The workmanship of the earmuffs is fairly good and the texture is relatively soft. There is only one earphone cable, which is pre-installed on the earphone. The cable can be replaced. It adopts 0.78 pin, twisted strand structure, and the whole body is black. The cable body is thin and very soft. Spartan’s wiring is not as fancy as the common manufacturers, but the monitor style as always. This kind of cable is very light and does not produce auscultation effect, which is very common on the stage.
Spartan/Spartan Pro headphones:
The shape of the headhone is very similar to the TFZ product, and it is quite good to wear it on the ear. The monitor manufacturers are doing quite well in this respect. The front cavity is made of black plastic, and the back cover is made of red metal. Because the headphones is light as a whole, it should be made of aluminum alloy CNC machining. The red back cover is very beautiful in color, with different patterns on both sides. On the right is the model LOGO, while on the left is the helmet pattern that symbolizes the Cella Spartan. The overall workmanship is pretty good. I would prefer it if the whole is made of metal. However, for professional use, many recording studios are not well grounded. If the headphones are directly plugged into the table, the headphones with Mmcx female socket, metal front cover, and metal plating may cause leakage, or for some For metal allergies, considering professional use, plastic front cavity and metal back cover may indeed be the best solution.
Headphone parameters:
Impedance 18Ω, sensitivity 108dB, total harmonic distortion <0.2%, unit magnetic flux 1.0t, frequency response range 12-37500Hz. In terms of parameters, the headphones is very easy to drive and the parameters are also very good.
Cella Spartan Pro sound performance:
Spartan pro is positioned as a temporary stage monitor and guitar monitor. In addition, the official also stated that Spartan pro is good for listening to electronic music and rap. As a musical instrument lover, you can be sure that Spartan pro is specialized in tuning guitars and some stringed instruments and drums, but it does not only highlight guitars and other instruments. Spartan pro is also a balanced and objective earphone with great The characteristics of most monitor headphones are that the vocals are relatively close and slightly thin, the low-frequency volume is moderate but the shape is small, the speed is fast and compact, and the sound field is extremely regular. This tuning concept is very similar to another brand with professional background, NF Audio. The difference is that Cella seems to pay more attention to low-frequency performance, which also makes Spartan pro a good listening headphones. The quality of Spartan pro is good, between NA2 and NA2+.
Cella Spartan sound performance:
I’m curious about what kind of HIFI headphones a manufacturer like Cella Audio will make. After listening to it, I just want to say “it is true”. Although the Cella Spartan regular version and Spartan Pro have different units, the sound direction is very similar, while Cella Spartan is more “good-sounding” and suitable for multiple types of music. Although Cella Spartan is still the sound bottom of the monitor headphones, the mid-range is obviously thick, the low-frequency no longer has a metallic feel, and it has become slack, and the originally slightly tense high-frequency has become a lot more delicate and smooth. Cella Spartan is not stronger than Spartan PRO, but it is also more adaptable. Cella obviously wants the Spartan regular version to be a popular headphones, because of its regular sound field positioning and balanced tri-band performance, it is also satisfactory for small compilations of classical, rock, and jazz music.
Summary:
Because I have friends in the industry, I only know about the Cella brand. I was very surprised that such a brand, which originally only served the professional high-end market, could launch such a low-cost and even cost-effective product. Years of professional tuning experience for civilian HIFI products is undoubtedly overkill. Its dynamic driver reaches a relatively high standard. The performance of the two products is a good balance between professional monitoring and civilian HIFI. But Cella’s common problems as a professional manufacturer are also inevitable. The headphones itself is excellent, but the packaging and accessories are not attentive enough. Maybe they think the packaging box is for throwing away. Today, when HIFI products are flourishing, ordinary users may not be able to accept such products well.
But on the other hand, there must be many users who like such extreme audio products. For example, I like this retro corrugated packaging box and soft stranded wire. The name Spartan also makes me like it. If you just want to buy a pair of headphones that are just right to listen to, Cella’s civilian products are undoubtedly a good choice. Professional brands have different product considerations from traditional enthusiasts, but I believe that more manufacturers with professional backgrounds like QDC, NF, and now Cella will adapt well to the HIFI market and bring more such good products.