Erzetich Thalia Review

In today’s review, we take a close look at Erzetich Thalia on-ear headphones from Slovenia. They go for €599.

 

Disclaimer: The sample of the Erzetich Thalia was provided by Erzetich directly. The review reflects my honest opinion as always. 

As a side note, this actually is my 100th review for Headfonia and it’s been more than 4 years since I joined the team!

About Erzetich

The founder of the Erzetich brand is Blaž Erzetič. He’s a guy who has been in love with music since his very early ages. When Slovenia was a part of Yugoslavia, and when the economy wasn’t quite good and importing was difficult, he decided to build his own Hi-Fi system. That transcended his passion and it was the first step for the Erzetich brand that we know today.

He studied electronics in his teens but his professional career was more about design, illustration, and photography. Also, his passion for music took him over when he was in high school, playing guitar with his friends. 10 years later, he actually released 4 music albums. You can find the story with more detail here.

He also has experience with sound engineering thanks to his involvement in creating music albums. He was earning his living as a freelance designer until 2012 when he founded Erzetich Audio.

Erzetich Thalia

My ambition now is to build premium quality personal audio that merge form with function.

The brand produces on-ear and over-ear headphones as well as dedicated headphone amplifiers. There are 4 headphone amplifiers and 3 headphone models right now, and each of them is created by hand. Erzetich uses both dynamic and planar magnetic technology. All of their headphones are open-back (Mania is semi-open).

About Thalia

Erzetich Thalia is an open-back dynamic on-ear headphone. The driver is coated with titanium for better speed, control, and definition. The earcups are made from genuine wood material which is processed through various stages to create that octagonal shape and polished look. Each headphone is made and assembled by hand. The grills are full metal and Erzetich is against using animal products, so the earpads are not made of some animal skin material.

It is tuned for portable devices and is not actually aimed at the serious audiophile. It’s more like a headphone that targets the people who enjoy their music on the go and need something light and portable. There are still these types of on-ear headphones around although their popularity is faded because of the crazy IEM and TWS market. The Beyerdynamic T51P is a good example of a good on-ear headphone. Let’s see how the Erzetich Thalia performs in that regard.

Erzetich Thalia

Packaging

The Thalia arrives in a straightforward carton box which is compact and good enough to keep the headphone safe during shipping. Inside, the headphone is stored in protective foam. The lid of the box is also covered with foam so the Thalia sits there very securely.

Inside you get a carrying pouch for protecting the headphone from hits and scratches. You get some paperwork about how to use the headphone and other things like warranty, etc. The cable is an SPC cable with gold plated 3.5mm terminations. There’s also a 6.3mm jack adapter inside.

There’s also a surprise CD which contains 12 carefully selected Indie recordings in a gold plated audiophile CD. The CD contains a PDF file which has detailed information about the songs and artists. This is a very original and thoughtful addition without a doubt. I appreciate that.

Build Quality and Design

As I mentioned, all of the products from Erzetich are made by hand. This is a very boutique brand and they produce their products with excellent care and love. The result is very impressive indeed. The wooden cups are wonderful to look at and they feel very organic and natural in hand. The metal grills are very sturdy, the yokes and the headband are robust and they give a very solid impression overall.

The cable connectors are standard 3.5mm ones with an excellent snug fit when you attach the cable. The cable itself has a DIY vibe and it actually looks like an IEM cable. It has an aftermarket feeling and I’m not sure it has good wire quality. However, from the aesthetics perspective alone, I would’ve preferred a full black cable to complement the overall design. But that’s just me. Blaz doesn’t want to have any compromises so he decided to build the cable himself also.

The review continues on page 2 with comfort and sound quality

4.8/5 - (5 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

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