https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRpElKxalfk If someone had told me a few years ago that an unknown man from Romania would come out with one of the world’s best high-end headphones, I wouldn’t have believed it. But as I’m sitting here listening with the Empyrean and I think that Antony Meze may have just achieved what many others have aimed for, but didn’t quite reach, at least not without some kind of compromise. The Empyrean arrived in what would most easily be described as a suitcase inside a cardboard box. Inside, along with the headphones there is a fairly standard cable, which I’d describe […]
Headphones
37 posts
https://youtu.be/6LzMQvgam3s Brainwavz is most well-known for me for their variety of headphone hangers, of which I think at least one of each model grace my shelves. In a recent discussion with them, they asked if I was interested in reviewing their inexpensive IEM or headphone offerings. I was admittedly reluctant to cover products that had been reviewed by so many other people, and that I was more interested in products higher up in price range. The surprise reply was that they were releasing a pair of $499 planar headphones, the Alara, so would I be interested in those? NOW we’re […]
INTRODUCTION Brainwavz seem to be on a roll just recently. Their last 3 releases (at least the ones I’ve known about) have been the B400 IEM, HM100 circumaural closed headphones, and now they have a first full sized planar headphone. The Alara is their latest release, and I have had a chance to take it for a test drive over the Xmas break. So what is different about a planar headphone (from a traditional dynamic)? Instead of using a moving voice coil (to pull the diaphragm in and out from one ring within the driver), a planar uses an ultra […]
While it’s a bit late, a few people asked me what I thought were the best products of 2018. That’s a difficult choice, as I didn’t get to experience as many as I had wished, and some are still due to be reviewed. As well, I didn’t get to explore Bluetooth headphones as I had hoped, so they will be missing in this comparison. I went over everything where I’d posted a review in the last year, added items that are here for review, grouped them and selected the best of each. Here is the list. Best closed-back headphones $500-1000 […]
INTRODUCTION When I heard about the Brainwanz HM100, the first thing I wanted to know was how closely it related to the HM5. The HM5 was a Yoga OEM clone from the CD-880, which quite a few branded headphone manufacturers used as a base for their own models. This included Fischer Audio’s FA-003, and others from Lindy and Digitech. The Brainwavz HM5 was a real contender for a relatively neutral closed back headphone, and one which in many ways was akin to the lauded Sennheiser HD600 in tonality. When Marlon contacted me to ask if I was interested in reviewing […]
Dan Clark of MrSpeakers shows off the new Ether 2 headphones with technology taken from the work he did on the Voce electrostats at the 2018 Autumn Tokyo FUJIYAAVIC Headphone Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazABKh9JIw After the highly successful release of the Ether headphone series, it remained to be seen if Dan Clark would come out with less expensive models. The release of the Aeon (now called the Aeon Flow, as it uses the same technology as the Ether Flow) showed that he could streamline his designs and make them work at a much lower price point. The Aeon Flow Open now gives the less-expensive series and open-backed version. It was interesting to watch engineers from other companies pick up his headphones at the Tokyo show last year and marvel over the design. The […]
https://youtu.be/vDL330SE_Ec Ken Ball has a long history with personal audio. Starting out by soldering his own headphone cables and modifying headphones well over a decade ago, then manufacturing amps and DACs, and now producing IEMs and headphones, his progression has been somewhat backwards from normal. Now with the Cascade going into production, he has come full-circle. Featuring 42mm Beryllium PVD Diaphragm Dynamic Drivers inside an entire custom design which is designed to be portable, yet produce an “open” sound, they are entering the market at the $500-1000 segment. The $700-800 price point is significant to me as is double the […]
While reading through the Chord Hugo 2 thread on Head-Fi, I came across a picture of a neat headphone case, prompting me to find out more. What I discovered was the Orbit Concepts Deloop Audiophile headphone case, basically a larger version of their headphone case for DJs. For around $60, it might sound a bit pricy for a case, but it is well-made and packed with features, so the price doesn’t seem unreasonable considering the cost of many of the headphones it will fit. From the outside, the Deloop Audiophile uses robust materials, including ballistic nylon. A nice touch is […]
Great news for people who are interested in Focal headphones, as Massdrop has announced the Massdrop x Focal Elex, a variation on the Elear based on feedback from members. Will from Massdrop contacted me and asked if I’d like to be part of the launch of the Elex. His pitch was that with feedback from the Massdrop community, the Elear was good, but the bass was a bit strong, the earpads and headband could get a bit uncomfortable, and the cable was unwieldy. To that end, they’ve taken the ear pads, headband and cable from the Clear, which makes them […]
The first time I auditioned the Susvaras was at the last Tokyo Fujiya Avic headphone festival. The test system consisted of an EF1000 amp and Weiss DAC of some description. I also briefly tried them with the Hugo 2 in place of the Weiss. First impressions were of insane dynamics. I’d read about people being enamored with the HE-6, the much cheaper predecessor in a similar manner so it gave me some understanding of where they were coming from when I tried this system. I’d just finished a loaner of the Focal Utopia which had impressed me enough to become […]
Over at Head-Fi, Jude has posted a graph comparing the distortion measurement of the new Sennheiser HD660 compared to the HD650. He also noted that: The Sennheiser HD650 required around 211 mVrms to get 90 dBSPL at 1 kHz, and the HD660S around 107 mVrms for the same. In actual use, I’m getting greater returns from my portable digital audio players (Astell&Kern, FiiO, Sony) with the HD660S than the HD650, in terms of drive and sound quality (to my ears). Interestingly, something I’ve not seen discussed in detail in the past, the level of sensitivity changes depending on the wear […]