Even before my days working behind mixing desks in BBC studios, I was a fan of headphones. They provide a unique and personal listening experience as well as the ability to shut oneself away from the surroundings and enjoy music without interrupting others. Over the years I’ve used a variety of headsets from a variety […]
This review has been a little emotional for reasons other than musical. Although Meze is a Romanian company, Rinaro Isodynamics, their drive-unit partner, is based in Lviv, Ukraine. I am informed by the distributor that they have not been attacked so far, I pray this remains the case as events are developing quickly. Rinaro Isodynamics […]
Rather a lot of technical hoo-ha, as well as typographical capitalisation, attends the Bravura electrostatic headphone from Warwick Acoustics. That’s not to dismiss as trivial the development work carried out by the Nuneaton company in the engineering of the Bravura. But all the technical smarts in the world count for nothing if the Bravura doesn’t […]
It’s been such a long time coming that some people in the head-fi community were beginning to wonder whether California’s Audeze had lost interest in the high-end headphone market. After the launch of the company’s flagship LCD-4 in 2017, which Stereophile’s John Atkinson claimed was the finest sounding headphone he had heard in 45 years, […]
Spending time with MrSpeakers’ debut open-back headphone in 2015 convinced me that high-end earspeakers could rival the listening experience that had previously been the preserve of full-range loudspeakers in a well-appointed room. The extended frequency response, speed, detail retrieval, expansive soundstage and on-head comfort of the original Ether made it the most immersive headphone I’d encountered at […]
“The legend continues…”, said Sennheiser, upon the release of their HD660S dynamic open-back circumaural headphone, the successor to the venerable HD650 that has brought aural bliss to music lovers around the world for the past 15 years. As a long-time admirer of the HD600 series, I was both eager and anxious to discover whether the bold […]
Last autumn saw the unveiling of an all-new flagship circumaural open-back from Audio Technica in their esteemed Air Dynamic (AD) series of headphones. Combining Japanese craftsmanship and state-of-the art audio engineering, the ATH-ADX5000 is claimed not only to be the finest audiophile headphone AT has ever produced but to also more widely represent “a new reference […]
When it launched “the world’s best headphone” last summer Focal really put the wind up the headphone community. This sweeping, ‘endgame’ statement had consumers and critics alike clamouring to hear what the fuss was about, and is likely the reason I had to hold out for so long to receive a pair to review! With […]
The original HD800 sent shockwaves through the burgeoning ranks of headphone enthusiasts when it was launched in 2009 as Sennheiser’s flagship dynamic model. Offering unprecedented sonic clarity and dimensionality at a genuinely accessible price, the HD800 soon achieved cult status and re-affirmed the German specialist as the king of dynamic headphones. This year saw the […]
AudioQuest might be best known as a cable manufacturer but it has been making considerable headway in the computer audio and headphone markets. Following the success of its Dragonfly USB DAC/headphone amp, the company officially launched its first ever headphone. Enlisting the services of Skylar Gray (ex-Westone) to design from scratch with purpose-built components never […]
Dan Clark’s mission in founding MrSpeakers was to make innovative headphones that offer genuine audiophile-grade performance and premium build quality at a variety of price points, all representing the very best value for money. Taking the approach of continual innovation when the performance limits of existing technology are reached, the Californian firm’s current line of […]
Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 headphones The Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 is not the Japanese company’s first headphone, it has been making iconic and professionally-revered headphones since 1972. The company’s remarkable track record is enough by itself to command an in-depth look at their latest closed-back, circumaural dynamic monitor, the Audio Technica ATH-MSR7, released in January of this […]