For entry into the realms of audiophile headphones, you used to have to dig deep into your pockets, at least for electro- and magnetostatic designs. But now, HiFiMan, the Asian manufacturer known for its high-end headphones, is venturing into the lower price range with the HE400se.
With the Aiva, Sendy Audio present a pair of open, circumaural headphones at the upper end of the price range. This manufacturer has worked on fine-tuning these headphones over a period of three years, targeting and optimising even the smallest part. We were therefore looking forward to seeing how these planar-magnetic headphones performed in our test.
The Clear Mg Professional from Focal is the successor to the Clear Professional. Those come from the French manufacturer's Professional series and are expressly aimed at professional and demanding sound engineers, while Focal offers the Clear Mg to the audiophile music lovers segment of the market.
It must have been around 1988 when I bought my first pair of Koss Porta Pro, on the recommendation of an audiophile friend. In fact, for many people of my generation, the Koss Porta Pro was a widely used upgrade to the bog-standard headphones that came with the first Discman (or worse, the Walkman headphones that could be found on every teenager's bedroom floor).
Beyerdynamic present their high-end T1 (open) and T5 (closed) headphones as a MK3 four years after the release of their second generation.
With the exception of the Orpheus HE-1, the HD 800 S is the top model among Sennheiser's open headphones. The successor to the HD 800 from 2009 is available both in the regular version tested here in black and in a technically identical Anniversary Edition in stylish matt gold which is limited to 750 units - and available for the same price.
The HD 559 is the most affordable headphone in Sennheiser's HD-5 series. The manufacturer, from near Hanover, recommends a retail price of 99 Euros and classifies these headphones for home use, but also places them as an entry-level model in the audiophile class.
In studio circles, the American company Avantone Pro has been known (and loved) for years for reissuing legendary studio monitors such as Yamaha's NS-10 or Auratone's Soundcube, as well as a whole range of classic microphones of outstanding quality. But more and more often Avantone also release their own creations, which are often much more exciting than the replicas. One of these new developments is the Planar - an open studio headphone that uses the somewhat exotic magnetostatic driver principle.
The Sennheiser HD models have always been synonymous with excellent, well-balanced sound quality and an attractive price-performance ratio. The current HD 560S model marks a shift into the audiophile section in the Sennheiser headphone range. Interestingly, according to the manufacturer, the Sennheiser HD 560S does not really belong to the HD 500 series, but rather wants to emulate the 600 series in terms of tuning and sound performance.
With the Fidelio X3 Philips are targeting an audience who are more concerned with High Fidelity than with True Wireless or Noise Cancelling. The sheer listening pleasure of these sophisticated headphones is in the relaxed, peaceful atmosphere they create.