InnerFidelity

Saw these at CES with their official "Hi-Res Audio" sticker. My mind's first thought? "Yeah right, like "Digital Ready" meant anything either."

Turns out the label is pretty darned accurate.

Something has to go really right, really soon, or Koss may go the way of Blockbuster, Kodak, or Sears. Change, get relevant, or die. At this point I think Koss really needs to focus on what they have always done well: Make good performing, low-cost headphones.

The good news is that with the new SP330, they've done just that.

It must be going on 5 or 6 years now that I've been recommending the Bose Quiet Comfort 15 as the best noise canceling headphone. Time after time when comparing the QC15 with newcomers to the field, they either slayed the competition with their ability to isolate from outside noise, or with their competent sound...usually both.

Then last year at about this time, Bose introduced their Quiet Comfort 20, a shallow insertion in-ear noise canceling model. I thought it was awesome. The shallow fit is remarkably comfortable—similar to just gently putting your finger against your ear canal—and their ability to isolate astonishing. When recently I heard that Bose was about to introduce a new over-ear model to replace the QC15 I emailed my contact at Bose immediately—when it comes to noise canceling headphones, Bose is the maker to keep an ear on. They did not disappoint.

The Oppo PM-2 was released not long after the Oppo PM-1 as a lower cost alternative. The PM-2 forgoes the fancy presentation box, extra ear-pads, and balanced cable, leaving the denim clam-shell case, short mobile cable, and longe unbalanced cable (OFC instead of OCC) as the included accessories. On the headphones themselves, ear-pads and headband pad coverings switch from lamb-skin to synthetic leather, and a couple of the trim pieces on the ear capsule are now plastic instead of metal. All told, I think these were excellent choices in creating a lower cost version of the PM-1.

Lots of chatter abut the Oppo ear-pads on Head-Fi.org. I figured I better do some measurements to get another view.

Did some listening too, and found a favorite pad.

Headphone hobbyists are an ongoing source of amazement. A couple of years ago I spent a year measuring DIY headphones and the work was often very cool indeed. But this...I don't even know what to say.

Welcome to a couple of spectacular DIY electrostatic headphone builds by Chinsettawong!

Okay, okay, perfect is a bit strong, I've got a few little niggles with sound quality. But damn, you're getting a heck of a lot for $212 with these terrific headphones.