Headphone Reviews

The first thing you'll notice about the raw frequency response is how close it is to the Harman Target Response curve. Maybe the closest I've seen of any passive headphone.

Response is remarkably stable with ear position changes though some variation can be seen 2-8kHz. I did hear this region being emphasized when having my ear positioned near the front of the earpad. A slight emphasis can be seen in and between the twin peaks at 5kHz and 10kHz. Though I think I did hear it, I found it easy to accommodate in listening without fatigue.

30Hz square wave is text book material. Look carefully, this is what it should look like.

300Hz square wave shows a properly proportioned leading edge and ever so slightly rising waveform top. The only problem here is the somewhat course shaped ringing and subsequent noise, but this is at quite a low level. Though I did hear this coarseness, it intruded very little on the listening experience.

Impulse response has an outstanding initial transient again dominating over any subsequent noise.

THD+noise plots on all three current production units (those with serial numbers on the sheet) are essentially measurement system noise limited. This headphone measure's really, really good.

Impedance plot is predictably flat at a low 15 Ohms. Phase response is likewise featureless but for the normal rise at high frequencies.

Isolation is terrific at -26dB broadband. With about 250mVrms needed to achieve 90dBspl at the ear these headphone will just barely be driven to a solid listening level with a smartphone.