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Sound Quality
Wow. Really, just wow. I spent a lot of time comparing these little gems with a variety of other good headphones and they consistently outperformed all other cans of this type and price. When comparing the Onkyo with on-ear headphones in a similar price range like the V-Moda M-80, Logitech UE40000, or Noontec Zoro, the ES-FC300 handily slayed them with a richer, more open sound. Likewise, when compared to significantly more expensive on-ear, sealed cans like the Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear, HD 25 Aluminum, Beyerdynamic DT1350, and B&W P5, the Onkyos were competitive…

Raw frequency response (lower gray traces) shows some variation in low frequency response with positional changes, likely due to difficulty sealing on the measurement head ears as these are not quite full-size, over-ear cans and will have some difficulties in this regard. My feeling after wearing these cans is that this will not be as big a problem as might be represented here. (The dummy's ears are a bit stiffer than human ears and makes sealing a bit more difficult with on-ear style headphones.)

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NAD VISO HP50 ($299)
For those of you looking for a great all-around headphone, run, don't walk, to your nearest NAD dealer and get one...right now.

Not convinced yet? Okay, I'd be happy to go on for a little while about why this headphone is simply a game changer. We'll start with Paul Barton...

You may have read my recent article on the work done by Sean Olive et. al. at Harman Intl. on developing a new headphone target response curve. In it, I describe the great lengths to which this research team has gone…

Physical Description
The NAD VISO HP50 is a full-size, circumaural, sealed headphone. The overall look of these headphones is very nice, in my opinion, and the integration of ergonomics, comfort, and styling is very well executed.

Synthetic materials are used broadly, and appear to be of high quality. Ear-pads and headband pad are ample and use high quality protein leather coverings. Ear-cushions are memory foam, and, though a bit snug, were quite comfortable for me. On first view I thought the headband pad might be a bit under padded, but found the HP50 quite light…

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear ($229)
On-ear headsets are a tough category. They're small, so it's tough to get really good sound from them. They bare a huge ergonomic burden: on-ear headphones can be uncomfortable, and difficult to get a good fit and acoustic seal; and they need to be compact enough to easily fit in a briefcase and desk drawer. And these days, with so many headphones sporting the bling, all headphones need to be good looking. I'd say Sennheiser pretty much nailed it with the Momentum On-Ear (MOE).

Styling…

Sound Quality
On-ear, sealed headphones, as a category, are second only to ear-buds as a poor sounding headphones. Generally speaking, on-ear sealed cans tend to sound congested and uneven, so in addition to listening to the Momentum On-Ear in isolation I also spent quite a bit of time comparing these cans to other good performers in this class. Listening tests included the: B&W P5; V-Moda M80; Sennheiser HD 25 Aluminum and Amperior; Noontech Zoro HD; Logitec UE4000; and Beyerdynamic DT1350. Let's start with the MOE in isolation first.

The Momentum On-Ear has a…

Measurements

Raw frequency response plots show a broad and relatively modest change in FR tilt to about 1kHz as the pad seal changes during repositioning for the five measurements. I think Sennheiser must have done a lot of work with the pad materials and shape to deliver such a gentle and relatively well controlled FR result with various sealings on the ear. For a moment, have a look at the isolation plot and you'll see that he MOE doesn't isolate particularly well. I think what Sennheiser has done is build a pad…

I don't like noise canceling headphones.
I have a deep dislike for noise canceling headphones. Generally they sound bad, and many don't cancel noise very well. But "Noise Canceling" has become a big buzzword, so much so that many people want it without even knowing what it is (I explain it here), which just drives the market up for crappy noise cancelers. I hate it when stuff like that happens.

Bose can take the blame—and the credit—for that. They marketed the heck out of noise canceling and sold the public on the idea…

Isolation (noise canceling)
In a word: Stunning! You'll have to look at the measurements on the next page to see what I mean, but the odd thing about the Bose QuietComfort 20 is the evenness of the isolation. At about 25dB down across the board, the QC20 has the most even isolation of any headphone/earphone I've measured.

Again, I'll speculate a bit here: If you look into the nozzle of the QC20, you'll see a short metal cylinder just inside. I think this is one of the microphones used in the noise canceling circuit. It seems to me the advantage of this type of in-ear noise…

Compensated frequency response plot shows a headphone with a very linear response between 30Hz and 2kHz, with normal subsequent dip, and then a peak at 10kHz that does not exceed the line drawn from 30Hz to 2kHz. Other than maybe 5dB more response at 6kHz, response to 10kHz is near ideal. Response above 10kHz should be about 15dB higher; these cans do lack air and finesse above 10kHz.

You'll notice bass is nicely extended and flat to 30Hz, but the 30Hz square wave has a…