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Yes, historic. The Beyerdynamic DT 48 model has been in continuous production in a variety of forms since 1937. That's pretty historic ... I can't even remotely think of another headphone like that.

Let's take a look ...

Intended Application
The Beyerdynamic DT 48 E ($529 MSRP) is a full-size, sealed headphone intended for use as a monitor headphone in pro-audio studio and location applications. These cans are designed to take the rigors of the road, and they certainly will. There are two impedance variants of this…

Sound Quality
Ahhh ... I'm afraid this is where the DT 48 E stumbles a good bit. I hear a significant lack of weight in the bass; and some missing information up top. The low frequency sibilance seemed recessed, and higher frequency components of those sounds were accentuated yealding a more piercing chirp than would be natural. These are clearly a mid-range heavy headphone, but I feel like the sound of the cans is solid and predictable. They do strike me as a headphone one could get used to even though they are colored. Many pro recordings done in the field are for speech purposes…

Evolution is not like a car wash; it's not some process with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It's messy; it makes mistakes; sometimes it moves in a particular direction; sometimes it just goes in circles refining things. Evolution doesn't really know where it's going until it gets there.

Since 1997 Shure has been evolving its line of in-ear headphones. It seems to me they've both run in circles on the ergonomics, and made a bee-line for good sound. Let me explain.

The Battle Ground
The struggle to make a great in-…

Shure SE Series Ergonomics
The latest Shure SE535, SE425, SE315, and SE215 earphones are the best universal-fit earphone I’ve experienced regarding the ergonomics of insertion into your ear. The body of the headphones is small, and easily fits within the concha of the ear. An ample array of tips are included --- I personally like the “olive” tips, which are the black, rounded foam tips --- and once you’ve found one that fits, the nozzle is very nicely designed in angle and length to fit perfectly in the ear. The new rotating connector ends, and the angle at which the wire leaves the…

Not long ago I lamented not having heard the Beats Pro. Brian at Headphones.com took note and sent me pair, noting that he thought they sounded okay, but were hard to wear for long periods of time. Damn, that means I’m going to have to have long listening sessions with them.

Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Pro ($449.95)
$449.95!!! Holy F#@&!!! That’s a lot of dough. You can buy two pretty good headphones for that price; or one really good one. I really had my doubts at the beginning of this review --- actually I was warming up…

Just a year and a half ago I walked into the CanJam area of RMAF, and right smack-dab in the middle was Fang Bian, head of Head Direct and the HiFiMAN brand of headphone gadgetry. Fang always has something new going on; I wondered what it would be this time. He smiled, stood, and cheerfully greeted me, then pointed towards center-stage on one of his tables.

"Would you like to hear my new planar magnetic headphones?"

You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought.

The New Cans Appear
I had seen the threads on Head-Fi…

Some Notes
Rapid Development --- HiFiMAN has taken some heat in the forums for coming out with new versions of these cans in rapid fire succession. I appreciate folks feeling distressed after just spending hard earned dosh on a pair of expensive headphones only to find them superseded shortly thereafter. I hope HiFiMAN takes this to heart. But it’s also important to understand the problem from a product developer’s point of view --- I’ve been a manufacturer before, and I can tell you that it’s very difficult.

Almost every product development I’ve ever been a part of has…

After start up and running this business for nearly 6 years, I really appreciate all my friends in headphone community. I've gotten help and good suggestion from time to time from this great community, especially on my sponsor's forum at Head-Fi.org.

I hope to add my 2 cents about HE-500 and HE-6 headphones: HE-6 is a headphone who has reached the planar magnetic driver's limit. Low efficiency is what HE-6 paid to get to this level. HE-500 is a more "friendly version" of HE-6. While the HE-500 lacks the HE-6's ultra clarity, its sonic signature…

I’ve heard so many conflicting opinions on the Ultrasone Edition 10 that I just had to get my hands on a pair. At $2,749, you’d reckon the praise ought to be a little more consistent. So I gave my buddy Todd (the Vinyl Junkie) a call to see if he had a pair I could play with, and sure enough, he had a slightly used pair for me to audition.

Wow! What an experience!

The Ultrasone Edition 10 ($2,749!)
The Edition 10 is truly a beautiful headphone. The Ethiopian goatskin on the ear and headband pad is soft and luxuriant.…

All looks fairly normal up to about 1250Hz, then it takes a 15dB nose dive, followed by a weird humpty-bump frequency response curve, and quite a bit of energy above 10kHz. No wonder I hear them as confused and bright.

Distortion

Fig. 2 shows the Total Harmonic Distortion plus noise curve for the Edition 10.

The upward trending curves in the low frequencies is typical of headphones unable to contain and control the low notes. Escaping pressure from the earcups…