InnerFidelity

I've got to admit I'm not a big fan of the Audio Technica line of headphones with the 3D Wing Support System headband. My previous experience is that they tend to be far too bright and lacking bass response for me, and the headband just never fits right; I've found it very difficult to get a seal. I've also had horrendous problems getting them to seal properly on my measurement head. Well, something must have changed because the A2000Z fit's my head, and my measurement head, quite well...and this headphone is one of the best sounding AT 3D Wing headphones I've heard to date.

Q: Why is a university librarian like a fourteen year old skateboarder?
A: Both would love a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 235 headphones!

The Beyerdynamic DT 235 ($57.65, available in black and white) is about as attractive as a brick. But it's also as durable and useful, not nearly so heavy, and sounds way better. This plain-Jane headphone is perfect for library listening rooms, museums, dentist chairs, and all manner of utility applications ... including the one where you give it to a kid who can break a bowling ball in a padded room.

Quite a few years ago now I reviewed the Beyerdynamic DT 1350 ($289) quite positively. This headphone is sold into Beyer's pro audio distribution channel, primarily to DJs. Subsequently, Beyer produced a T 50 p to sell into their consumer channel that looked quite similar, but didn't have the split headband. It didn't sound nearly as good, either...I was bummed. Then, a couple of years ago, Beyer updated the model to produce the T 51 i, which I heard at a show and thought sounded quite a bit better than the T 50 p. After years of hounding them at every show they finally sent one my way.

To say I looked at the Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker with a great deal of skepticism when I first saw one in the Bose kiosk at Denver International Airpot after RMAF is a serious understatement. Boy was I in for a surprise!

I didn’t really want to like these headphones. They didn’t sound as I had hoped, and they’re really not made for a guy like me. I wear sweat pants and t-shirts mostly; I wrench on old dirt bikes sometimes; I think camping and not taking a shower for three days rocks. The B&W P5 would feel far more at home tucked into a pig-skin valise on the front seat of a Ferarri than on the picnic table next to the BBQ on my back porch.

Yet there it was … day after day … week after week.

When I saw these pop up on the internet, I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. I have a pair of the B&W P5 headsets and I like them very much. They're somewhat colored but they're fun sounding, and a sexier piece of audio kit you'll hardly ever see. I was expecting a similar experience with the C5.

Didn't get it though.