Headphone Reviews

Sort By: Post Date Title Publish Date

JBL Soundgear Personal Speaker

Tyll Hertsens Dec 08, 2017 First Published: Dec 08, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Not long ago I wrote enthusiastically about the Bose SoundWear Companion neck-worn speaker. It was my first experience with such a device and it was, and continues to be, a very pleasant one. Way better than I expected. So, I figured I should look into some of the other options for this new type of device.

JBL was kind enough to send me their Soundgeara $100 less expensive alternative to the Bose. Having experience only one other device of this type, it's probably best just to compare and contrast the JBL directly with the Bose for this review.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Acoustic Research AR-H1 Open Planar Magnetic Headphones

Tyll Hertsens Dec 04, 2017 First Published: Dec 04, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

And BOOM! Acoustic Research, a brand long recognised amongst audio enthusiasts, shows up with their new planar magnetic AR-H1 at CanJam at RMAF 2017. Color me surprised!

Audacious Audio Gramophone Dreams Headphone Reviews

Gramophone Dreams #19: HiFi Man Susvara headphones

Herb Reichert Nov 28, 2017 First Published: Nov 28, 2017 0 comments

I spend my days comparing cartridges and speaker stands, arguing about imaging and microphone placement, speculating about DAC filters, and lately, sometimes, very secretly listening to headphones connected not to commercially available headphone amplifiers but directly to the outputs of basic tubed and solid-state power amplifiers. No person in his right mind would or should try thisit's too easy to destroy a pair of delicate, expensive headphones. But for me, it's been worth the risk.

Headphone Reviews

Audeze LCDi4 in-ear headphones

John Atkinson Nov 20, 2017 First Published: Nov 20, 2017 0 comments

Headphone listening has always been an important part of my audiophile life. In recent years I've been using at home Audeze's large, open-back, circumaural LCD-X headphones, which I bought after reviewing them for the March 2014 issue; and a pair of small Ultimate Ears 18 Pro in-ear monitors, which provide much better isolation on my subway commute to Stereophile's offices in Manhattan. I was intrigued by Audeze's iSine in-ear models, which were introduced in November 2016 and are unique in using planar-magnetic drive-units mounted outside the ear. I thought about reviewing a pair of the affordable iSines, but before I could get around to it, I heard that Audeze was to launch a cost-no-object version, the LCDi4, priced at a substantial $2495/pair. Aspiration got the better of frugality, and I asked for a pair to review.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open Planar Magnetic Headphones

Tyll Hertsens Nov 17, 2017 First Published: Nov 17, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

I'll admit feeling the MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed look a bit alien to my eyes when first I saw it. Now that it's been on my desk for a few months I find it quite appealing. Not so much for it's looksdon't get me wrong, I quite like the lookbut more because I've come to appreciate the comfort of them. No surprises when the Aeon Flow Open showed up...they were right at home on my head. Good thing too, they'll be spending a lot of time there.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Sennheiser Noise Canceling Headphones: PXC 550 Wireless; HD 4.5 BTNC; HD1 Wireless; and HD1 On-Ear Wireless

Tyll Hertsens Nov 10, 2017 First Published: Nov 10, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

About this time last year I reviewed the then new Sennheiser PXC 550 BTNC over-ear, noise canceling headphones in hopes that someone would manage to unseat the Bose Quiet Comfort 35. Didn't happen. The Sennheiser had some great features, but in the end it was just too bright for me.

Recently I got a few more Sennheiser wireless noise cancelers and I found they too seemed overly bright. Now I consider Sennheiser the world's best headphone manufacturer. They've got a lot of experience under their belt, so when I hear a batch of Sennheisers, from differing product lines, that all seem too bright and have a quite similar measured response, I've got to question myself. Maybe they know something that I don't.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker

Tyll Hertsens Nov 06, 2017 First Published: Nov 06, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

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!

Headphone Reviews Tube Preamp Reviews

Rogue Audio RH-5 preamplifier-headphone amplifier

Herb Reichert Oct 26, 2017 First Published: Oct 26, 2017 0 comments

Every day in my bunker, I use one of a few high-quality headphone amplifiers to double as a line-level preamplifier-controller and operate as the quality-assurance reference for my ongoing audio experiments. I must choose this component carefully, because it determines the upper limit of my system's ability to reveal any subtle differences among components under review.

Digital Processor Reviews Headphone Reviews

Benchmark DAC3 HGC D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier

Jim Austin Oct 26, 2017 First Published: Oct 26, 2017 0 comments

Much has been written about the divide in high-end audio between subjectivists, who trust their ears, and objectivists, who believe that anything not scientifically proven is fake news. I respect both sides and am skeptical of both extremes, and I like to think that's how most audiophiles feel. High-end audio is about experiencing musicthat's the whole pointbut scientific and technological rigor lie behind every real advance, past and future. I regret the cynical snake-oil salesmanship, bad thinking, and clumsy engineering that pervade certain parts of our hobby.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Plantronics BackBeat 500 On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones

Tyll Hertsens Sep 30, 2017 First Published: Sep 30, 2017 0 comments

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Jabra Move and found it pretty good...a little too bass heavy for me, but pretty good for those who like some thump. The headphones mostly interested me because they came from Jabra, a company best known for both corporate and consumer telephone headsets.

That same curiosity had me contacting Plantronics for a similarly price headphone, the BackBeat 500. I've been more impressed with these products than I expected, but I think they're going to have to keep working on it to beat the likes of Sennheiser. Let's check 'em out.