Cambridge, England. Perhaps the world’s most famous university city, which has produced such great names as Charles Darwin, Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr and Stephen Hawking. And where an apple is said to have fallen on Isaac Newton’s head, inspiring him to come up with his comprehensive theory of gravity. Unsurprisingly, Cambridge is also home to …
The Dali iO-12 is brand new, but the Danish speaker manufacturer is following a familiar path. If you’re a speaker manufacturer, speakers are the answer to everything. So Dali describes its headphones as “speakers for the head”. The drivers are made like loudspeaker units, with a paper fibre diaphragm, real voice coil and proper edge …
Technics EAH-AZ80 is designed for those who want top sound quality and comfort, but also the best possible conversation sound during mobile and video calls. A driver with a large 10 mm diaphragm should be able to deliver good dynamics and bass. And since the LDAC codec is supported, providing near CD quality via Bluetooth, …
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are the successor to the first Buds Pro, which we thought were the best earbuds in their price range. Despite being OnePlus’ flagship, they’re half the price of Apple’s popular AirPods Pro. The design is almost unashamedly similar, just in black and chrome instead of white. We were particularly impressed …
With the WF-1000XM5, Sony has taken noise reduction to a new level. More specifically, 20 per cent better than its predecessor, if Sony’s engineers are to be believed. With two chips and three microphones per earbud, the successor delivers an impressive experience of silence and tranquillity. In terms of design, the WF-1000XM5 has become even …
There’s never really been anything wrong with the Sennheiser HD660S. When we tested the headphones three years ago, we wished for a little more deep bass and punch. In addition, we were pleased with an exceptionally silky smooth and detailed soundstage. The warm tonal balance may not be to everyone’s taste, but listening to music …
We hear it over and over again: a pair of high-end speakers or headphones are designed to give the listener as pure and unaffected a musical experience as possible, so that it feels as if the musicians are standing in the room playing for you, and only you. Almost every hi-fi equipment manufacturer makes this …
The first time I heard the Focal Utopia was at a hi-fi fair, where I realised that I was getting the best sound of the fair among all the super-expensive stereos. That’s how fantastic they sounded! As I became more familiar with them, on my own equipment and with my own music collection, I was …
When I tested the Tour Pro+, I was very excited, especially about the EQ settings. It was possible to adjust the frequency curve just enough to achieve the desired sound. The ease of use, on the other hand, is so similar on most good earplugs that it was difficult to distinguish the Tour Pro+ from …
Swedish company Ilicon specialises in replacing the ear tips on universal earbuds with their own 3D-printed silicone ear tips. The new tips are made after a moulding or 3D scan of the user’s own ears. This can be done at an audiologist – or directly at Ilicon in Jönköping, if you happen to be in …
It’s been five years since Focal launched its first wireless headphones, Listen Wireless. The price was affordable, by Focal standards, with a price tag of around €270. With good and potent sound, just a tad harsh. Active noise cancellation, on the other hand, was lacking. The Listen Wireless was a real addition to the headphone …
A good pair of headphones needs an amplifier to drive them. We’re not talking about low-cost headphones for a hundred Euros or so – they’ll probably do fine with the headphone output of your existing amp, and you might even get acceptable quality from the output of a laptop. But more expensive headphones deserve better. …
When I tested Sennheiser’s previous top-of-the-range earbuds, the IE 800 S, I was impressed by the well-defined and detailed sound. To my ears, they had only one noticeable weakness: dynamics. No matter how good an amplifier I plugged them into, they made a slightly anaemic impression – even at high volume. That was a bit …
Nura has managed to make a name for itself in a very short time. That’s because they don’t do things like everyone else, but carve out their own path. First we got the NuraPhone headphones – a pair of over-ear headphones with a earbud in the middle of each earcup. A hybrid of earplugs and …
It’s not as if the world needed another set of headphones. In fact, wireless headphones are the product category with the most choice in the entire home electronics industry. Nice wireless ANC headphones for virtually no money, on the other hand, are further apart! And that’s exactly what the Creative Zen Hybrid is. They look …