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CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

As many Hi-Fi+ readers know, I am an ardent fan of all things headphone-related, so naturally I volunteered to cover the product category at CES. What I present, below, is a handpicked list of ten of the most significant new models (or groups of models, in some cases) as seen at the show.

As always, I apologise in advance to any worthy manufacturers whose products I fail to mention. No slights are intended; rather, it’s a case of there being too much show and not quite enough ‘me’ to cover it all.  Enjoy.

 

Astell & Kern AK320 portable digital audio player, $1,800

Astell & Kern’s flagship AK380 digital audio player has won considerable praise from reviewers, but there is also the sense that its $3,499 price may have placed it a bit too far ‘over the top’ for the unit to appeal to a widespread audience (veteran headphonistas love the ‘good stuff’, but even so there are limits).

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

To tackle this issue head on, Astell & Kern introduced at CES a new cost-reduced model called the AK320 that is directly based on the AK380 platform, but that sells for about $1,699 less (the AK320 is still an expensive player, to be sure, but one much more in line with what many enthusiast feel premium DAPs ought to cost). To achieve this substantial reduction in price, the AK320 makes the following changes:

  • 128GB of onboard memory vs. the AK380’s 256GB,
  • No native support for DSD vs. the AK380’s full native DSD support (although the AK320 will happily play DSD files via DoP, but converts them to high-res PCM format for playback),
  • Support for DSD playback up to DSD128 vs. the AK380’s DSD support for up to DSD256,
  • Bit-for-bit support for 24/192 files vs. the AK380’s bit-for-bit support for files up to 32/384, and
  • USB DAC functions limited to 24/96 vs. the AK380’s USB DAC functions, which extend to 32/384 PCM and up to DSD256.

The great news, though, is that in many respects the AK320 is almost identical to the AK380, sharing the same dual AK4490 DAC devices as its big brother, plus the same amplifier circuitry, the same professional grade PEQ (parametric EQ) system, and the same ultra high-tech Femto clock. What is more, the AK320 also shares the same DLNA functions, the same AK Connect app compatibility, and the same elaborate accessory set as the higher priced AK380.  Cool though the flagship model is, our guess is that many will conclude the AK320 offers most of the important features of the AK380 at a far more accessible price.

 

Audeze Sine planar magnetic headphone & Cipher DAC/headphone amp, offered as a bundle, $599

Last year, the big news from Audeze involved its then new EL-8 family of planar magnetic headphones (both open and closed-back versions were offered), priced at $699, which certainly helped pull down the typically high cost of Audeze ownership. Even so, the EL-8s were fairly big headphones that did not necessarily lend themselves to true on-the-go listening. Very early on, I also wondered whether the EL-8’s voicing might be work in progress, as I initially encountered some samples whose voicing showed a noticeable degree of unit-to-unit variation (an issue I am sure Audeze has long since sorted out).

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

Now, however, Audeze has launched a new compact and very lightweight planar magnetic headphone, called the Sine, priced at $499, which I feel is certain to be a runaway smash hit, and for all the right reasons. For starters, the Sine offers an immediately likable and accessible sound that is chockfull of the traditional Audeze virtues: wide range frequency response, high resolution, evocative dynamics, and a downright enchanting quality of musical expressiveness. Next, the Sine is compact (but not too compact, if you know what I mean) and light enough to qualify as a headphone you could and would want to take along with you when you travel. Finally, the Sine is remarkably comfortably—especially so as on-ear headphones go (yes, the Sine is an on-ear model!). Roll in an ever-so-manageable price and I foresee Audeze setting off (please pardon the awful pun) a veritable Sine wave.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

But wait; there’s more. Along with the Sine, Audeze has also whipped up an amazingly clever little device called the Cipher that is—get this—a combination Apple Lightning connector equipped headphone signal cable, a remote/mic module, an in-line amplifier module, a DSP-drive EQ engine, and a 24-bit DAC! And did we mention there’s an iDevice/Cipher app to allow users to create and store EQ presets for their favourite headphones?  Better yet, the presets are stored in the cable module, so that your favourite setting travel with you as you plug the Cipher into different iDevices (a very clever idea, no?). My understanding is that Audeze will in time offer the Cipher as a standalone, add-on accessory for its headphones, but that in the immediate future it plans to offer a Sine + Cipher bundle priced at about $599.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

 

 

HiFiMAN Shangri-La electrostatic headphones, price to be announced.

Almost every CES event in recent years has seen the launch (or at least the preview) of a singular headphone product that stops listeners in their tracks and makes them collectively say, “Wow!” For CES 2016, that product was HiFiMAN’s pre-production prototype of the firm’s brilliant new Shangri-La full range electrostatic headphone.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

Knowledgeable listeners might be thinking, “Wait a minute; doesn’t HiFiMAN focus almost exclusively on planar magnetic designs?” The answer is that in recent years many of HiFiMAN’s most advanced designs have used planar magnetic technology, but if you look back far enough you’ll discover that at a much earlier stage in his company’s development HiFiMAN founder Dr Fang Bian once made an excellent electrostatic headphone called the Jade. Sadly, the Jade proved extremely difficult to build in volume, so that it was dropped from the firm’s product line relatively early on. Even so, those of us who have heard the Jade have often encouraged Dr Bian to consider doing another electrostatic headphone using the latest available materials and manufacturing technologies.

Apparently, Dr Bian was thinking along the same lines because at CES he was proudly demonstrating his new Shangri-La electrostatic headphone with a purpose built, although not yet finalised, 300B valve-powered electrostatic headphone amplifier. The result was what can only be described as a stunning sonic achievement—one of the most natural sounding and effortlessly transparent transducers I’ve ever heard. Some show-goers even went so far as to say they felt the Shangri-La was competitive with (or maybe even superior to) Sennheiser’s stupendously expensive new Orpheus 2 electrostatic headphone/amp package.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

There are many advances in the Shangri-La design, not all of which we know about. However, several important ones we do know about involve the headphone’s use of a submicro-metre thickness diaphragm and a proprietary method for evenly coating the diaphragm surface with conductive nanoparticles (remember, Dr Bian’s PhD is in the field of Nanochemistry). Also, says Dr Bian, another critical design element involves his use of precisely tensioned metal mesh stators, which offer great self-damping and facilitate sonic transparency.

Best of all, Dr Bian says he has not yet tapped the full potential of the Shangri-La design, so that there is reason to hope its already superb sound quality will be further enhanced by the time the headphone enters production. What will the Shangri-La cost? The generic answer is, “A whole lot!” HiFiMAN’s aim is for the Shangri-La to be the best headphone on the planet, period, so expect it to be priced accordingly.


LH Labs Vi DAC SS and SS + Valve DAC/headphone amp, $5000 and $7000

LH Labs products tend to roll out into the market in an evolutionary way, meaning that it’s difficult to pin down a singular ‘release date’. For this reason, I hesitate to declare the LH Labs Vi DAC SS (for ‘solid state’) or its sibling Vi DAC SS + Valve model as being truly new for CES, although the company was certainly treating them that way in its demonstration room at the show.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The Vi DAC (where, says LH Labs, the word ‘Vi’ is Latin for ‘force’) can be seen as significant step up from the firm’s Geek Pulse DAC and as being second only to the firm’s awe-inspiring, cost-no-object Light Harmonic Da Vinci DAC Mk II in terms of overall sophistication. Basically, the Vi DAC SS and Vi DAC SS + Valve units are both intended as extremely sophisticated and highly versatile DACs suited primarily for use in high-end home audio systems, but with the added twist of incorporating superb single-ended and balanced output headphone amplifier sections.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The Vi DAC is a dual mono, dual ESS DAC design that used high precision Femto clocks and a proprietary three-level (3L) digital buffer system to reduce timing errors. The Vi DAC can decode PCM files up 32-bit/384kHz and DSD file up to DSD256. The angular chassis of the Vi DAC is beautifully finished and visually striking, so that the only question potential customers must wrestle with is whether they want solid-state outputs or hybrid solid-state/valve outputs.

 

Manley Laboratories Headphone Amplifier, $2950

Expert valve (tube) amplifier designer EveAnna Manley is perhaps best known for her beautifully made and superb sounding valve-powered preamplifiers, phonostages, power amplifiers, and integrated amplifiers, many of which are whimsically named for various type of fish (no, I’m not joking).  For example, Ms Manley offers preamps called the Jumbo Shrimp, the Chinook, and the Steelhead, as well as power amplifiers such as the Stingray, Stingray II, Mahi, and Snapper.  But don’t let all those colourful names fool you; Manley’s products are carefully designed and built with quality and longevity in mind (the names may be whimsical, but the products are dead serious in their intent and execution).

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

For CES, however, Manley introduced her first-ever headphone amplifier, which is of course valve powered and which is—somewhat surprisingly—not named after a fish. (I must confess that, in light of the fact that the headphone amplifier is one of Manley’s most compact products, I suggested that it be named the Anchovy, which netted me dirty looks; but hey, I like anchovies.) The distinctive looking Manley Headphone Amplifier (that’s its actual name) offers a number of distinctive features of potentially great sonic importance.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

For instance, the amp can be switched on-the-fly between all-triode push-pull and single-ended topologies and features a variable feedback switch that can apply between 0 and 10 dB of global negative feedback. Then, the fully symmetrical circuit enables the amp to drive balanced headphones via its XLR output jack or single-ended headphones via its TRS jack. Further, the amp provides high precision volume level and balance controls, plus studio-quality tone controls. Last but not least, the amp is configured so that, when the headphone amplifier section is shut down, the Manley Headphone Amplifier can continue to function as a high quality, transformer-coupled preamplifier for use as the front end of a traditional high-end audio system.

 

 

Mitchell & Johnson/Electrostatz hybrid electrostatic headphones, $169 – $599

Mitchell & Johnson is a new start-up company focusing on building audio components (principally electronics components) that offer very high value for money. As part of this effort, the firm is also developing an important sub-brand that will manufacture and sell a range of Mitchell & Johnson Electrostatz headphones.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

What’s in a name? The proposed Electrostatz models use hybrid dynamic/self-biasing electrostatic driver technologies (conceptually similar to the driver technologies used in the high-end ENIGMAcoustics Dharma D1000 headphone), but deliberately scaled for use in mid-priced headphones priced at $599 and below.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The planned models in the Electrostatz range generally fall into two categories: populist headphones with deliberately colourful voicing curves (typically with a smidgeon of bass and treble boost and lightly scooped mids, yielding a ‘smiley face’ EQ curve) and audiophile headphones with much more neutral voicing. There are, too, some DJ-friendly models contemplated. Our working assumption is that Hi-Fi+ readers will care most about the audiophile models, which are the HP1 ($299) and HP2 ($299). It’s interesting to see a firm pushing formerly exotic technologies down to accessible, real-world price points. We wish Mitchell & Johnson/Electrostatz well in this venture.

 

MrSpeakers ETHER C high-end gaming headphone, $1649

Last year, the San Diego-based firm MrSpeakers (which ironically makes headphones, not loudspeakers) launched its superb open-back ETHER planar magnetic headphone, which was followed later in the year by the perhaps even more impressive closed-back ETHER C planar magnetic headphone, which has won recognition as the Hi-Fi+ Closed-Back Headphone of the Year, 2016.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

For CES, however, MrSpeakers pushed things in an innovative new direction by showing a prototype of a high-end gaming version of the ETHER C, which was demonstrated at the Creative Labs stand in conjunction with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X7 high-resolution DAC/amplifier. Significantly, MrSpeakers and Creative have done some work to create amazingly realistic headphone/surround sound-orientated DSP presets that give the ETHER C gaming headphone absolutely jaw dropping surround sound capabilities. The point was brought home to me vividly as a listened to the surround soundtrack of a game being played while standing in the crowded Creative display stand.

Imagine this scene: All around you there are crowds of people listening to (heavily amplified) Creative Labs presentations on various products, complete with raucous backing soundtracks thumping away through PA systems. But, you don’t really notice the noise all that much because you’re wearing MrSpeakers ETHER C gaming headphones, which offer true audiophile grade neutrality of voicing, realistic dynamics, and high resolution—plus a terrific amount of isolation from outside noise. So, instead of being swamped by the racket and uproar of the show, you hear the gentle, highly three-dimensional, and believably realistic sounds of a rural forest scene in which the action of a game is being played out. 

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

It’s a downright eerie experience, because you eyes tell you that you are standing in densely populated trade show booth while your ears tell a very different story: namely, that you are outdoors in a thickly wooded area with occasional gust of wind rustling the tall grasses at your feet. The long and short of this is that at long last someone has finally offered a serious audiophile-grade headphone that is also ideal for gaming applications. Better still, MrSpeakers founder Dan Clark indicated that in the coming year we might expect to see an ETHER C + Creative Labs Sound Blaster X7 bundle, priced at or just under $2000.

 

Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier, $3500

Pass Labs founder Nelson Pass enjoys ‘living legend’ status among amplifier designers so that it is highly significant that his firm has now seen fit to launch an ultra high-quality headphone amp, called the HPA-1. Note, please, that the HPA-1 has not made its way to the Pass Labs web site just yet, so please be patient.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The design philosophy behind the HPA-1 might best be termed ‘everything you need and nothing you don’t need’; in other words, it’s a very high quality but decidedly no frill product, which as we see it is a good thing. The HPA-1 is a strictly single-ended design (for now) with two stereo analogue inputs, a very robust faceplate-mounted single ended headphone output, and rear panel mounted stereo preamplifier outputs. Pass maintains that the HPA-1, if viewed purely as a preamplifier, is more than competitive with other preamps in its price class. Happily for headphone enthusiasts, though, the HPA-1 is more than a mere line-level preamplifier.

The HPA-1 was, according to Pass Labs, designed very much as if it were a power amplifier writ small. Thus, at its heart, the HPA-1 features a massive toroidal transformer fed power supply, a wide-bandwidth/low-feedback input stage based on discreet JFET devices, and a Class A-biased, direct coupled MOSFET output stage.  Volume control settings are adjusted via a very high-quality ALPS potentiometer. Pass claims the HPA-1 can effortlessly drive headphone loads ranging from 15 to 600 Ohms.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

What about those who favour balanced output headphone amplifiers? Not to worry; at CES a Pass spokesperson indicated that a balanced version of the HPA-1 is under development (though we can expect it to cost a fair amount more than the single-ended HPA-1 that is available now).

 

 

Questyle ‘Gold Edition’ headphone preamp, DAC, and monoblock amplifier reference system, $12,495

Questyle has been vigorously pushing the limits of both DAC and headphone amplifier technologies of late and for CES the firm rolled out a new four-piece ‘gold standard’ reference system in the form of a group of Gold Edition components that together represent one of the most ambition headphone amp/DAC systems on the planet.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The Gold Edition Reference system comprises performance-enhanced Gold versions of the firm’s CMA800P current mode amplification preamp the CAS192D DAC, and a pair of CMA800R current mode monoblock headphone amplifiers. The imposing four-unit stack is an impressive sight to see and it sounds even better than it looks, as I was able to verify by trying the system with a set of Audeze’s new flagship LCD-4 headphones fitted with balanced signal cables.

What sets the Gold Edition components apart from standard Questyle models? Two of the biggest differences are that all Gold Edition models feature distinctive Rogers ceramic printed circuit boards (rather than conventional PCBs), plus selected tight-tolerance components. As a result, an already exceptional preamp/DAC/monoblock amp package becomes that oh-so-important, extra Nth-degree better.


Sennheiser HD 800S dynamic headphone, $1699

For many years Sennheiser’s HD 800 dynamic driver-equipped headphone has stood as the benchmark against which all other dynamic headphones must be compared, but for CES Sennheiser raised the bar even higher with its new HD 800S model. With the HD 800S, the new design offers sound images that have, “been further optimized in the medium and low ranges,” although based on a too-brief listening session in side-by-side comparisons with the original HD 800 I felt the new model offered top to bottom improvements in overall transparency and nuance.

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

The HD 800S is directly based on the HD 800 platform, complete with 56mm dynamic drive units, but the new model applies the internal absorber technologies originally pioneered for the firm’s IE 800 universal-fit in-ear monitors. This technology is said to help prevent high-energy bass and midrange sounds from ‘masking’ or obscuring crucial low-level midrange and treble details. Other changes include a distinctive new frame colour and a new symmetrical XLR4 signal cable system.   

, CES Scene: Ten Fascinating New Headphones & related components

With the advent of the new HD 800S, the price of the original HD 800 (which will remain in the Sennheiser product line up) will drop down to $1,399.

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