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Details: Written by: Rad Bennett; Created: 15 June 2018

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Measurements can be found by clicking this link.

Reviewers' Choice Marshall Headphones’ Mid A.N.C. on-ear headphones ($269 USD) are the latest in a new crop of headphones combining Bluetooth and active noise canceling (NC). Bluetooth recently became more important when Apple took the headphone jack off the latest iPhones. And because Bluetooth requires a rechargeable battery, amplifiers, etc., adding NC becomes relatively easy.

Details: Written by: Rad Bennett; Created: 15 May 2018

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Measurements can be found by clicking this link.

When Apple omitted the headphone jack from new iPhones in 2016, audio manufacturers had to start taking Bluetooth wireless audio seriously. Any new model without Bluetooth would have to connect to the world’s most popular smartphone using a dongle, something most listeners don’t want. Thus, we’re seeing Bluetooth (and the accompanying internal amplification and battery) added to more new models, even some targeted at audiophiles. The new Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless is not only one of the first Bluetooth headphones built with audiophiles in mind, it’s also -- like the Aventho Wired model -- one of the first on-ear headphones built with audiophiles in mind.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 May 2018

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Measurements can be found by clicking this link.

The M4U 8 ($399 USD) might be 2018’s most eagerly awaited new headphones -- PSB’s first new noise-canceling model since the launch of the M4U 2, in 2012. Six years after their release, the M4U 2s remain a benchmark for audiophiles and headphone enthusiasts who want noise-canceling (NC) headphones that sacrifice little or nothing in sound quality. On the opposite end of the NC headphone spectrum are the Bose QC25s: headphones that cancel noise spectacularly well and sound pretty good. While some NC headphones have since approached or matched the M4U 2s’ sound quality and the QC25s’ NC capability and portability, the two models remain the standards of their category.

Details: Written by: S. Andrea Sundaram; Created: 15 March 2018

Originally published on SoundStage! Xperience

Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.

These days, it seems as if every major loudspeaker manufacturer has gotten into the headphone market -- but the iconic British loudspeaker brand Bowers & Wilkins has already been at it for the better part of a decade. In 2010, Bowers & Wilkins introduced their P5 over-ear headphones, and since then they’ve released a new or updated model each year. We have reviewed and been impressed with many of these, and 2017’s P9 Signature headphones won Reviewers’ Choice and Product of the Year awards for their high qualities of sound, looks, and build. Bowers & Wilkins’ latest headphones are the PX over-ear model with active noise canceling and Bluetooth ($399 USD). Will it carry on the tradition of excellence?

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 March 2018

Originally published on SoundStage! Xperience

Klipsch Heritage HP-3 headphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.

Reviewers' Choice It was high time Klipsch created something like the Heritage HP-3 over-ear headphones. For years, the company has been exploiting its deep heritage with products that reflect the classic great looks and surprisingly tenacious design concepts of founder Paul W. Klipsch’s original horn loudspeakers. Yet in the mobile space, Klipsch has focused most of its efforts on tiny, balanced-armature earphones that can’t benefit much from the Klipsch cachet. To my delight, the HP-3s look like something Paul Klipsch himself might have designed back in the 1950s.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 15 February 2018

Originally published on SoundStage! Xperience

Focal Clear headphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.

Reviewers' Choice Headphones are like loudspeakers in two important ways. First, both make sound. Second, in both categories, what was recently considered a super-high-end product is now touted as “midpriced” or “accessible.” Take, for example, Focal’s Clear open-back headphones. They’re priced at $1500 USD, which slots them between Focal’s first two high-end models, the Utopias ($4000) and the Elears ($1000). Sure, the Utopias are among the costliest headphones available today, but for most people, spending even $500 on headphones is unthinkable.