"If you want to peer deep into a mix, identify and isolate the elements you’re interested in and hear precisely what they’re up to, you will need to spend quite a lot more money to make a worthwhile improvement on these headphones."
Featuring exceptional audio performance and comfort, the closed-back, over-ear, Hi-X55s, are reviewed by Audio Media International this month. They are praised in particular for their “open, forensically detailed audio reproduction” and for being "light and comfortable enough for extended use”.
"The solidity of the construction, the quality of the materials used and the minuscule tolerances in the way the Hi-X55 are put together seems somewhat at odds with the asking price. Combining metal, plastic and memory foam-filled faux leather so prudently make these headphones look, feel and (let’s not be coy) smell quite a lot more expensive than the £249 that Austrian Audio is demanding."
"In the most simple terms, the Hi-X55 lay a recording out for inspection. They serve up low-frequency information with straight-edged fanaticism, giving bass sounds proper weight and momentum but controlling them with something approaching fastidiousness. Their midrange resolution, too, allows you a direct and uncoloured view of what’s going on – and, in the case of vocalists, the sort of insight into technique that’s virtually forensic."
"But for all their powers of insight and analysis, there’s nothing dispassionate about the sound these headphones make. They are more than happy to track the dynamic peaks and troughs of a recording, they unify the occupants of the soundstage into a whole, into a performance, rather than making them sound like a number of discrete elements like so many near-field monitors are prone to do. They muster decent rhythmic expression, too, which is more than can be said for a whole lot of competing designs."
The full review can be found here. The Austrian Audio Hi-X55 headphones are available now priced at £269 RRP inc VAT.
Austrian Audio is distributed in the UK/ROI by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information please call 01462 480000 or visit www.soundtech.co.uk/music-retail/austrian-audio.
