Austrian Audio Hi-X65 headphones review

[jim1960]

Not sure how I wound up with these. I was online ordering the new Stroboclip HDC clip-on tuner (more on that at another time), and my finger must have accidentally slipped and added the Austrian Audio Hi-X65 headphones to my cart. Odd things like that happen when you get into recording, don't they?



Well, since I have them, I may as well tell you about them...

Construction - These are put together well. It's evident that quite a bit of thought went into the design. They fit comfortably over the ears and they're quite a handsome set of cans. They do give the appearance of being closed back because of the relatively small grill but they're opened back.

The headphones come nicely presented in a box that contains a soft storage bag and two cables (a 3.5mm plug and one with a 1/4" plug). Plugging a cable into the headphones, I found I didn't get it to sit quite right the first time. I discovered that when the sound started cutting in and out. The cable requires a bit of pressure to get it all the way in and then a slight turn appears to lock it (there may be instructions in the box but who has time for that, amiright?).

Sound - Right away you can hear these are different... but will they be useful?

Bass and Low Mids - The low end response is okay but isn't great ...at least not when compared to my Focal Clear Pros. I'd argue that's to be expected considering the Focals are quite amazing and nearly 4x the cost. I think the Hi-X65 is on par with my MassDrop HD-6xx cans, but I do think the HD-6xx would be the better choice for a single pair of mixing headphones

There's something odd going on when it comes to voices. Male voices sound a bit muffled, female voices much less so. It's a bit off-putting if the vocals are what you're focusing on at the moment.

Upper Mids and Highs - here's where these headphones shine. I'm hearing a level of separation in the upper mids and highs that I've not heard on any of the other headphones I've owned. I played a few songs and noticed instruments in the mix that I had never noticed before. The sound of the strings is crisp, ringy, but not at all harsh or sibilant.

Something I've disliked in other headphones I've owned over the years has been a brightness or harshness in the highs (yeah, I'm looking at you Sony MDR-7506). There's nothing at all harsh about the highs on these phones. I feel like I could work on these for a long time without suffering from ear fatigue.

Conclusion - I don't think I could recommend these as anyone's ONLY headphones for mixing or checking your mix in progress. The balance between the lows/low mids and the upper mids/highs is off enough that one would have to learn to compensate a fair bit for these cans. That said, however, the separation in the upper mids/highs is what distinguishes these headphones from the competition but that's pretty specialized considering these cans cost $400. I'm sitting here listening to mixes that contain lots of string instruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, etc.) and I'm quite blown away by what I'm able to hear and how easily I can distinguish every instrument even in a crowded mix. Quite honestly, I don't know if I need that or not. Maybe it ends up like the heated steering wheel where I had no idea I needed such a thing until I had it. And now I wouldn't buy a car without it.

[lkingston]

This post caught my eye as I have two pairs of Austrian Audi x65 and really love them.

1) They sound really good. Yeah, so do my other headphones, but there is something open and spacious about these that makes them more relaxing to wear.
2) If you are collaborating and you are both on headphones, they let you talk. Hence the second pair.
3) If I am practicing piano, I can hear the door or if my wife calls me.
4) They don’t whistle if I put them over my hearing aids. In fact, I can hear more highs just like in real life. Since I need hearing aids to hear highs, this is probably my most important reason, even though I put it fourth.
5) The bleed from the hearing aids into the mic is not as bad as I expected. For overdubbing I would probably still use closed headphones, but I do more guitar and vocals at once recording, and it really isn’t a problem for that.
6) You can hear the mix better with open back headphones. It is a similar experience to being in a room with studio monitors.
7) They are wonderful with my Yamaha Silent Guitar. The best choice for quiet practicing really.
8) Specific to the x65 (rather than competing open back headphones) is that they are very easy to drive from any headphone output.

[lkingston]

9) I can hear myself sing when I practice with my Silent Guitar or digital piano.