A Look Back : AKG had shut down their office in Vienna back in 2016. Some of the greatest, if not the greatest engineers in all of high-end audio had been housed in Vienna HQ. These are the same guys
that constantly thought out of the box, making the legendary AKG K240 family of headphones. The sextett was the result of marvelous engineering and still remains so 40 years later. I have owned the K240 Sextett and K240 Studio Mk2 and they're legends in their own rights. They also came out with the wild K280 Parabolic dual driver headphone which turned everyone's heads (Parabolic because the drivers are arranged in a parabola?) and these are just to name a few among the plethora of innovative products they came up with. These guys surely know what they are doing, they are revered and I look up to them with utmost respect. After the office shutdown, a 22-member subset of the same brilliant minds formed Austrian Audio in 2017.
You know the hype is real.....
Build & Fit :
The build quality is as you'd expect from something that is made to endure : superb, metal throughout. It's HEAVY: until you put it on. The pads are tall, plush and deep. It can fit in giant ears without breaking a sweat.
The headband padding is akin to the Shure 1840 i.e very comfortable. It distributes the weight perfectly and the heft of the build is gone once you put it on. The pads are not perforated, and they do get a bit hot after extended listening sessions.
Do note that every piece of padding including the earpads are completely replaceable and serviceable by Austrian Audio themselves.
Amp Needs :
Although it is rated at 25 ohms and 118 dB/V, these need some juice to be driven properly else they sound wimpy. I do not know the reason why; maybe because of the current requirement (low impedance)? Or maybe it is due to the properties of the proprietary driver.
I would recommend using a basic amplifier at the minumum to get the most out of these.
Sound :
These are made for professional use in the studio, not for the armchair audiophile who wants to be bathed in "musicality". So I will pen down my thoughts keeping that in mind.
The first thing that hits you is the passive noise isolation, which is sublime. The next thing is the active treble response, which is quite revealing. It does sound a bit "thin" due to it's boosted mid-treble but this type of tuning helps to bring out the micro details in the mix, and boy does it do a good job.
It paints a sonic picture of the "room" of the recording and the micro details are rendered out clearly without jamming them down your throat. Noteworthy to mention that the headphone is quite critical of the sibilance region;
in the sense that if the recording has sharpness in the consonants, you will surely hear it.
These are must have traits for a headphone made for professional use. And it does this without having the "treble murder" that certain headphones from this gang portray.
"The bass on this is pretty lacking" is what the usual "audiophile" would say. But in my opinion, the bass is nuanced and dynamic. The last thing you'd want for studio work is something with bombastic boosted subbass. It has less quantity and the extension isn't its strong suit,
but it is fast and clean and remarkably coherent with the midrange.
There is a distinctive lack of boosted midbass which is a good thing as it doesn't mask details; I feel it could have used a bit more oomph in this region as the overall sound tends to be on the "lean" side.
The midrange is clean and clear with adequate ear gain but the tonality is on the thin and clinical side when it comes to vocals, whether that is a good thing for its intended purpose is beyond my scope of answering.
The soundstage as described earlier is pretty accurate but on the narrower side. But it isn't claustrophobic even though it is a closed back. Imaging is very accurate and is on par the DT880 600 ohms which is quite a feat.
Hi-X55 vs Beyerdynamic DT880 600 ohms :
Both are stellar in build quality but the DT880 comes with a dedicated carry case, while you only get a pouch for the Hi-X55.
Do bear in mind that this comparison is strictly off the mind as I don't have the DT880 600 ohms to A/B. Off my mind, the Hi-X55 has more presence in the upper midrange making it sound more "energetic" and "lively" while the DT880 600 ohms sounds more "sterile".
Although the imaging on both is pretty comparable, the image clarity and "etching" out of the image in the mix is better on the DT880 600 ohms. Hi-X55 is much much easier to drive off a regular amplifier; you basically need a nuclear reactor or even the Sun to power the DT880 600 ohms.
Hi-X55 vs Sennheiser HD560s :
The build quality is undoubtedly better on the Hi-X55 with its thorough metal use; the 560s is predominantly plastic. When it comes to comfort, the 560s is better for me. It is physically lighter and the pads are more comfortable for me.
On A/B'ing the two, there is a clear boost in the 4kHz region of the HD560s in comparison. While neither of the two set the bar for accurate tonality, the 560s has a more linear response overall where every part of the spectrum gets their own space. The midrange (up until the upper midrange) is more engaging and
true to life on the 560s. The 560s beats the Hi-X55 when it comes to stage width and overall speed and transient attack. The 560s is a tighter and faster sounding headphone. The resolving power of the two are similar, although I hear more room detail and ambient/spatial cues easier on the Hi-X55 on impeccably well recorded tracks.
Closing Thoughts :
Austrian Audio has managed to give the industry a formidable player of its kind, and to think this is their first headphone (along with the Hi-X50). It's good to see the real MVPs back in their game, and that brings me joy. I cannot wait to get my hands on their next addition to the headphone line and give it a good listen.
