Austrian Audio Hi-X60 closed back studio headphone

[plakat]

Looks like an interesting new entry in Austrian Audios lineup: a closed model in the 6-series. Might change a bit of those weird FR response parts of the Hi-X55 model.

https://austrian.audio/headphones/hi-x60/

MSRP is 349€, includes 3m and 1.2m cables like the Hi-X65

And yes, they are also Made in Austria.

 

[Steven31]

Something about the design of this headphone reminds me of the AKG K872. I wonder how much the Hi-X60 will be ($£). Hopefully not too much as I would love to own an Austrian Audio headphone at some point soon, as a somewhat higher end replacement to my humble Sennheiser HD206. Looks like the Hi-X60 could be it.

 

[plakat]

Something about the design of this headphone reminds me of the AKG K872. I wonder how much the Hi-X60 will be ($£). Hopefully not too much as I would love to own an Austrian Audio headphone at some point soon, as a somewhat higher end replacement to my humble Sennheiser HD206. Looks like the Hi-X60 could be it.

MSRP is 349€, Thomann UK lists it with £291
Klangfarbe.at has them in store already, ordered one today. Don't know if they ship to UK, but might be worth checking out (big old local shop in Vienna, so they are definitely trustworthy).

 

[Steven31]

MSRP is 349€, Thomann UK lists it with £291
Klangfarbe.at has them in store already, ordered one today. Don't know if they ship to UK, but might be worth checking out (big old local shop in Vienna, so they are definitely trustworthy).

That's definitely well within my budget, phew (sigh of relief, lol). Thanks for creating this thread and bringing the Hi-X60 to my attention, I will visit Thomann UK website and see if they ship to the UK and see if I can order one hopefully on Wednesday the 8th. Thanks for posting.

 

[Nostoi]

Very much interested in your impressions, @plakat especially vis-à-vis DT700 Pro X.

The design is definitely super appealing.

 

[plakat]

Very much interested in your impressions, @plakat especially vis-à-vis DT700 Pro X.

The design is definitely super appealing.

Yes, that's going to be interesting... especially since the X60 sounds like my wishlist against the DT700 ticked off: oval pads, foldable. Klangfarbe shipped my unit today, but since I'm not in Vienna currently, I won't have it until next week I guess.

 

[arielext]

Ah just when I thought I might settle on a closed back for longer then a month this happens.

Sounds very interesting! Almost ordered the 65 a month ago, didn't cause it is an open-back.

 

[Nostoi]

Yes, that's going to be interesting... especially since the X60 sounds like my wishlist against the DT700 ticked off: oval pads, foldable. Klangfarbe shipped my unit today, but since I'm not in Vienna currently, I won't have it until next week I guess.

I will also be curious if the tuning is like the previous model. Looking at the graph on them, it looks as though there's a bit of a mid-bass bump; does that tally with your experience?

 

[HipHopScribe]

Something about the design of this headphone reminds me of the AKG K872. I wonder how much the Hi-X60 will be ($£). Hopefully not too much as I would love to own an Austrian Audio headphone at some point soon, as a somewhat higher end replacement to my humble Sennheiser HD206. Looks like the Hi-X60 could be it.

Austrian Audio is former AKG employees, so a resemblance would make sense, though I think their stuff resembles some other AKG headphones more than the K872

 

[Steven31]

Austrian Audio is former AKG employees, so a resemblance would make sense, though I think their stuff resembles some other AKG headphones more than the K872

Yeah lol the Hi-X60 doesn't really resemble the K872 in looks, probably not in sound either although that remains to be seen. I think it is because, as you say, the team behind the Austrian Audio headphones are the same guys that designed AKG headphones, I guess it was just a vibe I got when I looked at the pictures of the Hi-X60, lol. I am like that,- empathic/psychic I try not to let it come through on my posts but sometimes it does.

 

[Angel III]

If it is in the same league as the Hi-X65, we have another excellence in the world of headphones.

 

[plakat]

Ah just when I thought I might settle on a closed back for longer then a month this happens.

Sounds very interesting! Almost ordered the 65 a month ago, didn't cause it is an open-back.

Head-fi is definitely the wrong place for that
You know that classic sentence: welcome to head-fi-- and sorry for your wallet.

For me its the same... the descriptions of the X65 almost made me order them to try out (in person is difficult at the moment here due to the next lockdown), but I held back due to them being open. I don't have much use for open back headphones...

I will also be curious if the tuning is like the previous model. Looking at the graph on them, it looks as though there's a bit of a mid-bass bump; does that tally with your experience?

Yes, the X55 had a bit of a midbass bump (not to my liking) but also a bit of a low bass emphasis. But with a bit of a hole between, which made the bass range sound a bit... held back. I think the driver is capable of much more, given that they explicitly designed it for high excursion (hence the name Hi-X). From what I read the X65 was smoother overall, but with a bit less low bass (open back taking its toll I guess). So I hope to get an X65 with better bass extension... and a bit less midbass.

Yeah lol the Hi-X60 doesn't really resemble the K872 in looks, probably not in sound either although that remains to be seen. I think it is because, as you say, the team behind the Austrian Audio headphones are the same guys that designed AKG headphones, I guess it was just a vibe I got when I looked at the pictures of the Hi-X60, lol. I am like that,- empathic/psychic I try not to let it come through on my posts but sometimes it does.

As @HipHopScribe said, Austrian Audio was created by former AKG engineers when the Vienna office was dissolved by Harman. So yes, know-how went in this direction, taste maybe as well. What definitely resembles the AKG K-812/K-872 is the pad design: the thinner walls with a lip for better seal. But the driver is completely new, as is the overall construction (headband etc.).

 

[LoyK]

There is a german first impressions video with measurements:


You can compare his measurements with those in the Hi-X65 video of the same channel.
I am going to try these for sure as I think a mix of X55 and X65 could be really nice. Looking forward to the first impressions here as well

 

[Steven31]

So I just googled the Hi-X60 and doing some reading to find out more about the headphone and Austrian Audio in general. Apparently the Hi - X model name is short for "High Excursion". Reading about the technology and it sounds similar to AKG's patented "Varimotion" technology, presumably the same engineers that invented the former also invented the latter, with them being former AKG employees. I'm liking what i'm reading about the Hi-X60 I must say, I always meant to buy one of Austrian Audio's headphones but didn't need to as I had Bowers &Wilkins P9 Signature, but don't have them anymore (they got stole) and I ended up buying the Sennheiser HD206 as no longer had the finances to acquire £900 headphones, but needed a closed back headphone out of necessity. The Hi-X60 seems like the natural upgrade path from the HD206 for me. I might have to wait until they are on Amazon to buy them, hmm i'll see what happens.

 

[plakat]

Look what arrived today
Really like what I hear, there's deep reaching bass with very good structure (could be a few dB more for my personal taste, but objectively its very well balanced with the rest of the spectrum), nice and detailed mids that don't have that slight shoutiness of the Hi-X55, and sparkling treble without sharpness. Had just a few songs played from my iPad through a 1. gen Hugo and the Apple USB-C to 3,5mm adapter, sounds good even on the latter with lots of dynamic reserve. Comfort is top notch, just as with the X55.

Passive isolation is again very good, and it still has that spacious sound like the X55 but sounds more even overall.

I noticed the pads now have holes... this might provide the damping of the upper mids, which were a bit too present on the X55 -- I always wanted to ad some felt inside its cups, but never came around to try that out.

Packaging is as with all past Austrian Audio headphones, i.e. a cardboard box with Velcro -- I still like it. The darker gray looks good with the red accents, and I like the fact that now both the 3m and the 1,2m cables are included -- I ordered the shorter one extra for my X55.