[bala]

Good design sense on the M500 and the M200, but the M200 seems a but uninviting with its sharp edges. Looking forward to try them though

 

[steveting99]

I'm looking out for a good set of portables and the M500 looks interesting.
 
My two important criteria are comfort (isolation plus  hours of walking around in a humid environment) and sound quality.

 

[Impulse]

Philips' lowly Downtown uses similar pads (albeit smaller and cloth-clad)... I'm surprised they aren't more common tbh. It's not something that would make me dump my M-80 but I think I'd definitely favor that sorta pad for a future upgrade, though having less air space against your ear probably leads to more stuffy-ness/heat over a long session. It's definitely a more comfortable design than regular on ears tho, at least for shorter sessions, easier to get them properly centered too.

 

[Deviltooth]

When I was much younger and uninformed enough to own Bose speakers I heard some KEFs at a friend's and realized what I was missing.  It was truly an ear opening moment.
 
Of course headphones and speakers are different animals and success in one realm doesn't guarantee success in the other.  I hope KEF has done their homework and come out of the gate with 2 winners; I'm looking forward to seeing what they offer.

 

[ssrock64]

I like KEF's higher-end speaker gear, but I'm afraid that their foray into the headphone world will be as disappointing to me as the dozens we've seen of late. It'll likely just be an in-the-background can like the Martin Logan (which is quite controversial, actually).

 

[MDR30]

Parallels with the Uni-Q loudspeaker are drawn in the video, but the headphone driver looks ordinary to me.
 
hhttp://www.kef.com/html/en/showroom/mseries/m500/m500/index.html#.UXur_0ouCSo
 
I fear the unbalanced and plain design of the M500 (silver painted plastic?) will make it plummet in the market. Unless the sound is spectacular.
 

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

Parallels with the Uni-Q loudspeaker are drawn in the video, but the headphone driver looks ordinary to me.
 
hhttp://www.kef.com/html/en/showroom/mseries/m500/m500/index.html#.UXur_0ouCSo
 
I fear the unbalanced and plain design of the M500 (silver painted plastic?) will make it plummet in the market. Unless the sound is spectacular.
 

 
The frame is "sand blasted aluminium alloy", not plastic.
 
Really there is no reason these should not be excellent headphones, it all depends on what KEF is trying to achieve.
 
KEF have a reputation for intensive R&D and innovation in speaker design, if they want to make audiophile quality headphones, there is no question they have the ability to. The question is, do they want that?
 
 
There is clearly more money in a mass-market product like Bose and Beats than with a serious headphone, and in my opinion that was the road B&W went down with the P5 - a headphone that bears no sonic resemblance to the great speakers that made their name.
 
I hope this is not another similar story, as the KEF speakers I've heard have really been quite excellent and I would love a headphone that aimed for their house sound.

 

[williamcmoran]

any idea when these will be available? 

 

[bhima]

M200 looks promising... that enclosure for the larger driver looks like it might create some nice ambience and hopefully a good soundstage. I just hope KEF have been doing their homework and have picked up their tuning influences from say VSONIC moreso than Sennheiser or Bose.

 

[suburbanite]

I like their design. It's novel, sleek and exudes quality.
 
 
 
Quote:

After having felt the B&W P5, I'm a huge fan of THIS type of on ear padding. The main headphone companies need to take note. Other on ear padding just feels like crap in comparison.

 
I agree.
 
I don't have the P5's but I've tried them at an Apple store was surprisingly at how comfortable they are. My HD 25-1 ii's, by comparison, and the Amperiors, due to their similarity, are crude.
 
The only thing I would like to see is a velour-exterior version of the P5's an earpad. I think the luxurious appearance of velour would probably draw consumers especially since nearly anyone with leather furniture or upholstery knows how sticky leather can be against the skin.

 

[ukaudiophile]

I'm very interested in getting to hear these Kef units and compare them to my P5's.

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

M200 looks promising... that enclosure for the larger driver looks like it might create some nice ambience and hopefully a good soundstage. I just hope KEF have been doing their homework and have picked up their tuning influences from say VSONIC moreso than Sennheiser or Bose.

 
I'm not an IEM guy, but it's the innovative design of the M200 that makes me hopeful for the M500. If they were just farting out some mass consumer products to compete with Bose for the businessman buck, then why go to the trouble of such an innovative design for the IEM? As far as I know this dual dynamic design is a first. It makes me hope that they are actually aiming to make good headphones here. Just hope someone reliable like Innerfidelity gets sent a review pair.

 

[Odderen]

I'm not an IEM guy, but it's the innovative design of the M200 that makes me hopeful for the M500. If they were just farting out some mass consumer products to compete with Bose for the businessman buck, then why go to the trouble of such an innovative design for the IEM? As far as I know this dual dynamic design is a first. It makes me hope that they are actually aiming to make good headphones here. Just hope someone reliable like Innerfidelity gets sent a review pair.

Not to rain on on your parade or anything. But there has Been plenty of ddds. As far as I know you can even get a ddd ciem. I actually used to own the brainwavz r1. Another ddd.

With that being said. Ddd's has a very nice way of layering the music. I'm actually kinda missing my r1s...

 

[ssrock64]

It seems the majority it praising the design of the M500, but it looks pretty plain to me. Actually, it looks almost cheap in the press photos. It looks like a tilted cross between a P5, HTF600, FA-003 and some earmuffs, and not in a good way.

 

[EddieE]

Not to rain on on your parade or anything. But there has Been plenty of ddds. As far as I know you can even get a ddd ciem. I actually used to own the brainwavz r1. Another ddd.

With that being said. Ddd's has a very nice way of layering the music. I'm actually kinda missing my r1s...

I have a set of dual dynamic headphones in my cupboard - the old Akg playbacks. That was a pointless gimmick. Both drivers are sharing the same jobs, enclosure front and back. That's not what I find impressive. This was the first time I have seen a dual dynamic iem, with the "tweeter" enclosure creating a kind of acoustic transformer for the "woofer". If you know of another, let me know the model.