Every once in a while a new product comes along that seems to break all the rules. We think we know how the world works, then something comes along that makes us rethink everything. It seems odd to be bringing that up here in the audio space as it is a well-travelled path and things are pretty formulaic.
Ask any audiophile which is better, an open back headphone or a closed back and you’ll hear the same response which goes something like this, “Unless you have to have isolation, you want an open back as the soundstage is so much larger and more realistic. Closed back headphones are good for airlines and bedrooms but not much else.”
Much the same way, many will argue that electrostatic headphones are better than planar magnetic models, which in turn are better than dynamic driver based models. There are a few exceptions to this, but even Sennheiser, which makes some of the top dynamic driver models in the world, went to an electrostat when engineering the Orpheus. HiFiMan, who makes world class planar magnetic headphones went with an electrostat when they built their Shangri-La.
Audeze? Same thing with the brand new Audeze CRBN headphones that we just covered a few weeks ago.
