HEDDphone

Hedd is the new entrant in the headphone scene, though it’s not a new company, it has good experience in the pro music segment through one of its founders; Klaus Heinz; being founder of Hedd Audio and Adam audio (a well-known brand in the space of studio monitors). Adam audio and Hedd both brands are known to use AMT (air motion transformer) tweeters (originally invented by physicist Oskar Heil); which are different from other traditional dome tweeters in the way it operates. AMT comprises of a very thin sheet of folded diaphragm which is suspended in a strong magnet. Sound is produced from this tweeter though tweezing action instead of normal cone/dome driver’s pistonic movement. This is very similar to the way bellow or accordions operate. Theoretically this offers better performance as AMT is able to accelerate air 4 times to the speed of diaphragm itself; whereas dome or cone accelerates air to the same speed as that of speed of diaphragm. This is true even for planar & electrostatic drivers. So in theory AMT is a better option as a tweeter to that of others, but practically there are other challenges which are far bigger which keeps companies from adopting this technology & hence we still see a lot of dome/cone drivers being used. So long for the background of the AMT & its usage in the speaker world, but surely this technology does make an interesting option to be tried in the headphone space & thanks to Hedd we have the first headphone using an AMT driver. I was interested to try this headphone from the day I knew about it some more than a year back. Another reason of interest was because I have bookshelf speakers which have AMT tweeters & I simply love them. So I knew what an AMT driver can bring to the table based on its implementation in Golden Ear’s AON 3. With all the background I was happy when I got to know that Goldfinch acoustics became an official dealer for Hedd in India & a Heddphone was doing its round in the city for demo/audition. Fortunately the opportunity came to me through my role as a courier to handover this headphone to the next person & in that process I got 2-3 days to spend with this beast. Also to add to my luck I had to handover Headamp’s Gilmore Lite MK2 to the same person as that of headphone, so I got an amp to drive these headphones which would be impossible to do through my dap. I am so glad that I sneaked upon this opportunity to listen to this HP at my home for some time. First time I listened to it my jaw literally dropped & a big smile was permanently plastered on my face. This is definitely a worthy contender for TOTL can which sits right in the league of HD800, Utopia or SR-009. So my chain for this review was Cowon Plenue 1 to Gilmore Lite MK2 connected through 3.5 mm to RCA connector & Heddphone connected to Gilmore Lite by 6.3 mm single ended connector. I know this is not the optimum chain to drive something like Hedd, but who cares when you get to familiarize yourself to what this beast can deliver. This is a German brand with headphones made in Germany. So one can expect build & finish to the standards of German quality. The Headphones come in a nice big box which has a large paper cover with photo oh HPs printed on it. Inside this paper cover is the nice & sturdy box with magnetically locking (not sure about this) cover. Inside the box you get headphone placed in the foam cutout & a box containing its cable; simple & elegant packaging. The build of the headphone is top notch as you would expect from headphones costing this much. Headband and driver outer casing (cups) are made of metal which looks like aluminum (I’m not sure & this needs verification). It feels sturdy enough. Headband has foam padding for its entire length & it rests nicely on the head. There is substantial clamping from the headbands, though it does not feel tight due to cushy ear pads. Also I feel higher than normal clamping force is required in this case as the headphone is quite heavy with 712 grams weight and this weight is mainly due to drivers. I did not feel particularly uncomfortable for wearing this for an extended period & was even able to lie down while wearing them. Ear pads are very cushiony and they are quite deep, keeping ears far from the actual driver. In spite of their weight HP was not uncomfortable, which is actually surprising to me. Only thing it missed was the swivel action to adjust headphones according to one’s ear & head shape. Though they can swivel, it's very limited & of not much use. Adjusting the length of headband while on head is little difficult and is better to be done after removing them from your head, as it's easy that way. Also the length of headband is very short over which it can be adjusted, which means if you have a very large head this might not fit you very well. So there are some areas where improvement needs to be made. Talking about accessories that came with it, there was only one wire with 6.3 mm plug, on the headphone side it uses a mini XLR plug. But for headphones costing 1.5 lakh rupees, this is seriously less than the amount of accessories. I would expect to have one more cable with 4 pin XLR plug and case for its storage and transportation. The build quality of cable is also not stellar but it’s not bad either. It is on the little stiffer side with its jacket & is of sufficient length (2 meters if I am not wrong). The 6.3 mm plug is also unusually long though it does not cause any issue. But for single wire definitely build quality can be improved (something with build-like forza cables can be provided). This is an open back headphone & leaks sound like it’s nobody’s business, so one needs to keep this in mind as you would be practically letting all others know what you are listening to. Now coming to the main point, how does it sound? In a single word astounding! Yes, especially for someone like me who comes He400i, the improvement in sound in spite of not so great chain is like day and night difference. Honestly I never expected such a difference in SQ while going to any TOTL headphone from my He400i, though I knew there would be a clear difference but I never expected them to be this much. I was literally taken aback when I first heard it & later on a big wide smile was permanently plastered to my face. I have previously auditioned Arya & have liked it, though there was a significant difference between He400i and Arya, the difference in this case is just drastic; thing to note is Arya is also a HP of TOTL caliber. If you like bass then you are in for a treat with this can. There is just a good amount of bass along with top notch quality on offer here. It is one of the first things that will catch anyone’s attention. Even though bass is present in large quality, its tight bass without any bloat and lots of texture. Tracks like Serpentus from Sous Le Voutes, Le Serpent show how deep and textured bass can be on drums and serpent. Every note has a good amount of weight which makes it sound real. For someone who does not like so much bass this can sound too bass heavy, but for me I just loved its bass performance. Mids was also a similar story with them being neither too forward nor recessed, being just where they should be; as per the track. Vocal tracks like Train from Holly Cole’s temptation sounded intimate with Holly’s voice. Vocals were not sibilant or shouty either; they had a good amount of texture. Allan Taylor’s voice had good weight & it sounded deep and powerful on track “The beat hotel” from the album “Hotels & Dreamers”. Mids or bass (upper bass) never bled into each despite bass being present in good quantity. Treble is really special on this HP and I feel will go as underrated. This is the kind of treble which I expect & is used to from an AMT driver, very well extended, airy, but never harsh or piercing. Sounds of bells, cymbals are something to be heard on this hp. Track like “Arrows from Arjuna” from the album “With space in mind” by Mark Nauseef or “flugufrelsarinn” track from Sigur Ros’s Ágætis byrjun album reveal how well extended and non-piercing or harsh the treble is. Sound stage also on this HP is very good with good width, depth as well as height, at the same time having very precise imaging; one can easily locate instruments in a mix. Detail retrieval is of very high level with me discovering lots of instruments & sounds that I had previously not heard of very familiar sound tracks. On “Trouble What’s Your In – Live at London” by Fink, I was clearly able to hear the echo of Finks voice throughout the track which previously I didn’t hear, even on Arya. It also has very fast transients which are apparent on orchestral tracks like with O fortuna – Caramin Burana by Carl Orff. I feel this is due to its technical ability to move air at higher speeds. On very well recorded albums/tracks like from MA recordings this HP just shines bright. Comparing Hedd to my currently owned He400i is not fair since they are from two very different brackets/tier. Hedd beats He400i in each and every department hands down (or should I rather say pants down ;) ). Arya would be a more suitable comparison as they are from a similar bracket, but I had Arya almost 1 year back so comparison would be solely based on my memory. Bass extension is similar on both hp with both having similar quality in terms of speed and texture, but quantity-wise Hedd offers more bass. Mids are good on both with neither sounding too forward or recessed. In treble Hedd offers better extension without being harsh or fatiguing, that does not mean Arya is bad in this department; it’s just that Hedd is little better than Arya here. Micro Details, Speed & transients are another area where Hedd pulls ahead of Arya. So overall in SQ Hedd matches or pulls ahead of Arya. Comfortwise Arya is way ahead of Hedd with Arya being very light and comfortable, perfect for extended listening sessions. In terms of build quality and reliability, Hedd is very well built with long term reliability unknown since it’s a new product. On the other hand Arya build is good but it’s not at the level of Hedd also Hifiman is notorious with their quality issue so reliability of a unit is a gamble. Another important thing to note is Arya is very chain selective and can sound very different from chain to chain. Hence if going for Arya; having the correct chain is very important. Whereas Hedd seems little dependent on chain regarding how it sounds, though both will scale with quality chain. Hence if one wants to decide between both, then my suggestion would be to pick Hedd (if its sound character matches your liking) because of issues associated with Hifiman’s QC issues; even if it means waiting for more time to save more money required to budget Heddd from Arya. Overall I am totally floored by the sound quality of this HP in spite of not so great a chain. I can just imagine what it will transform into in a chain with other equally high quality components. It scores well in every department of sound quality. Only gripes are in its accessories & build (though not very big to warrant striking this HP off the list). Considering this is the first HP of its kind I would hope to see improvements in the pain areas with future models. For anyone who has 1.5 lakh to spend, this HP should be on his/her list. It very well can be an end game one.