Austrian Audio Hi-X15 Closed-Back Over-Ear Wired Headphones

I used Grados as my daily drivers for the last 10 years. All closed backs have disappointed me in one shape or form, with an overemphasis on sub-bass, muddy mids and boring treble. Austrian Audio's cheapest offering is surprisingly fantastic pair of cans. For the price it sounds better than most of the 300-400$ mainstream BT headphones. If you are an open-back main, the X15 offer good mids, non-peaky but smooth treble with a nice, not overly aggressive V shaped presentation, as to give the bass a chance to shine. Very efficient, you don't need an AMP for these. The cushions are super comfortable, and very loose 3 knuckle, tight 4 knuckle deep cups. Breathable, but the faux leather will make you sweaty on a hot summers day. The clamp is not too tight, and if you wear spectacles it would not be an issue Its a single, detachable, 3.5 to 3.5mm cable. The one that goes into the left cup is keyed, so be careful not to break it, otherwise you'll need a replacement from AA themselves. Cable feels cheap and is serviceable for the price. Definitely not as bad as Hifiman. Cable is not microphonic, no issues when rubbing against surfaces. Unlike their other higher end offerings, this is made in China, with a mainly plastic build. The headband feels sturdy with the yokes holding the cups made of metal. Feels cheap, but more importantly not squeaky. Overall; Subjective Sound 8/10 Objective Sound 7/10 (Good technicals, but not great. Surprisingly spacious for closed backs) Value For Money 10/10 I hope this can displace the AT M50x as the de-facto closed back

First off I have to objectify what most reviews say and disparage some myths. The traditional sense of running in does not exist i.e the concept that the components need time to settle and strengthen. Instead running in sound changes occur due to the differences made in the earpads as you wear them. So onto the headphones. First off one thing must be made extremely clear these things will RUIN bad recordings. They have ruined some songs for me because their mix was done on non reference headphones. Everyone describes these as flat or more aptly mid heavy. However, using my music benchmarks I describe these as well balanced if a tiny bit recessed in certain areas. Austrian audio hi-x15 with a fiio e10k Olympus C. Breathe into me by Marian Hill: The sub bass is clearly represented with tight and aggressive thumps. The vocals feel a little forward but well exposed and the claps sounds extremely clear and are extremely immersive with not a lot of shine. Hang my head in shame by Pete molinari: A great song for exposing sound stage harmony and timing. I found the staging of these headphones to be excellent with reverberation appearing clear and atmospheric. However the harmony of these headphones is slightly exposed in this song due to the slightly recessed high and mid bass the song lacks the punchy constant thump to tie everything together. I found myself having to use the bass switch on this song to feel enjoyment. Here we go by norman: The vocals are extremely immersive and they have a clear defined and enjoyable texture. However the drums lose their definition and texture due to their flatter resonance. The kick has a clear and atmospheric thump to it. With the high hat and ride having a clear respresentation. A little disappointed that the bell loses its clear and sharp overtone. American funeral by Joseph angels: The guitar treble and synth are extremely well defined showing their ryhtm and expression very well. The vocals are a little hidden but nicely textured during their lonesome. The bass has very nice tone and maintains its dominance. In conclusion: These headphones are gorgeous with vocals and defining trebles they have power and texture on levels much higher than my hd599. The problems comes from rythm and harmonisation because of its slightly inconsistent response tones the higher mids feel over the top of the lower mids. If the bass has no sub then it has no feeling and it becomes slightly hollow and unrythmic. I feel like my fiio e10k is way too undefined especially with harmonic parts of music. Which is slightly concerning because the e10k and k3 are budget staples. If they can't pull out the definition then I seriously question these headphones affordability for the sound. I suspect using something like the ifi can Dac will be more than enough to seperate the tones. I will update this post once properly ran in. I love the feeling that these headphones have in terms of adjustability. They are amazing especially in terms of comfort and adjustment. These are the first headphones I have had that can successfully move the weight from the upper scalp, upper ear and then to the lower ear depending on preference and headband length. Their cups are extremely comfortable new and feel almost invisible once you have the weight set up properly. These are actually better to me than the comfort legends my hd599s. However over extremely long periods nothing can beat a speaker setup. In comparison to my hd 599s the bass of hi-x15 is much punchier with clear and well defined sub bass. Strangely the hi-x15s scoop out slightly more stage than my open back hd 599s. The textures are much more clearly defined especially on acoustics like guitar. Which I found extremely surprising for headphones costing half the price. Edit: So after about a week of run in at about 4 hours of music a day. I can perfectly describe these headphones. These headphones are a scalpel they are clean, cold and accurate. They represent precision and reality. They are NOT good at being your audio backbone because I found their precision extremely fatiguing after an hour of play. These are for the songs that you sit down and you listen you can feel the atmosphere and the studio. I found my previous comments about rythm and harmony premature as I can now explain that these lack any warmth. They have zero warmth to their tones they are completely uncoloured and because of this most musics bass doesn't mould with the song. I found that with these headphones I stopped listening to the music and instead felt like I could focus on individual stems. Like the vocals or the drums would feel like I was there. Changing it up from my benchmarks before I thought I would give a list of music where you can really feel the detail and atmosphere. White Flag by Bishop Briggs: listen for the guitar plucks and harmony vocals. Asylum by Desi Valentine: listen for the really high pitched riff almost coming from behing your eyes it's weird. Awaken by Valerie Broussard: the synth like sound on most undetailed headphones suddenly becomes refined oboe and violin. The Preacher by Jamie N Commons: There's a shaker that is just hidden behind the drums Berta Berta by Thomas Vent: The lyrics actually move from the left to behind you. Bulletin by lazy habits: there's a cello just behind you.

Okay, firstly, I got these based purely on reviews both on Amazon and elsewhere on the web. It’s safe to say they are well respected. Now before I go much further, please note that the most important thing to remember about these headphones is this: THEY NEED RUNNING IN! Give them a couple of days also running in, This will soften that hard edge sufficiently to let these beauties shine. So let’s take a look at the build quality. These headphones are partially plastic but they do have some good strong metal where it counts and they do look and feel as if they would survive reasonable daily use quite well. The headband is very comfortable and the ear pads are also comfortable (as far as I’m concerned). There is another reviewer on here who states he has trouble with the ear pads in that they seem to create a vacuum? I personally have not experienced this. Maybe I have an alien shaped head, or maybe the other reviewer does? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Either way, the headphones are very comfortable for me to wear for both short and long periods of time. Now for the important stuff, the sound quality. These headphones sound very clear and are extremely open and revealing. Naturally, being so revealing they will shine with a good source. It does very much seem a case of garbage in – garbage out. Personally I listen to these with a Digital audio player which has a powerful output stage. I also listen to my minidisc player using these headphones. As I hinted at in the title, the bass is rather tight, which wouldn’t normally be a problem, but it is a touch light and could do with a little boost. When I am using my high res DAP, I pop the 62hz bass a notch or two up (leaving everything else neutral) And for me the sound is then perfectly balanced. When listening to my Sony minidisc I use the low Megabass setting (it just has off, low or high) and to me it all sounds spot on. The treble sounds perfectly crisp and clear without sounding at all harsh (unless of course the source recording is harsh). The mid range is also exceptionally clear but doesn’t venture too far into the foreground, and for me this is how music should be heard. As I have already said, the bass is tight and can go very deep but only about 80 to 90% as deep as I would personally like, hence for my ears I prefer to give it a little boost. To summarise, they are not perfect, largely to do with that bass, but as far as the whole package goes they are a good 90% or so perfect to my ears. They are certainly very analytical headphones, but they don’t sound boring, on the contrary they are rather exciting to listen to. As for buying them, if you know what you want and you are looking for revealing, exciting and clear sound then these are definitely a hit and good value for money. If you like bassy party booming sounds then you are looking in the wrong place.

I bought these to replace some cans made by another company. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! They are very comfortable and seemingly well engineered although they do do need to be broken in to sound their best according to several verified reviews. After about 10 hours use I can confirm that the soundstage is getting better even though they are a bit light on bass at the moment! I do have high hopes for these, especially after one month of use, but we will have to see! So far so good, did I say I'm impressed so far! I got some useful cable ties that we're used for the packaging which can be up-cycled and the warranty is 3 years if you buy these through an accredited supplier, which I did. Well the latest is, as you use them they get better. I was surprised at the sound stage - I can place the instruments. But the bass blew me away - I took them off my head and looked at them hard - trying to figure how Austrian Audio manage to get such bass out of relatively small cans. All I can say is that I'm pleasantly surprised, the sound coming out of these is still improving - not that it was bad in the first place! Highly recommended, but you have to persevere with them! I've been using them for at least 3 hours every day since I got them! The one down side is the 1.2m length cable. The longer Austrian Audio cable is expensive for what it is - so I ordered an extension from KabelDirekt instead which seems to be good quality.

When you first listen to these headphones straight out of the box they sound !Ike a £30 pair. Whatever other reviewers might say, these cans take many hours of running in. What Hi Fi gave these 5* and in my opinion rightly so. They need to be run in for at least 50 hours after which you will be rewarded with an excellent sound and you soon forget that these cost under £100. Very detailed mids and treble that is slightly bright but not in any way unpleasant. Very detailed presentation allowing every nuances of the recording to shine through. Bass has a very good extension without being overblown, again detailed integrating well with the mids. They seem to work well with portable music players as well as dedicated amplifiers. Build quality is superb for the price. Lightweight and very comfortable with just the right amount of pressure allowing them to be worn for hours. Foldable design make them easy to transport. The carring bag supplied is a bit thin and flimsy but does the job. An optional hard case is also available. All in all an excellent and versatile pair of headphones.

These are excellent headphones and can be used straight out of the well-packaged box. Pros (in my opinion): No faffing around pairing, Useable on all devices, - in my case cd/amplifier, tv (I deliberately purchased one last year with a headphone socket), radio, phone and tablet, No headphones turning off because you take them off your head for a moment - (my too too Smart tv promptly switches to tv speaker so my neighbours get treated to a burst of sound), I've checked and the devices have to be turned up to nearly the highest volume before there is even a slight leakage of sound, [PS additional note: Just be extra careful when the music gets high and loud]. The memory foam earpads are the comfiest I have ever experienced Cons (for me) As usual with headphones these days there is too much emphasis on the bass, though I have known worse than these in that respect. Overall these headphones are a great purchase for those of us who live too near our neighbours.

I have been using these headphones for over a year now and they are stunning in their musical quality, their awards are well deserved. As others have mentioned they do need to be 'run in', so use them for a few hours and they will mellow to give a truly accurate rendition of the music you are listening to, I have listened to rock, blues, jazz, country, classical and 'pop' and all sound great. Cable length is fairly short, but fine if you are sitting close to your hifi or have a laptop on your lap. The cable is replaceable and has a locking plug at the headpone end, and both phono plug sizes available at the other end. There is nothing to dislike about these headphone especially at the price.

These are good quality headphones producing sound that is as good as anything at this price, however... The headband is poorly designed as the supporting foam piece does not extend to follow the curvature of the band, but is too short and it "cuts" into the top of the head over a smaller surface area. This makes wearing them for prolonged period of time uncomfortable. Unlike this brand's higher tier Hi-X50 and above, which apparently have more ergonomic (wider and curvier) design of the headband foam support allowing for wider "touch point". Though I liked the sound and the quality of the craftmanship, I returned them for this reason alone. If this doesn't bother you then these could be a terrific purchase. They don't lack in the bass department (for me anyway, and it depends on what you're used to), there is decent and defined low-end extension and reasonable mids, but beware of sibilance which can become too prominent at times.

Siempre he sostenido que unos audífonos, unas bocinas en HiFi, deben ser escuchadas antes de comprar, a veces la papelería con datos técnicos, supone revelar una gran calidad, pero la verdad es que debes para no equivocarte, escucharlos funcionando. Todos tenemos diferentes cualidades y capacidades auditivas, para de ahí resolver con lo que más nos gusta, bajos fuertes o moderados, agudos intensos o descriptivos, medios igual. Pero insisto, tus oídos y tú gusto deben decidir. Así y con una simplesa básica, estos audífonos son excepcionales, equilibrados, descriptivos, espacios perceptibles, arrojan un sonido muy agradable. Para mí fue una casualidad dar con ellos, buscaba los AKG que son de una sobrada reputación, pero al descubrir estos, los adquirí junto con unos AKG, teniendo como referencia que los ingenieros de la planta original de AKG antes de que fuera adquirido por el grupo Herman Kardon, mantuvieron su fe en lo que habían creado y fundaron su propia empresa para producir estos bellos y extraordinarios audífonos. Yo los disfruto, para mí gusto auditivo y percepción musical, son una delicia, además de que juego usando unos y otros, pero estos son magníficos, no te van a desilusionar de ninguna manera

My 3 time Grammy-nominated recording artist wife, Claire Lynch, put these on and gave them the thumbs up straight out of the box, despite the less-than beefy construction she is used to. Claire found the volume to be far hotter her regular cans, but the highs and lows were almost as nicely balanced and articulate as her much more expensive Sennheisers, Shures, etc. The one thing she said was that the midrange was slightly scooped. I agree with her (partly because I know who makes the pecan pies around here) and I'd add that these cans have a gloriously deep sound stage, very dimensional. We'll have to see if they cut it for mixing. So far, great value for money from a new company that is an off-shoot of a big name, well-established Austrian manufacturer.

J'ai acheté ce casque pour remplacer un AKG qui avait largement fait son temps. Mon usage : montage audio, contrôle son mais aussi écoute de musiques de tous styles. Première impression : la boîte a belle allure avec un aspect satiné. La fermeture est originale. Ensuite, le contenu : casque, câble (court), adaptateur 3,5/6,3, housse et mode d'emploi. C'est carré et de belle facture. Après branchement du câble (attention, il faut d'abord l'insérer et ensuite le tourner un peu pour le verrouiller), premier essai avec différents morceaux. S'il fallait qualifier ma première impression en un seul mot : studio. Oui, c'est clairement un casque conçu pour le studio, moins pour la Hi-Fi, même si l'écoute est correcte après rodage. Le port est très agréable et sans réel défaut. Le casque est en effet confortable et les coussinets juste comme il faut. Ils englobent très bien les oreilles garantissant très peu de fuites sonores. L'ensemble est robuste et devrait très bien tenir dans le temps. Le son est très clair et détaillé, assez neutre, un rien métallique selon moi. Si vous aimez les casques au rendu lourd et coloré, l'Austrian Audio Hi-X15 n'est clairement pas fait pour vous. Mais si vous appréciez les écoutes détaillées sans dépenser des sommes folles, là vous êtes à la bonne adresse. J'ai mis 5 étoiles car ce casque offre ce qui est promis dans le descriptif. Pour la Hi-Fi, je pense qu'on peut trouver des modèles mieux adaptés.

Una cuffia chiusa che suona chiara, trasparente e dettagliata come una cuffia aperta, ma con tutte le comodità della cuffia chiusa. Avevo bisogno di una cuffia chiusa per la camera da letto perché l’AKG K702 (cuffia aperta) era rumorosa e disturbava la moglie. Con queste eccezionali Austrian Audio ho fatto felice la moglie e soprattutto ho reso spettacolari i miei ascolti in cuffia. Avevo provato in passato altre cuffie chiuse ma avevano tutte il problema di una scena chiusa e troppi bassi. Le Austrian Audio invece hanno bassi molto naturali e mai invadenti. Grazie Austrian Audio per queste cuffie

Comfortable, very neutral sound and easy to drive. Can still tune the EQ as needed to get desired sound, no issues from me a few months on