Headphones: Headsonic Australia, Higher Fidelity, Lower Prices!

I am journeying to Hong Kong for a holiday, and while I will continue to accept orders in the time I am away, all orders will be filled on my return.

Gotta love discount tickets!

Audio Technica have just released word of a new model of ANC7, creatively titled the ANC7b. Featuring the same frequency response specification as the old pair, I suspect that the new pair will either be an electronics upgrade (the original had issues with electronic noise from external sources, in particular GSM phones), or this could also be merely a cosmetic refresh. Either way, Headsonic will be bringing it to you soon!

I recently went to Japan for a 2 week vacation. Among all the other weird and wonderful treasures over there was the Laox audio store in Akihabara. The basement had a full selection of almost every high-end headphone currently sold in Japan. The only omission I could see was the Stax SR-007 MKII (Stax Omega 2, I believe) and the Denon AH-D7000, but I don’t think any commercial store can justify having either of those on public display. Aside from that, it was amazing to be able to test everything with the same reference disc on the same amplifier (I didn’t record it in the video but the amplifier was a 5 port Audio Technica model, I didn’t see the equipment they used to split the signal 10 ways though). The reference disc was a classical recording of some sort. I didn’t check the disc so I have no idea about which composer or orchestra. As a retailer, it truly saddens me that I neither have the sales nor the customer base to make a display like this feasible. I would enjoy nothing more than have people try out a range as extensive, and finding something they liked and enjoyed.

In terms of some impressions, it’s amazing what a complete lack of buyer’s remorse will do. Number one on the list of big disappointments were most of the cherry-wood headphones. Starting with the Victor DX700, I was amazed at just how murky these big wooden headphones sounded. It felt like everything was echoing inside the massive chamber on the way to my ear, and it was in no way pleasant or revealing. It was like sticking a speaker in a seashell. Much the same were the Audio Technica W1000s and W5000s. I don’t think that cherry wood or any lumber for that matter makes for a good headphone material, and these headphones just sacrificed too much in the name of looks to be worth considering, at any price. At least, with the Audio Technicas in comparison to the DX700s, the engineers seem to have identified the shortcomings of using wood, and tried to compensate for the boominess that the material brings. However, the end result sounded thin and unpleasant.

In fact, the only good wood headphone was the Denon D5000. I always struggle to write these lengthy reviews about good headphones, because a good headphone shouldn’t sound like anything. It should sound just like the music does, without any obvious accent or characteristic, apart from clarity. Yet, although the D5000s still felt slightly muffled from the closed construction, they sounded amazingly rich, for want of a better word. The symphony had this full-ness to it that I hadn’t heard in any headphones to that point, and it was incredibly pleasant. I haven’t heard this same rich-ness or full spectrum harmony, I guess you’d call it, in any other headphone to date, and now coming back to my open pairs, I now feel that this is something that they lack.

Yet there’s still the issue of wood construction, and the ridiculous price excise that it brings. Luckily, the the D2000s were just as astonishing. It took me many many tries to determine my favorite between the D2000 and D5000, attempting to disregard price as a factor. Surprisingly though, from the basis of an all plastic construction, I found the D2000s to be actually slightly better sounding than the D5000s. The characteristic of the sound for both pairs was almost identical. The difference lay in the soundstage. The D5000 is much more generously spaced than the D2000, with a sound that seems to echo from the depths of the headphone. The D2000 seems to have a much more immediate sense of space, with a sound that seems to originate much closer to your ear. Normally I advocate a wide soundstage, because I find high-end detail to sometimes be fatiguing. The high-end open Audio Technicas are a perfect case of this. Above the AD700, detail increases and the soundstage shrinks, and I’ve never been able to forget that I’m wearing them, and unconsciously find myself removing the headphones. However, because of the rich nature of the sound in the Denons, I actually found myself craving a more immediate soundstage, to hear an even fuller, more detailed sound from them, and the D2000s eventually became my preference.

Trying these Denons, closed headphones have suddenly become a legitimate choice by themselves in my eyes, as to this point I’ve always considered closed headphones to be borne of the constraints of ambient noise, as opposed to having a sound that’s actually desirable. The D2000s, in particular, are an amazing headphone, and one that represents real value for money at the high-end. I’m desperately going to try and get stock of them, because these are just too good not to sell.

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Akihabara, check out the basement of Laox, and try out some headphones. I’d love to hear of it.

Hello all,

Headsonic will be on holiday from the 24th of December to the 5th of Jan. During this time, we will be unable to ship orders, however purchases can be made as usual. All orders placed will ship on the 6th.

Wishing all our customers an excellent festive season, and best wishes for the new year.

The Headsonic Team

We expect plenty of Audio Technica ANC7’s to arrive within the week. However, only time will tell if it sees us through Christmas or not, so get in early!

The current market turmoil has severely weakened the Australian dollar against the USD, forcing a price increase on most pairs. We will be handing this with each product as we incur it at the wholesale level.

Most predictions consider the recent devaluation to be the result of panic and severe risk-aversion in financial markets, but unfortunately the steep increases in unemployment in the most recent statistics translate to further interest rate decreases. As such, it may be as long as 6 months to a year before the dollar returns to a favourable level. During this time, we may have less stock than normal on hand, so that we can take advantage of any change in the current rate as quickly as possible, and maintain our position as the best value retailer in the Australian market.

Once again, thank you for choosing Headsonic.

Cheers,

Dimitri

Headsonic will be away on vacation to Queensland’s sunny Gold Coast from Friday June 27nd to Tuesday July 15th 2008. During this time, emails will be replied to sporadically, and any orders submitted will be filled upon our return.

Thankyou once again for choosing Headsonic.
Dimitri Vasdekis

Valued customers,

AKG has recently announced their new headphone lineup, comprising of both a revamped line of studio headphones (K141, K171, K240 and K271) and 3 new models (K77, K99 and the new in-ear IP2).

Even more promising is the rumor of the new AKG K702, intended to replace the fantastic K701. While there has been no concrete news as yet, the K701 has now ceased production, and as a consequence of units becoming harder to get, we have stopped ordering from our US distributor. I believe the lack of an official announcement is due to AKG wishing to sell the little stock that remains of the K701 before the K702 is released, to avoid a desperate underpriced clearance of the remainders.

With the sales of the K701 recently passing an estimated 20,000 units, it makes little sense for the new K702 to be drastically different from the original. We suspect that AKG will address the comfort issues of the original K701 with the K702, and leave the rest of the headphone largely unchanged, as previous AKG product decisions have followed the very sensible option of not fixing what isn’t broken, even at the risk of selling some products well past their maturity.

At this stage, we expect stock of the K702 to arrive within one or two months, and to be priced at a similar level to the K701. We will not be taking preorders of the K702 until it is on its way to us.

Secondly, we would like to welcome Stephane to the Headsonic team. Stephane will be managing a complete upgrade of our website over the next month, and the end result should be truly world-class, with a web 2.0 style rating system and brand new discussion forum.

Thanks again for choosing Headsonic.

Dimitri Vasdekis
Director

Some of you may have noticed the many ‘Out of Stock’ icons on our website. Do not fear, we’re not going out of business, just moving to a new, larger location on Brisbane’s North Side. We’re also changing the way we do business, and from now onwards all our stock is located in our Brisbane warehouse, ready for shipping within 24 hours. I’d also like to thank our loyal customers for staying with us during the occasional shipping delays we’re experiencing as we move. The move should be complete by the 1st of February, at which point we’ll be able to ship faster than ever. We’re also taking this time to completely overhaul our web site, adding new features like a forum and automated tracking, so with a click of a button on your account page you can see exactly where your purchase is.

Thanks again for getting Headsonic.

Dimitri Vasdekis
Director
23rd January 2007