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The best open-back headphones under $500
By Brent Butterworth This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here. If a serious music lover who wanted to spend less than $500 were to ask us what open-back audiophile headphones to buy, we'd recommend the HiFiMan HE400S. This pair isn't cheap, yet it emerged as the favorite after our panel of audio professionals spent 60 hours evaluating 29 open-back and semi-open-back headphones—nearly every model available for less than $500. Among those, the HE400S headphones were the only ones that we all agreed deserved a high ranking.
Sennheiser intros ritzy IE 800 earphones and HDVD 800 amp, your wallet screams
You thought Sennheiser had already done enough to appease audiophiles this year at CES? Think again. The company has announced yet another new set of headphones with an amp to keep it warm at night, but the high-end wares come at a high-end price. The ceramic IE 800 buds (€599 or $787) offer a broad 5 - 46,000 Hz audio range in spite of their mere 7mm drivers, while stainless steel vents on the back supposedly "improve bass and airflow." If you need some extra juice and don't mind forking over the premium €1,499 ($1,973), the HDVD 800 headphone amp's shell is rocking anodized aluminum and a glass window for peering at the bantam circuitry within -- way over the top, but also, pretty amazing. It supports 24-bit 192kHz sources and is engineered for ideal synergy with Senn's HD 800, HD 700, HD 650 and HD 600. Both should hit the shelves by summer of this year.
Diamond Multimedia puts its spin on ATI's HD 600 / HD 650 TV Wonders
Yeah, ATI's 600 / 650 TV Wonders have been around the block a time or two before, but it looks like Diamond Multimedia has chosen today to unveil its versions of the aforementioned products. Available now all across the web, the firm is cranking out seven models between the two flavors, and as expected, each supports ATSC / NTSC, while just a few play nice with Clear-QAM. So far as we can tell, you'll receive the exact same kit with a snazzy Diamond badge, but we suppose there's nothing wrong with that, eh?
