Revolutionising headphone design based on the principle of particle motion, Flare Audio’s astounding earphone range promises mirror image sound, and according to the praise of some big name advocates, they might just have hit upon something long thought impossible – sound free of the natural distortion of the human ear.

Long believed to be an insurmountable problem, the natural distortion caused by the passage of sound through the human ear – the result of soundwaves bouncing around the ear canal – has been an issue which many have sought to rectify. Tackling the problem using conventional acoustical principles, research has failed to solve this seemingly ingrained issue with human listening.

Flare Audio, a company that first made its name with some innovative loudspeakers, made it their mission to reduce the 20% percent increase in distortion that the shape of our ears adds. With EarHD and Calmer, their extraordinary E-Prototype and the incoming EARS range, Flare have carefully crafted a design that not only delivers meticulous sound, but completely obliterates unwanted distortion.

The smart application of this new tech has changed the lives of those with hyper-sensitive ears, and promises much for both the consumer audio and pro audio world. We spoke to Flare’s co-founder and inventor Davies Roberts as well as fellow co-founder Naomi Roberts to learn more about the company’s journey…

AMI: Firstly, when was Flare Audio founded, and can you talk us through some of your initial innovations in loudspeakers?

Davies Roberts: Myself and Naomi co-founded Flare Audio in 2010. We had both worked in the PA and loudspeaker industry, and became aware that loudspeakers were significantly distorting sound. I realised that a signal chain should not be adding another resonance to whatever resonant instruments or voices that you’re listening to. So, that was the starting point of Flare. I soon realised that the approach I needed to take in order to understand what was going on was a thought experiment around particle vibrations. I don’t look at sound as a wave. I look at sound as a series of dots which are going backwards and forwards and being disrupted at different oscillations.

The dots interact and end up with this disturbance of particles emanating out in a sphere. We used that model in our approach to loudspeaker products and it led to a significant amount of breakthroughs.

It started with the structure. I started with the actual cabinet of the loudspeaker. If you imagine tinging a glass, it would resonate, but if I put my weight on top of the glass and try and ting it again, it won’t resonate. That’s because I’m applying a force in its direction. Our first patent was called ‘Space’ technology in 2012. This anti-resonance compression technology used plates that clamp a loudspeaker. You get the right clamping force, and the speaker resonates as one unit. That’s the holy grail of dampening.

The second challenge was to overcome the pressure problem. With a sealed box, it’s very difficult to compress the sound going in. All traditional loudspeakers have symmetrical distortion going on. I needed to let all the pressure out without releasing the sound. I started work on a pressure release exhaust technology called Vortex. It’s basically a load of vortices that go behind the driver, it pushes the particles around and exits in the opposite direction of their travel. It’s a bit like a tornado effect. This proved highly successful. We get 40dB attenuation through the vortices. They’re designed to disrupt the sound, spin it on its axis and remove any sound information. They were the two really exciting innovations we developed.

AMI: How did the company shift its focus into earphones, and what motivated you to make this switch?

DR: I was still fascinated by what was making the resulting sound subjective. Sounds shouldn’t be subjective once you remove the distortions. I started to wonder why. Back in 2018 I became aware of my actual ears distorting sounds differently, so certain things sounded different to what other people heard. After a bit of R&D we developed our first prototype which we called ‘Calmer’.

The way Calmer works is that it redirects the flow of sound within the ear canal. Particles typically bounce around until they hit the eardrum. There’s all this shell resonance going on. When you talk into a shell you can change the frequency of your voice, and we’re born with a similar type of natural effect based on how our ears are shaped. Everything we hear is distorted by around 20 percent. It’s called HRTF (head-related transfer function) and every single person is different. Everyone hears completely different levels of distortion.

What I recognised is that if I needed to remove a distortion from a space, then I just need to make sure I reflect something perfectly. Calmer goes inside the ear and instead of having the shell to reflect off, it has a flat surface. Directing sound to the eardrum accurately with no bouncing. We found that the result of this – particularly when tested in a space with a lot of sound information – was incredibly calming.

When we released Calmer that product flew off the shelves. We’re close to a million units sold now. It’s been life-changing for many people who suffer from hyper-acoustic issues, autism, and other issues with sound sensitivity.

Calmer got us established and gave us a platform. It proved we could get rid of this ear distortion. The next step was to begin work on an earphone. It’s incredibly complicated to design and invent, but when it comes to the science it’s incredibly simple. Because of the alignment of the (what essentially are) mirrors, if you’re a particle, your path-length is perfectly coming out of the output. The listener is getting a total mirror image of the origin sound. The trick is to ensure that every single impulse of sound (every up and down, backwards and forwards movement of a driver) is matched from the driver to the output.

That’s how this patent-pending technology works. Now we’re working with a crowdfunding campaign to create mass consumer variants of the E-Prototype. We want to span a range from £50 to £300. We want the same sound for both consumers and studio-based professionals.

AMI: The shape is so important, I guess it also becomes something of a visual trademark for the Flare Audio brand too. How big is the team?

DR: We’re pretty small. We’ve got a team of seventeen people but we’ve unlocked what the tech giants have been trying to unlock for decades. Apple has been trying to unlock HRTF for a long time. Inside the AirPod there’s microphones that attempt to pull-out these resonant frequencies. Whereas we’ve bypassed them by simple design.

I left school at fifteen with no qualifications. I approach things really simply. My approach has led me to realise that the received wisdom of the acoustic world is a load of rubbish. We’ve proved time and time again that taking that approach is never going to get advanced sound quality. I realised that impulse was the way. It’s been opening out before our eyes, and we’ve been able to develop these exciting technologies.

AMI: What elements do you hope to improve or enhance ahead of the mass roll-out?

DR: Because we’re a tiny firm, we don’t have millions of pounds of marketing budget. To manufacture just one of those earphone types costs us a lot of money. There’s a lot of work that has to go on. Our crowdfund campaign is currently running to build our funds. We’re taking the E-Protoype further with better drivers and proper silencing. Then we’re literally just sending off the tooling information for our supplier in London. We’re making them in the UK.

AMI: Are you pitching to a consumer audio base or wider pro audio/studio monitoring?

DR: We’re aiming these at everyone. The really exciting bit for us is getting producers listening to it. We’ve got a few high-profile advocates.

We’ve got Stephen Fry, we’ve got Neil Gaiman, Hot Chip, Liam Howlett. All these amazing people who don’t usually endorse products are really excited by the experience they’re getting with these earphones. Liam approached us, wanting to give us an endorsement. So, we’re getting the artist and producer community behind us.

It would be easy to sell this technology on, but we’re on a bit of a mission here at Flare. We’re really passionate about not just changing the sound world, but helping people with hearing issues. We didn’t start Flare to make money, it was all about trying to unlock technology and do something meaningful. When we started on this with loudspeakers it was the pursuit of sound quality. We had no idea at that time how much of an impact what we designed would have on people’s lives.

AMI: So, is that audio therapy strand something you want to further develop?

DR: Yeah, it’s growing. Every single human has got these issues with their ears, it’s just that some people are hyper-sensitive. You wouldn’t say that if you had really great eyesight that you had a disability, and that’s something we’re learning now. If you wear Calmer you can focus your ears. We’re working on that and bridging the gap between Calmer and this earphone technology. We’re working on how to make it even more relaxing.

We’re hoping to bridge the gap to enhance other, third-party headphones clearer too, using our product as an intermediary. There’s a lot going on for a tiny company, but we’re pursuing every avenue.

AMI: Can you talk us through how the very cool relationship with Tim Burgess and the Listening Party headphone came to pass?

Naomi: Well when you run your own company, you become tenacious and make connections where you can. I listen to 6 Music all the time.

We were listening to a Chris Hawkins show when he played a Rob da Bank megamix, an artist that we know. I did a tweet tagging people saying “Great to hear Rob da Bank’ on 6 Music”. Rob replied and said “Still use my earphones!”. Then Chris Hawkins himself started following us. So, I sent him some products.

Chris got in touch really enthused about our products, and offered a list of contacts that he could put us in touch with. Tim Burgess was on the list so thought we’d get him some stuff sent. Before long his people got in touch and asked us if we could make an earphone branded to reflect the Listening Party, which we agreed to. It had the little Tim badge on the side of each earphone. The Listening Party replaced music venues for a while during lockdown, so we decided to add a kickback to the Music Venue Trust on every pair sold. It was a really nice story, and allowed us to get involved with the wider story of music that year.

AMI: What’s next on the agenda for Flare Audio, and what are your plans for 2023?

DR: The earphone range is our next objective. We’ve got four models, E is ‘Everyday’, A is the ‘Active’ range, R is for Recording Engineers and S is for ’Superior’. We need to carry on with R&D to bridge the gap between Calmer and the earphones. We can innovate more products and technology that revolves around our ears. We want to nail the sound going into our ears so we can make other people’s headphones sound amazing.

Welcome to issue 7 of Audio Media International

The post Flare Audio: Revolutionising headphone design appeared first on Audio Media International.

Røde NTH-100: What is it?
The NTH-100 is Rode’s first foray into the world of headphones.

Røde NTH-100: What’s great?
Articulate, revealing and confident sound. Comfortable. Good-looking (in a rugged sort of way).

Røde NTH-100: What’s not?
Sonic balance won’t suit everyone. Shorter cable is somehow a cost option.

Røde NTH-100: The bottom line
If it’s insight into a recording you want, but not insight of the dry and analytical kind, these Røde could be just the ticket.

Røde NTH-100: Equipment
Rode is an Australian company (the ‘ø’ is a nod to the founding Freeman family’s Scandinavian heritage) – it was established in the 1960s and had its first successes with condenser microphones. Anyone with even a passing interest in professional audio and/or recording equipment knows exactly what Røde is capable of.

And it’s safe to say the company isn’t chasing any kind of modish area of the headphones market with the NTH-100 – this is a closed-back, hard-wired over-ear headphone of the sort that was popular back in the last century.

Røde NTH-100: Build quality
There’s nothing remarkable about the materials Røde has specified for the NTH-100 – sturdy, quite tactile plastic, some exposed and complex angled metal for the arms of the headband, and alcantara-covered memory foam where the headphones contact the wearer at the ears and the inside of the headband. And until you remind yourself the NTH-100 cost just £149, there seems nothing remarkable about the way they’re put together either – but once you keep the asking price in mind, the Røde seem disproportionately robust and well-made.

The black-on-black colour scheme is businesslike (or dour, depending on your point of view) – but you can spend a little extra on differently coloured headbands, earcups and cables if you want to jazz things up a little. And on the subject of cables, the NTH-100 are supplied with a 2.4m cable with a 3.5mm connector at one end and a ‘twist/lock’ version at the other – it’s a sensible length for those who want to use the headphones in a professional environment, especially as the cable can attach to either earcup. But the fact that a 1.2m alternative is a cost-option seems a bit mean.

At 350g the Rode aren’t the lightest headphones around, but they’re comfortable for extended listening sessions. This is thanks in part to the ‘CoolTech’ gel in the ear-cushions that prevents the pads returning your own body heat for an impressively long time. And they stay adjusted exactly as you like them using ‘FitLock’ – a physical headband-locking mechanism that’s a strong contender for a ‘so simple it’s brilliant’ award.

Røde NTH-100: Sound

Inside each earcup, Røde has fitted a 40mm full-range transducer with a claimed frequency response of 5Hz – 35kHz. You don’t need to spend long inside the NTH-100 to realise those numbers are entirely reasonable.

The Rode are an obsessively detailed, painstaking and thrillingly open listen. Their soundstage is so spacious you might be fooled into thinking you’re listening to open-backed headphones. They organise a recording with almost military precision, giving its every element enough space to express itself unhindered. Height, width and depth are described explicitly, too – but integration is impressive at the same time. It’s not easy to combine a sense of space with a feeling of unity and singularity, but the NTH-100 manage it almost casually.

Tonality is equally impressive. The company’s ‘pro’ heritage is obvious in the swift, controlled and unshowy way they hand over low-frequency information – and bass stuff is so well-behaved that the midrange has more than enough space to do its detailed, expressive and revealing thing. At the top end, too, there’s precision allied to bite – and, as everywhere else, prodigious detail levels.

Dynamic headroom for big volume changes is more than adequate, and the Rode pay proper attention to the more nuanced harmonic variations apparent in pretty much any piece of music too. Rhythms are expressed with absolute certainty, and the low-frequency rigour the NTH-100 demonstrate means tempos are always on the front foot too. Some listeners will undoubtedly find these headphones wanting when it comes to outright bass presence, but those who value realism over unnatural, overheated and overconfident low-end sounds will realise the Røde are giving them a complete, but uncoloured, picture.

Which is not to say the NTH-100 are in any way dispassionate, overly analytical or prissy. They understand full well that music is entertainment that’s meant to be engaged with rather than a puzzle that’s there to be solved.

Price and availability
The Røde NTH-100 are on sale now, and they’re priced at £149 per pair.

The post Røde NTH-100 Headphones Review appeared first on Audio Media International.

The German studio specialist Neumann.Berlin has announced the NDH 30 open-back headphone. Following the success of the award winning NDH 20, released in 2019, the NDH 30 is a reference-class studio headphone for the most demanding mixing and mastering applications in both stereo and immersive formats. The NDH 30 reproduces the linear sound image of a Neumann loudspeaker setup, perfectly calibrated via MA 1 Automatic Monitor Alignment, in a portable format.

While the NDH 30 retains the high-quality metal construction of the closed-back NDH 20, it is way more than just an open-back version. The entire acoustic system is a new design, including optimised and perfectly positioned dynamic drivers that rival the sonic resolution of planar magnetic transducers. Harmonic distortion is extremely low and, thanks to frequency selective absorbers, the NDH 30 has a remarkably even response across the entire audio spectrum.

“We wanted to create a headphone that is totally reliable and gives you the confidence you need to make the right decisions. The NDH 30 will tell you exactly if your bass is too loud or your vocal needs de-essing,” explains Portfolio Manager Sebastian Schmitz. “The spatial resolution, too, is outstanding because the drivers are made to extremely low tolerances. And because the NDH 30 comes with an internally balanced cable, which improves channel separation.”

Long term wearing comfort is excellent, of course, thanks to large, soft earpads. For easy transportation, the NDH 30 is foldable. The NDH 30 is thus a portable alternative to a Neumann KH line loudspeaker setup, offering full sound and mix compatibility.

At the same time, the NDH 30 is a reference in its own right for headphone compatibility, which is paramount for commercial success, given today’s listening habits. Its extraordinary spatial resolution also recommends the NDH 30 for creating binaural mixes of immersive content, including gaming and VR – rapidly growing markets.

“Neumann is quickly becoming the global reference in high-quality monitoring. From Oscar-awarded blockbuster filmscores to the most recent Grammy-winning ‘Best Immersive Audio Album’ – all mixed on Neumann monitors. Our customers have been asking for a similar reference when mixing for headphones. After all, headphones are becoming the dominant playback system among consumers – in particular for immersive sound. The NDH 30 is our answer to those demands,” summarises Neumann’s CEO Ralf Oehl.

Features:

• Linear sound, similar to a perfectly calibrated Neumann loudspeaker system
• High-resolution stereo panorama with precise localisation
• Transparent, detailed sound image, ideal for mixing & mastering
• Excellent wearing comfort, easy to transport

Available May 2022, list price €649/$649. More information here.

The post Neumann Expands its Headphone Portfolio with the Open-Back NDH 30 appeared first on Audio Media International.

While monitoring using speakers remains the norm in most commercial studios, many people opt to use headphones to conduct the most intricate of recording, mixing and mastering tasks instead. In this section of our new monitoring series, we’ll explore the benefits and drawbacks of both approaches, take a look at some of the industry’s favoured cans for deep monitoring, the issues of maintaining aural neutrality and which approach actually presents the more accurate picture of your audio.

The story doesn’t end with setting up your speakers. Even in the most precision-calibrated, acoustically treated and impressively equipped studios, you’ll typically find at least one pair of high quality headphones laying around. And, there’s good reason for that. Though studio monitors present a clear depiction of your track being played within a real-world acoustic space, professional monitoring headphones offer a much more immersive window on your mix environment.

While there are some exemplary examples of well-designed, precision cans for such purposes, there are a series of fundamental differences to be mindful of when selecting a pair of monitoring headphones. Firstly, and perhaps most crucially, you’ll need to not be swayed by those which colour, disguise or enhance your music. Fundamentally, studio headphones are to be used to pick apart the flaws of a mix, not obfuscate them.

Some people, however have more broader issues with mixing via ‘phones. “Headphones can offer an unnaturally wide stereo image because the audio reaching the left ear is isolated from the right – and this is not how we hear things normally.” Explains PreSonus’s Director of Marketing, Wesley DeVore, “Compare this to a well-positioned mixing environment with speakers, where the two studio monitors are equidistant from each other and from the listener, as well as toed-in correctly. While the majority of the signal from the left side is directed at the left ear, there is a certain amount of bleed that reaches the right ear and vice versa. This makes it easier to create a more natural-sounding mix and properly position pans and levels.”

Another naysayer, KRK’s David Bower, points towards a fairly common drawback of long mixing sessions sporting headphones, “Typically, one can mix for a longer period of time using monitors. Headphones tend to cause ear fatigue to set in much earlier.”

Others however, point to some of the benefits of headphone mixing over monitoring, while DeVore’s stance on the unnaturally wide stereo image holds weight, using headphones can grant more clarity on those constituent mix elements and frequencies that may be conflicting in harder to discern ways. Adjusting the presence of a vocal, a guitar or a synth that occupies similar midrange frequency space can be done at a much subtler, incremental level than trying to scan the details using your studio monitors. KRK’s David Bower concedes that headphones have their place in this regard, “Headphones can and should be used to help hear and correct for minute details like distortions or interference of multiple instruments being played simultaneously in the same frequency band.” Bower explains.

PRECISION HEADPHONES

It’s typically advised then, that headphone mixing should be seen as more of a precision tool, and less as a holistic route to understanding how our mix – as a whole – is coming together. But, we’re making a lot of assumptions here. Firstly, it’s not always logistically or financially convenient to establish a peerless monitoring setup in your home or pro studio space. Monitors need to kick out some serious sound to really present an accurate take on our mix, something that headphones can do with minimal fuss – and minimal neighbour-irritating noise.

“The most critical part of mixing via speakers is, that you need a room which is acoustically treated.” Explains Beyerdynamic’s Senior Signal Processing Engineer, Dr. Simon Grimm, “Without proper acoustic treatment, you are not able to judge your audio material correctly and this can lead to bad mixing decisions. This is especially true for the low frequencies, where an acoustically bad room shows resonances/modes which alter your frequency response heavily.”

Grimm continues, “We think headphones can be indeed a very accurate monitoring tool. The amount of detail you get from hearing with headphones is unsurpassed. This allows you to perform editing tasks like listening for hum or hiss on audio files, check for pops and clicks, etc. And let’s not forget, that monitoring with headphones is independent of the acoustical properties of your room.”

So for those choosing to mix with headphones out of necessity, what are some of the biggest pitfalls to avoid? Well, a major drawback with even the most well-designed of reference-grade headphones is the lack of presence in those rumbly, sub bass frequencies. While monitors have dedicated woofers, to represent the low end with the most spine-shaking accuracy, headphones are often incapable of matching up. Even if your sub bass frequencies are intact in the mix, the lack of the true feeling of resonant low end can result in producers earnestly boosting those harder to perceive low frequencies, ultimately leading to bass overload once played back on a decent set of speakers. So watch out!

One such headphone maker who is keenly aware of the need for bass support is Audio Technica. Alex Lepges, Technical Director of Audio Technica, explains to us that his company have utilised proprietary 45mm drivers in many of their headphones, including the acclaimed M50x. These help to provide a balanced response, and extend low enough into the bass frequencies to give a useful sense of weight, that might be missing from other headphone designs.

Lepges continues to evangelise about headphone monitoring, “The biggest obvious drawback with monitoring speakers is that they’re not usable on the move!” Explains Alex, “These days if you’re creating mixes while actually travelling – on planes or public transport – as a lot of our users tell us they are, then headphones are the *only* option. And we strive to deliver as high quality, reliable an option as we possibly can. Next to this there is the transient response of a headphone which – when well designed – can be superior to a speaker setup. This allows you to really ‘zoom in’ on some sound artefacts that you might find in your final mix when several channels start to modulate with each other. The ATH-M70x is a good example of such a headphone which gives you a level of detail that helps the operator to really focus on the details.”

IF IT BLEEDS…

The levels of background bleed your headphones allow through is also a factor to consider when purchasing professional studio headphones. There are two main types of headphone, each has their own pros and respective cons when compared to the other. Open backed headphones allow air to ventilate through the ear pads from behind the speaker driver – this presents are more realistic depiction of how your mix is sounding. Letting external sounds interact with your mix is therefore much like listening to monitors in a live studio room. Open backed headphones are great for hearing a much more expansive, and airier sounding mix. Some excellent open-backed monitoring headphone solutions include Focal’s sublime Listen Professional, Audio Technica’s ATH-R70x and Beyerdynamic’s admired DT 900 Pro X.

Closed-back headphones, in contrast, are totally sealed, and therefore completely isolate your mix. This is useful if you’re trying to mix in an environment that isn’t tailored for deep listening, or requires more sharper-focused mix-correcting, for which external room bleed would muddy the waters. While both headphone types have their advantages, its recommended that you go with open-backed ‘phones for general purpose mixing, as it presents a vastly more accurate soundstage than a sharply focused tightness of closed-back cans. But, for those moments when you need to drill deeper and unpick your mix, Closed-backs are the way to go.

Among the most admired monitoring headphones in the industry, sit the aforementioned likes of Beyerdynamic’s DT 1990, Sennheiser’s HD 300 PRO and, more recently Austrian Audio’s Hi-X series. Specifically focused on creating affordable, yet remarkably accurate monitoring headphones, Austrian Audio’s wares include the likes of the Hi-X60 closed-back, over-ear headphones. With audio drivers delivering full spectrum audio between the frequency ranges of 5 Hz and 28 kHz – exceeding the human hearing range. Headphones like these also deliver distortion free sound reproduction, and emphasise comfort for prolonged mixing periods.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR HEADPHONES

Certain headphones, such as the likes of the remarkable HEDDphone from HEDD Audio have been carefully modified to excel at their primary function – digging into a mix. “Some basics remain true” explains HEDD’s CEO, Dr Frederik Knop, tells us, “By blending out the room and potentially problematic acoustics, headphones will on a very basic level give you a more microscopic insight into the details of any mix, letting you discover tiny issues such as clicks, resonances, and/or editing mistakes. They also make it easier to precisely shape sub bass material, which is essential for a lot of contemporary musical styles. Monitors on the other hand are crucial to optimise the audio’s translation into all sorts of common listening environments. They add feel and body to the process of making music. That being said, with the rise of technically more sophisticated, especially open-back headphones and the fact, that more producers and engineers are interested in mobile production and mixing setups, there seems to be a new industry zeitgeist. The Air Motion Transformer based HEDDphone is designed to be much more than a simple problem detector –  it is a tool to professionally produce, mix, and master.”

So, if you’re thinking of sticking with headphones as your primary mixing tools, then heed the words of Beyerdynamic’s Dr Simon Grimm and Acoustic Engineer Sebastian Haberzettl, who stress the importance of getting to know your headphones as intimately as possible; “Get to know the sound signature of the headphone very well. If the headphones have a slight elevated treble or bass response you have to consider this when mixing with these pair of headphones. You may occasionally cross-check your intermediate mix with some reference tracks you know very well and, if possible, cross check your mix on a pair of studio monitors to better get to know the differences. Also check your mix using dedicated cross-feed plugins, which can help you make better mixing decisions on your headphones.”

“Get to know them. That’s absolutely the best advice I have” reiterates Alex Lepges of Audio Technica. “It would be the same advice for any monitoring speakers too. Listen to LOTS of music through them, mix with them, then see how your mixes translate elsewhere. Only by spending time with headphones can you really understand them and get an intuitive feel for how to mix with them. And maybe find one very detailed closed back headphone to drill into the details of the mix and then an open back headphone (like our R70x) for the extended mastering session where the focus is more on the overall soundscape.”

Read parts 1 and 3 here.

The post How to Set Up A Studio: Part 2 – Headphones Vs Cones appeared first on Audio Media International.

French pro audio specialist Focal has introduced its new Clear Mg Professional range of headphones for producers and engineers.

Building on the company’s first Clear Professional headphones, which incorporated 15/8″ (40mm) full range speaker drivers with Aluminium/Magnesium ‘M’-shaped inverted domes, Focal’s new Clear Mg Professional line is four years in the making and utilises the same speaker drivers but in Magnesium. The new cone, combined with the frameless 1″ (25mm)-diameter and 1/4″ (5.5mm)- high copper voice coil, is designed to deliver optimised balance and precision. 

The open grille inside the ear cup extends the high frequencies and follows the ‘M’ profile of the cone more closely to help eliminate adverse effects. A 24kHz break-up ensures high frequencies are linear and that transient signals are respected.

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Additionally, the Focal Clear Mg Professional set comes complete with two cables to ensure compatibility with all consoles, audio interfaces and laptops. 

The Focal Clear MG Professional will begin shipping in February 2021, priced at £1,299.00 / $1,490.00

“The lack of trade shows hurt us”
Read the Audio Media International partner plan.

The post Focal introduces Clear Mg Professional headphones for studio pros appeared first on Audio Media International.

Are the HD 300 PROs from Sennheiser worth an upgrade from your current cans? Music technology lecturer and author Stephen Bennett delivers the Audio Media International verdict…

What is it?
The HD 300 PRO headphones are designed to meet the needs of studio. live and broadcast engineers who require ambient noise isolation.

What’s great?
Excellent acoustic isolation for their weight. Superb, detailed sound. Replaceable cable and other parts.

What’s not?
The cable is a tad short.

The bottom line:
The HD 300 PRO headphones from Sennheiser continue the company’s tradition of producing high-quality headphones for studio, live or broadcasting use.

Headphones used to be used mostly for recording or to check those little annoying noises that leak into even the most carefully treated studios. However, as engineers have fled these bespoke spaces for home-based environments, headphones have become important tools in both mixing and mastering, as well as becoming the preferred ‘listening environment’ for consumers. Sennheiser have a long and impressive history in headphone design and it’d be surprising to find a professional facility without a pair of venerable HD 650 ‘phones hanging off a microphone stand. While open backed headphones are usually more comfortable in use, when you’re working in less than desirable environments, you’ll need to suppress ambient noise— which is where something like the HD 300 PRO comes in.

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Build quality
As you might, expect, the HD 300 PRO ‘phones are extremely well built. I’ve had issues with headphones with captive cables in the past, so it’s great to see that the Sennheiser’s have a replaceable, albeit quite short, cable with a neat little coil near the earpiece which works well in supressing mechanical cable noise. Another issue that has plagued me is broken ‘Alice bands’— the part that stretches over the head and keeps the transducers in place. The HD 300 PRO feel extremely durable and should prove more than adequate for the applications they are designed for. Sennhesier say that the ‘phones feature ‘completely field replaceable’ components— which is excellent news as, once you find your ‘perfect’ pair of headphones, they’re likely to live with you for a long time! Sennheiser’s ‘circumaural—or ‘around the ears’—viscoelastic earpads’ fit nicely over the lugholes and do not feel too weighty—coming in at just a tad under 300g—compared with the 350g of my Beyer Dynamic closed-back DT100 and the 250g of my open-backed HD 650.

Sound
As expected, the HD 300 PRO sound, when used with my Metric Halo ULN-2 interface, was detailed with low distortion, even at high volumes. Of course, all headphones suffer from a lack of stereo crosstalk, but software tools such as Sonarworks’ Reference and Wave’s Abbey road are getting better and better at simulating the acoustic effects of studio monitors and work well here. The Sennheiser’s offer around 32dB of ambient noise attenuation (compared with @20dB for the DT100) which is impressive for their weight. The HD 300 PRO sound quite different to my HD 650s, but appear a lot more balanced across the frequency range. My Bayer DT100 again provide a different sonic character to the HD 300 PRO, but also make me feel more isolated from the surroundings without an appreciable difference in acoustic isolation.

Daily use
The HD 300 PRO ‘phones were a joy to use and fitted my head very well indeed. They don’t weigh on the ear like many closed-back phones but are just as likely to make you jump when someone taps you on the shoulder. I actually prefer these headphones to my go-to HD 650 and Beyer Dynamic DT990, as the suppression of ambient sounds allows me to focus in on the audio. I used them for some dialogue recording for a film and, in this application, the ambient noise suppression was extremely useful to help me understand what was being captured through the microphone and what might be leaking in from the set.

The verdict:
When you think of it, headphones are a bargain compared to studio monitors and a properly treated studio. In the past, they’ve been a kind of poor cousin, but with advances in both headphone design and new digital tools, it’s not impossible to find work that was recorded, mixed and mastered on something like the HD 300. Sennheiser also produce a version of these headphones— the HD 300 PROtect—with a switchable ‘Active Gard’ hearing protection feature that the company say satisfies international directives on industrial safety and noise control. If you spend long hours in the studio using headphones, a pair of these might just save your precious hearing.

HD 300 PRO:
Available now – £179, $242

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The post REVIEW: Sennheiser HD 300 PRO headphones appeared first on Audio Media International.

Audio-Technica is enabling fans to choose the next colour of its limited-edition wired and wireless ATH-M50x professional monitor headphones.

Between now and  25th December 2020, A-T fans and end users have the chance to choose between four colour pattern styles: Lantern Glow, Harajuku Pop, Midnight Jam or Dark Roast.

Voting has started, and you can select your pick now at https://www.audio-technica.co.jp/M50xVote/ 

Those that vote will also be entered into a prize draw for a set of wireless ATH-M50x headphones.

As Audio-Technica’s best-selling headphones, the ATH-M50s have developed a dedicated following over the past 13 years, often hailed as “must-have” equipment by the world’s top engineers and producers, as well as streamers, YouTubers and artists.

The winning colour – along with the winners of the competition – will be announced on 8th January 2021, with the chosen limited-edition style released Summer 2021.

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Sennheiser has unveiled a new special edition of its HD 25 monitoring and DJ headphones. 

The new special edition HD 25 BLUE headphones are now available and feature blue earpads.  

The HD 25 line has long been a staple among DJs and audio engineers, and is also used in applications such as outdoor broadcast and professional monitoring.

The special edition is limited to 30,000 units and come with a straight cable and screw-on adapter to 1/4” (6.3mm) jack.

Earlier this month, Sennheiser also released its new MD 435 vocal mic, which has been built to offer the performance of Sennhesier’s MD 9235 capsule to a wired vocal microphone.

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The October issue of Audio Media International is now available to read online.

In this issue, Jerry Ibbotson investigates the world of Audio-over-IP to see how many big players in pro audio are taking advantage of emerging protocols to streamline their workflows.

Meanwhile we hear from Orfeas Boteas, CEO of Krotos, about the company’s experience in creating advanced vocal processing tools, and Colby Ramsey speaks to Now Press Play about how the platform is being combined with wireless headphone technology to improve access to learning in schools.

In the latest Tech Talk, Audio-Technica’s Alex Lepges offers his thoughts on the latest developments in the professional headphones market, while this month’s reviews section features products from the likes of SSL, Amadeus, IsoAcoustics and more. And don’t forget to check out our two great Opinion pieces for October: “Voice tech is the future, but it faces challenges”, and “Mixing for a rapidly growing Dolby Atmos world.”

Read all this and more in the October issue of AMI here.

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Audio-Technica’s Marketing Director, Alex Lepges, offers his thoughts on the latest developments in the professional headphones market…

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What kind of trends are you seeing at the moment?

In the pro domain, headphones are being used for many different applications. There’s those for general studio mixing purposes – here we’re not seeing too much of a shift in terms of technological trends, other than on the immersive side, which I’ll come to later. Another application we’re seeing is truly wireless headphones for intercommunication. The referees for professional football have the small ones from Intricon, which is basically a wireless receiver in an earpiece, but for long distances. This is something that is very specialised.

We’re also seeing some headphones dedicated to immersive audio. Beyerdynamic released a headphone a few years ago which had a sensor on the top which panned the audio when the user moved their head, which is a rather interesting one.

What do you think companies can do to maintain their competitiveness in this area?

Immersive formats is where audio is really going. The Broadcast Union decided that 5.1.4 should be the next format, so four speakers on the top for 3D sound, two at the front and two at the rear. Having this on headphones with two ear cups is a problem of course, but there are processors from companies like KLANG which could play a role in immersive 3D formats like this. They all rely on what we had in the good old days which is phase information. It comes down to time domain audio quality, something which most people don’t look into too critically. There’s a frequency response curve which could be analysed however this doesn’t make much sense on headphones because they pretty much rely on how the user’s head and ears are shaped.

I think being accurate in the time domain is the key to future success when it comes to the pro sector, and manufacturers need to make sure they’re maintaining an accurate transient response in their headphone technologies. The M50x which we’ve had on the market for a few years does this very well, and many have described it as a very precise headphone with an accurate frequency response. The same goes for the M60 and M70s, the latter being highly accurate for critical mixing and listening purposes.

To what extent do headphones have an important role to play when it comes to mixing for immersive formats, and what technologies has Audio-Technica most recently been developing?

It has become clear that the headphone technology needs to get even more precise if it is to ably serve immersive audio formats. Audio-Technica has come up with some new technologies which are currently being used on the consumer side of the headphone business. This is a direct digital drive, which basically means we’re skipping the D/A conversion in the headphones in order to power the headphone drivers with digital controls. We do this by not using a volume over time logic, but with a velocity approach. We measure how much the amplitude changes from one sample to the next, and move the diaphragm forward or backwards depending on the velocity value.

The digital drive gets rid of all distortion that could come from the amplifier, because we’re just driving speed forward or backwards. The outcome of this means we get a very precise headphone that eliminates the distortion factors that a traditional approach would have. It is an active headphone by itself because it requires the energy to come from the inside, however this might make it a little less pleasing to the professional user, so there is still some work to do. In terms of digital, some of the infrastructure is not yet clear and I’m not 100 per cent certain where that journey will go. We certainly have the technology in our hands – we just need to see where we can utilise it.

How do you expect the technology to evolve further in the future?

Getting rid of the headphone amplifier is something that could prove to be an interesting approach, because it’s kind of a bottleneck and you’re always relying on someone else’s technology. Digital consoles need to be more flexible with their outputs so that they can work with digital headphones in a more streamlined way. However – as I said in our last Tech Talk discussion about wireless – as long as our ears are analogue, then analogue is the future. Headphones need to sound good, and to take advantage of immersive tools we just need to make certain we’re accurate in the time domain, and as long as we can maintain that, maybe there’s no need to go digital and over-complicate things.

It’s a tricky field because it comes down to something that is very well established already. Headphone technologies have been around for a while and there’s not really been many major changes besides Bluetooth and other transmission technologies between devices. I think we’ll soon see a proper digital headphone interface come to life, but without sounding too conservative, on the pro side I don’t think there’s much that needs to change!

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