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In terms of staging, the Hi-X60 is more open than the Hi-X55, whereas the Hi-X60 is marginally wider and deeper. Although the Hi-X55 has a respectable staging, listening to the two side by side made the Hi-X55 flat and constrained.
My first impression of the X55 is quite similar to yours. I found the headphones very detailed (but not overly etched) and I found them quite unpleasant to listen to. In fact, when I first tested it along with the X50 and X65, I liked the other 2 more.
Customer Reviews
What I now notice after a longer period of intensive listening is that the Hi-X65 sits almost perfectly on the head, you don't even notice that you have headphones on, despite a long listening session! Its weight is low, the pads are soft, cuddly and you hardly notice them.
Hi-X55 - pads are comfortable, but over 300g is a bit heavy for long listening session. had to take a break or keep adjusting position after couple of hours. placed the dekoni nuggets on the plastic parts on the sides I was surprised that the two headphones sound so similar, but the Hi-X55 just felt more natural in the way it presents the decays in percussive hits. I can say that both headphones have their own strengths, but I’m impressed at how the Hi-X55 overcame the perceived weaknesses of a dynamic driver design and caught up with a planar driver’s speed.The earcups themselves are quite long and narrow, and offer a good but not exceptional level of isolation from external sound. I found them fairly comfortable apart from a slight tendency to exert pressure at the base of the ear. LCD-1 - fast cleaner/tighter, more energy (it's bass light compare to other headphones like M50x, but among them i think LCD 1 got better as planar) The vocal range on the Hi-X60 is a bit recessed, wherein vocals are a bit farther behind but not too behind that it is overpowered by other elements. It still commands its presence without feeling drowned out. Although the vocals do not sit in the front, detail retrieval is still above average, with an acceptable amount of articulation of vocal textures of male and female vocals. The midrange is clean and clear with adequate ear gain but the tonality is on the thin and clinical side when it comes to vocals, whether that is a good thing for its intended purpose is beyond my scope of answering. At this price, there’s little to criticise when it comes to dynamic expression and low-frequency punch either. The Hi-X50 simply get on with the job with little fuss. They sound a little forward, and are more direct and less spacious compared with the over-ear Hi-X55, but beyond that the two share pretty much the same sonic signature, as would be expected by the similarity of design. Verdict
However, where the cheaper Audio Technica pair excels largely in the width of the sound, the Austrian Audio Hi-X55 go a step further, with far better soundstage depth. Treble is far less volatile too. The Hi-X60 features a proprietary 44m high excursion driver, which has a class ring magnet, the strongest of its class, attached to the system. As for clamping force, these are tight and, for some, potentially too tight. The pressure is enough to ensure a stable and secure fit so your headphones won’t slide about. This tighter grip also provides a tight seal for maximum isolation. Despite the tighter grip, the padding combination makes for a comfortable listening experience over longer sessions. Like others have said, they are remarkably source dependent. My go-to is the Walkman ZX507 which, as most people know, does not have much power to give. Fortunately, these are easy to drive headphones so the Walkman does do it. That said, I did run these on my iFi Hip DAC with and without XBass. I also ran these on my FiiO Q3 with its very clean sound signature. What I've found is that the more power you throw at these, the better they sound. Others are right as well, pairing them with a smoother/warmer sounding DAC/amp improved overall sound signature. LCD-1 - all plastic, metal headband inside of the plastic, genuine leather pads, it makes squeaky noise when moving jaw
Austrian Audio Hi-X55 Specifications
With their wealth of experience from their work in AKG, the team behind Austrian Audio just hit the ground running. They have produced microphones and 2 headphones, the on-ear Hi-X50, and now the over-ear version Hi-X55. I was also happy with how it sounds with my Hiby R3 Pro. However, I needed to almost max out my R3 Pro for the Hi-X55 to sound its best. In general, the Hi-X55 will need a nice detailed source to make it sound its best.
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