I visited the High End Munich audio show this week, and if you’ve ever been you’ll know there’s no hall more overwhelming than Halle 1. This is largely devoted to the ‘head-fi’ revolution, and is filled with assorted cans and earbuds connected to extremely fancy and powerful music players and amps.
I focused on sampling the new releases (because there’s no way to try everything), which included a range of prototypes and basically finished models. I’ve chosen the five that stuck with me most after all my demos, and written about why they live in my head even after they stopped pumping tunes into it.
You’ll notice that there are no in-ear monitors here, and no wireless headphones – that’s just the way the cookie crumbled this year. It was these competitors for the best over-ear headphones that I loved the most, so here they are.
1. Meze Audio 105 Silva
I gave these our ‘Best of High End Munich 2025’ award as my favorite headphones of the show (though it was a very close-run thing with the Moondrop cans below), so they had to be my number one here.
I’ve enjoyed Meze’s stuff for a long time, and these look set to be another favorite. They have an absolutely fantastic grip on the fine details on a song, using the excellent depth of their dynamic range to bring all the tiniest elements to life.
The background sounds in a track all come through here; from the click of a tongue on a woodwind reed to the resonance of a drum’s body, the 105 Silva feel capable of bringing it all out.
There’s truly resonant bass that helps underpin the power of acoustic instruments, as well as giving poppier tracks something really fun to play with. Their energy and instant response helps both gentler and harder music to express itself fully.
And it helps that their wood finish is beautiful, and they’re nice and comfortable. They won’t be cheap, but they won’t be silly money either – I can’t wait to hear more.
2. Moondrop Horizon
If we’d had more than five trophies to give out, I absolutely would’ve given these one of our Best In Show awards.
I had a great time listening to these open-back headphones, which have a new 50mm driver freshly developed by Moondrop, and which are designed to offer a really transparent, neutral sound profile.
They’re certainly the closest to that of everything I’ve featured in this piece, but they’re also so rhythmic and with such dynamic attack that they also have a case to be the most fun of everything I’ve chosen. They’re super sharp and responsive, yet also not aggressive, adding to their promise to be both revealing and flat.
You’re sacrificing weight in the low-end to get this kind of profile, and that’s a matter of taste – but given how strong their timing and musicality was, I didn’t mind that trade-off at all.
They’re also very light and comfortable – again, probably the most ‘wearable’ of all the headphones here, just about pipping the Meze to the post. I could have stood there for hours nodding my head to the assortment of Chinese music they had going. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know it, these headphones just carried me into it.
I should add, though, that I also found them to be the most ‘open’ of all the headphones here, letting the most sound in and out, so bear this in mind if you’re eyeing them up.
And you should be, because I think they’re really ones to watch – Moondrop told me they’ll probably cost in the €200-€300 range, and they could be a total steal at that price. The aim is to release them in 2025, but it’s not guaranteed.
3. Yamaha YH-C300
These closed-back headphones were a new prototype from Yamaha, though are planned for release in the form that I saw them – but they’re very much a ‘maybe’ to arrive in 2025, with a good chance of a 2026 launch.
These proved to be an interesting two-sided set of cans. With the first few songs I tried, I was immediately taken aback by the sheer dynamic kick of the bass. Anything pop or electronic gets just a huge amount of punch, and it really brought a smile to my face.
But on the other hand, with more gentle or acoustic stuff that isn’t asking for such bass kick, I found them surprisingly easy listening, and really light on their feet responding to dynamic change and complex instrumentation, and very musical.
In my time with them, I found them to be immense fun, and yet also easy to get into and chill with. A neat trick. They were notably light and comfortable too, despite being closed-back. I’m really looking forward to seeing these again when Yamaha is ready.
4. Spirit Torino Pulsar
Spirit has re-engineered its range for 2025, including refreshing the Pulsar, which originally launched a few years ago. Now, I just finished talking about a pair of headphones with an amazing bass kick, but now let’s move onto another level.
The scale of low-end power here is unlike almost anything I’ve heard before. Don’t think bassy like Beats used to be, where it’s crude and heavy. This is something else; that bass engine is a tuned-up car, this is a jumbo jet.
It’s not just bass that hits deep – really deep – but that also hits wide and far into the distance. It’s utterly enveloping, like a weighted blanket of low end pinning you down.
To balance it, they feel like they’re maybe a slightly more aggressive sound than you might expect for headphones that cost many thousands – suited for an active listen more than a relaxing lay back. The total effect is like the headphones equivalent of the Maxell advert, blowing the guy away in his chair.
Them being suited to lean-forward listening rather than a relaxing listen is probably best, given the weight and size of the headphones – you’ll absolutely know you’re wearing them the whole time, without doubt.
But my word, the sheer mortal grip of that bass is addictive, and they’re so alive. I’ll be thinking about these a lot. Expect to pay thousands for them, though.
5. Dan Clark Noire XO
The new open-back variation of the Dan Clark Noire X, which were only recently unveiled themselves, are less open-back than a lot of options (especially the Moondrop Horizon) and promise to give you a little more sound isolation than some options.
And they may have been a benefit to me, because even on the busy Munich show floor, I could hear that these thing deliver absolutely astounding levels of detail in the music.
There’s beautiful presentation of vocals and high frequencies, with transients that are sharp like a scalpel, but never harsh. Low-register tones are controlled with tight precision, and stand separate to the higher tones – everything feels like its own independent element in the mix, in the right way.
They’re so crisp, and so organized – they didn’t give me quite as much excitement as some of the other headphones here, but the way they revealed the tracks was truly impressive. They cost $1,299 / £1,299.
You might also like…
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F6SPQbFFqva6nTiiw2UfLE.jpg
Source link
