- FiiO just unveiled retro-style on-ear mini headphones
- But with LDAC and volume/skip knobs on the earpieces, they’re also modern
- …and at just $29.99 / £32.99, I just want their extra time and their… kiss!
Look, if you’re not channeling Julia Roberts singing Prince from Richard Gere’s hotel bathtub in the movie Pretty Woman when you gaze upon FiiO’s late 80s-inspired headphones, do you even love music – or for that matter, movies?
Not content with transporting me back in time to 1960’s era Bond movies (with a Phantom flagship iFi DAC), it feels like every recent hi-fi release was designed with the sole aim of sending me into a world of analog – cassettes at the ready.
FiiO is continuing to blur the boundaries between classic design and modern audio engineering with what it’s calling the “FiiO EH11 Retro Bluetooth Mini Headphones”. Yes, that name is also bigger than the Blue Banana…
At first glance, the EH11 look absolute like the on-ears Vivian Ward plugged into a Walkman (which was precariously balanced on the edge of the Beverly Wilshire hotel bathtub) and wore to belt out the lyrics to Prince’s Kiss. But look a little closer, and their compact wooden ear cups set them apart.
Inspired by iconic on-ears they may be, but the design features transparent elements that reveal internal components, and those driver housings actually double as control knobs. FiiO tells me you can rotate them, adjust volume, or skip tracks. The aim, says FiiO, is to create “an experience influenced by vintage hi-fi gear while remaining portable”.
You don’t have to be beautiful, to turn me on…
…but it helps! Weighing just 92 grams, the EH11 are certainly ideal for portable listening.
FiiO tells me that the 40mm long-throw dynamic driver in the earpiece features “a high-damping composite diaphragm” to lower the resonant frequency to 60Hz and “enabling bass extension down to 17Hz”. Impressive.
The EH11 also feature a semi-open acoustic design, with ventilation ports and damping filters to reduce the pressure, thus hopefully avoiding that ‘closed-in’ typical of on-ear headphones can sometimes fall foul of.
And these headphones are not just here for the retro feel. The EH11 supports LDAC Bluetooth, for audio at up to 990 kbps when paired with compatible devices – and here FiiO would point you happily towards its fabulous JM21 hi-res player, which is now available with extra storage.
The EH11 battery – yes, these are wireless headphones – apparently offers up to 30 hours of playback on a single charge, and a full recharge takes approximately 90 minutes.
And we’re a long way from the 1980s when it comes to the feature-set too: integration with the FiiO Control App unlocks genre-specific sound profiles, custom EQ, low-latency gaming sound modes, and firmware updates.
Replaceable ear pads in two color sets are included for a spot of outfit matching, and they’re available now in transparent, off-white, burgundy, cyan, or transparent black finishes, priced just $29.99 / £32.99 (around AU$65).
That would make them easy candidates for our best cheap headphones guide if the sound matches the vibe – and let me tell you, reader (*closes eyes, sings) “I just want to test them baby… from dusk ’til dawn!”
The best noise cancelling headphones for all budgets
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
