Often, when I attend elite, high-end audio-slash-hi-fi shows, I find my mind wandering to the dwellings I could have owned – you know, if I’d ever really made it. The loft apartment in Manhattan with an excellent vinyl storage system; the little place nobody knows about up in the hills in Asturias, Northern Spain; the cottage in Cornwall where I’d keep my surf board. I find myself mentally kitting out all of these imaginary properties with glorious tower speakers, mono-block valve amps and alien-like turntables. And then I sigh a big world-weary sigh. Because look, it’s never going to happen, is it?
But I feel differently at the Paris Audio Show. Here, for the first time at such an event, I realize I don’t need these things. And it’s not because those huge towers, massive chunks of VU-meter and tube-toting metallic power and otherworldly spherical speakers are not here to covet – au contraire. No, it’s because I remember that I used to live here in Porte Maillot, not 20 steps from the Palais des Congres where the Paris Audio Show is held, and that I once danced in a world-famous Parisian cabaret (which I’m not allowed to name due to lifelong contractual obligation – but please know that I was a soloist, dearest reader).
Why am I telling you all of this? Because not two days after receiving my first paycheck on that gig, one of the nails on the wall of my tiny seventh-floor apartment on Rue de Dardanelles became home to the most expensive set of headphones I could afford – which is a big thing, because said apartment was far too small for a wardrobe, so someone had resorted to hammering five large nails into the far wall, on which to hang clothes. And yet, when taking the Metro the next day with my cans over my ears, I felt that I had made it.
While stalking through the halls of the Paris Audio Show on October 25, I gesture to a huge set of electrostatic speakers and quip to one of the attendees: “No apartment in Paris is big enough for these things surely?” He laughs: “Mine certainly isn’t.” D’accord, monsieur, d’accord. But even in my tiny place in Porte Maillot, I managed to find a dedicated place for a set of headphones that made me feel like a queen.
So let’s look at four pairs of excellent new headphones that would’ve surely made my list, if 2011 were actually 2025. I got to hear them all at the show, and while no entry in this missive should be considered a review (I had only around 10 minutes with each), I’m prepared to pin my colors to the mast and provide some initial thoughts. What can I say? Paris makes me like this – it makes me feel young.
And believe me when I tell you that bounding around a new city wearing some of the best over-ear headphones you can afford? That’ll make you feel like you made it.
1. Yamaha YH-C3000
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The closed-back YH-C3000 were announced in September alongside an open-back counterpart (scroll down if you clocked them in the main image of this piece and only want those, friend) and the drivers here are triple-layer diaphragms made of Zylon, otherwise known as the same material that Yamaha uses in its flagship speaker drivers.
Said drive units are ventilated at the back and include a patented Y-shaped reinforced mesh damper. The housings are made from a beech wood similar to that used in Yamaha’s grand pianos – mine are a deep and delicious brown. Being both lightweight and rigid, beech supposedly results in a more natural, precise sound.
What to expect: silent extension mechanism, comfort and a clear, precise listen through the upper mids and trebles. I found them capable of revealing extra texture through the intakes of breath in Jean le Loup’s full-bodied Je Joue de la Guitare (a decent Flac file streamed on Qobuz, but direct from a Galaxy Tab A7 Lite with no further amplification). Is it approaching an open-back headphone experience in a closed-back design? I’d need a lot more time, but the expansive presentation and layered delivery is not too far off – and even at $1,699 (about £1,256 / AU$2,574 before taxes) they feel worth it when they’re sitting on my head. If you take nothing else away from this missive, I’d like you to try these headphones. Please.
2. Meze Audio 99 Classics (2nd Generation)
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Romanian high-end audio brand Meze Audio is celebrating 10 years of its most iconic creation, the 99 Classics, with a renewed second-generation model (sensibly called the 99 Classic 2nd Generation) which only launched on October 29. But here I am, trying them out alongside their older brother.
First introduced in 2015, the 99 Classics became something of an industry favorite owing to their warm, expressive sound at not too much money. And for Meze, 10 years requires “10 meaningful refinements” to produce a new set that retains the signature walnut wood aesthetic while introducing what Meze Audio calls a “balanced, more neutral tuning”, improved acoustic engineering, a USB-C DAC/amp and fully recyclable packaging. Not too shabby for $349 / £349 / €349 (or around AU$715), eh?
What to expect: larger, cosier ear cups and bigger, 7mm-diameter input sockets. The unvarnished quality of the wood is extremely tactile and the cast zinc hardware with deep gold accents plus vegan leather makes for a build that feels more expensive than it is. The new ear pad system (with six-point clip-in for consistency and easy replacement) is also a nice touch. Sonically, where the first-generation pair featured a V-shaped sound signature (where trebles and lower frequencies are slightly augmented for fun and emotion) this new set is all about neutrality, expanse and faithfulness to original recordings. Now, what you like is what you like – and V-shaped sonic recipes have proven very popular to the human ear – but once you know the sound signature is being toyed with slightly, you may feel as if you’d like to hear it unaltered. And these headphones emphatically do that.
3. Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000
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We covered the launch of these huge headphones from the Japanese cartridge, headphone and turntable specialist just three days ago – they’re that new – so if you want a more thorough appraisal of their innards, we’ve got that. But for now, know that they’re the company’s most high-end open-backs ever, with newly developed HXDT 58mm drivers (yes, 58mm), a honeycomb aluminum and magnesium alloy construction and – I’ll just blurt it out – a $3,499 (about £2,600 / AU$5,400) price tag.
Somewhat upsettingly, I did not get a decent picture of my (relatively small) head wearing these large headphones, and as you can probably imagine the ATH-ADX7000 were quite the belle of the ball at the Paris Audio Show, so my time with them was a little limited. So, please accept this picture of my colleague Kob, as an idea of how formidable and, hang it all, impressive they look when worn.
What to expect: luckily, I got to listen to the set wired up to Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl (always good to listen to albums you know and love, when gleaning the initial sound of a set of cans) and was nearly brought to tears by Time – and not just because it was one of my mom’s favorites. The chimes, tick-tocks and bells were crystal clear like sonic articles to be pulled down from a shelf; the electric bass was even inkier and more foreboding than I remember as percussive notes emerged from the abyss with extra impact and aggression. It’s verging on warm (and not just because of the vinyl) but for detail, the sound these cans are capable of is highly addictive…
Yamaha YH-4000
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At $2,499 (about £1,849 / AU$3,785), the very new YH-4000 are effectively a more affordable version of the incredible (and incredibly expensive) YH-5000SE headphones which Yamaha launched back in 2022 with an eye-popping $5,700 / £4,799 / AU$7,499 asking price. So, yes, they’re a half-price alternative that still includes a shocking amount of very similar flagship acoustic architecture from Yamaha.
The open-back YH-4000 headphones sport the latest version of the company’s “orthodynamic” drivers and in case you haven’t yet been introduced, allow me: these are the planar magnetic drivers that Yamaha has been refining ever since first launching them in the 1970s. This time around, the sound-absorbing material of the YH-5000SE has been removed and the new headphones have been fine-tuned to what Yamaha calls a “a uniquely responsive, natural and precise sound.”
What to expect: an upfront, revealing and oh-so-forthright listen. The striking aesthetic of these headphones looks almost like an extreme closeup of the head of a flying insect and when worn, their lightness and coolness even when engulfing my ears means I could wear them for hours on end. I also didn’t notice as much sound leakage as you get from some open-back designs. What did I hear? The soaring keys, triangle and three-dimensional cymbals in Eddy Mitchell’s Couleur Menthe a L’Eau and a vocal delivery that revels in relaying Mitchell’s voice, celebrating every extra inflection and slightly sombre lyric at this, his derniere seance.
The best earbuds for all budgets
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
