Few headphones have generated as much forum argument as the HD 800. Sennheiser’s answer, over a decade on, was the HD 800 S — the same enormous ring-driver open-back, quietly recalibrated to settle the one complaint that never went away. It’s still the headphone people reach for when they want to talk about soundstage, and it still punishes a mismatched amp.
The original HE1000 put Hifiman on the flagship map; the Stealth Magnet version is the one that finally sorted out the diffraction problems that came with the territory. Swap the visible metal magnet arrays for acoustically transparent ones either side of a nanometre-thin diaphragm and, on paper at least, you get all the resolution with none of the comb-filtering side effects. In the ear it’s one of the most complete-sounding planars I’ve spent time with.
Meze Audio built its reputation on walnut cups and boutique flagship electrostatics, and the 105 SILVA is the moment that DNA trickles down to a genuinely attainable open-back. At around £469 it undercuts most of the planar open-back pack while sounding like a hand-made instrument rather than a lab exercise. This is Meze proving the 99 Classics formula scales up as well as it scaled down.
Audeze’s collaborations with mix engineer Manny Marroquin have quietly become some of the best-value headphones the company makes, and the MM-100 is the second and cheapest of them. At $399 it takes the driver philosophy out of the pricier MM-500 and packages it into something light enough to actually wear on a flight, not just sit at a desk in. For a brand whose entry point used to mean the Audeze LCD-X, that’s a genuinely different proposition.
Every so often a manufacturer accidentally makes their expensive flagship look overpriced. Hifiman did exactly that with the Edition XS — it borrows the teardrop shell and stealth-magnet driver architecture straight out of the Hifiman Arya, launched at $499 and now drifted to roughly $269 street. For a while this quietly obsoleted the Hifiman Sundara as the value planar to buy, and it hasn’t really been dethroned since.
FiiO built its name on dongles and desktop DACs, so a full-size open-back planar felt like a stretch — until you see the price. £180-ish gets you a planar driver in a market where that used to mean queuing up next to a Hifiman Sundara or an ageing pair of HE400s. The FT1 Pro doesn’t reinvent anything, but it proves FiiO can build a proper pair of cans, not just amp them.
Final Audio is one of Japan’s most respected audio companies, and the D8000 Pro represents the pinnacle of their headphone engineering. This is flagship planar territory — a headphone that costs as much as a decent used car and promises performance to match. The question is whether it delivers, and the answer is complicated.
Imposing. The D8000 Pro is a large, heavy headphone at 523g with massive earcups that house the AFDS (Air Film Damping System) planar driver. The aluminium construction is beautifully machined, and the overall build quality is impeccable. Japanese attention to detail is evident everywhere — from the hinge mechanism to the cable connectors.
Campfire Audio made their reputation in IEMs, crafting some of the most distinctive-sounding earphones in the portable audio world. The Cascara marks their first venture into full-size over-ear headphones, and like everything Campfire does, it’s got a character all its own.
The Cascara is immediately distinctive with its ceramic-coated aluminium earcups and compact form factor. It’s smaller than most full-size headphones, which makes it more portable but also means the earpads are tighter around larger ears. Build quality is good — the materials feel premium and the overall construction is solid if a bit unconventional.
The MM-500 is Audeze’s love letter to mixing and mastering engineers. Developed in consultation with Grammy-winning producer Manny Marroquin, this is a headphone designed specifically for professional work — and it happens to sound absolutely wonderful for music enjoyment too.
Lighter than the LCD-X at 510g, which is still substantial but manageable. The magnesium housing is a step up from Audeze’s usual aluminium, and the overall construction feels purposeful and professional. Comfort is improved over the LCD-X with redesigned earpads and better weight distribution. The suspension headband works well.
After making their name with planar and hybrid designs, Meze Audio surprised everyone by releasing a dynamic driver headphone. The 109 Pro uses a 50mm beryllium-coated driver in a design that screams “this is a Meze” from across the room. As someone who’s already fallen for the Poet and the 105 AER, I was eager to see what Meze could do with a good old-fashioned moving coil.