OpenBack

Final Audio D8000 Pro — Japanese Planar Flagship Territory

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.

Build & Design

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 Cascara — Campfire’s Over-Ear Debut

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.

Build & Design

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.

Audeze MM-500 — The Mixing Engineer’s Planar

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.

Build & Design

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.

Meze 109 Pro — Meze Goes Dynamic and Delivers

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.

Grado SR325x — Brooklyn Rock and Roll Cans

Grado Labs is the punk rock of headphone companies. Family-owned since 1953, hand-built in Brooklyn, New York, and stubbornly committed to their own vision of what headphones should sound like. The SR325x is their mid-range offering, and it’s as opinionated as everything else Grado makes.

Build & Design

Let’s be blunt: the Grado aesthetic is an acquired taste. The SR325x looks like it was designed in 1985 and never updated. The foam pads, the basic headband, the retro styling — it’s either charmingly authentic or hopelessly dated, depending on your perspective. I find it endearing, but I can see both sides.

Austrian Audio Hi-X65 — Vienna’s Best Kept Secret

Austrian Audio rose from the ashes of the original AKG Vienna team when Samsung moved AKG operations to South Korea. The engineers who designed classic AKG headphones started fresh, and the Hi-X65 is their open-back studio flagship. It carries decades of Viennese acoustic engineering heritage in a thoroughly modern design.

Build & Design

Clean, professional, and well-made. The Hi-X65 features memory foam earpads, a comfortable headband, and an understated design that says “studio tool” rather than “lifestyle product.” At 310g it’s light enough for extended sessions. The folding mechanism is practical for storage, and the build feels solid without being heavy.

Sony MDR-MV1 — Sony’s Open Back Studio Surprise

Sony’s MDR-7506 has been a studio staple for decades, so when they announced an open-back studio monitor headphone, the professional audio world paid attention. The MDR-MV1 is Sony’s first serious open-back in years, designed specifically for spatial audio mixing and critical listening.

Build & Design

Lightweight at 223g — remarkably light for a full-size open-back. The build is professional and understated: matte black finish, comfortable headband, and breathable mesh earpads. It’s designed to be worn for entire mixing sessions, and it succeeds completely. Not as visually striking as a Meze or ZMF, but that’s not the brief here.

Hifiman Sundara — The Gateway Drug to Planar

Every audiophile hobby has its gateway moment — the product that opens a door you can never close again. For many headphone enthusiasts, the Hifiman Sundara is exactly that. It’s the headphone that makes you realise what planar magnetic drivers can do, and it does so at a price that doesn’t require selling a kidney.

Build & Design

Improved significantly over earlier revisions. The current Sundara has a metal headband, comfortable pads, and a build that feels more robust than Hifiman’s reputation might suggest. At 372g it’s manageable, and the oval earpads accommodate most ear sizes comfortably. It’s not going to win beauty contests, but it feels like it’ll last.

Moondrop Venus — Planar Surprise from the IEM Kings

Moondrop made their name in IEMs, producing some of the best budget and mid-range in-ears the hobby has ever seen. So when they announced a full-size planar magnetic headphone, the community raised a collective eyebrow. Could an IEM company really compete in the over-ear space? The Venus answers with a resounding yes.

Build & Design

The Venus has a striking, almost retro-futuristic look with its circular earcups and exposed planar driver grilles. Build quality is solid — mostly metal and plastic, with a comfortable suspension headband. At 505g it sits in the middle ground for planars. The earpads are a soft protein leather that seals well without excessive heat buildup.

Sennheiser HD 660S2 — The HD600 Gets a Younger Sibling

As a devoted HD600 owner since 1997, any new Sennheiser in the 6-series range gets my immediate attention. The HD 660S2 is Sennheiser’s latest revision, and the question every HD600/650 owner asks is simple: is this the upgrade I’ve been waiting for, or another sidegrade?

Build & Design

If you’ve ever held an HD600, the 660S2 will feel instantly familiar. The same general form factor, the same reassuring clamp, the same utilitarian German design philosophy. The updates are evolutionary: the headband padding is improved, the finish is slightly more refined, and the cable terminates in a 4.4mm balanced connector (with a 6.3mm adapter included).