Bowers & Wilkins P5
$299
In the P5 we see a loudspeaker-maker showing up a bunch of headphone manufacturers who’ve been at it for decades. The P5’s bass/midrange/treble balance is attractive, especially if you value a clear midrange. The treble range of the P5 is also better than most, thanks to the P5’s fine-grained highs. Instruments and voices are conveyed with a smoothness and level of detail quite reminiscent of the way things sound in life. Related to this, these B&W ’phones do a fine job of reproducing low-level microdynamics, so that the P5 consistently sounds well-defined, relaxed, and open. The P5 is a seductive-sounding, comfortable, easy to drive, and relatively portable headphone. bwspeakers.com
HiFiMAN HE-400 with Rev2 Drivers
$399
Frankly, HiFiMAN stumbled out of the gate with HE-400, experiencing a rash of driver failures with its first production run that necessitated a hasty driver re-design. Happily, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the version equipped with Rev2 planar-magnetic drivers sounds markedly better than the original model did. With Rev2 drivers, the HE-400 is quite well balanced, unusually open and transparent for its price. It’s also better than most at revealing subtle inner details in the music. The effect is like a scaled-back, but still quite good, “junior” version of the firm’s superb HE-500 (described below). The HE-400 is the least expensive planar-magnetic headphone on the market and among the easiest to drive. In a pinch, you can drive it directly from an iPod, though it sounds best when pushed by a good portable amp. hifiman.us, head-direct.com
PSB Speakers M4U 2
$399
The M4U 2 was designed and developed by PSB’s illustrious founder Paul Barton and words can scarcely convey what a magnificent first effort it represents. In all seriousness, the M4U 2 is arguably one of the cleverest, most well-thought-out, and best-executed headphones on the market—a true “headphone for all seasons.” For starters, the M4U 2 exhibits wonderfully extended and neutral tonal balance with a voicing curve that deliberately adds a touch of bass lift designed to precisely emulate the low-frequency “room gain” most speakers enjoy. Next the M4U 2 offers very good, though perhaps not quite class-leading, levels of clarity and dynamic swagger. But topping things off, the M4U 2 is an active noise-cancelling headphone that has three operating modes: a high-sensitivity Passive mode (that actually sounds very good), an Active mode without noise-cancellation (for purists), and an Active Noise Cancellation mode that works very well to suppress background noise. If you only plan on owning one headphone for all possible listening contexts, strongly consider this one. psbspeakers.com
HiFiMAN HE-500
$699
HiFiMAN’s HE-500 is one of the greatest headphones on today’s market and we felt it offered excellent value at its original $899 price; at it new $699 price, it’s a steal. The HE-500 delivers bass power and definition that are the best our reviewer has ever heard, with excellent top-to-bottom balance. The HE-500 separates instruments clearly without sounding overly analytical or aggressive. It also exhibits very low grain, so that inner details are well conveyed. While the HE-500 is not the last word in reproduction of microdynamics, its capabilities in this area are to some degree dependent on the quality of the amplifier you use. Though more sensitive than most HiFiMAN planar-magnetic models, the HE-500 still needs a high-quality amp that can deliver ample power. hifiman.us, head-direct.com
