Audiophilepure

I’ll admit that when I first listened to the HIFIMAN ISVARNA Hybrid Headphone at CanJam, I was intrigued but did not love them, feeling they were a bit Rock&Roll for my tastes, but after having had them in hand and really spent some time with them, I have completely turned around. As I mentioned above, they are not particularly forgiving headphones, so I think electronics choice is going to make a huge impact on how much you like them. I think bass heads are going to be blown away with their ability to cover the full spectrum and really thump. The HIFIMAN GOLDENWAVE SERENADE R2R DAC/Headphone Amplifier proved to be an excellent match for the ISVARNA, but hardcore audiophiles are going to want to pair them with a good tube amp and a top-notch DAC.

Most surprising was the fact that they are pretty much genre agnostic, I really expected them to muddy up classical and complex musical pieces and nothing could be farther from the truth, on the other hand given the right source material they can give you that real club feel, and live but musical appears to be the name of the game.

The Audeze CRBN2 – according to Audeze – requires an amplifier with an electrostatic output using 580VDC bias, also known as “Stax Pro Bias.” There are a large number of suitable amplifiers on the market from a variety of brands will drive the CRBN2 well.

Audeze has a list of examples here, but of course a lot of other amps are suited to drive the CRBN2 as well.

You can find out all you need to know about the Audeze CRBN2 on its dedicated web page here. If you want to dig in and learn more about Audeze’s EST tech, you can do so here.

For openers, the Dan Clark Audio NOIRE XO Open Back Planar Magnetic Headphone is an apt and epic replacement for the ETHER². It provides that same fun, popish warm sound, while adding a whole layer of detail and clarity, and reaching down into sub-bass territory usually allocated to closed-back headphones. Dan Clark Audio has done it again, the NOIRE XO definitely qualifies as a must-hear mid-priced reference headphone. It always astonishes me that every time they set a new bar in headphone performance, they are later able to shatter that bar with something new that makes you wonder how you were satisfied with the old sound for so long, though admittedly, for Dan Clark Audio, it’s not all that long between revelations.

Back when I first reviewed the original AEON Open, when the ETHER C Flow and ETHER Flow were the pinnacle of headphone performance, I said that if I was just entering the market and didn’t already have the ETHER C Flow, I would buy the AEON Open and AEON Closed rather than the ETHER C Flow, because they gave 90% of the performance and offered both sonic profiles. And today I am happy to say that the same applies to the NOIRE XO and NOIRE X, if you only have a budget for one $4,000 headphone, you would be better served to buy the pair of Dan Clark Audio headphones. Of course, if you have the $8,000 budget, go for the EXPANSE and the STEALTH, they remain my top reference headphones, though I only own the EXPANSE.

I really enjoyed my time with Audeze CRBN² Electrostatic Headphones. With the CRBN² Audeze have transformed their electrostatic flagship offering from a headphone I appreciated to a headphone I loved. It has the linearity of the better Planar Magnetic headphones with the speed and detail of an electrostatic, and frankly a dynamic range and deep bass response often only associated with dynamic headphones. If you are a CRBN owner and an audio purist like me you are definitely going to want to pay for the upgrade, though you may want to hear them first as they are a fairly radical departure from the standard Audeze sound, much in the way that the MM-500 is.

The bass is punchy and warm, and when there is no vocal line covering the backing, you will hear the bass sounding layered, textured, and dense with speedy attack, which complements the ample treble power nicely, and sounds enjoyable with R&B and Jazzes that have an elaborate bass line.

The decay speed in the bass is moderately fast, which helps enhance the perceived resolution and clarity. Though extension may sound limiting when tested with synths that go lower down, there is room for EQ tweaks to tune up the rumbles.

When listening to big drums, it also feels cut off below 70- 80Hz, and such is limiting the perceived expansiveness and depth. I suspect the new sound-isolating ring will remedy this in the production run units.