Austrian Audio Hi-X15 Professional Closed-Back Over-Ear Headphones

Sadly a few weeks ago my trusty AKG N60NC headphones broke. This left me in a tricky situation because I knew it was highly likely I would need to look elsewhere for my next set of headphones due to Samsung’s acquirement of Harman back in 2017 causing a change of direction for the company. I like to see myself as someone who shows brand loyalty when I find a company that I believe make very high-quality products for a reasonable price. After a little research around the internet, I found out that a few of AKG’s management & engineers had formed a new company called Austrian Audio, which intrigued me to look deeper at their headphones. I was looking for some headphones on a budget of £150, and when I found the Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT headphones, after reading some reviews on them, I knew I had to give them a try, so I did. For me in a pair of headphones there are four main factors in what decides whether they are good or not so good, build quality, comfort, features and obviously sound quality. Build Quality 4/5 At this price range sadly the build quality around this market is not the best, normally involves a lot of plastic, and although this is still the case with the Hi-X25BT the frame inside is metal which makes the headphones feel well made. I love the look and feel of the headphones and I see them lasting a long while. Comfort 5/5 This was the one downfall of my previous headphones (AKG N60NC), after a couple of hours, I would start to feel a little pressure right in the middle of the top of my head where the band rested. However, with these headphones, I can happily say they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned. They are not extremely heavy which makes them feel light on the head. I can easily wear these for hours with no discomfort. Features 4/5 The headphones come with the obvious Bluetooth so you can easily connect them to any device that supports Bluetooth. The set-up process was easy, and they automatically connect back to your device when you turn them on. Austrian Audio also say you should get up to 30 hours of battery life, and although I have not owned or used them long enough to confirm this, I can say I have got some decent battery life from them (Been using them for at least 15 hours and not charged them yet). You can also use the headphones with the USB-C to 3.5 Jack wire included in the box if you desire. A downfall for most will be the fact that the headphones do not support ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). This wasn’t such a big issue for me as I never intend to take these headphones out of the house or use them around overly noisy environments, but I know many people will be put off by Austrian Audio’s decision to exclude this feature. Saying that though they are over-ear headphones, so they do cut out a small amount of outside noise, which is good enough for me. Lastly, the headphones do offer ways of controlling your music (volume, pause, play etc.) and I believe they have implemented these features into their headphones great, but I do find the controls a little sensitive to the touch. I have a fair few times accidentally paused my music when trying to rearrange the headphones. I have overtime got used to this and do it far less, but it was something that bothered me for a while. Sound Quality 5/5 This is obviously the most important factor of any headphones you buy, and I am pleased to say they do not disappoint. These headphones are by far the best sounding headphones I have personally owned. They sound a lot better than the AKG N60NC’s that I highly rated. When I listen to vocals, casual talking or music, everything sounds so crisp and clear, also acoustics sound incredibly vibrant. Most companies these days also tend to put too much bass into their headsets, which I am not a massive fan of. Austrian Audio on the other hand I think have balanced the bass very well, you know it is there, but it isn’t booming too much. I wasn’t expecting the headphones to sound as good as they do, even a family relative believes these headphones sound better than his headphones which were almost double the price! Conclusion I imagine you can get much better headphones if you are willing to spend a lot more money, but for £150, unless you need/want ANC, you cannot go wrong buying these headphones. For the price, they offer great build quality, comfortable listening and truly amazing sound quality. I highly recommend them!

I bought these to replace some cans made by another company. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! They are very comfortable and seemingly well engineered although they do do need to be broken in to sound their best according to several verified reviews. After about 10 hours use I can confirm that the soundstage is getting better even though they are a bit light on bass at the moment! I do have high hopes for these, especially after one month of use, but we will have to see! So far so good, did I say I'm impressed so far! I got some useful cable ties that we're used for the packaging which can be up-cycled and the warranty is 3 years if you buy these through an accredited supplier, which I did. Well the latest is, as you use them they get better. I was surprised at the sound stage - I can place the instruments. But the bass blew me away - I took them off my head and looked at them hard - trying to figure how Austrian Audio manage to get such bass out of relatively small cans. All I can say is that I'm pleasantly surprised, the sound coming out of these is still improving - not that it was bad in the first place! Highly recommended, but you have to persevere with them! I've been using them for at least 3 hours every day since I got them! The one down side is the 1.2m length cable. The longer Austrian Audio cable is expensive for what it is - so I ordered an extension from KabelDirekt instead which seems to be good quality.

Okay, firstly, I got these based purely on reviews both on Amazon and elsewhere on the web. It’s safe to say they are well respected. Now before I go much further, please note that the most important thing to remember about these headphones is this: THEY NEED RUNNING IN! Give them a couple of days also running in, This will soften that hard edge sufficiently to let these beauties shine. So let’s take a look at the build quality. These headphones are partially plastic but they do have some good strong metal where it counts and they do look and feel as if they would survive reasonable daily use quite well. The headband is very comfortable and the ear pads are also comfortable (as far as I’m concerned). There is another reviewer on here who states he has trouble with the ear pads in that they seem to create a vacuum? I personally have not experienced this. Maybe I have an alien shaped head, or maybe the other reviewer does? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Either way, the headphones are very comfortable for me to wear for both short and long periods of time. Now for the important stuff, the sound quality. These headphones sound very clear and are extremely open and revealing. Naturally, being so revealing they will shine with a good source. It does very much seem a case of garbage in – garbage out. Personally I listen to these with a Digital audio player which has a powerful output stage. I also listen to my minidisc player using these headphones. As I hinted at in the title, the bass is rather tight, which wouldn’t normally be a problem, but it is a touch light and could do with a little boost. When I am using my high res DAP, I pop the 62hz bass a notch or two up (leaving everything else neutral) And for me the sound is then perfectly balanced. When listening to my Sony minidisc I use the low Megabass setting (it just has off, low or high) and to me it all sounds spot on. The treble sounds perfectly crisp and clear without sounding at all harsh (unless of course the source recording is harsh). The mid range is also exceptionally clear but doesn’t venture too far into the foreground, and for me this is how music should be heard. As I have already said, the bass is tight and can go very deep but only about 80 to 90% as deep as I would personally like, hence for my ears I prefer to give it a little boost. To summarise, they are not perfect, largely to do with that bass, but as far as the whole package goes they are a good 90% or so perfect to my ears. They are certainly very analytical headphones, but they don’t sound boring, on the contrary they are rather exciting to listen to. As for buying them, if you know what you want and you are looking for revealing, exciting and clear sound then these are definitely a hit and good value for money. If you like bassy party booming sounds then you are looking in the wrong place.

First off I have to objectify what most reviews say and disparage some myths. The traditional sense of running in does not exist i.e the concept that the components need time to settle and strengthen. Instead running in sound changes occur due to the differences made in the earpads as you wear them. So onto the headphones. First off one thing must be made extremely clear these things will RUIN bad recordings. They have ruined some songs for me because their mix was done on non reference headphones. Everyone describes these as flat or more aptly mid heavy. However, using my music benchmarks I describe these as well balanced if a tiny bit recessed in certain areas. Austrian audio hi-x15 with a fiio e10k Olympus C. Breathe into me by Marian Hill: The sub bass is clearly represented with tight and aggressive thumps. The vocals feel a little forward but well exposed and the claps sounds extremely clear and are extremely immersive with not a lot of shine. Hang my head in shame by Pete molinari: A great song for exposing sound stage harmony and timing. I found the staging of these headphones to be excellent with reverberation appearing clear and atmospheric. However the harmony of these headphones is slightly exposed in this song due to the slightly recessed high and mid bass the song lacks the punchy constant thump to tie everything together. I found myself having to use the bass switch on this song to feel enjoyment. Here we go by norman: The vocals are extremely immersive and they have a clear defined and enjoyable texture. However the drums lose their definition and texture due to their flatter resonance. The kick has a clear and atmospheric thump to it. With the high hat and ride having a clear respresentation. A little disappointed that the bell loses its clear and sharp overtone. American funeral by Joseph angels: The guitar treble and synth are extremely well defined showing their ryhtm and expression very well. The vocals are a little hidden but nicely textured during their lonesome. The bass has very nice tone and maintains its dominance. In conclusion: These headphones are gorgeous with vocals and defining trebles they have power and texture on levels much higher than my hd599. The problems comes from rythm and harmonisation because of its slightly inconsistent response tones the higher mids feel over the top of the lower mids. If the bass has no sub then it has no feeling and it becomes slightly hollow and unrythmic. I feel like my fiio e10k is way too undefined especially with harmonic parts of music. Which is slightly concerning because the e10k and k3 are budget staples. If they can't pull out the definition then I seriously question these headphones affordability for the sound. I suspect using something like the ifi can Dac will be more than enough to seperate the tones. I will update this post once properly ran in. I love the feeling that these headphones have in terms of adjustability. They are amazing especially in terms of comfort and adjustment. These are the first headphones I have had that can successfully move the weight from the upper scalp, upper ear and then to the lower ear depending on preference and headband length. Their cups are extremely comfortable new and feel almost invisible once you have the weight set up properly. These are actually better to me than the comfort legends my hd599s. However over extremely long periods nothing can beat a speaker setup. In comparison to my hd 599s the bass of hi-x15 is much punchier with clear and well defined sub bass. Strangely the hi-x15s scoop out slightly more stage than my open back hd 599s. The textures are much more clearly defined especially on acoustics like guitar. Which I found extremely surprising for headphones costing half the price. Edit: So after about a week of run in at about 4 hours of music a day. I can perfectly describe these headphones. These headphones are a scalpel they are clean, cold and accurate. They represent precision and reality. They are NOT good at being your audio backbone because I found their precision extremely fatiguing after an hour of play. These are for the songs that you sit down and you listen you can feel the atmosphere and the studio. I found my previous comments about rythm and harmony premature as I can now explain that these lack any warmth. They have zero warmth to their tones they are completely uncoloured and because of this most musics bass doesn't mould with the song. I found that with these headphones I stopped listening to the music and instead felt like I could focus on individual stems. Like the vocals or the drums would feel like I was there. Changing it up from my benchmarks before I thought I would give a list of music where you can really feel the detail and atmosphere. White Flag by Bishop Briggs: listen for the guitar plucks and harmony vocals. Asylum by Desi Valentine: listen for the really high pitched riff almost coming from behing your eyes it's weird. Awaken by Valerie Broussard: the synth like sound on most undetailed headphones suddenly becomes refined oboe and violin. The Preacher by Jamie N Commons: There's a shaker that is just hidden behind the drums Berta Berta by Thomas Vent: The lyrics actually move from the left to behind you. Bulletin by lazy habits: there's a cello just behind you.

I used Grados as my daily drivers for the last 10 years. All closed backs have disappointed me in one shape or form, with an overemphasis on sub-bass, muddy mids and boring treble. Austrian Audio's cheapest offering is surprisingly fantastic pair of cans. For the price it sounds better than most of the 300-400$ mainstream BT headphones. If you are an open-back main, the X15 offer good mids, non-peaky but smooth treble with a nice, not overly aggressive V shaped presentation, as to give the bass a chance to shine. Very efficient, you don't need an AMP for these. The cushions are super comfortable, and very loose 3 knuckle, tight 4 knuckle deep cups. Breathable, but the faux leather will make you sweaty on a hot summers day. The clamp is not too tight, and if you wear spectacles it would not be an issue Its a single, detachable, 3.5 to 3.5mm cable. The one that goes into the left cup is keyed, so be careful not to break it, otherwise you'll need a replacement from AA themselves. Cable feels cheap and is serviceable for the price. Definitely not as bad as Hifiman. Cable is not microphonic, no issues when rubbing against surfaces. Unlike their other higher end offerings, this is made in China, with a mainly plastic build. The headband feels sturdy with the yokes holding the cups made of metal. Feels cheap, but more importantly not squeaky. Overall; Subjective Sound 8/10 Objective Sound 7/10 (Good technicals, but not great. Surprisingly spacious for closed backs) Value For Money 10/10 I hope this can displace the AT M50x as the de-facto closed back

I love wired headphones and find they all deliver sound and comfort in a slightly different way. I have Sennheiser, VModa, Jabra and B and O but read a review of these in What HiFi and was impressed. Put simply, they are stunning. The presentation is superb. Top quality box and open it up and the first impression is wow. I love the colouring; it’s a statement alone. The headband is really sturdy but lightweight and flexible. Pads are comfortable even when worn for some time. I’m not a sound expert so driver size and technical details don’t mean much to me. I use Blue Savannah by Erasure as a test track. It has distinct vocals, bass and the arrangement allows you to judge Mids and trebles too. I haven’t worn these in, just plugged and played and the sound is stunning. Everything is clean, crisp and clear. Great bass, without it being overpowering and the vocals are really fresh. I really can’t fault them and at sub £90, these seem to deliver well above that price range. Just love them and they’re easy to carry folded up. Very happy to recommend.

I bought two pairs - one for me and one for my partner. One with mic and one without. Both have had the exact same issues. Whilst these headphones have a decent sound quality, they suffer from poor build quality. I had to replace them when they broke and opted for a different, cheaper brand that actually sounds better. The main issue is the plastic used for the hinges - it's simply not up to scratch. My pair broke completely, meaning the headphone no longer covers the ear properly, rendering them utterly useless. My partner's pair has cracked in exactly the same spot and will likely break completely in the same way given time. This clearly indicates a fundamental design and materials problem. It's rather frustrating because the headphones were still working perfectly well audio-wise, and we would have happily continued using them for much longer. However, once the hinges failed, they became impossible to wear. To make matters worse, like other reviews mention, they use a proprietary cable which also broke, forcing me to purchase a replacement cable. It's quite disappointing really - decent audio let down by poor engineering.

Most important of all, these cans needs running in big time. Out of the box, they do sound pretty awful. I run them in with different genre of music at low, mid, and high (ish) volume for approx. 100 hours. When they settled down, they actually sounded pretty good all round. Of course, you have to take the price of these into consideration. There is no point in comparing them to a £300 pair of cans. Secondly, lack of bass ! … These are not for bass heads. I would describe them as faithful reproduction of bass. When you play a song that is bass rich, it is tight and fast, but not overpowering. The bass is there to complement the rest of the song. The only weakness of these cans is that the mids is a little lay back; these could be brought forward a little would be perfect (but it's just personal taste). Very comfortable for mid to smallish head size, could be worn for hours without fatigue. All in all a very good pair of cans for the price. Will purchase a X65 soon, as these are open back. They will give a totally different experience.