I stand corrected.
The Sennheiser HD 300 Pro is a good headphone for many an application, but it kinda sucks to play bass in my home environment.
I did perform several tests, but did not have the chance to properly sit down and play bass while wearing them and made up my mind too quickly. They worked great for drums and I assumed that they'll be just as good for bass.
When I finally sat down and plugged them into my system, my first thought was that something in my signal chain is off. I had family visiting and one of them is a bass player, too and they used my gear for a bit, so I thought some EQ is off. There was too much high mid and treble content, it kinda felt like there was a high pass filter set to 200Hz or something going on. After checking everything in the signal chain, I tested the signal through my FOH system and got the usual bass heavy sound, rich and full. I fetched the HD 650 from the other room, plugged that in and it was back to normal. So I took the 300 again, and had the same result. Finger noise and fret clank seemed amplified and it sounded like playing through a 2.1 system when you forgot to switch on the sub.
Bummer. I would have wanted to like them - even though that cable IS annoying.
Well, the solution was not that far away. I'm based in Germany and our little neighbor to the south once had a great headphone company in Vienna.
The Akustische und Kinogeräte Gesellschaft mbH, or short "AKG". AKG was sold to Harman, and when Harman was taken over by Samsung in 2016, they closed down the HQ in Austria. A rather large group of people found themselves without a job, but with the required know how and access to the means of production for making audio gear. They did not sit idle, but took their severance pay checks and founded Austrian Audio, starting off with microphones but soon after started introducing headphones. The Hi-X 65 was their first open back model, released early 2021 and later that year, with the model name Hi-X 60, the closed back version hit the markets.
I tried these out - because I've been curious about Austrian Audio for a while now and because I am running out of options.
The unboxing event felt good. High quality packaging, and within the box, a 1.2m and a 3.0m cable (so they are detachable - of the 2.5mm bayonet variety). The cables end in 1/8" jacks with a screw on 1/4" adapter included. There's also a pouch for transport included. In the AA accessory shop, there's a hard case and I would have wished this included - with a MSRP of €349 that's not unreasonable I'd venture.
The ear cups and headband have memory foam inside, and that stuff really earns the name. Indent it with your finger and it stays a while in that shape before returning. It's stiff, but just the right amount of stiffness - and I guess that it mellows down a bit with wear. The ear cups are topped with what I assume is faux leather - I'll see how long that will last. AA offers replacement parts for almost everything on the headphones, so that's not that much of an issue. I generally prefer a softer surface for the ear cups, but this one feels very good on the head.
It's reasonably light and well balanced. The weight is distributed between the surprisingly low clamping force and the very well designed head band - even after hours it's still comfy on my head. Only the Beyerdynamics and the Sennheisers did that. It does not feel like it sits very tight, but has a good seal and even when I was grooving and bobbing my head while playing bass, they stayed in place.
So in terms of ergonomics, they are up there with the best.
In terms of build quality, I'd say they are up there, too. The mix of plastic and metal is well chosen and the plastic bits feel expensive.
I would ask for a coiled cable, that would be great - but I'd wager that I can probably use a different brand that also uses one of the 2.5mm jack bayonet models for their headphones.
Now let's finally look at the sound.
In reviews, people call them analytical, uncolored, and therefore boring. I agree on the analytical and uncolored bits, but that's exciting in my book.
When I'm wearing them, they really feel like they have a nearly flat response, and the resolution is 8K UHD. I can really zoom in on a single instrument and have the feeling that I'm hearing every single nuance of that instrument while the rest of the production takes a step into the background. There is no frequency area where they feel weak. Yes, they don't have a bass boost going on and when you're coming from a set of Beats By Dr. Dre headcans, you'll think there's no bass. But half an hour in, I swapped them for my 650 and suddenly the 650 sounded bassy and muffled.
That was a shocking experience, because none of the headphones I tried managed to alter my perception of the 650. It always felt like coming home when I put on my good old Sennies. Back to where everything is like it is supposed to be. It took a few minutes and the Sennies sounded normal again, and when I swapped back to the AA, they felt a bit trebly and shrill. I could repeat that cycle at leisure - five minutes in my ears adjusted and whatever cans I was wearing felt normal, swapping from AA to Sennheiser, the Sennheiser felt muffled, and vice versa the AA felt shrill.
The confinement of a closed back with its advantages and drawbacks is of course a given, but the AA feels like it has a wider stage than it should have. It's (of course) not as open as an open back, but it is the most open sounding closed back I ever tried. When you put them on without playing music, you get the typical feeling of being in a capsule. When you play something, the audio source seems to be a bigger distance from you than the capsule walls, and the result is that you're feeling like you're in a room that is a bit smaller than the actual room you're in, but a lot larger than the capsule - if that makes any sense.
From my (current) point of view, the Austrian Audio Hi-X 60 is the headphone I've been looking for.
It excels at those tasks the 650 does not, and does everything I was asking for:
-closed back with decent isolation and no bleed.
-folds up for easy transport
-can be driven from weak sources (110 dB SPL/V | 25 Ohms)
While offering a resolution and listening experience that can hold its own against what the 650 deliver,
but also bringing its own, distinct flavor to the table. Where the 650 is warm and mellow, this one is a bit colder and more direct.
