Austrian Audio HI-X15

£89

Austrian Audio, born of EX-AKG employees, has hit the ground running with its first-ever range of wired headphones. The HI-X15 is the first model we have heard from the brand that we would consider a proper budget offering.

These wired over-ears look and feel anything but cheap though, from the use of proper metal hinges to the matt plastic on the arms. In each earcup is a 44mm driver and ring magnet system with a copper-clad aluminium voice coil. The grip level is nicely judged, with just enough pressure applied to keep them from sliding around your head. The soft, ‘slow retention’ memory foam earpads are also comfy.

Any rough and ready recordings are mirrored in how the sound is fed into your ears, and this transparency gives them a huge advantage over rivals, especially when you take into account the closebacked design. This sense of openness allows an immense amount of detail to be served up to feast on, without having to worry about sound leakage.

Throughout the frequency range, these headphones deliver consistently high detail levels and fantastic dynamics. Play The End by Kings Of Leon, and the HI-X15 pick apart and deliver the funky bass guitar riff at the start, the drum kit and lead guitar with consummate ease. You can almost feel the texture of each instrument as it’s being played. At the same time there’s enough weight and substance to low frequencies that you don’t feel as though you’re missing out. The headphones punch their way along, each note dispatched with force and power.

Yes, we’d consider the HI-X15 an analytical pair of headphones, but they still manage to make music entertaining with it – they extract bags of detail but keep the soul of your music intact. This is a mature-sounding pair of headphones that goes above and beyond at the money, and a worthy Best Buy in this category.