It’s time for the 2024 Headfonia Best of Year Awards! This is the most awaited article of the year, the one which readers and companies always anxiously wait for. This is the article in which we announce the best gear of 2024. First up are Berkhan and my own selections! You will find the other writer’s selections here on Thursday.
2024 Awards – Year Overview
What a crazy year this was! We published just under 200 articles this year, and we even hired an additional senior writer. The market is back focusing on all types of units, where we in the last years saw a clear focus on IEMs and portable gear. This means there is more gear on the market than we can ever cover, but we do our best to bring you the most interesting articles and popular gear reviews.
We in 2024 also saw a lot of excellent gear with top level performance and this over all price levels. I think this is the first year in which we handed out so many Recommended Buy Awards over the year. This is great for the consumer, but it makes it also even more difficult, with such an elaborate choice of great gear.
A big thank you to all of our partners and of course you, our readers. We wouldn’t be able to do all of this without you! We wish you all excellent holidays and an excellent 2025, but first let’s find out who takes home the prizes this year!
2024 Awards – Winners
As usual, we have plenty of categories and each writer gets to nominate the best of the gear they reviewed over the last 12 months. Logically not all writers will share the same awards/categories because we have all listened to a different gear. I in example mostly focused on desktop gear as you will see in my award selection.
Like last year we next to the writer awards also have the Best Product of the Year award. The winner of this award will be announced on Thursday, together with Yagiz’, Felix’ and Nano’s award selection. Then next Sunday we have the “2024 Reader voted Awards” before we close the year with a few more reviews.
And now on to the personal awards!
Lieven – Editor in Chief
Editor’s Choice:
Astell&Kern SP3000T
From the review:
The beauty of the Astell&Kern SP3000T is that it brings tubes and a Hybrid mode to the top level of AK, and that they have added a large possibility of finetuning by using EQ, DAC filters, Hybrid mode amplification settings and tube current mode settings. This makes the SP3000T a TOTL portable player, offering Roon Ready, AK Connect, network play and streaming. It’s a true reference do-it-all DAP.
Full review:
Best Open Headphone – Planar Magnetic:
Abyss Diana DZ
From the review:
It’s not only the design and comfort part I like, I am also a big fan of the Diana DZ’s tuning and it’s an excellent all-round performing headphone. The clarity, spaciousness, precision, overall timbre, bass slam and top end liveliness are some of the things I absolutely adore with this headphone. Combine it with a top level source and amp, and you’ll get a reference level sound with a musical and engaging delivery.
Full review:
Best Open Headphone – Dynamic Driver:
Austrian Audio The Composer
From the review:
This time it is very simple, the Austrian Audio The Composer is an excellent all-round high-end headphone. It not only offers a nice design and great comfort, but its performance is up there with the very best, even if it isn’t perfect. It’s the kind if headphone that is easy to like and easy to listen to, even for non audiophiles.
Full review:
Best Closed Headphone – Dynamic Driver:
ZMF Atrium Closed
From the review:
The Atrium Closed is technically strong and musical at the same time and it’s just a pure pleasure to use all day long. For a closed-back headphone, the Atrium Closed sounds very open, spacious and realistic. It’s a headphone than can bring a smile on your face but it also pleases the audiophile with high technical requirements. A beautiful design, excellent sound and a musical experience all-in-one.
Full review:
Best Closed Headphone – Planar Magnetic:
Dan Clark Audio E3
From the review:
The DCA E3 at this time is one of the best tuned closed-back headphones on the market. DCA puts it in the Mid-Fi area, but it in reality is a high-end performer.
The E3 not only performs and delivers with great, open and refined sound. It also provides you with all the advantages of a closed-back headphone. The E3 is a pleasure to the eye with a beautiful design and eye-catching blue highlights. Finally we can state that the E3 is compact, portable and super comfortable all at the same time.
Full review:
Best Headphone – No limits:
Hifiman Susvara Unveiled
From the review:
The new Hifiman Susvara Unveiled is a masterpiece building upon the legacy of the original Susvara. The Unveiled performs at a very high level where only a select few of the very best headphones on the market can compete with it.
Full review:
Best Portable Player – DAP:
HiBy Music R8ii
From the review:
The HiBy R8 II sets a new standard for neutral-sounding DAPs, especially below the 2000$ range. Its super dark background, precise stereo imaging, and spacious soundstage create an immersive listening experience that remains faithful to the recording. With its honest and uncoloured reproduction, the R8 II invites you to rediscover your music with newfound clarity.
Full review:
Best DAC/AMP – Combo:
Ferrum ERCO 2
From the review:
I quite liked the original ERCO when I reviewed it, but to be honest I hardly ever used it after the article was published. With the ERCO 2 this isn’t the case and I have been using it daily as a DAC/AMP, even with very high-end headphones. The updates done by Ferrum are really worth it and they make the ERCO 2 a more exciting, emotionally engaging, and musical unit which I absolutely recommend. The vocal presentation of the ERCO 2 is one of the very best.
Full review:
Best Amplifier – Solid State:
Hifiman Prelude
From the review:
The Hifiman Prelude is a high-end amplifier that has a lot of things going for it. It is powerful, weighty, refined and very musical. The prelude at all times sounds full bodies and it has a smooth presentation with a natural tonality. The Prelude does everything effortless and the vocals and mid timbre are a pure pleasure to the ear. The top end is a little softer here but that makes listening to treble focused headphones a whole lot easier. The Prelude has enough power to drive all headphones and it always does that with a natural and soft tonality, combining an excellent level of precision with a musical and addictive, engaging rendering.
Full review:
Best Amplifier – Tubes:
Auris Audio Headonia 300b
From the review:
While the new Headonia 300B doesn’t sound like the original, its performance again is exceptional. I remember calling the original Headonia “Extraterrestrial” and the new one isn’t inferior in any way. Au contraire, it impresses me even more and I can now finally remove the original Headonia from my Recommended Buy amplification list and replace it with this new version. The Auris Audio Headonia 300b is a very high-end amplifier with a corresponding price tag, but it really is a statement product, with a matching performance. It is an amplifier for the lucky few, but it is incredibly good.
Full review:
And now on to the personal awards of BERKHAN on the next page! CLICK HERE
