The Box, Accessories & Price
The HEDDphone TWO comes with a bespoke travel case, a spare set of ear pads, cables and adapters, so you’re ready to plug in. More specifically, you get a 2.2m headphone cable with 6.35mm termination, a 2.2m balanced cable with 4.4mm termination, a 3-pin audio adapter – 6.35mm to 3.5mm and a 4-pin audio adapter – balanced 4.4mm to XLR.
Our review sample didn’t contain all the accessories (just the case and 2 cables) so we can’t show them all to you, but you can be sure to get these when buying the HEDDPhone 2. As said, the TWO is selling for €1.999 Euro. It comes with a 5 year warranty, free shipping and you can even return it for free within 100 days.
The travel case looks and feels tough and it is just a nice case. The TWO perfectly fits inside, as well as the cables. I really like the closed compartment on the inside
All-in-all it is a very complete package and you rarely get such an extensive set of accessories anymore, especially at this price point.
Design
The design of the original HEDDphone is quite simple and it – let’s be honest – is a rather bulky headphone with impressively sized earcups and an old-school headband system. The HEDDphone TWO is very different in this regard, and HEDD has clearly listened to the market feedback.
An all-new mechanical design ensures not only a more compact form factor but also heightened durability. HEDDphone TWO is ready to withstand the demands of both professional studios and everyday enthusiasts.
In my humble opinion, the HEDDphone TWO still is a bulky and bigger sized headphone, but compared to the original it has come a far way even if there still is room for improvement.
The carbon headband system is completely new and it now allows very precise finetuning, even if the system to do so isn’t the quickest. The headband also sticks out higher above your head, so this might look a bit weird for others (but do we care?). In the future I would still love to see a smaller sized HEDDphone, though it really is a headphone that is used at a desk only. So is it really that important? Not really.
I really like the TWO’s yoke design as well as the grills, which like in the original are nicely showing the AMT driver inside. The forward facing cable connectors also make things easier when cable rolling, and the new 3,5mm connectors make plugging the cable in and out much more easily.
All-in-all it is a nicely designed headphone and the TWO surely looks and feels sexier than the original in my opinion.
Build Quality
The HEDDphone TWO is handmade in Berlin and the German craftmanship is excellent, as we’re used to. The finishing is perfect and the TWO is sturdy and beautiful at the same time. The leather used on the headband and ear cushions is faux leather but it looks really nice, especially the perforated insides.
The only thing I am a little worried about are the cups and yokes as there seem more prone to get scratches on them.
Comfort
The HEDDPhone TWO still is a heavier headphone and it weighs around 550g. The original HEDDPhone weighed an impressive 730g, so HEDD really has done some serious development here. By utilizing ultra-light materials, such as carbon-fiber and magnesium, HEDD has achieved this impressive 25% weight reduction.
Our unique design uses a smart strap system to adjust shape and tension and comfortably fit heads of any shape or size.
The headband system really allows you set the headphone up just right for your head and it does a really good job in distribution the weight over the top of your head. The side pressure however is quite intense and this might be more annoying for a lot of people. Of course there are things you can do to stretch out the headband, but I haven’t done so myself. For me personally it is not the type of headphone I can comfortably listen to for 6h straight, but that might be different to you.
Check out this video to learn ore on how to set up the head band system correctly:
The Kevlar-infused, braided cable is a little on the stiffer side and it has a large Y-split. It is an 8-wire cable using Kevlar-infused braided 12 x 4 OFC copper and each braided strand has an O.D. of 0.90mm. Using aftermarket cables with the HEDDphone TWO is quite easy, though we won’t go into the sonic differences of those in this review. Like with the original HEDDPhone, you will hear cracking noises from the driver while touching the earcups or putting the headphone on or off. Even though annoying, it is perfectly normal and it doesn’t damage anything.
Sound – Intro
I listened to the HEDDphone TWO with a whole series of sources and amplifiers (see later) but for this section I mainly used the Musician Audio Aquarius as DAC (Laptop with ROON), together with the Ferrum OOR, Hifiman Prelude, SAEQ PDA-1b and others. Whenever possible I used the TWO in balanced mode. Note that this is one of the early TWO samples built.
Sound-wise, the HEDD Audio team doesn’t really describe the TWO’s sound, though we do find the following statement:
Upgrade your audio journey with HEDDphone TWO and experience new realms of comfort, clarity and natural audio bliss.
Let’s dive in further!
Sound – General
If you look at the Frequency response cirve of the TWO, you will immediately notice the sub bass part is only lightly present, so to say. From 50 down low, you get a slow but continuous increase up to the to 2k area. After that you get a steep increase to the 3k range, where it then in a strongly waved pattern starts to drop down.
The sound stage of the HEDDphone TWO is good and it has audibly improved a lot compared to the original. It’s especially the overall more spacious and airy tuning helping out here though, as remarked just above the sub bass presence and treble section does roll off quite soon. What this headphone also is about it clarity, speed, resolution and note extension. I also love the stereo imaging, left-right balance and positioning here. The TWO sounds like an open headphone of course, but it’s not as open sounding as say the HD800.
The HEDDphone TWO is a rather transparent headphone and it will show you what the influence of your source and amp is on your music. The TWO has a neutral amount of body from top to bottom, and the bass presentation is lighter. Bass is punchy, tight and fast, but the sub regions are clearly not as present in this tuning. Same more or less goes for the top end which is energetic enough to keep things exciting, but it isn’t the furthest extended. You could also state that the HEDDphone TWO is more about quality than it is about quantity, though your amplifier will have the last thing to say on that. (Check our synergy section later in this article)
Some people describe the TWO as a warmer sounding headphone but I can’t agree to that description, simply because the upper frequencies are more recessed. Depending on the (tube) amplifier used, the TWO can sounds smoother in the delivery but I’d never call it warm. The TWO is much too studio tuned for that with the excellent AMT drivers. For me, the part where the TWO shines most are the mids, where it shows excellent separation and air. The mids are musical and ear pleasing with more forward placed vocals. The mid timbre for me is the biggest selling point of the TWO, together with their excellent technical level.
The top end is easy on the ears in general. There’s enough energy to keep things exciting (also using 3k bump), but it isn’t the furthest extended treble. Same more or less goes for the bottom end, where the bass presence is enough for the contrast, but the sub-bass levels are rather minimal.
The HEDDphone is a particular sounding headphone and well-tuned headphone with clear strengths (mids, technical level, musicality), though not everything is perfect (sub bass, top end).
The article continues on the third page. Click here or use the jumps below.
Page 1: HEDD Audio, AMT, HEDDphone 1 and TWO, Features, Specifications
Page 2: Box, Accessories, Price, Design, Build quality, Comfort, Sound Intro, Sound General
Page 3: Sound Synergy
Page 4: Sound Comparisons, Conclusion, Summary
