Headphones, Earphones & Personal Audio at CES 2012, Part 1

Posted by: Chris Martens at 4:04 pm, January 23rd, 2012

Altec-Lansing

Most often thought of as a loudspeaker manufacturer or pro-sound company, Altec-Lansing is entering the headphone fray with not one but two lines of earphones, plus a line of ACS-built custom fit in-ear monitors (as noted above). Altec’s earphones are offered in two series: the Bliss family of earphones ($29.95 - $69.95) and the Musx Core family of earphones ($29.95 – $99.95).

Audeo/Phonak

The Swiss firm Phonak Audeo followed up the Fall 2011 release of its spectacularly good flagship earphone, the PFE 232 ($599), with a new mid-priced model called the PFE 132 ($239). In essence, the PFE 132 is a “made for iPhone” version of the superb PFE 121/122, which we at Playback regard as one of the best sounding mid-priced earphones we have tested to date.

Audioengine

The desktop audio specialists at Audioengine have been on a roll of late, as evidenced by three new products on display at CES. First, we have the Audioengine 5+ (or “A5+” for short) self-powered desktop/whole-room speaker ($399/pair), which is a updated version of the original A5—arguably the single product most responsible for putting Audioengine on the desktop audio map. Next, we have the adorably small, but definitely not toy-like D1 DAC ($169)—a 24/192 DAC with both USB and optical inputs, and outputs for both headphones and for purposes of driving audio systems (or self-powered speakers such as the A5+). Note: Playback will soon be reviewing the combination of a D1 DAC and a pair of A5+ speakers, which together promise to serve as a fine (and not terribly expensive) standalone high-performance desktop audio system.

The third product Audioengine revealed at CES was its way cool D2 Premium Wireless DAC ($599). Actually, though, the D2 is more than just a DAC. As Audioengine points out, the D2 serves in three different though related capacities. First, it’s a high-resolution USB wireless DAC (the DAC can accept and process digital audio files at up to 24/192 data rates, but sends the music over-the-air at 24/96 resolution). Second, the D2 functions as a wireless USB-to-SP/DIF converter. Third, the D2 also functions as a wireless optical PCM-to-stereo link. Two important points to note are that the D2 functions completely independently from your home Wi-Fi network—if any, and the D2 transmitter can simultaneously send HD audio to as many as three wireless receivers spread throughout the user’s home.

Audio-Technica

2012 marks the 50th Anniversary for the respected Japanese high-end audio/pro-sound company Audio-Technica. In celebration of its anniversary, Audio-Technica released a series of five very limited edition products, including two phono cartridges, a DJ-oriented headphone, a set of high performance earphones, and the latest in Audio-Technica’s well-regarded “W-series” full-size headphones (headphones that enjoy something of a cult following worldwide).

Of particular interest for Playback readers, we feel, will be the ATH-CKW100ANV earphones ($549.95) and the spectacular new ATH-W3000ANV headphone ($1299.95). I took an opportunity to listen to the ATH-W3000ANV headphones, and –judging by admittedly brief first impressions—I’d venture the opinion that it just might be A-T’s finest W-series model to date. What I particularly liked about the 50th anniversary model was that it retained (and perhaps even expanded upon) the natural warmth and dynamic expressiveness that have been the hallmarks of past W-series models, while introducing a much higher level of tautness and control (especially in the bass region) than I’ve head from earlier-generation W-models. In short, the 50th Anniversary W3000ANV might be one of those “best of two schools of thought” designs that do all (or at least most) things very well.