Austrian Audio opened its doors in 2017 following the closure of the AKG offices in Vienna, founded by former employees, including three former directors of the famous company. And yet, Austrian Audio set out to create something respectful to its manufacturing heritage but also something new. So far, they have achieved it in microphones, but not so much in headphones, where they have been targeting predominantly the studio market. And one of the reasons is that professional headphones - sometimes amongst the most balanced and accurate in the market - normally fail to cause much excitement. We've seen that with brands such as Focal, which have started with professional studio headphones that hardly anyone remembers they did (and they sounded good).
Clearly, Austrian Audio needed a win in the vibrant headphone enthusiast niche segment, where price is never an issue and the latest wireless technologies are stubbornly ignored. Creating premium products designed for the high-end home listener was precisely what the company did and is now launching in December 2024 and January 2024, with its first reference headphones, and a headphone amplifier.
The Composer Headphones have a respectable MSRP of US $2,699 (EUR 2,499.00) and the only thing in common with previous Austrian Audio headphones is the same exact shape of the earcups. Otherwise, the Composer headphones have been refined as a premium product requires. The custom dynamic 49mm driver enables an extended frequency range from 5Hz to 44kHz with very low THD (which the company says is 3 times lower than some expensive competitors without offering measurement details). These headphones are also low-sensitivity, with 22-ohm impedance, therefore widely compatible with many source devices.
The design is naturally open-back, as this segment prefers, and supports the driver's Hi-X (High Excursion) technology developed for Austrian Audio’s professional headphones. This cleverly incorporates the driver into the large earcups with ample additional space — to both enhance airflow and create an ideal fit, regardless of the listener’s ear shape.
The diaphragm of the HI-X49 DLC driver is coated with diamond-like carbon, making it exceptionally rigid and shifting the break-up frequencies to higher levels. The soft leather, memory foam earpads are magnetically attached and can easily be replaced or swapped. The earcup assembly features a precision-machined ring magnet system that uses powerful N52 grade neodymium magnets. An unusual part of the design are the cable attachments on each side of the headphones, which use prominent dedicated connectors with what Austrian Audio calls a "newly designed Banana Jack connector". Very strange. And The Composer headphones ship with 3.5mm jack, XLR 4-pin, and 4.4mm Pentaconn dedicated cables. It's a lot of bananas.
Still, Austrian Audio says that every aspect of the headphones have comfort in mind. The Composer features tiltable earcups that are adjustable to four positions, and there is breathable mesh headband suspended below a metal frame - again another typical design option that seems to be a trademark of expensive, large size headphones. And yet, with only 400 grams the flat-folding design is still convenient enough for travel and storage.
And of course, no enthusiasts would truly be happy with a premium headphones option that doesn't include also a dedicated preamplifier. And Austrian Audio delivers that with the Full Score One Headphone Amplifier: MSRP US $1,599 or EUR 1,499.00.
The Full Score One was designed to meet and exceed the demands of both home and professional setups and effortlessly handles a wide range of headphones, from low-impedance models down to 10 Ohms up to high-sensitivity headphones over 300 Ohms. The main amplifier comprises a wide-band, fully symmetrical voltage feedback circuit with a triple emitter follower output stage biased in class B, a high-speed, complementary push-pull gain stage, and a cascoded, parallel differential input stage.
A special feature of the amp is its optional True Transient Technology (TTT) feature, enabled or disabled by a dedicated button on the chassis. TTT can be employed to faithfully deliver extremely steep audio transients with a short, voltage-invariant rise time, combined with a high maximum slew rate. This feature was designed to be switchable, as it may not be ideally suited to older audio productions designed for slower systems.
Built with high-end and military-grade components, the Full Score One stands-out immediately for its very large knob on the right. This volume potentiometer employs a special custom curve to make the adjustment more comfortable in the lower regions without the need for a gain switch.
The two products will be distributed through dedicated specialized channels. In the US, that's VANA Ltd, based in Nesconset, NY. The company is a full-service importer/distributor of products including Atlas Cables from Scotland, European Audio Team (E.A.T.) turntable products from Austria, Ferrum electronics from Poland, and Marten loudspeakers and Jorma Cables from Sweden.
www.austrian.audio
