Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT Professional Wireless Bluetooth Closed-Back Over-Ear Headphones

Sadly a few weeks ago my trusty AKG N60NC headphones broke. This left me in a tricky situation because I knew it was highly likely I would need to look elsewhere for my next set of headphones due to Samsung’s acquirement of Harman back in 2017 causing a change of direction for the company. I like to see myself as someone who shows brand loyalty when I find a company that I believe make very high-quality products for a reasonable price. After a little research around the internet, I found out that a few of AKG’s management & engineers had formed a new company called Austrian Audio, which intrigued me to look deeper at their headphones. I was looking for some headphones on a budget of £150, and when I found the Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT headphones, after reading some reviews on them, I knew I had to give them a try, so I did. For me in a pair of headphones there are four main factors in what decides whether they are good or not so good, build quality, comfort, features and obviously sound quality. Build Quality 4/5 At this price range sadly the build quality around this market is not the best, normally involves a lot of plastic, and although this is still the case with the Hi-X25BT the frame inside is metal which makes the headphones feel well made. I love the look and feel of the headphones and I see them lasting a long while. Comfort 5/5 This was the one downfall of my previous headphones (AKG N60NC), after a couple of hours, I would start to feel a little pressure right in the middle of the top of my head where the band rested. However, with these headphones, I can happily say they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned. They are not extremely heavy which makes them feel light on the head. I can easily wear these for hours with no discomfort. Features 4/5 The headphones come with the obvious Bluetooth so you can easily connect them to any device that supports Bluetooth. The set-up process was easy, and they automatically connect back to your device when you turn them on. Austrian Audio also say you should get up to 30 hours of battery life, and although I have not owned or used them long enough to confirm this, I can say I have got some decent battery life from them (Been using them for at least 15 hours and not charged them yet). You can also use the headphones with the USB-C to 3.5 Jack wire included in the box if you desire. A downfall for most will be the fact that the headphones do not support ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). This wasn’t such a big issue for me as I never intend to take these headphones out of the house or use them around overly noisy environments, but I know many people will be put off by Austrian Audio’s decision to exclude this feature. Saying that though they are over-ear headphones, so they do cut out a small amount of outside noise, which is good enough for me. Lastly, the headphones do offer ways of controlling your music (volume, pause, play etc.) and I believe they have implemented these features into their headphones great, but I do find the controls a little sensitive to the touch. I have a fair few times accidentally paused my music when trying to rearrange the headphones. I have overtime got used to this and do it far less, but it was something that bothered me for a while. Sound Quality 5/5 This is obviously the most important factor of any headphones you buy, and I am pleased to say they do not disappoint. These headphones are by far the best sounding headphones I have personally owned. They sound a lot better than the AKG N60NC’s that I highly rated. When I listen to vocals, casual talking or music, everything sounds so crisp and clear, also acoustics sound incredibly vibrant. Most companies these days also tend to put too much bass into their headsets, which I am not a massive fan of. Austrian Audio on the other hand I think have balanced the bass very well, you know it is there, but it isn’t booming too much. I wasn’t expecting the headphones to sound as good as they do, even a family relative believes these headphones sound better than his headphones which were almost double the price! Conclusion I imagine you can get much better headphones if you are willing to spend a lot more money, but for £150, unless you need/want ANC, you cannot go wrong buying these headphones. For the price, they offer great build quality, comfortable listening and truly amazing sound quality. I highly recommend them!

I bought these to replace some cans made by another company. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! They are very comfortable and seemingly well engineered although they do do need to be broken in to sound their best according to several verified reviews. After about 10 hours use I can confirm that the soundstage is getting better even though they are a bit light on bass at the moment! I do have high hopes for these, especially after one month of use, but we will have to see! So far so good, did I say I'm impressed so far! I got some useful cable ties that we're used for the packaging which can be up-cycled and the warranty is 3 years if you buy these through an accredited supplier, which I did. Well the latest is, as you use them they get better. I was surprised at the sound stage - I can place the instruments. But the bass blew me away - I took them off my head and looked at them hard - trying to figure how Austrian Audio manage to get such bass out of relatively small cans. All I can say is that I'm pleasantly surprised, the sound coming out of these is still improving - not that it was bad in the first place! Highly recommended, but you have to persevere with them! I've been using them for at least 3 hours every day since I got them! The one down side is the 1.2m length cable. The longer Austrian Audio cable is expensive for what it is - so I ordered an extension from KabelDirekt instead which seems to be good quality.

Okay, firstly, I got these based purely on reviews both on Amazon and elsewhere on the web. It’s safe to say they are well respected. Now before I go much further, please note that the most important thing to remember about these headphones is this: THEY NEED RUNNING IN! Give them a couple of days also running in, This will soften that hard edge sufficiently to let these beauties shine. So let’s take a look at the build quality. These headphones are partially plastic but they do have some good strong metal where it counts and they do look and feel as if they would survive reasonable daily use quite well. The headband is very comfortable and the ear pads are also comfortable (as far as I’m concerned). There is another reviewer on here who states he has trouble with the ear pads in that they seem to create a vacuum? I personally have not experienced this. Maybe I have an alien shaped head, or maybe the other reviewer does? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Either way, the headphones are very comfortable for me to wear for both short and long periods of time. Now for the important stuff, the sound quality. These headphones sound very clear and are extremely open and revealing. Naturally, being so revealing they will shine with a good source. It does very much seem a case of garbage in – garbage out. Personally I listen to these with a Digital audio player which has a powerful output stage. I also listen to my minidisc player using these headphones. As I hinted at in the title, the bass is rather tight, which wouldn’t normally be a problem, but it is a touch light and could do with a little boost. When I am using my high res DAP, I pop the 62hz bass a notch or two up (leaving everything else neutral) And for me the sound is then perfectly balanced. When listening to my Sony minidisc I use the low Megabass setting (it just has off, low or high) and to me it all sounds spot on. The treble sounds perfectly crisp and clear without sounding at all harsh (unless of course the source recording is harsh). The mid range is also exceptionally clear but doesn’t venture too far into the foreground, and for me this is how music should be heard. As I have already said, the bass is tight and can go very deep but only about 80 to 90% as deep as I would personally like, hence for my ears I prefer to give it a little boost. To summarise, they are not perfect, largely to do with that bass, but as far as the whole package goes they are a good 90% or so perfect to my ears. They are certainly very analytical headphones, but they don’t sound boring, on the contrary they are rather exciting to listen to. As for buying them, if you know what you want and you are looking for revealing, exciting and clear sound then these are definitely a hit and good value for money. If you like bassy party booming sounds then you are looking in the wrong place.

Siempre he sostenido que unos audífonos, unas bocinas en HiFi, deben ser escuchadas antes de comprar, a veces la papelería con datos técnicos, supone revelar una gran calidad, pero la verdad es que debes para no equivocarte, escucharlos funcionando. Todos tenemos diferentes cualidades y capacidades auditivas, para de ahí resolver con lo que más nos gusta, bajos fuertes o moderados, agudos intensos o descriptivos, medios igual. Pero insisto, tus oídos y tú gusto deben decidir. Así y con una simplesa básica, estos audífonos son excepcionales, equilibrados, descriptivos, espacios perceptibles, arrojan un sonido muy agradable. Para mí fue una casualidad dar con ellos, buscaba los AKG que son de una sobrada reputación, pero al descubrir estos, los adquirí junto con unos AKG, teniendo como referencia que los ingenieros de la planta original de AKG antes de que fuera adquirido por el grupo Herman Kardon, mantuvieron su fe en lo que habían creado y fundaron su propia empresa para producir estos bellos y extraordinarios audífonos. Yo los disfruto, para mí gusto auditivo y percepción musical, son una delicia, además de que juego usando unos y otros, pero estos son magníficos, no te van a desilusionar de ninguna manera

My 3 time Grammy-nominated recording artist wife, Claire Lynch, put these on and gave them the thumbs up straight out of the box, despite the less-than beefy construction she is used to. Claire found the volume to be far hotter her regular cans, but the highs and lows were almost as nicely balanced and articulate as her much more expensive Sennheisers, Shures, etc. The one thing she said was that the midrange was slightly scooped. I agree with her (partly because I know who makes the pecan pies around here) and I'd add that these cans have a gloriously deep sound stage, very dimensional. We'll have to see if they cut it for mixing. So far, great value for money from a new company that is an off-shoot of a big name, well-established Austrian manufacturer.

Beim X25BT handelt es sich um den einzigen Bluetooth Kopfhörer der Firma aus Österreich. Ich hab das Gerät seit nem Dreiviertel Jahr in Benutzung und bin sehr angetan. Zugegeben im Sommer ist es mir etwas zu heiß damit aber allgemein habe ich nur wenig zu meckern und das bei einem echt sehr fairen Preis. Im Einzelnen: -Bequemlichkeit Eines der Besten Dinge an diesem Kopfhörer ist der bequeme Sitz, er lässt sich leicht und schnell in der Weite anpassen und sitzt deshalb auf wohl jedem Kopf sicher aber ohne Drücken. Speziell bei Leuten die einen etwas größeren Kopf haben drücken andere Kopfhörer teils schnell, der hier auch nach nem ganzen Tag nicht. Dazu tragen vielleicht auch die beiden sehr weichen, angenehmen Ohrpolster bei. -Robustheit Normalerweise will ich zu Kopfhörern immer ein Hardcase haben, weil ich sie unterwegs/auf Reisen dabei habe und die teuren Dinger geschützt wissen will. Dieser hier hat nur einen simplen Beutel, allerdings ist der Kopfhörer selber so stabil und robust dass ich ihn mittlerweile bedenkenlos überall mitnehme. Was mir auch gut gefällt, dass man den Kopfhörer trotz seiner großen Ohrpolster sehr geschickt und klein zusammenfalten kann, so dass ich ihn oft einfach in der Jackentasche transportiere. -Audio Der Klang ist für mich auf jeden Fall ziemlich gut und auch für den Preis mehr als angemessen, mehr braucht im Alltag niemand denke ich. Musik und Stimmen sind klar, ziemlich neutral und auch Lautstärke hat einen großen Umfang. Dazu schirmen die Ohrmuscheln Außengeräusche ab, allerdings nicht so, dass man damit auf der Straße gefährdet wäre, weil man zu wenig hört. -Konnektivität: Sowohl der klassische Klinkenanschluss (mit speziellem Kabel) als auch der moderne USB-C wird unterstützt wird, wobei ich meistens eben Bluetooth nutze, weil ich kein Kabelfreund bin. Trotzdem ein gutes Gefühl zu wissen dass man notfalls laden und hören gleichzeitig könnte. Wichtig war mir auch, dass man sich mit mehreren Geräten bei BT verbinden kann. -Benutzung Im Alltag sehr breit nutzbar, also zum Musikhören, Hörbücher, Spielen oder eben Gespräche. Der Akku hält extrem lange, ich nutze den Kopfhörer ca 2-3 Std/Tag und lade einfach jedes Wochenende auf. Leider ist keine einfache Möglichkeit den Akkustand zu sehen soweit ich weiß. Der Ein/Aus Knopf lässt sich auch am Kopf gut ertasten. Mittels Touch kann man lauter/leiser machen oder stop/start, was recht zuverlässig funktioniert- manchmal komm ich aber auch aus Versehen dran und stoppe die Musik ungewollt. Es gibt auch noch etliche weitere Funktionen/Steuerungen, aber die nutze ich nicht, ist auch zu kompliziert (Touch mit 3 Fingern.....) also da würde ich mir explizite Knöpfe wünschen, aber mir reichen eh die Standardfunktionen und die gehen gut und eingänglich. Man kann auch die Ohrpolster ersetzten! Alles in allem, wie gesagt, vor allem wegen der guten Praxistauglichkeit und dem Preis, sehr zufrieden!

Comfortable, very neutral sound and easy to drive. Can still tune the EQ as needed to get desired sound, no issues from me a few months on

These are about the sound, with high quality and no frills. No ANC, no app, and I have not yet mastered the touch controls (I will). They are comfortable to wear, and can be used as passive phones (a real plus to me). What makes them keepers for me is the neutral sound, picking up so many details in a timely manner and very listenable (with the same detail) at lower volumes. I thought my Dali phones were as clean (ish) and detailed as I would find, as I am not happy with the tuning of many leading brands. The answer of course is less tuning. Austrian Audio carries the AKG legacy of clean cans for studio use. A winner!