In today’s article, I would like to review the Austrian Audio HI-X65 closed-back headphones. So let's get started. This pair came to me directly from Austrian Audio, the box looks nice, there is a bit of foam and a little bag in it. What's in the bag? We've got a cable with a normal jack, mini jack, the cable which is fairly long about three meters, warranty card, and another cable exactly the same again but it's shorter. Both cables are quite nice. I normally prefer these cables to the springy ones that stretch. They've given you an option of a shoter cable as well and that's quite cool.
How do they look? I like the big L and R letters that is on the inside. Really soft leather cushions on there, nice and deep for your ears. I really like the look of these, and they fold up nicely, so they pack into a bag well. Do they spin round all the way? Can you dj with these? Maybe, I suppose, kind of, but these are for mixing and mastering, not for DJing. So, pads can be adjustable up and down and I just think they look so cool. I love black obviously and these are the nice black/gray colour. Their build quality is super strong. They look really, really well made.
So how these plug in? They don't have a plug on either side, they have one plug, so it's not a left and right. It's just one attachment to the headset which is actually really nice, it locks in perfectly. That's a really rock solid build quality. These are top notch definitely and made in Austria of course.
How do they feel? Super cozy feeling. I think these are closed back, but I can still hear what's going on in the room, they're not totally blocking the sound and definitely doesn’t feel like other closed back headphones I’ve tried. Though, they look like open back sets, because they've got like little dots on their backs.
They're not hurting parts of my head. If you adjust them right, they're really cozy. I could sit with these listening all day long. Also they're cover your ear really well. There's no gap going on and because these aren't leather that means that's not going to get really sweaty on your head which is horrible if you're using headphones for a long period of time especially for mixing and mastering where you tend to use them for a long period of time.
I've been listening to them for a few days, playing all my general kind of reference material and I must say, I really like the sound. For the price point which is about 350 pounds or so, they sound really high end. And I can easily say they are suitable for mixing and mastering work. There's a nice bit of detail in the low end they do tend to go quite low, which is great. You definitely want that on a set of headphones these days. The mids are very detailed. If I had to be critical, I would say they're a little bright for my ears. But, I should mention, I mostly like headphones that aren’t too bright, so that's a personal choice I think. This would be my only criticism. I think the build quality and sound is great for the price point. Recommended for home and professional users.
Also check out this great video review talking about specs and other issues about this model.
