Introduction

HEDD Audio is a German speaker, and now also headphones, brand which was founded in 2015. However, there is a lot of history here to where calling it a newcomer to the audio world would be doing it a disservice. HEDD stands for Heinz Electrodynamic Design and was founded by physicist Klaus Heinz in 2015 who had previously founded ADAM to showcase his air motion transformer (AMT) drivers used in speakers. Klaus Heinz himself is the son of Physics Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Ernst Ruska and HEDD Audio is now run by Klaus’ son Dr. Frederik Knop who has completed the family journey from physics to music. With so much science and engineering in the family, HEDD grew from strength to strength, including hiring a new head of R&D (Dmitry Grigoriev) with more science background who took on the project of translating AMT drivers into headphones. This itself is quite challenging given AMT drivers, which we will talk more about over the course of this review, are typically used as speaker tweeters only handling the higher frequencies. To make a full-range AMT driver and put it out in the aptly named HEDDphone resulted in a lot of attention a few years ago. It had specific strengths and weaknesses but clearly did well enough for HEDD to dedicate enough resources to a successor.

Today we take a closer look at the brand new HEDDphone TWO which has also resulted in the original HEDDphone now being referred to as HEDDphone ONE. For those wondering, the HEDDphone ONE debuted without any headband sizing and featured massive drivers and ear cups placed such that those with larger heads simply could not use it. The HEDDphone ONE was slightly updated after launch to add vertical sizing but it didn’t change the part where it weighed a whopping 730 g and looked like it ate other headphones for dinner. The AMT drivers otherwise were quite ingenious to where we have since seen a few other audio brands put out their own versions of AMT headphones, so when HEDD started teasing the new HEDDphone TWO in time for CanJam London earlier this year I was glad to be among the first people in the world to try the new version and see how HEDD has addressed all the feedback and complaints from the previous model. It took a few seconds to realize the HEDDphone TWO had been designed from the ground up to have less bulk and mass alike. Not only does it feature different and premium materials throughout, there is also a novel suspension-style headband which allows for not only vertical sizing but, as far as I am aware, an industry first with adjustment for the clamp force too. The AMT drivers are also updated with the goal of providing a clean and detailed sound in a set of headphones which are supposed to be comfortable for hours on end. Thanks to Headphones.com—HEDD’s launch partner for the HEDDphone TWO—for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp as we begin our coverage with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications