WORLD OF HEADPHONES AT HIGH END MUNICH 2025 WITH OSCAR STEWART

HiFi PiG’s Oscar checks out everything HeadFi in the High End Munich 2025 World Of Headphones.

Well, here we are again, and it’s a little bittersweet this year as it is the last year this show will be held at the MOC in Munich. Munich High End is such a brilliant show bringing together a ton of brands, trade visitors, international press and HiFi enthusiasts, it is such a pleasure to be covering it once again.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

Violectric

Violectric had on demo their brand new HPA V324 amplifier, the spiritual successor to the famous HPA V281. You could A/B between these two amps, and the new HPA V324 sounds excellent, with a powerful and clean sound. They were using the new Matrix Audio TS1 streamer and a pair of Auribus Acoustics Sierra headphones. Violectric had a few other demo setups around their booth, and the Auribus headphones were in use on these. These headphones are from California and use 3D printed parts, they sound really good.

SPL

SPL had their usual range on display. I had a little play with the Phonitor SE and a pair of Audeze headphones; the crossfeed settings work brilliantly and make the sound a little more natural.

Warwick Acoustics

Warwick Acoustics had the Aperio Goldensound edition system set up – the Aperio is always a lovely sounding system, and the Goldensound edition is no different. Very smooth, sweet, yet detailed sound. Around the room, they had their Sonoma, Sonoma black edition and Aperio black edition on demo too.

Zahl

Zahl makes the excellent HM1 reference headphone amplifier, which includes some really good tuning options as well as superb sound. They now have a new H1 model, whilst it has slightly fewer features, it does boast lower noise on paper. The input gain can be switched to -10, which can help with hot sources, and it sounded very effortless with the Dan Clark Stealth being used with it.

Dan Clark

Dan Clark Audio had their usual models on demo, E3, Corina, Noire X, and the latest Noire XO. The Noire XO are an open-back model; they sound clean, with great bass impact, a nice warmth throughout and great engagement. They were being driven by an Eversolo DMP-A6 gen 2 with the new Luxsin X9 DAC/Amp.

Lotoo

Lotoo will be releasing a new DAC/amp this year, which includes a dongle for your phone/tablet to wirelessly stream to it, in lossless high-res quality. This was paired with a pair of Palma DHS-1 headphones and sounded really good. I’ve followed Lotoo for many years, and their products really do sound excellent.

oBravo

Here was had the new oBravo Jr true wireless Crystal EROS G earphones, they have a big, punchy sound that’s detailed and engaging. Comfort was great, and there is very good resolution for them being a Bluetooth model. They also had their other models on display around the booth.

HiFiMAN

The usual models were on demo in this booth, there was something new here from Feliks Audio though – an Envy “Susvara edition” with a few tweaks (custom output transformers, new power transformer for increased voltage output, upgraded capacitors and wiring, Strade 300B power tubes and, a re-tuned pre-amp module). It’s been custom-tuned to work with the Susvara and sounds absolutely fantastic with them. It sounds a little cleaner than the standard Envy, and really does bring out the best qualities of the Susvara.

ZMF

ZMF make some beautiful headphones, the craftsmanship is superb, and Zach is a passionate person in the head-fi industry. They had their new Bokeh Open on demo, and they sound brilliant with great balance overall, excellent detail, and drive. I also love the amplifier collaborations they d,o and their headphones really are a work of art.

Noble Audio

Noble had their new FoKus Rex5 on demo – a 5-driver hybrid true wireless earphone. They have a Noble tuning with big bass presence and great detail; these are not tuned for “neutral” and are all about having fun. These do, however, have excellent separation and air between instruments, and there are some cool features in the app too, like the ability to save your EQ curve to the earphones so they sound consistent across devices. They also had their FoKus Apollo headphones on demo.

Meze

Meze had their new 105 Silva on demo – they are being released later this year and are a middle ground between the 105 AER (reviewed) and 109 Pro. They have a slightly more balanced sound than the 105 AER without being as crisp as the 109 Pro. First impressions are that they do this very well, and they are also extremely comfortable, like all Meze models.

Austrian Audio

Austrian Audio had their usual models on demo, including the Composer, which are a very clean and crisp sounding headphone, and the Full Score One headphone amplifier.

Astell & Kern

Astell & Kern had their new SP4000 on display, and on demo they had a few of them paired with their two new earphones, the Luna (planar) and XIO (10 driver, in collaboration with 64 Audio). They also had a few other tables with an array of their DAPs and headphones, as well as the Activo P1 which I recently reviewed.

Campfire Audio

I tried out the new Campfire Audio Axion – an entry-level single driver model at $200 – not quite what I was expecting from Campfire Audio, these are quite a clean and detailed model, yet still backed up by great bass impact and extension. Surprisingly detailed and crisp for their price. They also have a new dongle coming too, with USB-C input and both 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs.

iFi

iFi Audio unveiled two new products, the Up Travel which is a Bluetooth dongle designed for travel, allowing you to plug it into the 3.5mm port on planes and connect to your Bluetooth headphones of choice. It transmits high quality Bluetooth codecs and should be a hit with frequency flyers. It’s equally good for in-car use, in receiver mode you can send high quality Bluetooth audio from your phone to it and it’ll plug into any standard 3.5mm aux port.

The other new product is the Go Pod Air, a revised and lighter-weight version of their Go Pods: perfect for transforming your wired earphones to wireless (provided they have a detachable cable). These support the latest codecs and come with 2-pin and MMCX connectors out of the box, with more available as accessories.

Feliks Audio

At the main Feliks audio stand you had the new Feliks Audio Echo vibe amplifier along with the whole range including Euphoria Evo and Envy (in a beautiful new gloss finish). The big news though was the unveiling of Bliss – a brand-new electrostatic amplifier, which is an all-valve model and has adjustable bias for any electrostatic headphone out there. It sounded lovely driving the HiFiMAN Shangri-La with a smooth, full and detailed sound, this is the best I have ever heard these headphones.

Spirit Torino

There were a few Spirit Torino models in the same space, and they had their new ventilation pad system 4.0 on the Valkyria in here, being driven by a Solaja Audio Vortex valve amp.

Raal

Raal had their beautiful ribbon headphones on demo; the 1995 Immanis are a superb headphone and are well worth a demo.

Spirit Torino

The new Radiante from Spirit Torino sounded quite bassy, a little sibilant, yet they had good detail and energy. The Titano wave were also a bit too bass heavy for my personal tastes, great for those who want a little more slam to their sound though. They had a pair of their Centauri 1706 concept on display too.

Portable Audio / IEM Zone

In the portable audio area of this zone you had earphones from Meze, PMG, Zeitgeist and Noble – I love the design of the Zeitgeist models and they sound great too!

Meze

I finally had a chance to listen to the new Poet from Meze, and wow, these are something quite special. They are wonderfully balanced, smooth yet detailed, and airy; Vocals are especially good, with excellent tonality.

Sennheiser

Two new models from Sennheiser were released at the show, the HD550 and 505. The 550 are smooth and well balanced, the 505 are a little more analytical, both sound very good though and are highly enjoyable.

Shenzhen / Leyin audio

Shenzhen and Leyin audio had quite a large area showing off a few different brands. On of those was Moondrop, who had their new Horizon headphones on demo. These use a 50mm dynamic driver and had a really nice sound with good balance and detail.

I also tried out the new Tanchjim Force – a pre-production sample of their new flagship model, really great sound from these. Tons of detail, open sounding, excellent separation with punchy bass.

Fosi

Fosi had their new i5 planar headphones which come across well balanced, smooth, with good depth to the sound and enough punch to be engaging. They also had their new speakers on display; these look to be excellent value for money.

Topping

Topping had a few new products on display, I listened to the D90 Discrete, which comes across as super clean, neutral, and is a powerful DAC/Amp combo.

Auris

Auris had a huge array of their amplifiers on demo, including their new portable amp, and bigger ones like their Headonia 300B (reviewed). I took a listen to the Lyre + Meze Poet a very nice pairing with smooth and full-bodied sound, along with great detail retrieval.

Fiio

Fiio had a huge range of their kit on display, including the FT7, which I have heard a couple of times now: these are a brilliant planar headphone – punchy, dynamic, detailed and fun. They also had their new SP5 speakers on demo with their turntable and S15 streamer, a brilliant little system.

Erzetich

Erzetich are always an interesting brand, I had a litsten to their Scylla + Charybdis combo and it is an excellent sounding pair – really fun and punchy with great bass response. At the end of their table were some interesting looking earphones from Swecci Audio

Audma

This company make headphone amps with built in crossfeed settings, and it is a little bit more than just crossfeed so check them out to understand how it all works. I had a listen to their main HP1 which sounded great with the HiFiMAN Susvara.

They were showing off a new product, the PHPA1, a new portable amp with the same crossfeed settings. It sounded really good from such a small device, and the settings can help headphones sound more natural – they did say it would retail at around €4000 though, which I personally feel is a little on the steep side for a portable headphone DAC/Amp.

Audeze

A new model was on demo here, the LCD S20, a new closed-back model. These sounded a little dark, however, they had good control and detail. They were quite open-sounding for a closed headphone and have great extension.

Fostex / Fidelice

The German distributor for Fostex and Fidelice had a stand with plenty of models on demo. I’m quite a fan of the Fostex headphones, and the Fidelice range from Rupert Neve are great amplifiers.

AT/B Audio

This is a new name for me and also a new brand at the show, founded by Klaus Heinz, who also founded HEDD and Adam Audio. They have a DAC/pre-amp/Headphone amp, a headphone stand and a planar headphone coming out soon. The headphone DAC has tone controls, which is something new, and it works. The planar headphones sounded excellent paired with their amp, with really good linearity across the board. Model names are AB 92 AirBorne – ClearWater – HPS X.

Softears

This is a brand I am familiar with, yet haven’t had much of a chance to listen to them yet. I took this chance to try out their new Volume S model, featuring 2DD + 2BA drivers. These have incredibly dynamic bass, snappy transients, great vocal presence, and sparkly yet not harsh treble.

Sivga/Sendy

Sivga/Sendy audio had a booth with a range of their headphones and, a new DAC/amp, the Kylin. It features an ESS9038Q2M DAC chip and OPA604 op-amps on the output. It has lovely VU meters on the front and looks brilliant.

Weiss

High precision products from Switzerland, Weiss are known for their excellent DACs and separate PSUs, they had a few setups on demo, and their Helios streaming DAC is truly superb.

WOD Audio (Dekoni/iFi)

WOD Audio distribute a few brands including iFi Audio and Dekoni. Dekoni had a new Xbox green earpad for the Audeze Maxwell which look fantastic.

Letshuoer

Letshuoer sometimes fly under the radar; however, they make some excellent earphones, and I had a listen to a couple of models. The new DX1 – single DD driver is very well balanced with a really good single dynamic tuning. Great bass extension and huge impact when needed, whilst staying controlled overall.

My favourite, though, was the new Mystic 8 – 8BA (4 Sonion, 4 Knowles); these are clean, controlled, neutral and balanced. It is a very good take on a more linear tuning without any peaks that could cause fatigue, they are not missing anything across the frequency range – very impressive.

Yamaha

Yamaha seem to be upping their game in the headphone world with a whole host of new releases. They had a new DAC/amp, new YH-C3000 closed back headphones and new YH-4000 open back headphones. The YH-3000 closed back headphones use a 50mm dynamic driver, they sounded warm and sweet, yet detailed, controlled and engaging – especially good for a closed back model. The YH-4000 open planar is quite different of course, with good bass response, slightly recessed mids, and smooth, soft treble.

RME

Here we have some pro-audio kit that also translates well into the head-fi / audiophile world, their ADI-2 DAC is a brilliant bit of kit with built-in parametric EQ and great headphone output.

Ferrum

Ferrum had their stack setup with the OOR, Hypsos, Wandla HP and their brand-new streaming control software, which displays the track info and allows you to control playback via the DAC/Amp (Play/pause, skip tracks). Playing through a pair of HiFiMAN Susvara’s, this stack sounded excellent with crisp detail and snappy transients backed up by good bass punch.

Aune

A few new bits here, a DAC/Amp and some headphones. Some of the Aune kit sounds great, and they are branching out into car audio too.

Gaming Zone

There was also a great gaming zone with headphones, and various audio setups from budget to high-end, a cool little space in Hall 1.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

Follow all of our High End Munich 2025 coverage here!

Oscar Stewart

With additional photography by Kelly Bowden