a 3.5mm connector, and a 1/4-inch
adapter is included.
Interestingly, the plugs for each
earcup are TRS (tip-ring-sleeve), which
I thought might mean that the drivers
are wired for balanced operation.
But I was informed that they are not
balanced; instead, the three-conductor
connectors are used to automatically
determine which signal is left and
right, so it doesn’t matter which one
is connected to each earcup.
With an impedance of 16 ohms,
sensitivity of 99 dB/mW (calculated at
the eardrum), and a power-handling
capacity of 5-watt RMS, the maximum
sound output is rated over 120dB
SPL with THD less than 0.1 per cent at
100dB SPL. The frequency response
is specified from 10Hz to 50kHz (no
tolerance given).
Audeze touts several enhancements
it has made to planar-magnetic
technology. One of them is its ultra-
thin Uniforce diaphragms, which are
very lightweight, presenting very little
resistance to movement for improved
transient response. And its large size
of 90mm in diameter facilitates deep
bass reproduction.
The company makes all its drivers
in its Southern California facility, using
a vacuum-deposition process to coat
the diaphragm film with conductive
metal that is then etched to form the
‘voice coil’ on the surface. To achieve
a uniform magnetic force across the
entire surface area of the diaphragm,
Audeze actually varies
the width of the voice-
coil tracing depending
on the strength of
the magnetic field at
different locations.
According to the
company’s website,
“Audeze uses ‘a genetic
algorithm-based
heuristic optimization
technique together with
magnetic simulations
to optimize trace
widths to achieveAn ingenious design means you can plug either cable into
each earcup, and the left signal will be played by the left
earcup and vice versa.