Sennheiser HD 800 

Price: £1,000
More info: Sennheiser
Transducer: Open-air dynamic
Frequency Response: 6-51,000Hz
Impedance: 300ohms
Weight: 260g (without cable)

Plus points(优点)
Openness开放, power力量, transparency透明, detail细节, technological advancement先进技术
Minus points缺点
Confrontational design 外观设计
Sennheiser's HD 800 headphones have been making noises in the tech world for a good while now, and after seven years of development have finally launched amidst the company's claim that they're the best in the world.

森海宣称HD800是运用最新技术的世界最好的耳机.

Rather than live with them as we have the other models in this test however, we experienced them for around an hour at a Sennheiser event with a dedicated high fidelity stereo and amp providing the tunes.

我们在高保真前端与放大器下测试HD800.

Our first impression is that the Sennheisers are huge. Rather than tread the swish natural design route of their rivals, the HD 800s are a celebration of industrial cool. Giant open-back enclosures engulf the ears, with a framework of steel and microfibre and Teflon creating an aerospace-engineered headphone like no other. Confrontational rather than contemporary, we're not sure they'll appeal to everyone.

HD800有非常超现代的设计.使我们都意料不到的设计.

They feature the biggest neodymium magnets of any dynamic headphone and a new doughnut shaped diaphragm tilted to replicate the way sound enters your ears from floorstanding speakers. The result is a sound that rivals any others on test here. The first and only time we stood with jaw agape at the quality and transparency of the music we were listening to.

HD800拥有耳机中最大的磁体单元.成环状的单元.声音具有非常好的透明度与品质.

The special awareness they afford the listener is mind-boggling - were it not for the giant enclosures you'd barely know you're listening through headphones, so open are they. Clarity, detail, power and depth pour across the entire soundstage without hesitation.

HD800提供给大家的特殊之处在于惊喜,他具有无比的开放感.清澈,细节,力量,深度,瞬间涌出声场.

Hyperbole aside, the HD 800 sounded every bit as good as we had hoped. We have to reserve final judgement until we've integrated them into our lives for a while and tested them with a full canon of music, but from first impressions they're as good as headphones get.

我们还将用各种类型音乐来考验HD800.

Audio-Technica ATH-W5000

Price: £950
More info: Audio-Technica
Transducer: Closed-back dynamic
Frequency Response: 5-45,000Hz
Impedance: 40ohms
Weight: 340g
Plus points优点
Beautifully detailed,美丽的细节 transparent,清澈 super-bright high-end, HIEND的亮丽comfortable舒适
Minus points缺点
Weaker bass presence than some,比普通耳机弱的低频 current dodgy exchange rate makes them very expensive, 昂贵的价格no 6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor没有大转小插头

Supplied in their own red satin lined carry case, Japanese electronic specialist Audio-Technica's understated and classy ATH-W5000 headphones sport closed-back wooden enclosures, with Audio-Technica opting for acoustically tuned striped ebony over Denon's mahogany.

具有华丽的包装.ATH旗舰耳机

With muted tones and simple black mounts the W5000 could be forgiven for looking ordinary at first glance but a quick inspection reveals a set of headphones designed and hand-built purely for the listening experience. They feel extremely solid with top quality components throughout, from the 53mm neodymium magnets in the transducers to the soft leather earcups.

设计非常好

One of the best features is Audio-Technica's patented Wing Support contraption, which eliminates the need for varying length headbands by fitting to any head on a pair of padded wings. It gives the effect of the headphones floating above your head and is supremely comfortable, even over very long periods.

佩带由于自动调节,非常舒服

Sound is consistently detailed and extremely delicate, perfect for the high-end where treble is bright and accessible, and the midrange, which cracks with punch and crispness. Complete realism and neutrality makes them remarkably open sounding.

声音非常精致,细节很清晰,具有HIEND级别的亮丽高频,干脆的中频.充满真实感与中性感.

We did find the bottom end a little too delicate at times though, despite the 'bass extending' Double Air Damping System. Where we often wanted a brain-melting dose of deep Denon bass we instead merely felt a light brain basting.

低频显得太少,与DENON的低频完全两个路

If it's clarity, transparency and unrivalled detailing you love in your music though, Audio-Technica has what you need.

如果你喜欢音乐的细节与通透,那么W5000可以带给你.

Denon AH-D7000

Price: £800
More info: Denon
Transducer: Closed-back dynamic
Frequency Response: 5-45,000Hz
Impedance: 25ohms
Weight: 370g
Plus points优点
Absolute detail, hugely powerful, very clean and musical, gorgeous bass presence
细节出色,力量猛烈,清澈的音乐性,猛烈的低频
Minus points缺点
Slightly snug after long periods, no 6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor比较闷热,没有大转小插头

Removing them from their silk-lined box, the closed-back Denon AH-D7000 headphones are dripping in sophisticated old-world elegance with their perfectly circular real mahogany enclosures and subtle nickel branding.
设计很好看

As you'd expect from Denon, no part of the D7000's design has been left to chance, and it shows in the extraordinary build quality and finish. The natural grade mahogany is the same as that used to build high-end guitars because of its acoustic qualities and the finishing is taken from pianos.

木头外壳的材料被用于高级HIEND吉他,而且涂有钢琴漆

Like good speaker systems, the Denons (and all the headphones in this test for that matter) need running in to mature the sound properly. But after 30 hours of play and only the slightest change in colouration we found them utterly beguiling.A beautifully developed high-end means clean, clear trebles while the bottom-end has been wrestled under control to remain tight and urgent without being domineering. In fact the entire soundstage is rendered with almost clinical accuracy.

声场中的一切都精确描绘

Rather than feeling soulless though, the sensation is of bountiful power in reserve but with detail and openness that continually surprises with every note considering their closed-back nature.

Switching from CD to vinyl, the Denons felt just as comfortable with the analogue recording. Such is their precision that they spare no rod over poor sound recordings, and some of our seventies ambient rock didn't come up well.

D7000不挑音源

A little fatigue did set in after particularly long sessions, as the enclosures are quite sizeable and the headband snug, but it's a pitiful gripe in the face of such a stellar sonic performance.

Price: £850
More info: Grado
Transducer: Open-air dynamic
Frequency Response: 12-30,000Hz
Impedance: 32ohms
Weight: 255g
Plus points优点
Plus points Warmth, 温暖tonality, 音色美openness,开放 musicality,音乐性好 weight,重量轻 styling漂亮
Minus points缺点
No carry case没有携带盒

Grado RS1i
We're lucky enough to be the first Brit reviewers to get our hands on the RS1i, Grado's much-anticipated follow up to the RS1, considered by some to be the best headphones in the world.

我们幸运地成为英国第一个拿到RS1I的评论者.RS1是世界最好的耳机之一.

The first thing you notice is the lack of grandiose packaging compared to the Denon and AT models. A simple cardboard box and a bit of foam is all the Grados need - no fanfare here.

包装比起日本耳机很简单.就一个纸盒.

The open-backed RS1is feature handcrafted mahogany earpieces specially cured to optimise the wood's tonal properties and are matched to a new dynamic transducer and cable design. The headphones are laid out in what Grado calls an 'open-air' configuration, and it's this that's the key to their quality.

They're the lightest headphones we tested, with simple foam earcups and an entirely old-world retro design and look. The Grados proved to be remarkably open and transparent - you can literally pick out where individual instruments are in the soundscape and trace the lingering detail of each note.

RS1I采用的是老式的设计,定位很准,你可以轻松辨别出乐器的位置.

But what sets the RS1is apart is the warmth and personality they inject into the listening experience. Their openness is matched if not outdone by the Sennheisers, but the tonal colour throughout the range is more engaging and thus more rewarding.

RS1I最大的优点在于他将温暖与感情带入音乐.全频段的音色非常值得称赞.

We experienced nary a hint of distortion or colouration to any of the music we piped through Grado's cans and even, in a bout of curiosity, plugged them into an iPod Touch to see how they performed. But rather than highlight the nastiness of MP3 compression, they didn't sound half bad. What does the 'i' stand for? Improved.

I代表IMPROVE,RS1I即使用MO3也能发挥出很大的实力.这点非常好.

最终胜利者如下:竟然是RS1I

Four sets of headphones that would be more than adequate for any audiophile, all are close to the top of the music-playing tree and will blow the socks off most other headphones out there.
一个喜欢音乐的发烧友来说,4套耳机非常足够了.4个耳机都是顶级耳机.

The closed-back Denons and Audio-Technicas were both superbly detailed throughout and oozed quality and sophistication both in their presentation and performance. But the closed-back nature of their design shuts them off to some of the warmth and transparency delivered by the open-back Grados and Sennheisers.

D7000与W5000都有杰出的细节与出色的外观,但是封闭的设计使其比起RS1I与HD800显得温暖不够.

In truth the difference between Grado's RS1i and Sennheiser's HD 800 is a case of split hairs or differing aesthetic tastes. There really is so little - if anything at all - wrong with either that they both duly deserve any number of superlatives hurled at them: amazing, faultless, masterpiece… the list could go on.

RS1I与HD800间的区别在于口味,他们都是杰作.

But there must be a winner and so based on the time we spent with them and our almost compulsive desire to use them over any other headphone (even to listen to the iPod), the Grado RS1i stand up as test winners.
但是总要有一个胜利者,我们觉得,RS1I最好.