“Premium design detail coupled with excellent sonics delivers a listening experience that doesn’t disappoint”: HEDD HEDDphone D1 review

What is it?

German manufacturer HEDD is best known for its ribbon tweeter-equipped monitors, and the AMT (air motion transformer) design formed the basis of its first line of headphones.

The HEDDphone, HEDDphone Two and HEDDphone Two GT all feature the same full frequency variable velocity transformation (VVT) drivers. These are fantastic and pretty pricey headphones that are variously designed for critical and leisure listening. Meanwhile, the distinctive rectangular ear cups add their own stylish twist.

Nevertheless, even the lightest model (HEDDphone Two GT) weighs in at 550g a pair, which many would consider a little heavy for long listening spells. So, it’s maybe no surprise that its latest addition, the HEDDphone D1, does things differently. It’s also considerably more affordable.

The D1 is an open-back over-ear headphone built for reference monitoring and audiophile listening. It uses a more traditional diaphragm-based driver design, but in keeping with HEDD’s design philosophy, the diaphragm uses a high-tech material called thin-ply carbon (TPCD). Developed in collaboration with Swedish diaphragm specialists Composite Sound, HEDD is keen to point out that this is the first headphone driver to use this super-light material.

At 32 Ohms, the impedance is low, so the headphones are easy to drive. Further design features include perforated velour ear pads, moulded foam headband, independent ear cup connections with detachable textile-covered Y cable, and custom hard shell carry case.

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Performance

HEDDphone D1 is hand-built in Berlin, and the build quality and finish are both excellent. We really like the styling, which is pretty low key with the matt black look punctuated by some subtle HEDD branding on the headphones and cable. The design is fully serviceable, which is important given the price, meanwhile both the ear cup assembly and headband assembly can be unclipped should you need to replace them.

The D1 uses a traditional notched metal headband, which allows plenty of adjustment for head size and provides a decent amount of clamp. There’s also moderate rotation in the ear cup hinges to help achieve a snug fit. The internal ear pad diameter is reasonable, though certainly not the biggest we’ve seen, but nonetheless should accommodate most ear sizes. Overall, we found the fit pretty comfortable even after long listening spells.

The headphone design has a very open back and this means you don’t get much passive isolation. Even so, this adds to the natural feel, and first impressions are of quite neutral sonics with good stereo separation and imaging. This means beat-heavy tracks are not hyped in the low frequencies, and for critical listening and mixing, this is definitely desirable.

In terms of low-frequency delivery, this begins to noticeably tail off from about 45Hz, making the D1 very useful for checking the lows in your mix. The high frequencies have a very subtle lift, and this makes it much easier to focus on the upper mid and mid frequency areas even at higher listening levels.

So, whether you’re trying to balance rock guitars or sit a lead vocal, the all-important mid-range has plenty of clarity but is not overbearing. Overall, we think HEDD has done an excellent job of tuning the D1 so it’s great for audio users but also offers enough for audiophile listeners too. That said, if you like big bass, you’ll need to boost that manually.

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Verdict

HEDDphone D1 is an extremely desirable headphone. Premium design detail coupled with excellent sonics delivers a listening experience that doesn’t disappoint and, although the price is reasonably steep, you’re getting excellent build quality and a five-year warranty.

Hands-on demos

HEDD Audio GmbH

"I can hear everything!" HEDDphone® D1 Review Compilation - YouTube

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Read the full OLLO Audio X1 review

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Specifications