The three headphones you really need

Audeze LCD-X

Dhs6,565

Pronounced ‘Odyssey’, these
open-back headphones have lambskin ear pads, but you could also go down the ‘vegan’ route and opt for the leather-free micro suede trim. You can’t plug these into your smartphone – they are designed for a headphone amplifier, meaning you get far crisper and fuller audio quality than many competitors. The headphones use planar magnetic drivers – better than dynamic drivers used in other headphones at this price point, which typically have a higher distortion compared to the planar magnetic option. In other words: these are studio-grade headphones.

Klipsch HP3 Heritage

Dhs4,500

Klipsch is renowned for its speaker range and handcrafted cabinets, but it does make technically
and aesthetically accomplished headphones too. Need proof?

Take a look at this retro-cool HP3 Heritage pair of headphones. The triple vented semi open back over- ear headphones have solid wood ear cups and the headband is made from cowhide, while there is a far softer magnetic removable sheepskin ear cushion. Sound is delivered by way of a pair of 52mm biodynamic drivers. Interestingly, these headphones can be paired with a high-end amplifier (as an add-on you can buy the Heritage Headphone Amplifier) or they can link directly with your smartphone, making them a versatile and portable piece of audiophile kit.

Focal Utopia

Dhs14,600

If money is no bar, these are about the very best headphones you can get at the moment. Every single piece is handcrafted by a two-member team at the Focal factory in France, with one person dedicated to making the drivers while the other is assigned to making the rest of the components. They are the only headphones in the world with ultra-lightweight 40mm pure beryllium dome drivers that
can deliver across an incredibly wide frequency range of 5Hz to 50kHz.

The open design means that as much ambient noise from the room can percolate through to the headphones as noise from the inside feeds outwards – these are the opposite of noise-cancelling headphones. The deliberate feat is to mimic the effect of listening to music through a pair of loudspeakers in your living room. That’s the level of technology, which has been miniaturised into this pair of benchmark-setting headphones.

All these product are available at Dubai Audio