2024 was a bumper year for personal audio. Every year we there are better headphones, better wireless earphones, and improved Bluetooth recievers. Our favorites choices this year were the Audeze Maxwell Planar Magnetic Gaming Headset and MM-100 Planar Magnetic Headphones, Meze Alba Dynamic Driver IEMs, Cleer ARC 3 Open Ear True Wireless Headphones, 1MORE Open Ear Wireless Headphones S70 & 1MORE Penta Driver Headphones P50, and the bluMe Duo Premium HiFi Bluetooth Transmitter & Receiver.
Audeze
Last year we reviewed the superb Audeze MM-500 Planar Magnetic Headphones. Voiced by and with design input by Manny Marroquin, 11-time Grammy Winner, they are one of the finest headphones on the market. But, they were priced as a premium headphone at $1,699.00, so what did Audeze do? They created the MM-100 at $399.00. They are a bit less luxurious, but barely. Built in the USA on a lightweight premium magnesium and steel chassis, the audio quality is amazingly close to it’s big brother. It’s probably the best bargain in an audiophile headphone today. They were shown last year, but only starting shipping in quantity this year.
The Audeze Maxwell Gaming Headset is easily the best sounding gaming headset we’ve ever heard. It comes in two versions – Sony PlayStation or Xbox. Although the headphones are the same, the dongle is what differentiates them. What’s amazing, is their audiophile chops. These are great sounding headphones for music. There were also delays in shipping but the backlog is cleared.
For more information on the Audeze MM-100 Planar Magnetic Headphones visit: https://www.audeze.com/products/mm-100
Meze
Meze is a small audio company founded by industrial designer Antonio Meze in 2011. Located in Baia Mare, Romania, his refined designs have been making the “Best Of” lists for years. Known for their beautiful wood closed back headphones with hand shaped and finished walnut ear-cups, they entered the world of earphones with the new Meze Alba Dynamic Driver IEMs. They are wired, which seems like a bit of a throwback, but fear not, they ship with a first-rate DAC and USB-Type C adapter. Which was handy with our Android phone and tablet.
The Alba’s are a wonderful, entry-level in-ear-monitor, with sparkling highs and warm believable bass. Physically, they are lightweight, comfortable, and the fit and finish is superb, especially at it’s affordable price point. Make no mistake, these are audiophile grade earphones, and equally at home wit a large variety of music. Designed for a youthful market, at least in terms of advertising, they look very cool, and impressed everyone we showed them to. The sound is well-balanced, not overly neutral and dry, and we think it will please the on-the-go audio lover in your life!
For more information on the Meze Alba Dynamic Driver IEMs visit: https://mezeaudio.eu/pages/alba
Cleer
The Cleer ARC 3 Open Ear True Wireless Headphones are an update to the well-received ARC II, that made out 2023 Holiday Gift Guide. From the outside the new ARC 3 looks similar to the ARC II, but there are major improvements in all aspect of their design and operation.
Cleer garnered a following after their introduction of the ARC headphones. Following on the heels of that success is the Cleer ARC 3, which improves on the original model in a number of ways. The most important is the inclusion of Dolby Atmos optimization for immersive spatial audio when used with compatible media. This is uber cool if you have Apple Music or Tidal which stream Atmos titles. The real story with these units aren’t the improvements, but the overall design, which is unique in that it doesn’t block the ear canal. But these aren’t like the ear pods of old. These wrap about the back of your ears, with a hinged flat flap holding the drivers against your open ear canals. Thus you can hear the outside world, yet the fidelity is very good. The feature list is right out of an audiophile playbook.
The ARC 3 has aptX™ Lossless technology, Snapdragon Sound™ certification and LE Audio compatibility, aptX™ Adaptive, aptX™ Lossless, LDAC, SBC, AAC, wind noise reduction, and the included Bluetooth 5.4Multipoint connectivity is great. If you are wondering that that means, it’s that two people can both share the same source. Perfect for a pair running together who want to share music or a podcast. It comes in a nice cloth-covered charging case with an LCD screen to set up your headphones. Worried about germs, it has built-in UV-C light to kill bacteria while charging, perfect for that sweaty workout. The ARC 3 has 10 hours of battery life, and the case adds another 40 hours. I was able to use it during several long flights recently without missing a beat. It meets the IPX7 standard so they are water-resistant and sweat proof, and has a cool feature that we wish more products have - an anti-loss detection feature, so lost earbuds will beep, which is super helpful if you drop or misplace one! Lastly, the Cleer+ app has a step counter, battery monitor, and an equalizer to adjust the sound to your liking.
We both found them a bit odd at first, but the longer we wore them the more natural they felt, and the lack of fatigue was noticeable. Nancy found the open air sound important on her walks, as she doesn’t think it’s safe to be too isolated from the noises around you especially on city streets. The Cleer ARC 3 Sport Smart Open Ear True Wireless Headphones are a great choice for even the sweatiest active person in your life with their IPX7 water and sweat resistance. Offering the latest in Bluetooth technology and features, with a finely tuned audio signature, they’ll make a great gift!
For more information on the Cleer ARC 3 Sport Smart Open Ear True Wireless Headphones visit: https://cleeraudio.com/earbuds/arc-3/
1More
We are fans of 1More. Their original designs won the coveted Red Dot Award, and they continue on with solid designs at reasonable prices. New for this year are the 1MORE Open Ear Wireless Headphones S70, which has Bluetooth 5.3, AAC/SBC Codecs, IPX 5 Sweatproof and Waterproof rated, and 12 hours of playback. They are well-built out of memory titanium alloy.
The 1MORE Penta Driver Headphones P50 have been around for a bit and generated lots of fans. They come in one color, black. The cable is Silver Plated OFC wire, the plugs are Gold Plated, a Type-C to 3.5mm adapter, 5-Driver Acoustic Structure (1 Dynamic Driver, with 4 Planar Drivers), and tuned by Grammy Award winning engineer Luca Bignardi.
Both are solid units, with exemplary sound. The P50’s really shine in that way only wired earphones can. Clear shimmering highs, yet a solid and punchy bass when needed. They are lightweight and comfortable. We like the behind the ear design, and they stay put even when bopping your head around.
For more information on the 1MORE Penta Driver Headphones P50 visit: https://usa.1more.com/products/1more-penta-driver-headphones-p50#overview-wrap-template--17133916586144__8b8c2b0b-c6df-405b-89dc-eabe9b0e1aeb
For more information on the 1MORE Open Ear Wireless Headphones S70 visit: https://usa.1more.com/products/1more-fit-open-earbuds-s70
Auris
Last year we reviewed and recommended the Auris bluMe Pro, which is still out standby for a solid and affordable Bluetooth adapter for your legacy audio equipment. The bluMe Duo is a premium HiFi Bluetooth Transmitter & Receiver. In it’s Transmitter Mode, it streams audio wirelessly from TVs and other devices to Two Bluetooth headphones or speakers. While the Receiver Mode streams audio wirelessly from your phone or tablet to any home stereo system, AV receiver or powered speakers. Bypass mode allows you to connect another device such as a soundbar.
What makes the bluMe Duo so interesing it that it works both way, as a traditional reciever, and also a transmitter to Bluetooth headphones or earphones, making it easy to stream TV content, or even in your car as it has an integrated battery. It doesn’t have quite the performance of the BluMe Pro, but the Duo still has audiophile chops, with a PCM5102A DAC and upsamples to 32-bit/384kHz encoding. High-resolution Bluetooth audio codecs – LDAC, Qualcomm aptX HD, and AAC. Also supports aptX LL, aptX, and SBC.
It has Analog RCA and Digital Optical inputs as well as outputs. The Duo impressed us with a stated range of up to 100 plus feet, we found that it met its advertised range. Another cool feature is that you can also use it in your car, the built-in battery provides up to 25 hours of music streaming. It features a microphone for hands-free calls through the car’s speakers. Best of all, it’s easy to use and setup. No App or wireless router is required. For a verstile Blutooth streamer with great audio and rich feature set, we strongly recommend the blueMe Duo.
For more information on the bluMe Duo visit: https://theauris.com/products/blume-duo
Harris Fogel and Nancy Burlan, posted 12/12/2024
