Page 8 - Headphones

Don't you just love it when an audio gadget drops into your lap which is so clever, yet so obvious, that you can't believe it didn't exist before? Well, that's how we felt when we first learned of the Arcam MusicBoost iPhone Headphone Amplifier + DAC. A truly stunning and innovative piece of kit which serves as both a portable DAC and a head amp... that actually fits onto your phone.

Isn't that smart?

You see, portable hi-fi has so far only been able to go so far, as to be truly portable you

It was with great excitement in mid-2015 that we heard Sennheiser were going to bring out an upgraded version of the hugely popular Sennheiser HD800 headphones. The announcement came at a similar time as Sennheiser announced their new flagship Orpheus system - their first since the £10,000 system released in the early 1990s. However, with early reports suggesting that new Orpheus system will sell for around 50,000 Euros, one thing became pretty clear - the new version of the HD800 would be Sennheiser's

We were invited to the What Hi-Fi awards by KEF this year, who very kindly put us up in a hotel for the night, and had us seated at a table with a prime position in front of the main stage. Last year was great fun, but this year must be the most fun we've had at one of these awards events, with a good supply of champagne and wine and a fantastic meal (duck this year!) making it a very enjoyable event.

Can't wait to see them? View the award winners we sell on our website now

This was our view at the

Are you sick of hearing about the Sennhesier Momentum 2.0 range yet? No? Good, because we have at least one more left in us! And this time, we're going wireless baby!

Is there anything that screams 'modern' and 'mobile' better than a pair of wireless Sennhesier Momentum 2.0s? I don't think there is. And their gorgeous answer to the wireless over-ear is nothing short of incredible. How do we know they're good? well, pre-order sales are through the roof, and we've been lucky to test drive a pair ourselves.

The new Sennhesier Momentum 2.0 landed very early last month, and has since been making even bigger waves than we first predicted it would. So much so we decided that they deserve another blog (you can read the first one here for a little more detail) this time to celebrate the fact that they are now available in super slinky Black Chrome!

Seeing as the pre-orders have been selling like hot cakes (hot cakes with chocolate and peanut butter!) we're expecting the same to happen to this finish too,

At some point, someone took a look at a loudspeaker of some description and thought to themselves: " I should strap two of those to my ears", and thus: headphones were born!

Okay okay, it wasn't quite that simple (or indeed, humourous!) but headphones are basically that: loudspeakers, for your ears! Okay, normally loudspeakers are technically for your ears too, but you know what I mean.

Like everything else in the hi-fi kingdom, headphones have a long, rich and diverse history. And in this blog

In the world of hi-fi, it often happens that a product is so so good, that it remains the flagship (or simply in the range) for a very long time. But just because something is too good to replace, doesn't mean it's not too good to improve upon. Heck, nothing is! Oppo knew this, and they knew which of their products they didn't wnat to 'change' yet could still be improved upon. And what do you do in that situation? You pass your treasured models on to an approved company for modification, and what

It's always exciting when a new product is announced. And a new pair of headphones (especially a new incarnation of something that has already achieved legendary status) always causes a bit of a stir in the showroom. So you can only imagine how excited we get when a whole new range based on one particularly remarkable set comes along?

Well, there was a party at Audio Affair when we received the very first shipment of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s. Especially when we discovered there were eight of them,

What are the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0?

The Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 are the revised version of Sennheisr's incredibly popular Momentum range of headphones. They're full-size, style-driven headphones that perform just as well as the look. The basics of the Momentum range haven’t changed too much – sound quality, the look and most of the basic features are pretty much the same.

If you already own and love the first Sennheiser Momentum pair, you won't notice a huge improvement over the original, but Sennheiser

HiFi Man is the one of hottest new brands at Audio Affair, so we've put together a rundown of some of their latest products... but who exactly ARE these guys, and where have they come from?

HiFiMan is an American brand, and they've got quite a reputation for building quality products that sound fantastic. Their headphones are award winning, and the build quality of the models really is second to none.

You can try the HiFi Man range in the Audio Affair store... What's more, top quality hi-fi doesn't