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HEDD HEDDphone D1: Two-minute review

The HEDDphone D1 is a frankly stunning pair of over-ear headphones, part of an innovative new line of thinking from the Berlin brand that also introduced AMT technology to the wearable device market. They are open and passive, with their eyes on both the world of professional audio and audiophile listening at home.

While most brands struggle to occupy both spaces in any meaningful way, I consider the HEDDphone D1 a rare and laudable success. They’re full of heart and full of throat, with an expansive frequency range and an extremely expressive soundstage. Their Thin-Ply Carbon Diaphragm (TPCD) drivers meet their expectations for tonal balance and transient excellence, making them equally adept at clinical performance as they are for rewarding, full-featured home listening.

The specs suit both camps equally, starting with the 32 ohm impedance that works with everything. Traditionally, I like this less on other devices, but here and with the D1’s rich sound capability on all devices, it’s a godsend. They are comfortable to wear, naturally and over long periods of time, and they never get tired of listening to them either.

I don’t like to give things full marks. It makes me feel like a failure; as if I had missed something, somewhere, or even dared to be a little lazy. My disappointment is therefore greater that I cannot fault the HEDDphone D1 in any significant way.

Sure, the build quality can dip a little below the price in places, but the immaculate presence offered by these unique dynamic drivers far exceeds it. Likewise, a slight boost in low frequencies might deter some audio professionals from trusting them with their work, but that same lift allows these headphones to offer weight and context unlike any other open-back headphone at this price point (or perhaps any other). Every question has an answer.

So, I decide to put aside my thoughts of laziness or journalistic inadequacy, to settle for the exciting and essential truth that must be my own final answer: these are the best headphones I have tried in my career thus far. And they get full marks. Among the best wired headphones on the market? Yes, definitely.

HEDD HEDDphone D1: Price and release date

• $799.99 / £599 / AU$999
• Launched November 6, 2025

When a pioneering headset comes from a German brand literally called HEDD, it’s our duty to take note. HEDD stands for Heinz ElectroDynamic Designs and is another in a series of major audio technology gifts from Heinz Klaus, founder of ADAM audio and a key contributor to the development and improvement of AMT (Air Motion Transformer) transducers.

HEDD is a continuation of Klaus’ inventory research, first with a new suite of professional monitoring speakers, then taking AMT and intelligent hardware design into new territory: the world of headphones. All designed and manufactured with love in Berlin.

Today’s review subjects are the HEDDphone D1, the fourth set of over-ear headphones coming from HEDD, following the HEDDphones ONE, TWO and TWO GT respectively. While previous releases focused on combining AMT drivers with over-ear headphones, the D1 is an exploration of dynamic drivers through the lens of the Thin-Ply Carbon Diaphragm (TPCD).

The HEDDphone D1 therefore claims to be just as formulaic as one would expect from a pioneering German audio brand – with an emphasis on “stereo” and with a very smug play on words. If Heinz can do it, so can I.

At £599 / $799.99 / AU$999, the HEDDphone D1 certainly isn’t cheap; they tickle the upper end of what might be considered “mid-range” in a vast market increasingly crowded with audiophile-grade cans that command four-figure sums (including HEDD’s flagship phone, HEDDphone).

But the D1 presents itself, sonically, as a pair of phones that will rival most when it comes to detail, tone and depth – so much so that they’re being marketed hard to audio professionals and audiophiles. And, not to spoil you too soon, I think they more than nailed the landing.

HEDD HEDDphone D1 Review: Specifications

HEDD HEDDphone D1 review: Features

• 50mm Thin-Ply Carbon Diaphragm (TPCD) Dynamic Drivers
• Frequency range 5 Hz-40 kHz
• 32 ohm impedance

The HEDDphone D1 is a pair of open-back over-ear headphones, designed as a midweight contender for impeccable professional audiophile listening. It’s a passive, wired affair, and about as operationally simple as headphones get.

The big sale here is HEDD’s Thin-Ply Carbon Diaphragm (TPCD): a diaphragm constructed with an advanced carbon fiber composite that maintains stiffness despite its thin, low-mass design. The result is a responsive dynamic driver that doesn’t need to trade its proverbial lightness for distortion or tonal imbalance, nor does it need conventional damping at the diaphragm to maintain clarity.

The HEDDphone D1 is equipped with two dynamic drivers constructed from 50mm TPCD, which extend up to 40kHz and down to 5Hz – a remarkable range, with a remarkably stable response curve where it counts.

These speakers feature an impedance of 32 ohms, making the HEDDphone D1 a suitable candidate for virtually any sound source. I generally prefer my monitoring headphones to have a little more fight than this, but on this occasion I certainly didn’t mind the results.

• Features rating: 5/5

HEDD HEDDphone D1 review: Sound quality

• Incredible clarity across the entire frequency spectrum
• Deep, full and spacious low end
• Extended soundstage

As someone who naturally encounters and experiments with new audio technologies, I am rarely in a position to be surprised by something. I usually have a vague idea of ​​what to expect, and my expectations usually match somewhat with what I ultimately hear. But here: wow.

Having already had plenty of experience with professional monitoring headsets, I thought I knew what to expect with the HEDDphone D1. I didn’t do it. These Berlin-designed speakers are a marvel – and, perhaps, a rare example of experimental reality that actually informs PR copy. The D1 has it all: depth, width, height; microscopic detail and macroscopic magnitude; professional-grade clinical clarity and rewarding, smile-worthy weight. They’re full and balanced enough to work well as monitoring headsets, but aren’t clinically transparent to the point of being flat. It’s a delicate balancing act that pays off.

There’s a lot to talk about here, but let’s start with the bass. While impressive even when it comes to frequency response, there is a slightly pronounced push in the bass – the quality of which is nothing short of astonishing. There’s a bombastic fullness, the same weight that makes closed-back headphones so rewarding, but also a depth of field that only open-back headphones can achieve. This is the platonic ideal for a low-end presence; the best of both worlds.

First impressions were obtained through digital streaming, listening to high-resolution audio streamed from Qobuz. Stack All fiction is a maximalist flow of spacious orchestrations, reverb-drenched vocals crashing like waves, and huge blooms of disordered low-end energy. This shouldn’t be an easy recording to analyze, but the D1 handles the weight of Loops And Poisons hands down.

That deeply impressive low-end control isn’t all that’s going on here. It also serves to support an incredibly detailed upper register; things sail above with ease. That of Mitskis Catsfrom the heartbreaker in early 2026 Nothing’s about to happen to meis a supremely balanced slug of sad, folky Americana, carried by a wave of deep bass richness and carrying Mitski vocals full, clear and almost veiled. In fact, these voices are a revelation in themselves, with every fathom and tiny wave rendered in the same stunning definition.

The definition, ultimately, is the word. The transients are, to my immense gratitude, tight and immediate, without excess or insistence. At Mitski’s I will change for you demonstrates this brilliantly, through bass drums, rich, slamming rim shots and the most tactile shakers you’ve ever heard hidden in a ballad. The slight plosives in Mitski’s voice are noticeable, with a gra nd humanizing effect.

To further understand this definitional excellence, I turned to PJ Harvey Stories of the city, stories of the sea. Harvey’s vocals are an immediate, direct affair, and come through with a refreshing urgency. Once again, there is excellent separation between vocals and instruments, even if things flow underneath like in Big release, Kamikaze And This nasty language. Throughout the album, dry drums, harsh leads and punchy acoustic guitars paint a clear, crisp picture of D1’s calm.

On vinyl, things are just as impressive. Queens of the Stone Age …like clockwork admirably demonstrates the D1’s soundstage, as well as their brave and rewarding treatment of distorted guitars. I sat by the ocean is intelligently rendered in space; My God is the sun is addictively propulsive, from its growling bedrock of shimmering bass to its tight trio of ever-climbing riffy guitars. Homme’s voice is, as always, a mile-long piece of singing honey.

Between PJ Harvey, Mitski and QOTSA, D1’s aptitude for rock instrumentation – as well as my personal inclinations towards the same – have been summarily proven. To change tack and showcase my rather eclectic tastes, I promise, I threw away my vinyl copy of jazz drummer Roy Haynes’ 1963 album. Cymbalism.

This is a rich, free-flowing collection of pieces arranged in a brilliant quartet, opening with a fast, flute-led swinger Modette. Haynes’ “crackling” drums shine immediately, and Frank Strozier’s flute, which threatens to be inaudibly harsh, comes across bright and beautiful and searing and insistent. The double bass is a subtle, hollow and courageous affair, which fits well between the bass drum and the snare drum; the piano has a discreet, even sharp clarity.

In Lonnie Liston Smith’s sweeping spiritual jazz missive And The Cosmic Echoes from 1973 Astral travelI found the D1’s tonal strengths on full display. In search of the truthIt’s a slow, sure trek, its steps a cohesive bass riff over which spaced, upward-spiraling piano, disparate, impeccably preserved percussion elements, and a steady harmonium drone reach a mountaintop—a deep-throated, ensemble-derived answer to the call, and a truly expansive experience in these headphones.

It’s clear to me how the HEDDphone D1 can be marketed simultaneously as a powerful audiophile home listening product and as a professional-grade surveillance headset. The soundstage is wide and deep across the entire frequency spectrum; instruments and elements have their space, to be appreciated or scrutinized accordingly. This broad rise from the low end could be seen as a platform to better examine low end information, but in reality it’s a small gift to you and me.

• Sound quality rating: 5/5

HEDD HEDDphone D1 review: Design

• Unusual – but welcome – grip on the head
• Incomparably comfortable for a long time
• Slightly disappointing material choices in places

The HEDDphone D1 is a very comfortable headset – and not in a conventional way either. Most headphones aimed at comfort have a light touch; they try to be light, airy and leave little trace of presence on your head. The HEDDphone D1 stands in glorious contrast to this approach.

Instead of a feather-light balancing act, the D1 goes hard, gripping your head with a deep, encouraging firmness. Some ultra-soft earbud cushions absorb much of that force inward, and a firm foam cushion under the headband provides soft support from above. It’s a tight hug in earphone form, and that’s a good thing. They blend in with you and, thanks to their open-back breathability, never get old.

When it comes to materials, the HEDDphone D1 doesn’t quite have the same build quality as other headphones at this price point – with a firm, reverential look towards Meze Audio. Besides the metal grilles protecting the diaphragm and spine of the headband, all that’s visible is plastic, foam, and fabrics with varying breathability.

That is to say that the money was spent elsewhere; In. And given the incredible quality on display inside, I’m actually not that concerned about the less-rarefied hardware design here. Plus, things work where it counts. The adjustment of the headband is firm and reassuring, and the foam used for the cushions couldn’t be better suited.

There is some semi-significant sound leakage throughout the world, as you would expect from anything open-backed; that said, the same cannot be said of the reverse – at least when the music is playing. It’s hard to get distracted when wearing these things.

• Design rating: 5/5

HEDD HEDDphone D1 test: Value

• A price undeniably higher than that of the mid-range
• Sound performance that exceeds more expensive cans
• An undeniably high quality/price ratio

Value is always the hardest thing to pin down in technology. Circumstances differ, but MSRPs above a certain point are almost always a big ask. And I think it’s fair to call $799.99 / £599 / AU$999 a big ask. But comparing this to the value of other headphones on the market, something emerges. At least, for me. The HEDDphone D1 pretty much clears them all for sound characteristics.

Reservations can rightly be made about the plasticky nature of the chassis in places, but I think the D1 is built well enough to put aside any claims of poor value for money, particularly when it sounds as good as it does. As far as loyalty goes, this might just be the best value for money on the market.

Let me translate that into something a little more tangible. I’ve reviewed audiophile-grade over-ear headphones worth over $2,000 / £1,899 / AU$3,550; I even liked them. But not as many as these. And this, whatever the price. If the HEDDphone D1 can outperform something three times its price (and something I deemed more or less worthy of that price as well), then it’s incredibly undervalued.

Yes, $799.99 / £599 / AU$999 is a big ask for a lot of things, headphones included. But if you care personally or professionally about sound fidelity, and when you’re getting four-figure sound quality at a mid-range price, it’s hard to call it anything other than a bargain.

• Value rating: 5/5

HEDD HEDDphone D1: Should you buy them?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

HEDD HEDDphone D1: Also think

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Row 0 – Cell 0	HEDDphone D1	Meze Audio 105 Silva	Signature Grado
Open or closed back	Open back	Open back	Open back
Driver	50mm Thin Film Carbon Dynamic Diaphragm (TPCD)	dynamic of 50 mm; bio-cellulose, semi-crystalline polymer coated with titanium	50 mm dynamic
Frequency range	5Hz – 40kHz	5Hz – 30kHz	6Hz – 46kHz
Impedance	32 ohms	42 ohms	38 ohms
Connector	2 x 3.5mm TS	2 x 3.5mm TS	4-pin mini-XLR
Weight	350g	354g	460g
Supplements	Molded EVA housing, dual TS to TRS 3.5mm cable, screw-on 3.5mm-6.35mm TRS adapter, velvet cable pouch with drawstring	Carrying Case, Soft Cable Pouch, 3.5mm TRS to Dual 3.5mm TS Cable, 3.5mm TRS to USB-C Adapter with Built-in DAC, 3.5mm TRS to 6.35mm TRS Adapter	6.3mm source connection; 6-foot Signature Gold 12-conductor detachable cable; new B Cushion ear pads provided

HEDD HEDDphone D1 review: how I tested

• Tested for 5 weeks
• Used as primary headphones for home listening, streaming and vinyl
• Tested mainly under Qobuz on a Windows laptop, connected to a UAD Volt 4 audio interface
• Also tested on a Vestax turntable setup with an Audio-Technica VM-95EN cart

I spent a month with the HEDDphone D1 headphones, where they were used as my primary home listening headphones. They divide their time between my attic office and the stereo in my living room.

In the attic, the HEDDphone D1s were used to listen to high-resolution audio on the Qobuz streaming service, as well as lossless audio in my digital music library, via the headphone output of my trusty Universal Audio Volt 4 audio interface.

In the living room, they were used to listen to vinyl records played on a Vestax PDX-D3 vinyl turntable, equipped with an Audio-Technica VM-95EN cartridge, via the headphone output of my Vestax PCV-275 mixer.

• First revision: July 2026
• Learn more about how we test

James Grimshaw is a freelance and music-obsessed writer with over a decade in music, audio, and technology writing. They have lent their opinions on audio technology to (among others) Musicradar, Louder, Guitar.com and the London Evening Standard – before which they interviewed independent celebrities for numerous online music publications. When they’re not blasting esoteric music around the house, they’re playing with esoteric artists in DIY spaces across the country; James will talk to you about obscure records from the late 2000s until the sun comes up.

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