Vienna High-End 2026 - Product Announcements and Impressions

[taronlissimore]

Vienna High-End (replacement for Munich High-End) is underway this week and @Resolve, @Fc-Construct and @GoldenSound are both there for on the floor coverage of all the newest products coming out and anything wacky that they may find. Figured it would be good to start a thread for all the new announcements coming down the pipeline and if anyone else is at the show this week to pop in!

New Meze Audio Flagship - ARTA - New $6000 flagship planar magnetic headphones from Meze Audio.

Key Features

• New flagship open-back planar magnetic headphone from Meze Audio
• Developed in collaboration with Rinaro Isodynamics
• MZ5 HΩ high-impedance Isodynamic® Hybrid Array driver
• 225Ω average impedance with high-voltage, low-current driver architecture
• Warm-neutral tuning focused on natural timbre and realism
• Large, speaker-like soundstage with precise spatial imaging
• Ultra-wide frequency response from 3Hz to 115kHz
• Low distortion performance rated below 0.05% THD
• Angled acoustic grille system designed to reduce internal reflections
• Open-back design for expansive staging and natural air
• Premium construction with metal, carbon fiber, and leather elements
• Fully serviceable modular design for long-term ownership
• Hand-assembled in Baia Mare, Romania

New Audeze MM-520 - A revisit of Audeze’s MM-500 with their SLAM technology.

Key Features

• Manny Marroquin Signature Series planar magnetic headphone
• Built on the award-winning MM-500 foundation
• Audeze SLAM™ acoustic technology for improved bass accuracy and spatial imaging
• 90mm planar magnetic drivers
• Fluxor™ magnet array
• Ultra-Thin Uniforce™ diaphragms
• Fazor™ phase management
• Open-back circumaural design
• Low distortion performance rated below 0.1% at 100 dB SPL, 1kHz
• 5Hz to 50kHz frequency response
• 102 dB/1mW sensitivity
• 18Ω impedance for easier source matching
• Designed to work with consoles, interfaces, laptops, and dedicated headphone amps
• Upgraded memory foam earpads for long mixing sessions
• Magnetic earpad attachment for easier replacement

Lots more announcements to come!

New on June 4th

Dan Clark Audio AEON Core - $899

Key Features

• Closed-back planar magnetic headphone from Dan Clark Audio
• Direct successor to the AEON 2
• New planar magnetic driver stack engineered for efficiency and consistency
• DCA’s most easily driven headphone to date
• 97 dB/mW sensitivity
• Works with amplifiers delivering at least 125mW into 16 ohms
• Tuned to a revised Harman over-ear target developed with Dr. Sean Olive
• Slightly leaner upper bass, lifted lower mids, and softer upper mids compared with prior ÆON models
• Natural vocal presentation without upper-mid hardness
• Taut, controlled bass with reference-minded balance
• Signature AEON earpads for long-session comfort
• Titanium headband with self-adjusting suspension strap
• Designed and assembled in the United States

Noble Audio FoKus Artemis Wireless Headphones - Tribrid wireless over-ear headphones at $899

Key Features

• Flagship wireless over-ear headphone from Noble Audio
• Hybrid three-driver configuration with dynamic driver, balanced armature, and planar driver
• Spacious, detailed, and powerful sound designed for serious music listening
• Audiodo Personal Sound for a more tailored listening experience
• Qualcomm QCC3095 wireless platform
• Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity
• SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codec support
• Active Noise Cancellation for reducing outside noise
• Transparency Mode for environmental awareness
• Multipoint connectivity for switching between devices
• USB audio support
• 3.5mm wired audio support via included USB-C to 3.5mm cable
• Six-microphone design
• Noble FoKus app support with EQ, OTA updates, and multi-language support
• 600mAh full self-replaceable battery
• More than 50 hours of playback with ANC off
• More than 35 hours of playback with ANC on
• Fast charging with full charge in under 1.5 hours
• IP52 water resistance

[shinbojan]

New Raal is there as well, hoping he6 remastered will be shown. I will be there on Saturday, with my he6sev2, so hoping I will be able to hear how much better remastered will sound.

[TRDK]

Any information about SPL/mW for the new Meze Arta?

THX

[LSROCHA]

"@Resolve, @Fc-Construct and @GoldenSound are both there…"

I count Three people. Both refers to Two People…

[taronlissimore]

NEW

Dan Clark Audio AEON Core - $899

Key Features

• Closed-back planar magnetic headphone from Dan Clark Audio
• Direct successor to the AEON 2
• New planar magnetic driver stack engineered for efficiency and consistency
• DCA’s most easily driven headphone to date
• 97 dB/mW sensitivity
• Works with amplifiers delivering at least 125mW into 16 ohms
• Tuned to a revised Harman over-ear target developed with Dr. Sean Olive
• Slightly leaner upper bass, lifted lower mids, and softer upper mids compared with prior ÆON models
• Natural vocal presentation without upper-mid hardness
• Taut, controlled bass with reference-minded balance
• Signature AEON earpads for long-session comfort
• Titanium headband with self-adjusting suspension strap
• Designed and assembled in the United States

Noble Audio FoKus Artemis Wireless Headphones - Tribrid wireless over-ear headphones at $899

Key Features

• Flagship wireless over-ear headphone from Noble Audio
• Hybrid three-driver configuration with dynamic driver, balanced armature, and planar driver
• Spacious, detailed, and powerful sound designed for serious music listening
• Audiodo Personal Sound for a more tailored listening experience
• Qualcomm QCC3095 wireless platform
• Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity
• SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codec support
• Active Noise Cancellation for reducing outside noise
• Transparency Mode for environmental awareness
• Multipoint connectivity for switching between devices
• USB audio support
• 3.5mm wired audio support via included USB-C to 3.5mm cable
• Six-microphone design
• Noble FoKus app support with EQ, OTA updates, and multi-language support
• 600mAh full self-replaceable battery
• More than 50 hours of playback with ANC off
• More than 35 hours of playback with ANC on
• Fast charging with full charge in under 1.5 hours
• IP52 water resistance

[taronlissimore]

@TRDK

Any information about SPL/mW for the new Meze Arta?

Meze hasn’t released that info to dealers yet but maybe Resolve, Goldensound or FC-Construct can get that info today on the show floor!

[TRDK]

[Fc-Construct]

Some assorted first day impressions. Actual Shorts to come.

Meze Arta - It’s a mature version of the Meze house sound. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you. I like it the most of any of the Meze headphones I’ve heard, though take with a grain of salt as I’m far from a Meze expert and Meze is typically not my type of tuning. It is a bassy, boom sound. Relaxed upper midrange. Upper treble does have some air and extension to help balance it out. Thick, enveloping, fairly closed in type of presentation. You won’t be buying this for “technicalities”. But I don’t think people buy Meze for that anyway. The Meze guys told me IIRC it’s built on the Empy2 platform but with the extra bass added in as that was the feedback Meze had received. Like I said, it’s their house sound done well. For those who really like Meze, I think they will like this.

[Fc-Construct]

Raal Magnus Evo One - Heard these off a Russian amp from a brand called Serbian Audio Equipment (SAEQ). I believe the Magnus Evo One cost $5000 without the direct driver interface. Listened to some extremely high quality audiophile recordings. So very hard to tell if these were really that good cause most anything would sound good with those types of recordings. At any rate, these did sound very good. Felt quite well balanced and did lower mids area effortlessly for strings like cellos and violas. There’s like some peakiness in the treble due to some sibilance I noted on some vocals. Not huge peaks, just some of those super needle sharp ones dotting the treble spectrum.

[Fc-Construct]

DCA Aeon Core - A really nice headphone form DCA, probably one of my favorite from them. Nothing weird about it. Sounded nicely balanced, though I did sense there’s a bit of that Harman target style leanness in the lower mids with the dip. Not sure how it measures but I’m assuming it’s some variant of Harman. The treble did have some question marks for me and my head. There were some peaks that didn’t quite work and the treble could be fatiguing in some places. My uneducated guess is that however they tune the treble of their headphones, it’s like robbing Paul to pay Peter. Will work great on specific heads, but not mine. Still though, a nice headphone. I was actually expecting it to be a lot warmer for some reason. While I did get the feeling that it’s a true closed back ie no venting and no sensation of openness, I don’t think it negatively affected the sound that much.

[Resolve]

Highlight for me so far has been the Aune booth. Their new flagship has some super fun bass to it, but I was actually most impressed by the upcoming budget offering, the AR3000. I don’t know what the plan is for this yet but it’s so far best of show for me. If they make production units sound like what I just heard, this will do well.

[taronlissimore]

A wireless announcement from Warwick Acoustics https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZNcknFqF8B/?igsh=MXBnM2VxcHE1YWVkag==

Also this is an interesting one to say the least TSL. The first headphones where music finally sounds like itself - HIGH END Society

[Resolve]

Some more stuff that was good:

FIIO FT15 - One of the better headphones I heard today, I think it’s meant to replace the FT5. So it’s not more expensive than the FT7. There’s a teensie bit of aggression in treble for me but overall I think it works well. It sounded lush and engaging, very detailed.

DCA Aeon Core - like a nice counterpart to E3. This is an evolution on noire X closed, with more laid back ear gain and treble, and quite frankly a better all rounder. I hear some forward was around 5.4khz, and also around 2.3 to 2.5khz, but a lot more tame and smooth sounding than the Noire X Closed. I think I’ll like this one.

Meze Arta - Maybe my second favorite of their planars behind Empy2. I think this trades blows with Elite, with a more mid-range focus overall. Upper treble is still emphasized, but the balance makes that less jarring than some of their other models. So, I personally prefer a bit more ear gain and mid treble, and maybe a bit more bass contrast but I can see what they’re doing here.

Moondrop Dark Something - I forget the name of this but it was a gold diaphragm planar. It had some wonk to it but in a way I really liked. Kind of relaxed mid treble but still well balanced and highly incisive. I’m very curious about this one moving forward.

Moondrop Estat (moon zero?) - not my favorite estat of the show but generally well tuned - a way more normal estat than most. My only issue is just a bit of excess upper treble, but the rest is basically tilted DF of some kind.

Raal Magnus Evo - definitely still a bit too sharp for me in the treble but mainly in a way that draws out consonants more so than being outright fatiguing. I think it’s more coherent and balanced than the previous one. So out of that lineup I liked this the best. Comfy too.

Mirph Vitrum - a new design from Graco with a new glass driver. If the mirph-1 is warm and laid back, the Vitrum is more intense and incisive. It’s a bit hot at like 2.5khz for me, again a common issue I have, but otherwise decently balanced. Just intense. Reminded me a bit of a planar.

HiFiMAN HE-6 Remastered - they actually brought back the original he-6 with Sundara pads and a non cursed headband. This was unsurprisingly great. Hits like a truck.

[shinbojan]

It was fun, just went through my notes, I’ve tried 38 headphones.

I was dissapointed by HE6 remastered, but the song selection was bad and I could not use my phone.

New Meze made me smile, even though the top was too much for me.

Aeon Core was nice, but Stealth was incredible (never tried it before). Had pretty nice discussion with DCA guy (he did not want to tell me their secrets).

New Aune was surprisingly good, did not expect that. Still too expensive for me.

[Daiyama]

Thanks for more impressions of you. How do you like the venue (in compariosn to Munich), I know Munich as a city cannot compete with Vienna.

[Resolve]

I like the venue actually. It’s a total maze that we’ve gotten lost in multiple times, but that also makes it fun to wander through and discover stuff. Munich was all very much a warehouse with layers vibe.

But I also love Munich as a city, especially where I got to stay near the river.

[ufospls2]

Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting a wireless electrostat

[taronlissimore]

I had actually had someone send me a wireless estat prototype back in 2018 or 2019 but I don’t think it ever saw the light of day. The tuning definitely wasn’t there on it. I’ve got faith in Warwick to be able to do pretty good there. And if the out of the box sound isn’t quite there, hopefully they have PEQ with them so that it can be fixed!