Five great headphones for audio obsessives

All ears

Running, rowing, weight training, Pilates: they all have a Peloton-style equivalent, where encouraging words from charismatic instructors are delivered via remote classes. For technical reasons (predominantly the fact that water blocks Bluetooth signals), less attention has been paid to swimmers, who generally have to imagine their own boutique fitness routines to the sound of splashing. 

Many are happy with that, but those wanting access to motivational sounds have had to experiment with (for example) transferring MP3s to waterproof audio players connected to goggle-mounted headphones, which can open up a world of vexation. That’s how Zygo’s first device – featured in these pages in 2021 – came into its own. It could stream audio from your phone or tablet via a small water-penetrating transmitter placed by the pool to a bone-conducting headset sitting neatly around the back of your head. As long as you weren’t plunging too deep underwater, Zygo was a problem-solver.

Its second iteration, the Z2, solves a few more. A battery has been incorporated into the headphone case for ease of charging, and so has the transmitter – just flip up the antenna and you’re ready to go. The transmitter range has been extended (by a factor of three to four, according to the company) but, perhaps more crucially, a buffering algorithm stores a few seconds of audio for moments when the headphones may dip out of range (eg, during flip turns), so sound keeps streaming. And while Zygo headsets were never in the habit of falling off, this latest version has buoyancy built in, and will bob about until you retrieve it. 

This is not an audiophile experience; you’ll be hearing audio via the bones of your cheek and jaw. But it works. And the optional Zygo app ($4.99 a month) provides guided workouts plus Strava-like leaderboards for those with a competitive streak. So yes, its ability to connect wirelessly through water is clever, but it also adds a little community spirit to a hitherto solitary pursuit. 

For future reference

When the eminent Austrian audio firm AKG (now owned by Samsung) quit the country back in 2017, its ex-employees set up their own firm specialising in professional-grade gear. This, its flagship product, is a superb example of reference headphones: they’re steadfastly true to any source material – indeed, they sent me scurrying back to music I’d been working on to iron out anomalies that were suddenly revealed. Perhaps more remarkable is the experience of wearing them. The hefty case belies the lightness of the actual product (just 400g) – which, coupled with the mesh headband, memory foam earpads and open-back design, make it possible to forget that you’re wearing them at all. Quite something.

A little night music

I wear earbuds at night, usually to pipe in lessons of how to code in C++ (a subject I know nothing about), which somehow keeps me slumbering peacefully. Among the growing number of sleepbuds on the market are these from Anker – cheaper than most, but excellent in a number of respects. There are a good selection of eartips, some helping to keep external sound out, some letting it in; once I’d experimented and settled on some, they felt comfortable and, most importantly, stayed put. (If one does go astray, the accompanying app can help you locate it with a remote “beep”.) A good fit ensures a decent bass response, which will be appreciated by those who drop off to the sound of rolling thunder.

In the can

“Italian design meets German engineering” is a cliché that’s been applied to everything from cars to kitchen taps. But when Romanian design meets Ukrainian engineering, you get these precision-crafted closed-back cans. Hardwood earcups attach to the headband with a pivoting mechanism to ensure a proper fit; the package is completed with a choice of cables (including a 4.4mm connector for high-end amps), an adapter for aeroplane sockets and a hard case. Hi-fi writers like to provide extensive details of music they’ve listened to on each piece of equipment, and I’ll spare you that horror, but I would say that the latest High Llamas album, Hey Panda (a current obsession), has never sounded better.

Stay connected

Audio obsessives can be suspicious of wireless earbuds, and specifically the Bluetooth codecs that compress audio data to deliver music over-the-air. IEMs (or in-ear-monitors) are the trusted alternative: multiple armature drivers within the earpiece cater for each frequency band, all of which arrive down a high-quality cable. Portland-based Campfire sits at the forefront of IEM tech, with devices that are almost jewel-like in appearance, and the jet-black Fathoms are no exception. Audio perfection is largely dependent on choosing eartips that give a perfect seal and proper isolation (a range is provided in the box). But once that’s achieved, the connection with your sound world feels unblemished and unshakable.

@rhodri