Nov. 26--What happens when a loudspeaker designer retreats to the National Research Council facility in Ottawa, Ontario, in the midst of the listening public's relentless shift from stationary speakers to mobile earphones?
He emerges, sensing a possible peanut-butter-and-jelly moment, with a technology that essentially wraps a speaker around your head. Fortunately, prospective listeners, this mythical loudspeaker is shaped precisely like a pair of comfy headphones. The VISO HP30 ($229.99), the latest with NAD's RoomFeel technology, is an otherwise traditional-looking on-ear model with memory-foam earpads and three-button Apple remote with microphone.
The HP30 sounds bigger and fuller, punctuated with more impactful bass, than one might expect from compact headphones that fold into a neoprene travel case. In my audition, the bloated, cartoonish lows that currently populate headphone top-seller lists were missing in every instance except in a poorly matched pairing with an older iPhone.
The designer, Paul Barton, has been conjuring loudspeakers since founding PSB speakers in 1972. Two years later, he started using Canada's research facility under the tutelage of Dr. Floyd Toole, a legend in psychoacoustic engineering who later worked at Harman International. (PSB is now united with audio manufacturer NAD as part of The Lenbrook Group in Pickering, Ontario.)
Barton previously designed the M4U1 and M4U 2 headphones under the PSB brand. Current research at Harman seems to mirror Barton's VISO/RoomFeel suggestion that good headphones should sound like good loudspeakers. Even speakers whose response measures flat -- accurately reproducing a signal -- in an anechoic chamber will sound differently in the home. A dramatic example of room-meets-loudspeaker: Placing a traditional speaker or subwoofer near a rear wall or in a corner accentuates the lower frequencies.
RoomFeel, also available in the VISO HP50 ($249.99) over-ear and HP20 ($169.99) in-ear headphones, injects some of the interaction between room and speaker into these headphones. The process, known as a transfer function, delivers sound to each ear that simulates the sense of space and depth of a larger room.
So does it work? It is certainly more sophisticated in both sound and technology than a simple bass-boost, but the HP30 sounded, uncannily, to these ears like the big brother of on-ear headphones from another loudspeaker manufacturer, Bowers Wilkins, the 3-year-old P3. Maybe loudspeaker designers can't help themselves.
The HP30, despite its memory foam comfort, never felt as if it reached a natural resting place on my ears. (What? Perhaps these headphones were not designed for grotesquely misshapen heads.) The headphones were comfortable, still, if a little snug.
Serious headphones, $200 or more, often do not sound their best with a smartphone or tablet. The HP30's in-line microphone is a convenience but should not be considered a limiter -- I could have enjoyed similar sound through my iPhone from much less expensive earphones.
A good headphone amplifier, however, elevates the HP30 into the something-special category. NAD's D 1050, a $499.99 combo amplifier and digital-to-analog converter for computer audio, instantly removed the thickened lower frequencies evident with the iPhone and revealed sound both balanced and beautiful in its breadth and midrange clarity.
It won't take a $500 add-on to make the HP30 shine. Try a basic DAC-on-a-stick like the Audioengine D3 ($149, audioengineusa.com or NuForce uDac3 ($129, www.optomausa.com a little headphone amplifier and digital-to-analog USB converter in a box.
The HP30 headphones do not sound night-and-day different from other headphones in this price category, but they do produce unusually big sound for their size. Do not hesitate to wrap these loudspeakers around your head.
What: NAD VISO HP30 headphones
Price: $229.99
The Good: Lush sound, obviously enhanced, that still seems natural and engaging.
Not so good: Sound quality, as always, depends on the source. (An aging iPhone was not a good match.) A snug fit on some size XL heads.
Information: nadelectronics.com
