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Acoustic Research AR-H1 Planar Magnetic Headphones
01 / 09
Acoustic Research AR-H1 Planar Magnetic Headphones
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Product Description
Acoustic Research has a legacy of producing high-end audio, so when the company debuted its new planar magnetic headphone at 2017’s Munich High End Show, audiophiles were duly impressed. Since then, the AR-H1 open-back headphone has won "Editors' Choice" from PC Magazine, "Top Pick" from Sound & Vision, and a Gold Medal Award at the 2018 Japan Visual Grand Prix Read More
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Customer Reviews
4.2
(19 reviews)
5star(8)
4star(9)
3star(1)
2star(0)
1star(1)
By Feature
Build Quality
5.0
(1)
Sound
5.0
(1)
Comfort
5.0
(1)
Music GenresPopular among reviewers
ActivitiesPopular among reviewers
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9
Dec 8, 2023
Activities:Casual Listening
Music Genres:Classical, Pop, Rock
checkVerified Buyer
Super sound, but...
Super sound, But it is so difficult to get exchange earpads when it is blake.
Recommends this product? No
V2Schneider
52
Nov 20, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
Good but not great
Overall good looking headphones with a very hard to drive sound, mediocre Soundstage and missing Bass depth. Found all the effort of the company to create a high end item without achieving the result in the end.
Recommends this product? No
TheRequiem
251
Aug 27, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
Very good
These punch way above their price in sound signature and weight. Heavily Recommended.
OMan
120
Mar 20, 2019
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AR-H1 Planar Magnetic are extremely nice headphones, and I will recommend them anytime. Sound quality is so good for anytime of music. I have more than a few headphones. I will consider the AR-H1 at the same level than the HD6XX, which are my reference headphones. They are a little different. The bass in the AR-H1 is like longer. The HD6XX is more compact. At the same time, the HD6XX sounds like it can go lower. It is hard to explain. The AR-H1 is very comfortable to wear. Even though, the pads are somehow shallow it does not bother my hears. They can get hot in warm weather, but by opening the headphones for a second or two is enough to release the heat.
I do hear the same songs with the same equipment from the same source to compare headphones. In relation to the bass, they can handle bass really well. Low and My House by Flo Rida do not distort even at the highest volume using the MassDrop Liquid Carbon X DAC and AMP. Using the Chord Mojo, I could not handle full volume but no distortion either. Rotation by Herb Albert the Bongos lows sound so good. Female voice sound so exquisite. Listening to Lovers by Shigeru Umebayashi you fell in love with Kathleen Battle, even though she is famous for being difficult to love! ( I have used this expression in other reviews).
The soundstage is as good as the HD6XX. You feel you are in a big room. Positioning, you can picture where the instruments sound is coming from. Money for Nothing by Dire Straits and Hotel California: from the start of the songs how the different instruments come together. You can hear the main guitar at the centre, the other guitar to the left, then metallic plate on the right, and then drums at the centre back. So the positioning is great.
They are fun headphones. Hotel California and The House of the Rising Sun guitar sounds so there in from of you. Feels so Good by Chuck Mangione, the trumpet highs are very clear, and the background guitar is very clear too.
Listening to Enigma, ABBA, Aqua, Johnny Cash, Chopin, Bach, Mariza, Placido Domingo, Shakira, Thalia, and many others is fun. Headphones for any music.
I am very happy with these headphones. Are they worth the US$256 I paid for them? Yes, they are. I bought a set of Beats Studio for over $100 more than and these are many times better in every area.
DAC \ Amp used: Chord Mojo and Massdrop Liquid Carbon X + SDAC. Music source: Spotify Premium, and Tidal HIFI \ Master.
These earphones are better than (no in any particular order):
· Sennheiser HD548
· Mitchell & Johnson JP1 and MJ1
· ThinkSound ON2 Headphones
· PSP M4U1 Headphones
· Beats Studios
nukaquartz23
1
Mar 10, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Very quality build and great sounding headphones. Main complaints would be comfort and the cables. Headband likes to slide off to the side sometimes causing the studs on the headpad to dig into my head. Also they seem to have quite the clamp unless they're position just right. As far as the cables go, for some reason the left headphone cable likes to lose connection randomly sometimes, could just be a faulty cable but still annoying none the less. Other than those two things, pretty damn good headphones.
dev_govender
3
Feb 22, 2019
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It is extremely transparent and the detail across the audio spectrum is the best I have heard.
It is very comfortable over long listening sessions.
I think it is better than my previous purchase i.e. Hifiman HE4XX.
ChunkDavis
4
Feb 19, 2019
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Overall:
A bit underpowered and need an amp for well recorded classical music . Dynamic range is great. I’ve listened to 40+ hours of different music on them so far and have not been disappointed. I can’t compare them to other Planar Magnetic phones sinc I haven’t tried any others - only other pair of nice headphones are in-ear RHA t-20i’s and it was about time to try something that I could use for more than 90 mins without fatigue. I’ve heard other AKG, BOSE, and Sennheiser and would say they sound great but just “different”.
Bass: Super clear. Upright Basses including my own sound like real. Opening of Strausburg/St Denise by Roy Hargrove sounds like you’re in the room with the Bassist right in front of you. Def not bassy enough for “bass-heads”
Mids: perfect. Can hear violas, and other mid range instruments very clearly and distinctly in most well recorded classical tracks.
treble: sparkly as heck. Not too sparkly but very open and vibrant. Didn’t blow me away
vocals/Speech: pretty awesome. I can hear a lot of detail that I’ve never heard.
Comfort: Eh.. not as cushy as some other brands. They’re ok. They feel clunky and they do not fold in any way. I just leave them at home for that reason.
I would recommend them to people if they are in the market for open back, but if this is your “introduction pair” try something else in this price range.
Dacer238
1
Feb 14, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Does not soud as good as or comfortable as the Senhieser 6XX or HiFiman4XX. Otherwise decent phones.
jazzfannj
59
Feb 14, 2019
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A really great pair of headphones for a very reasonable price.
These are my first pair of planar magnetic headphones and I'm happy to say their sound compares favorably with a few of my much more expensive dynamic headphones. Plus the AR-H1s can be used with mobile devices without the need for separate amp although their size does not make them portable friendly.
Overall a great introduction to planar magnetic headphones.
SakeWolf
1
Feb 4, 2019
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Unfortunately, my pair of headphones arrived in the box with a snapped component between the leather headband and the left earphone bracket, which makes the headphones unwearable. :( It's a pity 'cause I did have high hopes for these given what I've heard, but considering Massdrop can only refund me and not source replacements, and reaching out to AR directly resulted in a "just go ask the seller"... I can't really give more than one star considering the product is unusable. Hopefully this doesn't speak to a lack of build quality in AR products in general, and that this was just a disappointing fluke on my part.
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