For home cinema or gaming: Surround sound without loudspeakers

19. July 2012

The best surround sound with a headphone is now even better: beyerdynamic presents the Headzone® configurator - for more choice and a personalised surround sound experience

Heilbronn, March 2012: The Headzone® system by beyerdynamic has astounded experts. Test journalists have already described the headphone and processor combination as a "revolution on the eardrum", or simply as "high-end surround".  Now surround sound without loudspeakers is even better, because it can be experienced with different headphone models.  

beyerdynamic is launching the Headzone® configurator, an online shop, in which sound enthusiasts can configure their very own personal surround set (http://www.beyerdynamic.de/headzone-manufaktur.html). The base station H 1 is reduced in price from 890  to 830 Euros* and can now be combined with different headphones from the Heilbronn-based audio specialist. The range includes the gaming headset MMX 300 (299 Euros), the classic DT 880 (299 Euros) and the audiophile T 1 with revolutionary Tesla technology (950 Euros). For those who want it, the Headzone® H 1 control unit can also be ordered individually and connected to the headphone they already have. 

The system sounds best with a circumaural headphone with a semi -open design , because this construction uses the fascinating three-dimensionality to the full. Also, the DT 880 HZ in the special Headzone® version with a 5 meter cable and volume control in the cable provides a great deal of mobility because the base station does not have to be near the listening position. Those who want greater shielding from ambient noise, such as when using a headphone when travelling, should use a closed model like the beyerdynamic T 70 (449 Euros) or T 5 p (950 Euros).

The Headzone® experience is always the same: digital signal processors (DSPs) in the H 1 base station stamp the audio signal on the same pulse and frequency patterns on which the human ear recognises the direction of a sound, even in real space. Our natural hearing also functions with this mechanism, known as the Head Related Transfer Function (HTRF): it is not for nothing that sound engineers all over the world use professional Headzone® systems to control and mix surround sound productions.

With a home cinema or when playing PC games, the system provides the perfect right/left and front/back sound location. It allows the wearer of the Headzone® headphone to hear an optimal space if the acoustic conditions at home are unsuitable for the installation of a 5.1 speaker set, or if family and neighbours must not be disturbed by the action-packed multi-channel sound. The technology provides players with a strategic advantage because they can acoustically locate approaching enemies. Yes, even complete surround sound novices will benefit from the sophisticated "room modelling": the headphone reproduces the typical stereo triangle so precisely that hi-hi enthusiasts will think they are listening from loudspeakers.

Those who want even more precision put sonic realism above it all and go for the DT 880 HT headphone (399 Euros) with "headtracking" in the configurator. It sends position information to the base station via an ultrasound transmitter on the headband. It then analyses the data and adapts the Headzone® simulation to the position of the wearer's head and his line of vision. It doesn't matter where he turns his head, the virtual sound sources keep their direction and position within the room. Just like if real surround sound speakers were playing.

Recommended retail price H 1    890 Euros for a single unit
                                           830 Euros set price with the simultaneous     
                                           purchase of a beyerdynamic headphone

Technical Specifications Base Station H 1

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