- The integrated tube amplifier promises a warmer and more cozy sound
- Hybrid ANC, LDAC and USB-C for high resolution audio
- $ 799 (around £ 652 / au $ 1,303)
We have seen small vacuum tubes in the headphones amplifiers with the promise of a warmer and warmer audio experience, but the new Ecute vacuum tube headphones have decided to cut the intermediary and put an entire Hi-Fi in the head. The headphones include a Korg Nutube P61 right on the headphones for an authentic tube sound with class A/B amplification.
First we saw these headphones in Kickstarter, where the project exceeded its funding objective by a great margin. And now they are available to buy through regular routes, although for much more than the initial sponsors paid: the price for early birds was $ 379 to $ 399, but the price is now $ 799 (around £ 652 / Au $ 1,303).
ECO vacuum tube headphones: key features
The idea of putting a tube in a couple of headphones tends to bring mental images of huge tubes of the size of a light bulb, but the Korg tube is positively microscopic compared to those you will find in the tastes of McIntosh’s tube ampers. Which is equally good, because a traditional tube is too fragile to survive in the outside world, and it would also make the headphones much heavier. These are a relatively Light 424g, he thought it is much heavier than the 250 g of the Sony Wh-1000xm5.
In addition to the tube and amplifier, there is hybrid ANC with transparency mode, Siri and Google Assistant’s voice control and analog and digital input: the latter, on USB-C, admits 32-bit audio/384khz, which is much higher that even most audiophile headphones dare to go.
The claimed frequency response is 20Hz to 20 kHz, the controllers have a 40 mm size and there are Bluetooth 5.3 with LDAC. The battery life is 20 hours claimed to total volume.
I have not heard these headphones, so I can’t say if the tube offers its promises; At this price, I would like to wait until the reviews are before deciding whether to go for these or our current premium selection of the best wireless headphones for sound, the Dali IO8. But those are armed …
