Whither wireless playback standards?

Wired headphones such as the very expensive Abyss AB1266 Phi TC and the Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1, not forgetting the wide variety of superb headphone amplifiers, make headphone listening a luxury experience. Wireless technology has made strides in recent years, but because of the idiosyncrasies of WiFi and Bluetooth, wireless headphones have had difficulty catching up to wired, and that’s before we get to the wireless challenges of deciphering HiRes files.

Hold my beer. Swiss company HED Technologies has developed a standard that reproduces lossless audio streaming for wireless headphones through its patented technologies.

Presenting the HED Unity Headphones. These beautifully made metal headphones in Anthracite Gray retail for $2199. Before you balk at the price, the headphone is a one-time purchase. Since the headphones are essentially run by a computer, any software updates can be sent directly to the headphones and will improve the functionality.

Unity calls one of its patented technologies “Full-Fidelity™ Standard”. They describe it as a proprietary technology that…delivers unprecedented, truly lossless audio. Rediscover your favourite music in a comfortable all-in-one, over-ear, completely wireless device.

Unity also suggests you “Go beyond Bluetooth™ with an innovative wireless protocol that streams true lossless audio. Unity leverages the power of Wi-Fi to seamlessly deliver every bit of data that uncompressed sound demands.”

My Use

I’d like to thank Shelby Coppola at Hummingbird Media for sending me the headphones and for answering my questions.

Setup and connection are fairly straightforward. Online directions and the iOS/Android app guide you to your destination.

The Unity Multisource Music Player app connects to your favourite music streaming services. I used Apple Music to break in the Unity headphones. They sounded excellent on the first play, and I graduated to Qobuz HiRes after a couple of days. Things improved with the break-in and the quality of the music files.

In addition to Spotify, Soundcloud, etc., you can add your own music library.

Features & Specifications

The fit and finish of the headphones are superb and the metal earcups with padding are endlessly comfortable. No inner ear strain with volume or outer ear fatigue.

Memory and storage are covered by the unit’s integrated dual-core processor. Much like a modern aircraft’s Inertial Navigation System, the Unity sports an onboard 9-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) including a gyroscope, accelerometer and a 3-axis compass. These technologies are for head-tracking motion detection.

The drivers are high-quality transducers that deliver the 24bit/96kHz sound. I did without the 9-frequency band EQ.

The sculpted ear cups are milled from 6063 architectural-grade aluminum and strengthened further with a carbon fibre-infused nylon skeleton. The headphone is light on the head and stays cool to the touch. The ear cups are height-adjustable and the headband distributes weight evenly across the top of your head. The ear cups include cooling gel and are made from microfibre.

Battery life is excellent. A 1680 mAh battery provides 6-8 hours of HiRes or Bluetooth listening. A six-minute charge will give you an hour of listening if you’re in a pinch. 1.5 hours for a full charge.

The button on the outside of the ear cup acts as a function button toggling between the ANC on/off but can be reprogrammed within the Unity app to access other features like EQ on/off. The Unity bundle includes an adapter for wired use. The review unit was used wirelessly for the duration. The ANC worked extremely well due to the 12 beam-forming microphones. This allowed for very clear phone calls.

The quality cables were a nice touch (USB-C to Aux Adaptor and USB-C to USB-A Charging Cable) but I wasn’t a fan of the silver, soft-touch carrying case.

A two-year warranty is provided.

The Bluetooth functionality worked as expected and there were very few dropouts—the CD quality audio from Apple Music sounded very good—but where these headphones shine is playing HiRes files on WiFi. A True wireless game-changing device.

Drivers- 40mm Titanium coated

Impedance - 24 Ω

Frequency Response - 20Hz - 22kHz

Sensitivity - 102 dB/mW @1kHz when connected via a cable with the headset off. 105 dB/mW @1 kHz when connected via a cable with the headset on

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) - Passive wired <0.2% Active <1% @1kHz

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) - at 1kHz Full Scale - 74 db

Processor - Dual-core 650 MHz 32-bit ARMv7 Processor

RAM - 1GB 800 MHz DDR3L Memory

Onboard Storage - 16GB eMMC

Wireless - 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + BT / BLE 4.2

Motion Sensor - 9-axis motion sensor (accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer)for head tracking and Audio AR

USB Type C - Charging and wired audio

Bluetooth - SBC and AAC

True Lossless streaming of FLAC and Hi-Res music files from music streaming providers or local media servers without compression or data loss

Multisource Music Player - Access the catalogues and sync existing favourites within multiple music streaming provider accounts or connect directly to your local media server with the Unity App

You can access your library—here, my playing under the scrutiny of very fine headphones was at times scary, at times instructive.

Sound

During my Apple CD-quality break-in period, the sound was very good and enjoyed for hours because of the comfort level. So Klemperer Schubert and Schumann Symphonies on repeat yielded dynamic sound with accurate instrumental timbres and endless musical enjoyment.

Throwing on the CD quality of “Dead Already” from Thomas Newman’s soundtrack to American Beauty was fun (no HiRes of this yet, which always surprises me). This audiophile educational track, with tablas, whizzing percussion, marimbas, bongos and all their inner wood reflections, and sampled bass down to your bootstraps, was balanced and very dynamic. The probing sound based on Unity’s technology, was indeed educational, especially for me after hearing the track hundreds of times as a primary review piece. The headphones represent instrumental timbres very well. And the bass (they say down to 20 Hz) was as deep and effective as you’re likely to hear on headphones at this price level.

What I found very interesting were the clear differences between CD quality and HiRes files, even more than a top streamer due to the clinical scrutiny of earphones. Is that a good thing?

I found “Ballet Music” from Faust on Qobuz, at 24/88.2, a king of audiophile recordings. From the opening low brass invocation to the triangles and upper woodwinds’ answer, and then the delicate violins on the main theme, the playback was superb. And very detailed. This was among the best sounds I’ve heard, wires or no wires. Very impressive.

On Miles Davis’ Live Around the World, “Time After Time” (Cyndi Lauper cover) reminded me, that even though time and troubles had cost Miles at least a couple of steps (and under so much Unity scrutiny, it reminded me how much I dislike “whoop whoop” posers when it’s quiet and the artist has played one note), Miles still has enough in his tank to break your heart. Cyndi Lauper never had it so good. The clarity afforded this track by the Unity allowed me to hear every embouchure move no matter how minute. Exquisite sound and artistry.

Summary

For those headphone junkies like our younger team members, I’m hoping they get to try the Unity wireless headphones. I think the HiRes sound they reproduce would be an eye-opener. For me, with far less experience with headphones, I liked them. They feel great, look sexy, and are built to exciting Swiss standards. Add to these qualities, their seemingly inexhaustible upgrades and the excellent sound, and you have a very successful, highly-recommendable pair of headphones.

Further information: Unity