Headphones are a must for any recording studio, whether you need to play along to a click track or simply keep the noise down for your neighbors.
If you’re like me, you want the best of the best—and maybe your research has led you to believe you have to make a choice between $1,500 headphones and staying financially solvent.
Happily, I’m here to tell you that ADAM Audio has effectively solved this problem with the H200 headphones.
I’ve genuinely never encountered a pair of such high-quality, studio-grade headphones available at such a reasonable price point.
ADAM Audio was kind enough to ship me a pair of the H200s, and so I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about these headphones, including top features, performance, and build quality.
Overview
The H200 headphones from ADAM Audio cost $150. They’re compact and well-designed, with a sleek, black colorway and heavy cushioning on the insides of the ear cups.
Unboxing my H200’s, I found the headphones themselves were accompanied by the user manual, a 3 meter aux to ¼ inch cable, and a soft fabric carry bag for transport.
After spending some time with H200’s, both in the studio and just around the house, I came away very impressed with their performance. Here’s why.
Why I Like Them
- The frequency response is ridiculously wide, ranging from 2 Hz to 23.5 kHz. This, enabled mostly by the headphones’ PEEK diaphragm drivers, resulted in absolutely crystal clear sound quality.
- ADAM Audio’s Headphone Utility plugin allows you to integrate the H200s with your favorite DAW, providing different voicings, EQ adjustments, and crossfeed technology that simulates a sense of room and space.
- The H200s are really comfy. As someone who normally finds over-ear headphones uncomfortable, I found I could listen for hours at a time with no pain from the pressure around my ears.
Features & Benefits
In my opinion, the most important factors to consider when purchasing a new pair of studio headphones are frequency response, driver type, DAW integration, and comfortability. If you get a pair of headphones that excel in all those categories, you won’t have much to complain about.
Let’s take a look at how ADAM Audio’s H200 headphones perform in those four categories.
Wide Frequency Response
Frequency response is the range of sounds that an audio system can produce, and it’s usually measured in Hertz (Hz). For headphones, having a wide frequency response means they can accurately deliver everything from deep bass to high trebles. It’s so important because it allows you to hear music as the artist intended.
The H200’s offer a frequency response of 2 Hz to 23.5 kHz, with only a 3 dB dropoff at the high and low ends of the range.
To give you an idea of how insane this low end is, the typical range for a subwoofer is from 20 Hz and up—and the human ear has a cutoff in audible sound at around the 12 dB mark, with anything lower being nearly inaudible. And at the high end, most standard headphones (and the human ear) cap at around 20 kHz, whereas the H200’s go all the way up to 23.5 kHz.
In other words, the H200’s allow you to hear every subtle detail, from the lowest bass to the most delicate treble, with remarkable clarity and precision—capturing nuances that regular headphones generally miss.
How does it do it? Answers in the next section.
PEEK Diaphragm Drivers
The fantastic frequency response of the H200 headphones is due primarily to ADAM Audio’s top-tier diaphragm drivers.
Diaphragm drivers are the components in headphones that actually convert the electrical signals into sound, and the quality and efficiency of these drivers substantially affects how well the headphones perform, especially in the area of frequency response.
As it turns out though, designing effective drivers is not easy. Take it right from the source—on its website, ADAM says the following:
“In the world of diaphragms, light weight and stiffness are key. Without these qualities, a driver can be too heavy to be efficiently driven by the electrical signal coming via the voice coil and magnet. Alternatively, it can be too flexible which can result in muddy performance and distortion at certain frequencies.”
The drivers of the H200s are able to deliver such crystal clear audio and such a wide frequency response because they’re made of a very special material, called Polyether Ether Ketone, or “PEEK” for short. PEEK works so well for headphone drivers for four reasons:
- High rigidity: This improves sound clarity by reducing distortion during diaphragm movement.
- Heat resistance: This allows the drivers to maintain performance under high power, preventing warping.
- Light weight: This increases responsiveness for faster, more accurate sound reproduction.
- Durability: This makes the drivers resistant to wear, allowing for performance that stays true over time.
Standard headphones have drivers made from materials like Mylar, PET, or titanium, which result in pretty apparent deficiencies in audio quality when compared to PEEK drivers.
The H200s are by far the lowest-priced headphones I’ve come across that offer PEEK drivers and audio quality of such a high caliber.
Headphone Utility DAW Plugin
The H200 headphones come with their own DAW plugin—basically a free software from ADAM Audio that makes production and mixing with the H200s even easier.
Download the plugin, and you can open it as a separate window in your favorite DAW—such as Logic Pro or Ableton. From this window, you can access a variety of time-saving and production-enhancing features, including:
Voicings
The Headphone Utility plugin allows you to choose between “Pure” or “Uniform Natural Response (UNR)” voicings.
“Pure” reproduces sounds as accurately and “flat” as possible, making it the ideal setting for mixing and mastering. “UNR” incorporates ADAM Audio’s custom response curve, causing music to sound engaging and close-up, making it ideal for production and writing.
Earpad Selector
The H200s come with imitation faux earpads, but you can purchase a cloth option as well if that’s more comfortable for you.
ADAM is so committed to neutral, accurate sound reproduction that the Headphone Utility plugin provides a switch, allowing you to select between “Faux Leather” or “Soft Cloth.”
Depending on which option you choose, the H200s adjust EQ and compensate for changes in gain accordingly, to ensure you end up hearing all sounds exactly as they were intended.
Externalization
When you listen to music in studio monitors, you hear the left speaker in your left ear and the right speaker in your right ear—for the most part. But there’s always a little bit of bleed from right to left (and vice versa)—this is natural, and actually desired because it helps create a sense of space and realism in the sound.
With closed-back headphones like the H200s, you get much, much less of this bleed. ADAM Audio ingeniously makes up for this with its externalization feature, which uses “crossfeed” technology to carefully put some of the right channel into the left ear, and some of the left channel into the right ear.
While I highly recommend keeping externalization on, the Headphone Utility plugin gives you the opportunity to switch it on or off depending on your specific needs.
Extreme Comfort & Durability
No one wants to buy a pair of headphones that cause them pain or wear out after a few months of use—but these considerations take on a whole new meaning when you’re talking about headphones that you may need to wear for hours at a time during long production, mixing, or mastering sessions.
Speaking from personal experience, the ear pads are extremely comfortable. I’m someone who has naturally sensitive ears, and most over-ear headphones result in a dull ache after 30 minutes or so. Not so with the H200s—my experience with them was completely pain-free, even after multi-hour listening sessions.
The headphones’ separate parts can also be disassembled for cleaning and replacement. The headband padding and ear pads both come off with a simple detaching movement, no screws or tools necessary.
Finally, one related thing I greatly appreciated was the fact that the H200s came with a 3 meter (nine foot) aux to ¼ inch cable. Throughout the variety of studio setups I’ve had, one constant is the need for wires to have extra slack in order to accommodate recording sessions and different gear arrangements.
While some may find it trivial, to me little details like this are great examples of ADAM Audio consistently going above and beyond to provide musicians with the best of the best.
Things To Consider Before Buying
Don’t rush into a final decision when buying headphones. Before you eagerly dump in your card details and select “next-day shipping,” consider these final factors that apply to every pair of headphones:
- Comfort: There’s no use buying a pair of headphones that give you a headache every time you wear them. You’ll want a pair that you can wear for long sessions with minimal discomfort. If the headphones don’t fit well or have poor padding, that’s a no-go. I highly recommend going to stores like Guitar Center to try out headphones in person. If you can’t do that, read up on customer reviews to get a feel for how comfortable they’ll be.
- Impedance: Impedance measures how much resistance the headphones offer to the electrical signal from your audio source. Lower impedance headphones are easier to drive and can work well with portable devices like your smartphone, while higher impedance headphones often require more power to reach their full potential. While not always necessary, it can’t hurt to figure out the impedance level of the headphones you’re looking at, and make sure it will work in your ideal use case (studio, casual listening, or whatever else).
- Durability: You want headphones that are built to last, especially if you plan on using them regularly or taking them on the road with you. Most headphones, even the budget ones, are reasonably durable as a default—so instead of searching specifically for “durable headphones,” all you really have to do is make sure there aren’t any customer reviews that call out frequent breakage or issues with wear and tear.
Conclusion
The ADAM Audio H200 headphones are a meticulously crafted blend of advanced technology and user-friendly features. I was genuinely impressed by these headphones, and floored that they’re offered for only $150.
To recap why these headphones are so special:
- Crystal clear sound: PEEK diaphragm drivers result in a ridiculously wide frequency response and ultra-clear sound quality.
- Headphone Utility plugin: You can connect the H200s to your favorite DAW and access a variety of custom features like different voicings and crossfeed technology.
- Superior comfort: The H200s’ ear pads are made from super soft faux leather that remains comfortable for hours at a time.
The H200s could very well redefine what you expect from a pair of headphones.
