March Madness has one meaning for most people in the United States and it’s hard not to get caught up in the orgy of college basketball that takes place every year at the end of the season. GWU rarely makes the big dance so I’m forced every year to cheer for anyone but Duke, Gonzaga, or any school from the Big East. 2025 was the first time in over 16 years that I’ve been unable to watch and with 17 days to go with inpatient care here in Florida — I’m unlikely to know who wins unless it is the Florida Gators. Two of my wonderful nurses where I’m currently undergoing treatment are graduates and I’m keeping my prayers for Auburn to myself. Coach Bruce Pearl is a mensch. In every way possible.
Waiting for group therapy to start earlier this morning, it struck me that I’ve come a long way over the past 12 weeks and that there have been a wild range of high-end headphones released in March. It’s been March Madness and that was before CanJam NYC 2025.
Having covered the high-end headphone category for over a decade at Gear Patrol, Digital Trends, the New York Times, and the past 5 years here at eCoustics — I can’t remember a month where so many interesting headphones were released.
We’ve also recently reviewed some excellent new headphones from HiFiMAN including the Arya Unveiled and HE1000 Unveiled, the Grado S950 Signature, and the category leading Audeze CRBN2 Electrostatic Headphones. If the CRNB2 are outside of your price range — which is like 99.9% of the planet, the new STAX SR-X1 are likely a better option if the electrostatic category interests you.
When I’m finally settled in my new apartment and the renovation is complete, my focus is going to shift to a lot more headphone listening and smaller systems. The cabin’s final destination has changed but you’ll have to wait to find out where along the eastern seaboard that is going to be. Life can be cruel. But I’m resigned to being a very different person when I’m finally out.
Meze Audio POET
2024 was a quiet year for the Romanian manufacturer with only two new product introductions; the 105 AER and Liric II (read our review) — which only meant that Antonio Meze and his team were cooking up something massive in Baia Mare.
If the state-of-the-art Meze Empyrean II fall outside of your price range, the Meze POET make that more of a reality — although $2,000 is still a significant amount of money for any pair of headphones.
For the POET’s drivers, Meze has teamed up with Rinaro. Building on over 30 years of developing and offering planar magnetic technology, Rinaro Isodynamic brings its acclaimed Isodynamic Hybrid Array with a new MZ6 driver to POET.
Each driver is hand-assembled and tested at Rinaro’s state-of-the-art facility in Lviv, Ukraine, ensuring unmatched quality and performance.
The high-end planar category has come down significantly in price thanks to Audeze and HiFiMAN who have successfully introduced models below $500 and consumers no longer have to spend thousands of dollars to get great sound quality.
What makes the Meze POET so intriguing is that have the potential to make state-of-the-art planar magnetic headphones more attainable for those who may want to use headphones instead of loudspeakers in the context of both a portable and desktop playback system.
Where to buy: $2,000 at Crutchfield
FiiO FT7
Following the successful launches of their FT1/FT1 Pro, FT3, and FT5 headphones, FiiO is taking a run at HiFiMAN and Audeze in the planar magnetic category with the introduction of their flagship FT7 open-back planar magnetic headphones which are going to retail for around $800 USD.
FiiO claims that the FT7 offers high-end performance and integrates well with headphone amps such as their K19 ($1,399 at Amazon). The design and components have been chosen for sonic performance and longevity, from the Zebrawood Grille detailing, Gold + Silver Precious Metal Multi-Layer Coating Technology, 1μm Ultra-Thin Film Diaphragm, 18 High-Performance N52 Neodymium Magnets on each side, 106mm drivers and Liquid Nitrogen-Frozen Single Crystal Copper Cable.
FiiO has done a rather good job so far with their on-ear/over-ear headphones and kept the prices for all of those products rather affordable. The FT5 proved that they can build a solid planar model for $450.
Can they be competitive in the planar magnetic category at $800? HiFiMAN, Dan Clark Audio and Audeze have already proven that they can deliver between $800 and $1,000 so the FT7 will have to do something comparable or better than all of them to make a dent with consumers.
Where to buy: The final price (expect to be in the $800 range) and availability for the FiiO FT7 have not been provided.
Grado Signature S950
Resist decline at all costs. It is what helps one get through challenges.
Listening to the Grado Signature S950, it was clearly evident that there has been a shift in their thinking — and while not everyone will see that as a good thing — I think it was rather necessary and the early results are very promising.
Weighing in at 395 grams, the Signature S950 are a comfortable weight that is well distributed across the top of your head, with a rather average amount of clamping force.
The Signature S950 utilizes a version of the Grado 52mm S driver that first appeared in the new Signature HE100 SE. A paper composite cone was selected, and paired with a high-flux magnetic circuit made from rare earth alloys. The driver also features a lightweight copper-plated aluminum voice coil.
According to Grado, the new driver and the refinements made to it for the Signature S950 results in “improved dynamic and transient response, while providing a refined sense of space, soundstage, detail and imaging.”
With a sensitivity rating of 115 dB (SPL @1mW) and impedance of 38 ohms, the Signature S950 are not particularly hard to drive and I achieved a good baseline of their performance with my iPhone and iFi GO Bar Kensei.
You can read the rest of my thoughts here.
Where to buy: $2,195 at Crutchfield
Focal Bathys Deep Black Wireless Headphones
Calling the Focal Bathys Deep Black new isn’t entirely accurate as it’s a new colorway, but I can see Frank Castle owning a pair and that’s good enough for me.
Has it really been 3 years? It’s actually been 28 months since Focal unleashed its Death Star on the wireless headphone category with the launch of the Bathys wireless headphones and many of us still consider them to be one of the benchmarks in the category. You can read Will Jenning’s review here and learn even more about what makes these French wireless headphones so unique in our in-depth video review here.
The Bathys Deep Black Edition do not feature any internal changes but those of us who lean towards the dark side might find them to be sleeker looking and less likely to garner weird questions while standing in line at Buc-ee’s.
Focal introduced the Bathys Dune colorway in 2023 and that option took off like House Harkonnen after Paul Atreides gutted Feyd-Rautha in Dune II.
It’s a gorgeous looking pair of headphones that blends a lot better with your surroundings while sitting in the beach in South Florida or Cape Town.
Where to buy: $699 at Amazon
Sennheiser HD 550
Are audiophiles embarrassed to admit that they love gaming? When you consider how many members of the audiophile community grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and were the first generation to truly experience gaming at home — it’s almost impossible to believe that many of you don’t secretly lock the door to your home office and waste a few hours online playing and that experience certainly includes a gaming headset like the Audeze Maxwell or Sennheiser HD 550.
Don’t be ashamed. It’s harmless fun. Much healthier than screaming online at people on X or watching dance videos on TikTok.
The Sennheiser HD 550 is new a headphone that shares a lot with HD 50 headphones that were released this past February 2025. It is designed to balance performance with effortlessly smooth tuning, providing realistic stereo imaging, and also incorporates an ultra-light build.
Where to buy: $299.95 at Headphones.com and Sennheiser.
Focal Bathys MG Wireless Headphones
We knew these were coming for weeks prior to the launch but couldn’t share the news. With such a large increase in price, the expectations for the Bathys MG are enormous.
The high-end wireless headphone category needed a bit of a shake-up in 2025 and it’s not a surprise that Focal has ended Q1 with the launch of the flagship Bathys MG. The French manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers for the home, marine, automotive, and CI categories delivered a rather powerful roundhouse kick back in 2022 with the introduction of the Bathys ANC wireless headphones. The Bathys earned dozens of “Best Wireless Headphone” awards that year from almost every major tech publication and its recognition was well deserved.
To take things up a notch, Focal has now added a new model in 2025, the Bathys MG. The MG moniker is shared with Focal’s Clear MG wired headphones. The Bathys MG also incorporates the same M-shaped magnesium dome diaphragm originally introduced in the Clear MG as well as the same chestnut/dark copper colorway. The M-shaped dome of the MG version brought significant sound improvements to the original Clear, so we expect a similar leap in performance with the new Bathys MG.
On the inside, the Bathys MG incorporates Bluetooth 5.2 and improved ANC while on the outside construction is aluminum, magnesium, and leather for a more luxurious look while still providing durability. The headband has been re-engineered (and features real leather) for a lighter feel, and new memory foam cushions provide greater comfort despite the fact that the weight remains roughly the same as the original.
The Bathys MG doesn’t replace the original Bathys (the Deep Black color option for those headphones was just introduced a short time ago), but instead slots into the line-up above it both in performance and price. The Bathys will continue to occupy the territory in the middle tier where it competes against the models mentioned earlier while the new Bathys MG expands into higher-end territory.
Retailing for $1299, the Bathys MG will need to prove itself, but with Focal’s history and capability, we suspect that it will live up to the challenge. Stay tuned for our forthcoming review.
Where to buy: $1,299 at Crutchfield
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Anton the Red
April 1, 2025 at 5:32 pm
I have to say that the headphone category is where all the fun currently exists and the loudspeaker industry is rather dull.
There is so much innovation right now in the headphone market and while it seems rather dumb to spend $6,000 on a pair of headphones — it’s a lot less dumb than spending $10K on speakers.
The CRBN2 seem very innovative.