I’ve been an enthusiastic headphone user for many many years now. Back in the day I fully embraced the cassette-based ‘Walkman’ machines - moving on to the CD Discman, MD-based players and recorders and eventually MP3-based players. During this time I have also used pretty much all the different types of headphones - from the standard ‘earbud’ type ones which came supplied with the players to full-sized (actually massive) over-ear planar magnetic headphones. Amongst the plethora of assorted headphones I owned the Koss KSC-35’s and really liked them. Sure they had their faults - one hair out of place touching the driver would result in massive distortion, the bass was overblown - although I do remember it being really quite nice nonetheless and their sound quality was rather basic - which was fair enough considering their price.
The AC-55 follows in the footsteps of the Koss KSC-35 but is better in just about every respect. They have a far higher build quality than the Koss model (which is fair enough considering the difference in price). There are other significant differences between the AC55’s and the Koss KSC-35’s as well. The padding around the drivers is much thicker and more comfortable. The cable is of far higher quality and the sound quality is on a different level altogether.
The Aune AC-55 headphones black and gold build look fantastic. They have a real high-quality vibe to them - both in looks and their ‘feel’. That high-quality extends to the cable and connectors - which are the same as those on their IR300 IEM’s. Due to the basic shape of ears, the AC55’s do stick out at an angle (basically the same angle that your ears stick out) which can look a little strange when compared to conventional on-ear ‘Walkman-style’ headphones which tend to sit a little flatter on your head.
The AC-55’s come supplied with an excellent gold-coloured cable terminating in a 3.5mm high quality stereo plug which features a clever adaptor system allowing you to quickly change to a 4.4mm Pentacon balanced plug. These headphones are very easy to drive and the additional output that a balanced connection offers really isn’t necessary with these - although it’s always nice to have the option. The 55’s use a regular 2-pin connector to the headphones so you always have the option of cable swapping.
Other reviews have pretty much consistently mentioned people having difficulty getting a good fit with these headphones. I personally didn’t really have this problem and didn’t have to make any adjustments in order to get a good fit. Whilst the cable appears to be very high quality it does have one basic problem - it’s fairly heavy and this results in the feeling that the headphones are being pulled down off your ears slightly. The included cable clip alleviates this problem. The fit does feel loose but interestingly for me at least, making small adjustments to the placement on my ears didn’t make too much of a change to the sound quality - which remained pretty consistent. Aune does offer a video which explains how to adjust the fit to meet your needs Fit Adjustment for AC45 & AC55 - I was quite happy with the default settings myself and found the fit to be virtually ‘invisible’ physically.
I think it’s fair to say that these headphones are not really designed for active use outside. They leak a lot of sound in and out due to their open design. This, combined with their rather loose fit means that they’re really designed for listening in a quiet room - probably on your own - in this setting though they really do excel.
My listening equipment consists of the following hardware:-
Source - Samsung Galaxy 20 Ultra/Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite - Fiio BTR7 Bluetooth Headphone Amp/Xduoo MH-02 Tube DAC/AMP
Up front I have to say I absolutely love the sound character and quality of these headphones. For full-size headphones I normally use the Hifiman Deva Pro and Sony WH1000XM6 bluetooth headphones. For IEM’s I use the Apple Airpod Pro 2’s, Sony WF1000XM4’s and the rather excellent KZ PR2 HBB Planar Magnetic IEM’s (with a custom EQ to compensate for their excessive treble). Each have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. I use subtle EQ settings for the Sony’s, KZ’s and Deva Pro’s. For the Aune AC-55’s I set the EQ to flat.
The Aune AC-55’s overall sound character really surprised me - they’re truly excellent! Firstly, even though they have a loose fit, the bass is wonderfully well balanced and punchy. Their character is rather like listening to a high-quality set of IEM’s, they’re not afraid to take some power and make use of it. Both my Fiio BTR7 portable bluetooth amp and the excellent Xduoo MH-02 tube amp can drive these to very high levels without even a hint of distortion or sibilance. Mids and treble are detailed and yet nicely mellow. I personally can wear the AC-55’s for many hours without either physical discomfort or listening fatigue - for me this is quite rare when using headphones with this amount of detail. Sound stage is also very impressive with these headphones - due perhaps to the gentle placement on your ears they have an impressive ‘open’ sound that allows you to focus on whatever part of the music you want. If you want to focus on a specific instrument in the mix this is quite easy to do with these headphones and this is something that only high quality headphones can achieve in my opinion.
The AC-55’s do offer a surprising amount of detail. This is perhaps another reason why these are best suited for listening in a quiet room as excessive external noise would undoubtedly rob you of some of this detail. Perhaps when you’re out and about you should stick to active noise cancelling headphones and use the Aune’s when you really want to chill out.
Out of all the other headphones in my embarrassing rapidly growing collection I would say that the Aune AC-55 sounds similar to the Hifiman Deva Pro’s. Certainly in their ability to project details in the music but the AC-55’s perhaps offer a little more bass response and overall warmth. This is high praise as I love the sound of the Deva’s quite a lot. Certainly when compared to the active noise cancelling headphones from Sony, the AC-55’s offer a far more open and unrestricted sound. Coming back to this review there’s a couple of other points I would like to mention regarding the AC-55’s. They are really REALLY good when playing games like Warzone and Battlefield. Their ‘soundscape’ allows you to really hear where the bad-guys are and their sheer dynamics make the various sound effects really stand out. The other point I’ve really come to appreciate with these headphones is their ability to really take a lot of power - I find that I can listen to music louder without any distortion or discomfort - I know it’s not a good idea for prolonged listening sessions but just occasionally it’s nice to really ‘rock-out’ with these things.
I love these headphones and find myself choosing them over others in my collection quite a lot. They’re not for everyone - whilst I didn’t have any problems whatsoever regarding their fit, I recognise that these really are not designed for active use. It’s only fair to say that your results may vary. From a sound quality perspective, I have to say that these are amongst the best open headphones I have experienced. They are many orders of magnitude better than the Koss KSC-35’s. They definitely hit the spot for me when it comes to that magic combination of detail retrieval and comfortable listening. I would like to thank Aune Audio for supplying me with a review sample.
Excellent detail retrieval. Powerful bass response for an open back headphone. Extremely comfortable. Can ‘rock-out’ quite nicely when you want them to. Non-fatiguing sound and can be worn for a long time without any problems.
Headphone cable is somewhat heavy and can pull them down if you don’t use the supplied removable clip. Plug adapters can be somewhat fiddly and require a degree of concentration in order to get the correct connection. Sound leakage - both in and out limits their use a little.
These remarkable headphones can be purchased at:-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQHQQPD1
