Austrian Audio is a fairly new company, but it's run from the ex AKG Headquarters by ex AKG staff who got laid off when Samsung closed down the Vienna branch of AKG. The Hi-X60 is the closed back version of the Hi-X65.
Looking for a pair of headphones to complement my Sennheiser HD650, I was looking for a closed back that can be driven off a mobile device without an amp.
I really value comfort since I often wear headphones for hours. I value quality since I like to stick to a pair once I got used to it, my Sennheisers have been with me for more than a decade by now.
I mainly use these for tracking instruments, listening to mixes, playing at home (guitar, bass, e-drums) and for FOH work.
I did try the classics: AKG K371, Beyerdynamic DT770, Shure 840A, Sennheiser HD-300 Pro, Audio Technica ATH-M50x, Sony 7506 and more.
The comfort was great on the Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser headphones, but I could not work with the sound. The Sennheisers did emphasize the high mids and lacked bass, the Beyerdynamics lacked mids.
The Audio Technica, Shure and Sony were very uncomfortable to wear for more than a few minutes.
The AKG had a sound signature I could not understand.
Enter the Austrian Audio Hi-X60.
The Bass is a little under the HD650, but the phones are capable of better sub bass and when you EQ them, they take bass well. It sounds tight and dry. The mids are pretty much all present with no emphasis on anything. The treble is very precise, but when you're used to the warm signature of the 650, these can sound harsh. The detail, however, is amazing. Separation of instruments is pretty easy, and you can really concentrate on single bits of a full track. The sound stage is somewhere between a good closed back and a good open back. It's wider than it has any right to be.
Isolation is top, both ways. The ear cups and head band are smooth, faux leather with pretty good memory foam inside. It's the stuff that takes a while to expand when you push it in.
They fold up for transport and come with two cables.
I am a very picky person when it comes to headphones and I am super happy with these.
My two wishes would have been to include the carrying case (not unreasonable at this price) and a coiled cable.