A Deeper Look

The main driver (pun intended) of the H200 sound is its proprietary “PEEK Performance Driver.” PEEK stands for Polyether Ether Ketone—a great material for speaker drivers because it’s both lightweight and stiff. Ostensibly, PEEK drivers combined with a neodymium magnet result in a smooth, clear response that holds up over time. That technology is designed to embody the heart of ADAM monitors.

This design means the H200 is built with longevity in mind, as is its almost “modular” design. You can replace the earpads and headband and choose between the default memory foam earpads or a soft cloth version. The yoke (the metal “skeleton” under the headband) is made of anodized aluminum, which is both durable and light.

According to ADAM Audio, the H200 is tuned to resemble the tonality of the ADAM Audio S3V monitor in ‘Pure’ mode in a well-treated space. I’ve never heard this monitor, but if it sounds anything like the H200, I’d be happy to.

Finally, the H200 has a 32Ω impedance, which means that in addition to most mixers and audio interfaces, they do well with laptops and other mobile devices, making them a great option for traveling or remote work.

ADAM Headphone Utility

These days, it seems everything comes with software, even headphones. I have to admit, I’m not always excited about adding yet another plugin helper to my setup, so I took this with a grain of salt. However, two things made me feel good about the included Headphone Utility plugin, which ADAM teamed up with Sonnox to create.

For one, you don’t need it—at all. The headphones alone are smooth as butter and spoiler alert: I prefer them to any other listening device I currently have. Next, the utility is actually quite useful in a DAW setting, especially if you opt to change the earpads to the cloth option.

It’s a simple plugin. Four selectable settings change the headphones’ response in specific ways.

First, you can change the response for the type of earpad. I just have the memory foam pads, but I tried changing that setting, and the result was very noticeable—which tells me that the earpads change the response quite a bit. Since the sound was quite a bit darker with that setting, the default response with soft cloth earpads would be quite a bit brighter. Something to keep in mind.

Next, you can select two types of gain compensation. Safe mode prevents clipping, while equal loudness compensates for attenuations in the mids and highs made by the earpad selector. This preserves the perception of loudness, preventing bad mix decisions made by skewed perspectives.

There are also two voicing options: “pure” is the flattest setting, ideal for critical listening like mixing and mastering; and “UNR” (“Uniform Natural
Response™”), which provides a more natural/real-world listening response curve, making the cans sound more inspiring when writing or tracking.

Finally, there’s an externalization option, which introduces crossfeed (mixing a little bit of one side into the other), making each side of the headphones sound less direct and isolated and feel more like a pair of speakers.

All in the Family

As mentioned above, if you have a set of ADAM Audio S3V monitors, setting the software to “pure” and turning externalization on would give you a pretty good representation of what you’d hear in your room—handy for increased mix translation.

The H200 in Practice

I’ve said this earlier, but the H200 is just so smooth. The highs are tremendously clear and precise, but they have an almost buttery quality with zero harshness or fatigue. The lows are round and full, and high-mids are present and detailed.

Many headphones can get harsh in the 2–5 kHz range, and when you’re tracking a big song and want to immerse in the awesomeness until you can forget your troubles and belt your heart out, that’s a problem. Every time I’ve tracked vocals in any studio, I’ve had a problem of wanting more weight and volume so I can “get into it” but I often reach a threshold of pain before I get there. Not so with the H200. I can turn it up to that “immersion” point without hurting myself.

PSA: Because these sound so good, even at high volume, try to be conscious of your overall levels.

The isolation during tracking also kills my previous favorite pair of cans and I may never have to meticulously pick out a click track from a vocal take again.

All Day Long

The first time I listened to the H200, I liked them so much that I listened to music all day (at moderate volume) at my desk—I never do that. But the tonality of the cans was just so inspiring as I listened to really great reference mixes that I didn’t want to leave the space.

I admit, I’m not necessarily used to using really good headphones, so maybe I sound like a bumpkin, but the H200 blew me away. As I use them more and more, I am excited to see what kind of mixes I get with them.

Wrap Up

I wasn’t on the lookout for a new pair of headphones when ADAM Audio asked me to check out the new H200 closed-back headphones—even though I’m an ADAM speaker fan and user.

The ADAM Audio H200 headphones have quickly become my preferred pair, and their price is reasonable for what they offer.

Nice work, ADAM Audio!

Price: $149

More From: adam-audio.com

Past Reviews