The HEDDphone TWO GT are a set of premium audiophile open back headphones from German audio manufacturer HEDD. Slightly counterintuitively, the TWO GT aren’t a successor to a ONE GT, but rather a redevelopment of the HEDDphone TWO (which themselves follow up the original HEDDphone).
The TWO GT pack tweaked AMT drivers and a warmer sound profile than the TWO, pitching them more towards leisurely home listening rather than pure, detail-oriented reference use.
With their striking yet comfortable aesthetic and unerringly premium German build quality, the TWO GT do much to justify their arguably rather reasonable price. Add on the utterly fantastic sound quality, and the TWO GT ought to be, at the very least, a serious shortlist candidate for any discerning listeners in search of new cans.
Could these be some of the best headphones for audiophiles? I think so. But read my full review to find out more.
HEDDphone TWO GT review: Specs
HEDDphone TWO GT review: Price & availability
The HEDDphone TWO GT cost $2,199 / £1,899 from HEDD. However, if you have your own cables already, you can save a bit of cash by buying the ‘UNPLUGGED’ variant without cables included, which cost £1,472 / $1,699.
While they objectively cost a lot of money, in the context of audiophile headphones, the TWO GT aren’t priced beyond the pale. In the audiophile landscape, $2,199 is just getting started. The Meze Audio Elite, for example, will set you back $4,000, while my other high-end cans, the Audeze LCD5-S, cost $4,500. I’m not saying those aren’t great headphones, but to a large extent there’s a law of diminishing returns at play here. The HEDDphone TWO GT sound utterly fantastic, so I don’t see why you’d really need to go further unless you want something specific that other cans offer.
HEDDphone TWO GT review: Design
What do you get if you cross a set of F1 pitwall headphones with a WWE-worthy stash of anabolic steroids? The TWO GT, obviously. These are absolute chonkers, and frankly, if I had to wear them anywhere outside the house, I’d probably feel a little self-conscious. Luckily, I don’t have to — like most audiophile open-back cans, these are intended for indoor (and, more specifically, home) use only.
They look great though: blacked out and replete with German neo-futurism. And besides, they wear their large size and hefty 1.2lb curb weight extremely well, proving effortlessly lightweight and comfortable atop the ol’ noggin.
That’s thanks to an unashamedly overengineered suspended headband. It’s a piece of padding suspended on a strip of synthetic fabric that weaves in and out of the main carbon-fiber headband. It distributes the weight extremely well, and also offers lots of adjustment. Sure, the end result isn’t any different from other suspended straps — a la Audeze LCD-X or Meze Poet. But it’s cool, different, and complements the general extra-ness of the overall aesthetic.
Included with the TWO GT are two sets of ear pads: one gloriously soft set of lamb’s leather; one vegan velour for the less carnivorous of disposition. I prefer the lamb’s leather pads, but both are incredibly thick and comfy anyway, so if HEDD had just given me the velour pads, I wouldn’t have complained. Also, while it’s nice to see a vegan option included, I find it kinda weird that they ship with both instead of letting you select one or the other at checkout — sure, a vegan won’t have to wear the lamb’s leather pads, but they’ll still have been forced to buy them, which isn’t much better.
Build-wise, these things earn their price. They feel premium. They feel special. They feel German. This is a double-decade set of cans at least, make no mistake. I love the loose-weave braided cables included (with the standard model), too, which feel super premium. Additionally, there’s a fabric hard case included, which features a cable storage compartment. This is much less bulky than the aluminum hard case that came with my Audeze LCD5-S, making the TWO GT easier to travel with.
Connectivity
The HEDDphone TWO GT are passive headphones, which won’t surprise any audiophiles. I’ll cover their amplification requirements below, but their unpowered nature means there are no mod-cons like wireless connectivity, battery life, ANC, etc.
They connect to your amplifier via a wired connection, and HEDD is generous with the included cablewear on the standard variant (the UNPLUGGED variant comes with no cables). There are two cables, one balanced 4.4mm, one unbalanced 6.35mm, with two adapters — a 4.4mm to XLR 4-pin adapter and a 6.35mm to 3.5mm — chucked in too.
Drive
As passive headphones, the TWO GT must be powered. You’ll want to use a DAC/amp to handle both the digital audio conversion and power. With an impedance of 41Ω and a sensitivity of 88dB / 1mW, they’re not too tricky to drive. HEDD suggests a minimum power of 200mW, but recommends around 1,000mW for peak performance. I powered the headphones using my FiiO K15 (up to 30,000mW), which was comfortable at 85% volume on the medium gain setting, and the iFi iDSD GR2 (up to 2,173mW), which I needed to run at about 80% volume without any added gain.
HEDDphone TWO GT review: Sound quality
Like other HEDD gear, the TWO GT use AMT transducers. These drivers employ a series of folded metal diaphragms to push and pull air, rather than the cones or wafer-thin layers of metal filaments used respectively by dynamic and planar magnetic drivers.
Historically, AMT drivers have been great for use as dedicated tweeters or mid-range speakers, but lacked bass response. To solve that, HEDD employs its “Variable Velocity Transformation” (VVT), which actively modulates the profile of the folds for response down as low as 10Hz. In short: bass good.
I tested the TWO GT using Qobuz, the best music streaming service for audiophiles. I streamed in lossless hi-res or CD quality via USB-C through the FiiO K15 and iFi DSD GR2 DAC/amps.
Bass
As you can see on the manufacturer’s frequency response curve, the TWO GT’s tuning is deliberately slightly warm, but it’s not aeons from the neutral tune of the HEDDphone TWO or HEDDphone D1. The TWO GT offer rich, enveloping bass, but nothing overwhelming. You could definitely still use these cans for reference or studio work.
As far as easy bass, the TWO GT relayed beautifully the thick, undulating double bass of Odetta’s Hit or Miss, as well as the powerful electronic bass warbling of Burn Water’s Ikigai.
When it comes to the trickier stuff, there’s less oomph in the sub region by default. However, the TWO GT can handle it if you dial in some extra low down power. I mostly used my FiiO K15 DAC/amp, as I like its clean, natural feel without EQ. But in songs where I wanted more sub bass — like the last 20 seconds of SOHN’s Antigravity — I switched to my iFi DSD GR2 and used the ‘XBass’ bass boost mode for a few dB extra at 20-30Hz. The TWO GT still weren’t as subby as my planar- and slam-plate-fitted Audeze LCD5-S, but did a respectable job, gently vibrating my temples (with no distortion whatsoever, I might add).
Mids
As I mentioned, while warm, the TWO GT are still well balanced across the curve, with a prominent, clean mid-range. There was a pleasantly-expressed, natural timbre to acoustic guitars, with a gorgeous woody resonance to 49 Winchester’s riff in Russell County Line. In Melvins’ dual-riffed sludge-fest, Honey Bucket, the lower mid-range packed bags of texture, with plenty of crunch to those distorted guitars, while strong separation let me pick out the individual riffs.
The upper mid-range also packs bags of resolution and natural timbre: vocals in Blusher’s Last Man Standing sounded full and lifelike, and I could pick apart the individual voices and whispered backing vocals throughout harmonies.
Treble
The treble is fairly bright. Personally, I felt myself wanting a tad more sharpness on certain tracks — typically it was busier, older recordings like Honey Bucket and The Who’s Eminence Front where I craved just a little more snap to cymbals and hi-hats. This is mainly down to personal preference and individual ear anatomy, though, and can simply be EQ’d or otherwise tweaked to taste. Using my iFi GR2, I applied a GTO digital filter with the Kenwood K2 HD upsampling mode, which worked a treat, adding that smidge of extra definition I was looking for up top.
Soundstage
As open backs, the TWO GT are plenty spacious. I could track the haunting, industrial percussion in Chris Stapleton’s Death Row fading backwards out of earshot. SOHN’s Antigravity, meanwhile, felt truly wide, the reverby opening percussion effects pinging inwards and outwards on a distinct horizontal plane.
HEDDphone TWO GT review: Verdict
It’s really difficult to fault the HEDDphone TWO GT. Sound, comfort, build quality — it’s all there. The only major points I can really knock off are for the huge size and objectively high price, although with the caveat that, in the crazy arena of audiophile gear, they’re not priced beyond the pale. In terms of performance, you’re getting a hell of a lot here, and personally this is the sweet spot for me, in terms of audiophile sound versus cost.
Sure, if you want deeper bass, from both an extension and power standpoint, then I’d advise looking into warmer-tuned planars from the likes of Audeze or Meze, but that’s a sheer preference thing. And besides, the TWO GT can get respectably bassy if you play about a little with your DAC/amp. Wanna know the only really bad thing about reviewing the TWO GT? I’ll tell ya: It’s that I have to give them back.