I have seen so many of these “Top 5” posts dotted all over the net and to be honest they don’t seem to show the correct information, so I thought I would make a post with some slightly more accurate info. For anyone wishing to purchase or simply know what the top 5 most expensive earphones are in the world then, at the moment, these are them.
I only want to list earphones that are readily available and that are universal earphones, ie they can fit anyone. There are a few custom earphones that are available from a variety of brands that are very expensive but for the sake of this post I shall leave those out. I also wish to leave out the earphones that companies add 4 diamonds too and then charge 10 times more for the earphones due to the addition of them.
5. Audeze LCD i4 Earphones – £2399 (28th June 2019)
The absolutely outstanding Audeze LCD i4 earphones are Audeze’ flagship earphones and use their unique fluxor technology with their massive planar diaphragm and Uniforce implementation.
For an earphone the i4 have an open back design which helps the soundstage to be as large and involving as a pair of high-end full sized headphones. Along with the i4 earphones you get their advanced CIPHER cable which can connect to an iPhone or iPad and using clever DSP technology, makes the sound even more impressive. Anyone wanting to delve into true high-end and doesn’t mind the open back design then the i4 is a true wonder.
4. 64Audio tia Fourte – £3100 (28th June 2019)
64 Audio are well known within the industry for creating incredible sounding earphones using advanced technology to get the best from the components that sit inside each shell in your ear.
The tia Fourte is no exception as it houses a multitude of balanced armature drivers to transmit the music to your ears and combines tia technology alongside APEX or Air Pressure Exchange tech. The benefit of apex is that it decreases the pressure inside your ear canal when the eartip seals the earphone in your ear. Over time this unnatural pressure acting on your ear drum can cause listening fatigue.
64 Audio have tried to negate this effect with the use of APEX. Thier tia implementation features a tubeless design along with custom made tia drivers and tia chambers. All of which, when used together provide an incredibly resolving earphone that features an amazingly immersive experience.
3. oBravo Audio eamt1-c – £3699 (28th June 2019)
For Taiwanese boutique earphone manufacturer this is their top tier earphone using their first generation AMT or Air Motion Transformer driver. The patented technology used in their earphones is fast, super fast. It can generate up to 5 times more frequencies at any one time than most traditional technologies currently available in an earphone.
The eamt1-c has an aluminium chassis with a ceramic enclosure around the driver units. With ceramic being a relatively inert material it provides the drivers the ability to work as they should without having to counteract any vibrations from the enclosure. In tern this also means that the listener doesn’t hear as many frequencies that shouldn’t be there that have been added by the enclosure. Their eamt1 also contains one of the biggest dynamic drivers to fit into an earphone at a colossal 13mm. This provides incredible bass and amazing detail with it being paired with their outstanding AMT technology.
2. Vision Ears ERLKoNIG – £4199 (28th June 2019)
Vision Ears are a German brand specialising in the design and manufacture of high-end earphones. The ERLKoNIG is their flagship universal in-ear monitor made of solid silver and is a beautiful piece of jewellery. Arriving in a stunningly luxurious presentation box and amazing silver cable, the ERLKoNIG makes for the perfect gift for yourself or your loved one.
Being the flagship of the family, Vision Ears have managed to carefully orchestrate the usage of 13 balanced armature drivers into each earphone. With 4 being used for the bass, 4 being used for the mid-range / vocals and 4 for all the high velocity treble this earphone can provide supreme levels of detail that are unobtainable from most earphones currently available. For even further detail and resolution Vision Ears added a final driver/speaker to act as a super tweeter that deals with frequencies going further than the human ear can even hear, but yet we can surely still feel.
The ERLKoNIG features immense craftsmanship and the silver faceplates hide a unique customisation option. With the turn of a key the earphone can alter its sonic signature entirely and be perfected to each users preference. It can even be altered and adjusted to suit specific genres of music. With each adjustment changing the amount of bass, midrange or treble that is being resolved, the 4 options offer an excellent way to tune the earphone to the wearers liking.
1. oBravo Audio Ra C-Cu – £8999 (28th June 2019)
oBravo’s Flagship earphone features their second generation AMT technology and the Ra series is the only in their lineup that uses it. Much like their eamt range of earphones, the AMT or Air Motion Transformer technology sees an incredible step up in detail retrieval over conventional technology seen in many other earphones. What sets the Ra C-Cu apart from others is its beautiful, hand-made copper chassis that has been PVD coated to help protect the soft copper.
By using copper in the chassis of the earphone it dramatically changes the sound of the earphone. It has it’s own resonant frequency that adds extra warmth to the sound and increases the bass resolution and texture.
Alongside the copper chassis, ceramic has been used to enclose the drive units in order to try and retain the detail and accuracy of the drive units and the signature added by the crafted copper.
The Ra range of earphones incorporates oBravo’s proprietary AMT driver in-front of an enormous 16mm neodymium dynamic driver in a coaxial design. The 16mm dynamic is one of the biggest drivers to be used inside an earphone and the Ra really is the only earphone that competes on levels of bass, grandeur, speed and detail similar to high-end, full sized headphones.
Much like the Vision Ears ERLKoNIG the Ra is delivered with a gorgeous, high gloss presentation case and it also has an acacia wood travel case that is small enough to pocket and keep your precious earphones protected.