HarmonicDyne has been one of our favorite brands for over-ear headphones since the original Zeus we reviewed back in 2021. The company is back with its successor, the Zeus Elite, and it’s quite an improvement. With supreme comfort, grown-up style, and a detailed, spacious listening experience, these are great headphones for music and gaming alike.
We would like to thank Linsoul for providing the sample for this review.
Specifications
- Current Price: (Linsoul)
- Acoustic Architecture: Open Back
- Drivers: ?50mm Dynamic
- THD: 0.25%@1KHz 100dB SPL
- Sensitivity: 105dB/Vrms@1KHz
- Impedance: 32Ω@1KHz
- Frequency Response: 10-70KHz (Free Field)
- Ear Cup: Zebra Wood
- Ear-pads: Suede Fabric+Leather
- Cable Details: 4.4mm Balanced Cable; XLR-4pin Balanced Cable
- Dimensions: 210x175x105 (mm)
- Weight: Approx. 360g
HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite - First Impressions and Key Features
The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is the successor to the original Zeus, a dynamic driver headphone release over two years ago. It was one of the best headphones we reviewed that year and many other listeners agreed. The Elite version takes everything that worked with the original and adds to it, making it, yet again, a fantastic addition to its price range.
Like the original, the Zeus Elite is a dynamic driver pair of headphones but utilizes two brand new drivers with upgraded designs. While the original used beryllium plated drivers, the Elite utilizes a layered composite it describes like this:
The Zeus Elite has been upgraded with a new 50mm long-stroke layered diaphragm. The diaphragm is composed of two layers of inert composite film sheets that are held together by a layer of acoustic adhesive in between to stabilize the membrane.
This sandwich design ensures more uniform vibrations across the membrane and reduced distortions that can result from segmented reverberations. This linear performance enhances the clarity and definition in the sound, while allowing greater dynamic range.
Composite diaphragms are relatively new to me, at least with such a “sandwich” design as described here, so I can’t speak to the merits of the design itself, beyond to say that they hold true to my ear.
Just as importantly, Harmonicdyne is using a biological membrane, which is something I’m familiar with and can hear the benefits of clearly here. Biological membranes are known for their excellent responsiveness, leading to enhanced clarity, texture, and detail when tuned properly. The diaphragm is backed by a Japenese Daichi CCAW voice coil and increased magnetic force to really move air with that driver.
What has been clear throughout HarmonicDyne’s history, and is evident elsewhere in the Zeus Elite’s design, is that the company values innovation and risk-taking. The easiest thing to do with a successful pair of headphones would have been to keep the design the same and making cosmetic and minor tuning changes. Here, we have a new driver design that pays dividends in their acoustic performance.
The exterior of the headphones has also been upgraded. It still uses a mix of wood, plastic, and metal parts in its frame, but the lighter Walnut housing has been swapped with a deeper, darker Zebra wood. The light-hued metal of the original has been made dark, really lending these headphones a classy look that’s very appealing.
HarmonicDyne’s grilles have always been a high point, featuring intricately cut designs, and that holds true here. Instead of the spokes and triangles of the original, the Elite’s use an almost fractal design that’s reminiscent of shattered earth. The cups use open backs, so just beneath that is a fine mesh grille that gives their appearance a bit of depth. It’s gorgeous.
The Elite comes with velvety suede ear cushions that slide onto the earcups with fabric rings. They’re pillowy and extremely comfortable. The inner rings of the pads are fenestrated leather for improved bass response while still being breathable.
The other major upgrade comes with the cable. If there was one drawback on the original Zeus, it was that the cable didn’t match the headphones very well. It was perfectly functional and worked well, but it was a bit stiff, used two different materials that changed at the y-split, and generally left room for improvement. Well, improved it did.
The Elite comes with two separate, custom balanced cables. They’re both made of silver-plated copper and use four strands woven in a soft rope. Each strange is made of 182 wires. Each of these four strands is roughly the size of the average single-cable you’ll receive with mainstream headphones available at your local department store. One of the cables terminates in a 4.4mm balanced Pentaconn connection while the other ends in an XLR plug. If you only have single-ended hardware, you’ll need to purchase an adapter, such as this one from Geekria.
And, of course, it comes with an exceptional travel case. It’s a metal box with a tempered glass window for safe storage, travel, and display. We’ve come to expect excellent cases from HarmonicDyne, and this is no exception.
Taken as a whole, it’s a similar yet improved package that only gets better when you actually listen to them.
HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite - Listening Impressions
The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite are excellent headphones, full stop. At $379, they’re not cheap, but they’re some of the very best cans you can find at this price. They top the original Zeus in almost every way, are better for gaming, and are so comfortable, you won’t want to take them off. This is effusive. It’s also true.
One of the biggest improvements we have this time around comes with bass performance. HarmonicDyne dropped the bass roll-off of the original, so the lows reach deep and have genuine rumble. There’s still plenty of impact here while not being bloated. Hip-hop sound good, but they stop short of being full-on bass-head headphones. They’re more balanced tonally and that works to their benefit, striking a great middle ground.
What’s even more impressive is that it delivers this bass performance using an open-back design. It’s downright uncommon at this price to see this kind of bass on an open-back pair of earphones. The usual trade-off of “bass or soundstage” does not apply and really sets these headphones apart for music and, in particular, gaming.
The mids are very good and have a bit to them that I enjoy. There’s an edge to vocals that push them forward. Instruments like pianos and guitars come right through, which is a perfect tuning for rock and pop. Some vocals can come across a little sharp, like Adele on Set Fire to the Rain, which can be solved by lowering the volume a touch.
Treble, on the other hand, is rarely ever sharp. There’s a smoothness here that improves upon the original in a meaningful way, making them easier to listen to over many hours. Even so, there’s a good amount of sparkle here, so you hear all of harmonics in drums and atmospherics, like breaking glass and environmental sounds, that make them sound realistic and immersive.
The soundstage on the HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is fantastic. The original was no slouch but the Elite takes it up a notch adding more width and height to what you’re listening to. It’s very dependent on the track, but there were times when I genuinely felt like sounds were coming from inside my house when they were actually in my song or game. I opened my office door because I mistook a cue in a song for one of my kids knocking on the door. That’s how you can tell a truly wide soundstage — you mix up real life for the game!
The technical performance in general is very good with these headphones. The layers of sound are distinct and discernible. Imaging is very good, with solid positionality. Picking up on where sounds are coming from in games and music is easy, even without the help of Dolby Atmos. Detail retrieval still lags behind planars around this range but not by as much as you would think. It’s a performer in the dynamic driver segment and offers a smoother sound than something like the Sundara around this price or the Edition XS which is $120 more.
As you might imagine, that makes these headphones fantastic for gaming. The tuning is outstanding for an immersive gameplay experience. The bass is cinematic and engaging without getting in the way of competitive audio cues. The slightly edgy mids draw out footsteps and important audio cues, really making them great for identifying enemy positions by audio alone. And the smooth treble and ultra-comfortable fit mean you can wear these for hours. You don’t need Dolby Atmos with these but it plays nice with it should you want that 360-degree audio sphere.
Overall Impressions and Final Thoughts
Overall, the HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is really something special. It doesn’t come cheap, but if you invest in it, you’ll be doing yourself a favor for the foreseeable future. This is the kind of all-arounder headphone we don’t see very often. And while I recommend a lot of headphones for different purposes, this is one of the special ones for the blend of gaming, music, and movies that also doesn’t skimp on a wide-open soundstage, great looks, and comfort. There are few compromises here and it’s truly one of HarmonicDyne’s best.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Articles may include affiliate links from which we may earn a small commission to help support the site. Authors do not earn affiliate revenue or commissions.
