HED Unity Wireless Wi-Fi Full-Fidelity™ ANC Headphones Review

The HED Unity arrived in a textured, simple black carton. The theme from “2001 A Space Odyssey” began playing in my head as I looked at them on my dining table.

Opening the carton, I found a rather unusual-looking case. According to Unity, it is a “state-of-the-art, military-grade protection technology custom engineered by SKYDEX. The company’s proprietary, geometry-based matting shelters Unity from even the most extreme elements”.

Inside that formidable futuristic-looking zippered case is a simple layout of the headphones encircling a circular zippered soft-fiber case and an information packet.

The small, zippered case contained all the included accessories: a USB-C to Aux adaptor, and a USB-C to USB-A charging cable. I was impressed with the quick-start manual. Printed on accordion-folded card stock, it opened to a well-diagrammed, easy-to-read (yay! Finally, someone really gets it) set of instructions with the basics to get up and running. The headphones came mostly charged, so I put them on the charger to top them off.

I started out by listening to them wired, without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. At 24 ohms the impedance was low and easy to drive. I plugged the Unity into my AudioQuest Dragonfly Red DAC/amp dongle which was plugged into my iPhone through a Lightning to USB adaptor. They played loud and clear; they just loped along easily. I would not wear these while traveling, but they are clearly portable, and you wouldn’t have to be tethered to a headphone amp to enjoy music. Mostly I had them plugged into a Topping Dx7 Pro DAC/Amp. I used a 1/8th to ¼ adaptor to plug into the Topping.

The earcups are fixed in place. It would be nice if they swiveled, however, I’m guessing that they need to be fixed to house all the electronics. The sliding adjustment on the headband is an infinite-size slider. They are well-executed and should fit a broad range of head sizes. A good test of headphone fit is how they fit me. As a woman, my head is smaller, and some headphones just don’t notch down short enough and the bottoms of the earcups end up hanging below my ears. Here is a comment to headphone manufacturers. Women are a growing segment of the headphone market. Make sure you build a product that we can wear comfortably.

The look and feel of the Unity headphones are unique and sumptuous. They have heft and a solid feel that reminds me of what closing a Mercedes door sounds like. The outside of the earcups has a satin finish that conveys the fact that you are holding a luxury set of headphones. The earpads are a suede-like microfiber that covers cooling gel and memory foam layers. The outside of the headband has the same anodized finish and material as the earpads. The underside is lightly padded and covered with a velvety/satiny smooth material that was exquisite to the touch. I found myself wishing they had a bit more padding; they are firm in a no-nonsense Swiss way. They became a little warm against my head when listening for extended sessions. The Unity branding is only displayed on the headband in discreet raised metal lettering the same color as the headband. A touch of class.

The power button, which also is used to connect to Bluetooth, is on the left earcup and the mode and volume buttons are on the right earcup. I found it took a bit of practice to feel the subtle differences in the buttons for such actions as volume vs pause.

The clamping force was just right. Along with the firmly padded earpads, they created a seal that provided excellent passive noise-canceling. The oval earpads were roomy enough to give space to my ears so that I didn’t feel closed inside a chamber; something that can happen with some closed-back headphones.

The mode button activates the ANC feature. At this point, the ANC is basic on and off, which I liked. Some ANC headphones can have so many choices they get a bit fussy. HED Unity has a lot of features to be brought on board over time, including more ANC functions. Unique features that are custom programable since there is a Linux computer on board. Those many features will be announced as they are released. Having said that, the engineers made sure that these headphones came with what I consider some of the most important features including Wi-Fi. The ANC can be activated through both the mode button and through the Unity app, where the same screen also contains access to the EQ, Wi-Fi, and battery level.

When I first saw the battery capacity was 6-8 hours, I was a bit taken aback. I’m used to seeing ANC headphones with 50-plus hour capacity. However, there is a lot of computing power running in the background, and I’m guessing that the HED engineers wanted to keep the battery size manageable to keep the headphones as compact as they are. What I found, however, is that I never once ran the battery down to where it needed to be charged. Since these are not really headphones I would wear on a flight, I don’t think they need a huge amount of capacity. I can’t imagine listening for more than a couple of hours at best, so it was a non-issue. I like that HED Unity is taking its own path; clearly not trying to compete with the “Bose’s” of the Bluetooth ANC wireless headphones.

As I mentioned, the Unity headphones can be used as passive, wired headphones without being turned on. However, turning them on is a bit of a process. The initial start-up is really booting up a computer and it takes about a minute and a half to come on board. The app will ask to be paired to Bluetooth, which may or may not be connected already. After that, the Unity headphones finish logging on to the local Wi-Fi network that was previously set up. The final step takes the Wi-Fi to Hi-Res-24bits/96kHz. A box within the Qobuz music page will tell you whether the feature is on or off. All these steps are clearly outlined in the start-up guide; the version that is online at HED Unity is periodically updated, so I recommend the online start-up guide.

The Unity app, which can be found on both Apple iOS and Android app sites is well laid out. The first startup of the headphones requires a syncing of your mobile device through Bluetooth followed by connecting to your Wi-Fi network through the start-up page. The Unity will remember the settings.

Once everything is up and running, the Unity are playing through the Wi-Fi connection if the music service is part of Unity’s music streaming partners, like Qobuz. I was able to play Apple music through AAC Bluetooth or wired, which is how to listen to music streaming services that aren’t on board yet.

The Bluetooth connection sounds very good. I could easily listen to Apple Music, for example, and still be impressed with the audio quality. But wow, when I was listening to Qobuz with the Wi-Fi Hi-Res-24bit/96kHz Full-Fidelity connection, I was impressed. I kept A-B switching between wired and Wi-Fi and I don’t think I could hear a difference. Occasionally (but rarely) I encountered stuttering or break-up as the headphones seemed to lose then found the Wi-Fi again.

I’ve been playing a wide variety of music tracks to explore the range of these headphones. I’ve also given both wired and Wi-Fi equal listening. My music source was Qobuz, and I played each song at its highest resolution, which varies depending on the recording.

The Unity held each instrument clearly and accurately; perhaps reflecting Tim Degraye’s recording engineer background. These are great headphones for listening to live recordings. They present what can be a sometimes too-bright sound with a warm, slightly rounded timbre that made me feel like I was in the room without needing to cover my ears.

The HED Unity wireless, truly lossless, ANC Wi-Fi headphones hold a unique place in the world of headphones. Their price puts them in the category of high-end wired headphones, with a sound to match. Their elegant and solid design reflects their luxury appeal. The HED Unity has succeeded in showing me that wireless headphones can match the detail and fidelity of wired headphones.

In my opinion, the HED Unity headphones have taken a bold step by taking on the challenge of creating the first wireless, ANC Wi-Fi headphones. The technical challenges are daunting and the vision for the multi-purpose execution of an onboard computer is ambitious. These headphones are entering a crowded field. Their MSRP puts them in the $2K to $3K marketplace, which is the domain of wired high-end headphones, and well above most wireless ANC headphones. It is early in the HED Unity’s entry into the headphone market, and I can only evaluate them with the current slate of features, which don’t reflect all that these headphones are designed to do. They have proven one thing to me. Wireless can be as good as wired if transmitted by Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth. However, the complexity (at least in version 1 of the software) of execution to enjoy that Wi-Fi feature, takes a bit of practice to master. At this point, as luxurious, and refined as these beautiful worthy-of-a-place in the Museum of Modern Art headphones are, for me, I would rather have my quick-to-start-up and instantly sync Bluetooth wireless headphones or my high-end wired headphones for the simplicity and flexibility they provide. I look forward to seeing how these unique, one-of-a-kind headphones evolve. They have achieved something special, with a sound signature to match, and I look forward to hearing more from this new and very innovative company.