Closer Examination

The Audeze CRBN is not only the company's first retail electrostatic headphones product but also their first new flagship released in years, having been announced a month before the co-flagship LCD-5 that everyone else was expecting. Indeed, there were even leaks of the LCD-5's design prior to its launch, but no one was ready for the CRBN and its unique design that heralded Audeze going seriously down the mass-savings road. Indeed, I felt I had to use the provided gloves to hold this since the CRBN looks and feels extremely premium in the hands, with the various materials executed quite well. It's predominantly black and is a mix of matte and glossy textures, with the oval ear cups being a standout feature here. The headband is composed of carbon fiber with a glossy clear coat that is easier to clean/buff out any scratches, when compared to the matte-finished headband on the LCD-5 which saves a tiny, tiny bit of mass. The carbon fiber is pre-shaped and with cutouts in the middle as seen above. Note that the carbon fiber headband can not be bent similar to a stainless steel one, should you be perhaps thinking about bending it to change the clamping force, since the material used is more likely to snap than actually bend.

Audeze is using a modified take on its more traditional dual-point yoke system here, with magnesium yoke rods that still go inward into the headband assembly from the C-shaped frame clips on the other side, but not as angled as on the likes of the LCD-X and LCD-XC we saw before. This mechanism has the advantage of more customization compared to the single outward-facing yoke mechanism in the LCD-5 and subsequently released MM-500, owing to two pivot points, but also means the increased number of parts results in more mass overall. It's clear here that the CRBN was not where Audeze was dedicating itself to trim all excess material as possible, yet I am happy with this specific design on the CRBN owing to a better comfort and fit/seal experience, while still taking advantage of the e-stat advantage of generally lighter drivers anyway. Adding to the comfort factor is the use of a hand-stitched premium leather suspension band with ventilation holes, to help minimize any hot spots developing on the top of your head over longer listening sessions. Audeze has plans for vegan leather versions of the CRBN, although it's been over an year since release, so this does not seem to be high on the priority list. The headband assembly and yoke rods meet up in the magnesium frame that has the truncated Audeze logo facing outward for branding. Note the yoke rods are designed similar to the LCD-5 whereby there are screw caps at the top, allowing you to easily remove the entire headband for swapping out either the drivers or the headband assembly in case of any repairs needed.


The channels are marked on the inside, and the actual headband continues into this plastic housing. A steel band is part of the headband assembly and used for sizing, with several cutouts in the steel the plastic ends slot into. Sizing options are plenty, to cater to heads small and large alike, but in general, I'd say most people would end up around 1-3 ticks from the bottom. There isn't much play here between the band and the housing to where you would also notice the paint being slowly scratched off from the extending notches as you move the headband up and down. It's not a smooth motion thus and one that you would want to set and forget.


The inner side has L/R markings to help indicate the left and right channels respectively. Note also the screws here, allowing further disassembly and separation of the carbon fiber headband and the leather suspension band, I appreciate that Audeze has made it simple for end users to extend the life of the CRBN with spare parts that are easily added in, rather than having to ship the entire product to the manufacturer for repairs/maintenance. On the side is a setscrew that keeps the yoke rods loose/tight in the frame in the same manner as we saw on the LCD-5, so I will simply point you to this page to see how this would work, lest you need to swap headbands out for any reason. I thought the tension on the yoke rods was perfectly fine out of the box and so I was able to immediately demonstrate the two end points of moving them up/down over the headband, to allow for vertical sizing thus accommodating customer's heads, small or large alike. The deeper notches cut into the rods provide for discrete, clicky steps which also make it easier to align both sides to the same step.


The CRBN's yoke and frame mechanism allow also for extensive horizontal swivel, given you can simply rotate the yoke rods in either direction. This allows for the ear cups to fold in flat for easier transportation in a flatter carry case, if someone feels enterprising enough. The two additional support points courtesy of the C-shaped magnesium frame add some inward and outward rotation for three-axis motion on top. All these degrees of freedom make the Audeze CRBN very amenable for a highly customizable and comfortable fit on your head. Now we can start to examine form, given the function is on point here, and this begins with the polished cellulose-based polymer acetate rings on the ear cups which on the CRBN are in a marbled graphite aesthetic to distinguish from the tortoise shell look on the LCD-5. I dare say this is a far cleaner implementation that looks predominantly black in your hands and gives you something to marvel at closer up. Indeed, adding to the eye-catching aesthetics is that unique Swarovski egg-style grill etched over the stators seen underneath to make the CRBN clearly open-back in principle. I have to say the CRBN is probably the best looking headphone I've ever seen in person and the finish achieved helps not just make this a garage queen either. More Audeze branding is seen here on the bottom of the ear cups facing outward.


The ear cups and pads meet up naturally in the absence of anything in between, owing to the gentle inward clamping from the headband/yoke assembly. Audeze is using hand-stitched premium leather ear pads specifically made for the CRBN, with vegan leather options hopefully in the works as previously discussed. There are no perforations on the ear pad surfaces akin to some hybrid designs growing in popularity for other headphones, and yet Audeze has always done its own thing, meaning the ear pads continue to be glued in place here. I am no longer surprised by this, but that doesn't mean I am wholly happy either at the company wanting to minimize sound leakage between the ear cups and pads which in turn could compromise the sound signature. The CRBN's pads are flush to the touch, having been filled with medium density foam, and are oval shaped to better follow the shape of the human ear. The opening is also large enough to fit ears inside, making this an over-ear set of headphones, there is also a protective screen on the inside to help prevent hair or other contaminants from entering the driver assembly.


Careful readers of my headphone reviews might have noticed a departure from the usual format on this page whereby I did not begin by talking about the headphone cable. This is because the Audeze CRBN, as with pretty much every other electrostatic headphone set, has attached cables, owing to the difficulty of getting a stable removable Pro bias connection here. We see the cable connectors come out the bottom of each ear cup slightly angled away from the user so that the cable wires don't just plop down on your body, and are instead directed towards a resting surface such as a desk that might be in front of you. Audeze has always impressed with its stock cables, and the CRBN is fairly good in the use of thick, durable black sleeving, going with high-purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) monocrystalline copper conductor underneath. The two channels meet up at the splitter that also has a truncated Audeze logo on it. The cable is long at 2.5 meters, allowing for easy connection to energizers/e-stat amps that might be placed further away from reach owing to either real estate concerns on your desk and/or need for ventilation/passive cooling for the amplifier itself. I found the extra length also handy to simply place the CRBN over my head and relax on a recliner chair, without worrying about a hot tube amplifier next to me. The cable terminates in a standard 5-pin STAX Pro bias barrel connector, composed of machined aluminium and gold-plated for oxidation resistation. It comes with a foam piece with shaped holes over the pins to help discharge any static build-up as well as to simply protect the pins when the CRBN is not in use.


Here's a look at the CRBN connected to my Headamp Blue Hawaii Special Edition which is a two-piece beast of an electrostatic amplifier with two STAX 580 V Pro bias outputs. This unit has polished silver panels, as well as the upgraded Alps RK50 step-less analog potentiometer that retails for $7995 in this configuration, before applicable taxes and shipping. Needless to say I'll talk more about this in a dedicated article down the line, but a quick look confirms it is a tube amplifier that operates in Class A mode to where that 2.5 m cable is appreciated for reasons mentioned above. The BHSE is also one of the few amplifiers recommended by Audeze for use with the CRBN as seen on this list. Also seen here is the CRBN next to the LCD-5 that is much smaller, and has a design with mass reduction as a priority. Note the matte headband and tortoise shell acetate rings, vs the glossy carbon fiber and marbled graphite acetate of the CRBN. The CRBN is more comfortable too, owing to the different headband/yoke assembly and the larger plush ear pads. It's more in line with the design of the extremely expensive flagship HIFIMAN Shangri-La (Sr.) that uses HIFIMAN's teardrop-shaped ear cups we saw before on the Arya, Edition XS, HE1000se, and Ananda but in an electrostatic driver implementation.