Linsoul sent over the HarmonicDyne Athena alongside the ThieAudio Ghost. I had unboxed both headphones on the same day and it was obvious right away that the Athena was better built and certainly came off more premium. I did not know what the prices were for these products until after a few days of listening and let's just say there's a good reason the Athena got a full review and the Ghost just a quick look. The Athena is a significantly better set almost every which way and I would totally pay the extra over the cost of the Ghost to purchase this instead. The Athena is more detailed, works nicely for general media consumption, and is its own nice design too.

The problem for HamonicDyne is the headphones market does not just have two occupants. The $180 price range may not be a lot in the grand scheme of things when you consider there are headphones which cost $18,000 by themselves and yet this is also the market that prioritizes tonality first and technical performance of the drivers later. Here I do find the Athena lacking by providing recessed upper mids which not only make female vocals and some instruments sound hollow but end up tilting the lower treble brighter to make this sound more V-shaped than the marketed balanced tonality I certainly did not get with this sample. The warmer lower mids can be divisive too, especially considering the gentle bass shelf results in extension over emphasis.

This is not to say the Athena isn't a failure. I mentioned before how there are specific music genres that play well here, and the overall comfort and build quality make it a nice all-rounder for use with your PC given it does not require an expensive source either. This is where I see the potential customer base for the HarmonicDyne Athena as opposed to those who are looking for a more detailed or analytical set. The Athena is resolving enough to have a good time watching movies or listening to podcasts too and it does take EQ better than many others in this price range. You continue to get a nice stock cable as expected from HarmonicDyne, and the lack of a hard case in favor of a soft storage bag means the company also likely assumes this isn't going to travel much. It's not a set for everyone by any means but there's enough here to interest people reading this review—especially with the rarely seen semi-closed design making it suitable for office use just as much as at home.