Audeze
Santa Ana, California, United States · founded 2008
Audeze is one of the defining names in modern planar magnetic headphones, prized in the audiophile and pro-audio worlds for reference-grade tuning and its in-house California-built drivers. Its 2023 acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment marks a rare crossover of a boutique high-end headphone maker into a major console platform.
Audeze is a US audio manufacturer founded in 2008 that designs and builds high-end planar magnetic (and electrostatic) headphones, with its drivers manufactured in-house in California. The company originated in a Southern California garage after the founders met an ex-NASA engineer developing an ultra-thin flexible circuit material they adapted into headphone diaphragms. Audeze serves three markets — professional audio, audiophile, and gaming — and was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment (announced August 24, 2023), which said Audeze would continue to operate independently and develop multi-platform products within the PlayStation ecosystem.
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At a glance
- Type
- Manufacturer
- Founder
- Sankar Thiagasamudram and Alexander Rosson
- Founded
- 2008
- Headquarters
- Santa Ana, California, United States
- Price range
- Budget → flagship
- Makes / sells
- over-ear headphones, gaming headsets, in-ear monitors, electrostatic headphones, headphone amps/DACs
- Known for
- planar magnetic drivers, electrostatic drivers, in-house driver manufacturing, flexible-circuit (Fluxor/Fazor) diaphragm technology, wireless gaming audio
- Website
- www.audeze.com
Notable products
- LCD-5 — Flagship open-back planar magnetic audiophile headphone
- Maxwell (and Maxwell 2) — Wireless planar magnetic gaming headset with 90mm drivers; widely praised as best-in-class sound for the price
- LCD-X — Professional/studio open-back planar magnetic headphone used by mixing and mastering engineers
- CRBN / CRBN2 — Electrostatic headphone, originally developed with medical/MRI-compatible applications in mind
- LCD-GX — Boom-mic-equipped audiophile gaming headphone derived from the LCD line
Sources: Audeze — About Us (official) · Sony Interactive Entertainment — press release: SIE to Acquire Audeze (Aug 24, 2023) · TechCrunch — Sony is buying gaming headphone maker Audeze · audioXpress — SIE to Acquire Audeze · The Master Switch — Alex Rosson interview (Audeze co-founder) · Worldwide Stereo — Audeze Headphones: A High-Tech History · SoundGuys — Audeze Maxwell review