Austrian Audio’s new flagship headphones and amplifier could make the perfect desktop hi-fi system

Austrian Audio Composer and Full Score One
(Image credit: Austrian Audio)

Two exciting announcements from Austrian Audio today, as the Vienna-based company reveals The Composer premium reference headphones alongside its debut headphone amp, the Full Score One.

We’ve reviewed Austrian Audio headphones previously, however, they were all under the £300 mark, such as the five-star Hi-X65 and Hi-X15 headphones, but The Composer headphones are a new premium step up.

With a price tag of £2,249 / $2,699 / €2,499, The Composer reference headphones are significantly more expensive.

The Composer over-ear headphones feature a 4.9cm high-excursion driver, an open-back design, and include detachable cables to suit a number of different connections. This includes 3.5mm TRS, XLR, and 4.4 Pentaconn style connectors.

At 22 ohms, these headphones should be right at home hooked up to most devices. However, if you do need more juice, Austrian Audio’s Full Score One could step in to get the job done. 

The Full Score One headphone amp is set to cost £1299 / $1499 / €1499. Austrian Audio says that it was designed to be just as suitable for use at home as well as in high-end production settings. 

This amp can handle both low-impedance headphones down to 10 ohms as well as high-impedance models over 300 ohms, with the specs quoting 600 ohms as a top figure. This should make it a compatible choice of amp for just about most pairs of cans you’re likely to come across.

The Full Score One features two XLR and two RCA inputs, as well as two 6.35mm jack outputs and an XLR output. Digital inputs are absent from the amp. 

Both new models are available from December 2023.

We’re very interested in seeing what Austrian Audio’s new high-end offerings are capable of once we’ve had a chance to test them in our listening rooms. 

MORE:

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Staff Writer

Ainsley Walker is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi?. He studied music journalism at university before working in a variety of roles including as a freelance journalist and teacher. Growing up in a family of hi-fi enthusiasts, this naturally influenced his interest in the topic. Outside of work, Ainsley can be found producing music, tinkering with retro tech, or cheering on Luton Town.