ADAM Audio's First Open-Back Headphone Is Its New Flagship: the $699.99 H715 Reference

ADAM Audio has announced the H715 Reference, the Berlin company's first open-back headphone and its new flagship. It carries an official US price of $699.99, with UK and European listings of £569.99 (about $760) and €669.99 (about $750), and global availability is expected in December 2026. No exact ship date has been given.

The headphone was shown to the pro-audio press at Amsterdam Dance Event during the week of 22 October 2026, with Sonicstate carrying ADAM's own release text on 23 October. Hi-fi outlets StereoNET and ecoustics followed on 27 October. Sonicstate describes the $699.99 figure as a MAP price; ecoustics notes that US retailer Guitar Center has listed it for pre-order at the same number.

A monitor brand reaching into the listening room

ADAM Audio was founded in 1999 and is best known for studio monitors built around its Air Motion Transformer tweeters, the X-ART family. The company has been part of the Focusrite Group since 2019, according to ecoustics. Its headphone line to date has been short: the closed-back H200 arrived in 2024 with a 40mm driver and a 32-ohm impedance, and ecoustics lists that model at $179.99. The H715 Reference sits well above it in both price and intent — open-backed, considerably higher in impedance, and explicitly designed to work on a hi-fi headphone amplifier as well as a console or interface.

What the Hi-Fi mode switch actually does

The most interesting feature on the H715 is also the one most easily misread. A switch on the headphone separates the common ground between the two channels, so the headphone can be driven balanced from a hi-fi amplifier's balanced headphone output using the supplied 3-metre cable terminated in a 4.4mm Pentaconn plug. Flipped back, the headphone returns to a shared ground and runs single-ended for studio use.

As StereoNET puts it plainly, this is an electrical configuration change rather than a separate sound-tuning preset. Nothing in the frequency response is being switched in or out; the wiring topology at the headphone end is. The notes from all three outlets stop there, and so do we — nobody has reviewed the H715 yet, so there is no published listening assessment of what, if anything, the balanced connection does to the result.

ADAM has not published a list of compatible amplifiers, and the sources do not identify one.

The drivers and the numbers ADAM quotes

All of the following are manufacturer claims. StereoNET did not measure the headphone, and no independent measurements have been published.

• Drivers: 40mm custom units with titanium-plated PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) diaphragms, neodymium magnets and a tuned suspension, mounted in a woven steel mesh structure
• Impedance: 150 ohms
• Frequency response: 9Hz–40kHz (−3dB)
• Maximum SPL: 113dB
• THD: below 0.05% at 1kHz / 100dB SPL
• Sensitivity: 102dB SPL at 1Vrms (94dB SPL/1mW), per ecoustics
• Weight: 0.3kg without cable (StereoNET gives about 300g)

The 150-ohm figure is the detail worth noting next to the H200's 32 ohms: it is a markedly different load, and it is the kind of specification that tends to follow a product aimed at dedicated headphone amplification rather than a laptop socket.

Build, pads and cables

Two cables are supplied: a 1.3-metre coiled studio lead and the 3-metre balanced cable with the 4.4mm Pentaconn termination. Both are detachable. The earcups rotate, the headband is spring steel with memory foam and a central cutout, and the headphone folds flat into a supplied hardshell case.

Earpads attach magnetically and come in soft-cloth and artificial-leather versions, and they are replaceable. ecoustics adds two further serviceability points: the drivers themselves can be replaced by an authorised technician, and the headphone carries a two-year warranty. For a product pitched at studio use, where a headphone gets handled daily by more than one person, replaceable pads, cables and drivers are a practical part of the specification rather than a footnote.

Sonnox calibration and ListenHub

ADAM developed the H715 alongside Sonnox. The Sonnox Headphone Utility plug-in has gained H715-specific calibration profiles together with adjustable crossfeed, the technique that bleeds a measure of each channel into the other to soften the hard left–right separation headphones produce. Sonnox also offers ListenHub, a standalone macOS application that can host the plug-in so the processing applies system-wide on a Mac rather than only inside a DAW.

The sources do not state whether the Sonnox software is included with the headphone or sold separately, and none of them mention a Windows version of ListenHub, so neither should be assumed.

Where this leaves things

The H715 Reference is a studio-monitor manufacturer putting its flagship headphone deliberately in reach of two audiences at once — a coiled cable and single-ended wiring for the control room, a balanced 4.4mm cable and a ground-separation switch for the hi-fi rack. Whether that dual framing amounts to more than cabling is a question for reviewers once units reach them. For now, what exists is an announcement, a price, a December window and a set of manufacturer figures.

Dollar figures converted from the official UK and European prices at the ECB reference rate on 26 October 2026; $699.99 is ADAM Audio's announced US price.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the ADAM Audio H715 Reference cost and when does it ship?

The ADAM Audio H715 Reference has an announced US price of $699.99, with UK and European prices converting to roughly $760 and $750 respectively. ADAM Audio expects global availability in December 2026, though no exact ship date has been given. US retailer Guitar Center has listed the headphone for pre-order at $699.99.

What does the Hi-Fi mode switch on the ADAM Audio H715 Reference do?

A switch on the ADAM Audio H715 Reference separates the common ground between channels, allowing the headphone to be driven balanced from a hi-fi amplifier's balanced output via the supplied 3-metre 4.4mm Pentaconn cable. StereoNET notes this is an electrical configuration change, not a separate sound-tuning preset.

What drivers and specifications does ADAM Audio quote for the H715 Reference?

ADAM Audio specifies 40mm custom drivers with titanium-plated PEN diaphragms, neodymium magnets and tuned suspension in a woven steel mesh structure, 150 ohms impedance, 9Hz–40kHz frequency response (−3dB), 113dB maximum SPL and THD below 0.05% at 1kHz/100dB. Weight is 0.3kg without cable. These are manufacturer claims; no independent measurements exist.

How does the ADAM Audio H715 Reference differ from the H200?

The ADAM Audio H715 Reference is open-back, where the 2024 H200 is closed-back. Both use 40mm drivers, but the H715 is rated at 150 ohms against the H200's 32 ohms. The H715 is ADAM's new flagship at $699.99; ecoustics lists the H200 at $179.99.

What Sonnox software works with the ADAM Audio H715 Reference?

The Sonnox Headphone Utility plug-in has gained calibration profiles specific to the ADAM Audio H715 Reference, alongside adjustable crossfeed. Sonnox ListenHub, a standalone macOS application, can host the plug-in for system-wide use on a Mac. Whether the software is included with the headphone has not been stated.

This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: StereoNET — ADAM Audio H715 Reference Brings Studio Sound to Hi-Fi, ecoustics — ADAM Audio H715 Reference: First Open-Back Headphones Take Aim at Studio Pros and Audiophiles, Sonicstate — ADAM Audio Releases Flagship Headphones.