Audeze originally developed this new technology working with Prof. Mark S. Cohen Ph.D., UCLA School of Medicine and his team, for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Typical ferrous metals could not be used, so we had to develop a new material, and that led us to patent a special thin film with suspended carbon nanotubes. This solves the problems associated with lamination and deposition on the film.

Electrostatic headphones have a reputation for less than stellar bass response. The Audeze solution to this well-known issue involves several angles. Our carbon nanotube diaphragm allows us to achieve high efficiency by holding more charge and preventing charge migration. This allows us to reduce diaphragm tension and increase the space between the stator and diaphragm, which provides for higher excursion and lower resonant frequency without the risk of the diaphragm coming into contact with the stator. This low resonant frequency, combined with a large diaphragm surface area, acoustically transparent damping material, and custom designed earpads provide extremely well-extended bass response down to 20Hz. In designing the CRBN driver, we chose an optimal diaphragm and stator size large enough to provide excellent bass and imaging without compromising on treble. Our stators are made using a proprietary PCB manufacturing technique that allows us to achieve high rigidity, uniform thickness and consistent flatness, which is important for equal force distribution and linear response.

CRBN is compatible with “Stax Pro Bias” 580 Volt amplifiers such those from Woo Audio, Linear Tube Audio, Mjolnir Audio, Headamp, Stax (of course) and others. The cable is terminated with the industry standard 5-pin barrel connector for maximum compatibility.