HEDD Audio’s Type 05 A-Core monitors are practically perfect

HEDD Audio Type 05 A-Core, photo by Felix Zimmermann

€599 each, hedd.audio

Berlin-based manufacturer HEDD Audio stands out from the competition with its innovative and accurate audio products. Now, it’s bringing two new active monitors to its portfolio, which promise unparalleled quality in their price range. The larger of the two, the Type 07 A-Core, features a seven-inch mid/bass driver, while the smaller Type 05 we have here comes with, you guessed it, a five-inch unit.

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The Type 05 A-Core has a small footprint ideal for home producers and creators with limited space, but would be equally at home sitting atop a console, for near-field monitoring in a professional studio.

Although these are new products, they are essentially analogue-only versions of the company’s coveted DSP-enhanced MK2 monitors. For those who aren’t interested in the digital capabilities of the MK2, you get all the benefits of the MK2’s sound without the added expense of the DSP system. As such, the new A-Core series offers a more affordable entry into the prestige HEDD line-up. Like all the brand’s products, these new monitors are designed and hand-assembled in Germany.

The hand-built AMT is an electrodynamic transducer that works on the principle of a folded Kapton diaphragm, with the multiple folds offering an effective driving area over three times higher than moving coil drivers and planar-magnetic and electrostatic types. As well as providing a superb transient response, the larger area avoids high excursion, with vanishingly low distortion, especially at the lower end of its operating frequencies. As it is, the AMT crosses over from the mid/bass driver at 2.5 kHz and extends all the way up to 50 kHz.

HEDD Audio Type 05 A-Core monitor, photo by Felix Zimmermann

Having such a quick tweeter is all very well but, unless the woofer can keep up with the pace, the sound can become disjointed. Thankfully, Type 05 A-Core’s mid/bass unit is made from a stiff yet lightweight honeycomb compound material, which pairs extremely well with the tweeter in terms of both speed and timbre. It digs pretty deep for such a small driver, reaching down to 43 Hz, so it can reproduce the lowest notes of a bass guitar, for example. The low-end is supported by two front-firing ports and if you monitor at high SPLs, you can feel a gust of air from them, so you know they are working hard to reinforce the bass produced by the little five-inch mid/bass driver.

Each driver is powered by a dedicated 100-watt Class D-ICE amplifier, enabling a maximum SPL of 112 dB, ample for any real-world monitoring situation.

Without the fine sonic tuning available from the DSP-equipped MK2, Type 05 A-Core features simple bass and treble controls for those who find them useful. They are located on the rear panel, either side of the larger volume control, so it’s easy to make level and tone adjustments if you are unable to see the knobs you wish to turn. Also on the rear panel are input sockets for unbalanced RCA connectors as well as balanced XLR and TRS cables. The IEC mains power socket and switch are located here also, however, a physical standby switch appears on the front panel for convenience.

Back panel of the Type 05 A-Core monitor, photo by press

Tonally, the monitors are beautifully coherent from top to bottom, with no emphasis on any part of the audio spectrum. Low-end response from the five-inch driver is quite remarkable, sounding far deeper than you might expect. Bass quality is superb too; aside from digging deep, the bottom end is delivered with great agility, keeping things tuneful and making bass lines easy to follow.

Upper bass and low-mids are super clean, without a hint of muddle or muddiness, and integration into the broad midrange is seamless. There are no audible peaks or troughs in the crossover region as the mid/bass driver mates with the AMT tweeter, so you don’t get the impression of two speakers coming out of one box with a mismatch in timbre or timing.

In terms of treble accuracy, HEDD’s AMT unit is up there with the best ribbon and electrostatic designs, sounding crisp yet sweet with no rough edges or sharpness. Cymbals, percussion and other sounds with plenty of high-frequency content are reproduced naturally and realistically, with none of the clangorous hardness of inferior designs.

The Type 05 A-Core, photo by Felix Zimmermann

The way that these monitors express atmospherics is extremely impressive, giving mixes a hear-through quality. This makes creating ambient cues, such as reverb and delay effects, intuitive.

Set up with the right amount of toe-in, the Type 05 A-Cores are able to deliver an almost 3D holographic image with a real walk-around quality.

While they are capable of great delicacy, sounding enchantingly ethereal with the right material, they also pack a powerful punch when monitoring more aggressive rock or electronica. It’s only when dealing with tracks that rely on a foundation of sub-bass that you might crave a larger monitor or a system comprising a subwoofer. While there’s more low-end weight and extension than you might expect from monitors of this size, you can’t, however, defy the laws of physics.

A pair of Type 05 A-Core monitors, photo by Felix Zimmermann

I am extremely impressed with HEDD’s new and most affordable monitor. Individual sound sources are reproduced faithfully, and constructing complex mixes is made easier by both their top-to-bottom coherence and their deep, immersive sound staging. They don’t flatter recordings to the degree that mixes then sound flat and lifeless through domestic equipment, yet they aren’t as ruthless as, say, Yamaha NS10s, which become tiresome during lengthy mixing sessions. You can work with the Type 05 A-Cores all day and exclusively, not just to check mixes created with larger monitoring systems.

HEDD’s MK2 range is rightly regarded as class-leading monitoring with all the brilliant onboard DSP technology and, more crucially, superb sound. So if you require simple, accurate analogue monitoring, without the need for added digi-tech, be sure to lend an ear to the Type 05 A-Core. It’s a fabulous near-field monitor that, for most bedroom producers and small studio set-ups, could be everything you need.