A comfortable, easy-to-drive open-back (28 Ω, 112 dB at 1 Vrms) with a sturdier all-metal headband, a wide, well-placed stage and noticeably fuller bass than the original AR5000. Five measurement rigs agree on the shape: more sub-bass than an HD 600, a clear dip at 1–2.5 kHz, a broad 2.5–5 kHz lift and more top-octave energy than the original. Build, comfort, imaging and staging draw the most agreement; bass, mids, dynamics and value are well liked with a few reservations, and a minority hear only middling fine detail. The treble is the split: a majority hear it as airy, detailed and still fatigue-free, while a substantial minority — including several who own or measured it — find it too bright out of the box and reach for EQ, a pad swap or a thin cloth over the driver. The same divide runs through the overall tuning, which some call warm-neutral and others a V-shape. Seating matters: moving the cups forward takes several dB out of the treble.
About this product
The AR5000 MK2 (spring 2026), not the original 2023 AR5000. It looks almost identical but swaps the plastic piece joining yoke and headband for metal, ships a cable with interchangeable 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm plugs (reviewers also received a 6.35 mm one), and is retuned: more bass, a deeper dip in the upper mids and more upper treble. Reviewers who heard both call it a different-sounding headphone, so reviews of the original don't describe this one.
The AR5000 MK2 is Aune's 2026 rework of the AR5000, the open-back that made the Chinese DAC and amplifier maker a headphone name in 2023. It keeps the 50 mm dynamic driver tilted steeply toward the ear, the suspension strap and the round cups, and adds an all-metal headband assembly — a direct answer to the cracked yokes that dogged the original — plus a cable with swappable plugs.
The bigger change is the sound. Aune removed the damping over the driver and re-voiced it with fuller bass and more upper treble, at $339 against the original's $299. Reviewers broadly agree it is better built, very comfortable and unusually spacious. Whether the new voicing is an upgrade is where opinion divides.
