Conclusion

I didn’t really know what to expect from a small, first-time manufacturer and its product, but Verum 1 exceeded my expectations. Yes, some design details are not as refined as with mass-produced products, but there’s a real sense of quality and dedication to details here. Now add a class-leading sound fidelity that can in many aspects rival models that are twice the price and you’ll get what Verum 1 is all about.

You can’t buy Verum 1 in a local store, instead, they are shipped worldwide directly by the manufacturer. This means that depending on the country, you have to account for some additional costs of import taxes too. But even with those expenses included, I still struggle to find any real competition that’s not costing at least a couple of hundreds more. With that said, Verum 1 gets my highest recommendation.

OUR VERDICT

The Verum 1 is a bit of a steal at $300, heck even $349 is a great price for a well-balanced sounding planar headphone. Fan’s of the Audeze’s house sound will want to hear this. It is solid sounding, smoother than the Advanced Alpha, more body than the Hifiman Sundara and slightly brighter than the LCD-2C. Yes, it is a little lacking in micro-detail, not quite as involving and more speaker like in its presentation but at this price point it honestly still punches way above its fiscal pain point.

I look forward to seeing how the build and design evolves over the course of the campaign and beyond. The one I have here is what you would call “an engineering sample” so there are some refinements on the way such as the rubber dampeners, matte-black gimbals/headband as well as the stock cable which we do not have here.

I think a lot of the big boys are going to sit up and take notice of the Verum 1. It was not so long ago that a certain Dan Clark made his name with DIY Fostex drivers and look where he is now. Verum Audio is in a good place right now to dream of a similar path.