Music makes us feel. But how often do we think about the way we listen makes us feel?
IRIS Flow isn’t just another pair of headphones. IRIS Flow is a demonstration of the company’s core principle; Listen well. Drawing on the experience of music industry professionals and cutting edge audio research, IRIS is building an audio platform designed to help people get more out of their audio. But IRIS is not just talking about making “good” – or even “the best” headphones. They are creating licensable software that could eventually change the way we all listen to audio when using speakers and headphones from any brand.
What counts as “good” quality audio is very subjective, it can depend entirely on the type of music you listen to. It can also be heavily influenced by your own auditory system and how it interprets and processes sound. For many years, consumer audio products have manipulated the masses to believe that heavy bass equalled “good” quality. And it’s easy to see why. We can all feel heavy bass and it can mask the limited frequency response of audio gear.
But for the more sensitive among us, when it comes to audible nuisance, other qualities take prominence. Other qualities such as; Separation and Dynamic Range are seen as better indicators of audio quality among audiophiles and professionals, while poorly balanced bass often drowns out the creator’s intent when listening to music and watching videos.
IRIS Audio wants to take things a step further. They’ve been working with research centres around the world, including Goldsmith’s in the UK and Mount Sinai in New York, to study the effects of sound on the brain and by extension – human wellbeing. IRIS acknowledges the explosion in video content in recent years, but asserts that audio has been overlooked. Our brains process auditory information 20-100x faster than any other sense, so why is it so often an afterthought when consuming content?
IRIS Flow serves as a shop window to its patented software approach to audio, so how did they perform?
IRIS Flow – Design
Let’s start with the packaging. The recyclable box they arrive in is it. There’s minimal branding, no single use plastics, no additional packaging. Inside is a hard moulded fabric carry case, which houses the IRIS Flow headphones. It also has a neat zip pocket containing a 130cm 3.5 to 3.5mm stereo cable, USB-C to USB-C data cable, 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
As for the IRIS Flow set themselves, soft, magnetically removable cups sit snug around average-sized ears. The opening measures approximately 2.4in long and 1.6in wide. Rather than deploying popular active noise cancelling (ANC), IRIS flow opts for a more organic approach to reduce ambient sound impacting the listening experience. IRIS Flow’s ear cups are made from sound-isolating foam, wrapped in soft synthetic leather.
They use lightweight, but tough 40mm beryllium drivers, which carry the sound to the ears via an intelligently designed acoustic chamber. This combination of design and materials produce the pleasurable isolating effect of active noise cancellation, without pumping white noise into the brain. ANC, while immersive, can be irritating and may cause some people to feel nauseous and dizzy.
The headband of the IRIS Flow headphones are joined by a rigid band, which is also well padded and offers some flex when twisted. The Iris Flow’s aluminium arms can be extended independently and each also rotates inwards allowing the ear cups to lay flat for storage and protection when worn around the neck. IRIS Flow is available in three colours, White, Black and Blue/Red. We had the Black pair, which also features a subtle copper coloured metal between the band and the arm of the cups.
Looking closer there are some other nice details to be found, inside the ear cup is a mathematically produced dot pattern, representing the perfect distribution of audio frequencies. And a subtle glowing white light appears under the smooth touch plastic of the ear cups to signal that IRIS audio – “Flow State” as they call it – is engaged. There are a couple of controls on the back side of the right cup, giving access to volume up/down, which doubles as skip forward/back when long pressed, pause/play and a switch to turn IRIS Flow on and to put it into bluetooth pairing mode. They also have a 3.5mm stereo input as this pair can be used with a wired connection without additional power.
IRIS Flow – Sound
To make sure I hadn’t just swallowed the Kool-aid, I decided to really live with the IRIS Flow headphones before making up my mind. I’ve used them for everything; music listening, gaming, recording podcast conversations, monitoring audio while filming and editing video, as well as web and phone calls.
The first thing that struck me when I began testing the IRIS Flow headphones is that I was hearing elements in familiar songs that I hadn’t noticed before. Subtle background instrumentation and vocal harmonies and adlibs aren’t drowned out or dampened. The IRIS Flow’s allow a broad range of frequencies to be represented with clarity and rich body. Crucially, this happens in ways that you may not have experienced before.
IRIS’ algorithm processes audio in real time, unpacking the signal and arranging each frequency to produce the most “natural” listening experience. By “Natural” they mean as we hear without headphones or in-ears. Our ears don’t hear everything the same way, or at the same time, they work together to interpret the sound source – giving a greater sense of directionality and intensity. IRIS Flow attempts to replicate that experience. In my time with them, I’ve felt that IRIS shines best when it comes to nuanced audio, especially with live instruments. It would be an oversimplification to say that things just sound better with IRIS. A more accurate description would be to say things sound truer with IRIS.
I imagine that some people may prefer certain types of music more on less optimal headphones, EDM fans spring to mind. IRIS Flow doesn’t overwhelm when it comes to typically thumping electronic music, IRIS Flow produces an almost “too organic” experience to embody dirty bass. This may also be partly down to the hit and miss nature of mixing quality when it comes to electronic music. You can polish a bad mix, but it will only be exposed by quality headphones and speakers. But saying that, I still found listening to most electronic music enjoyable with these. Even though it made for an unfamiliar listening experience with that type of music.
IRIS Flow – Verdict
The thing I rate the IRIS Flow headphones for most is their versatility. Despite intentionally omitting features that are commonplace in this category, such as EQ adjustments and customisation via an app and ANC. Ditching the parlour tricks and concentrating on delivering an organic frequency performance regardless of the sound source, with impressive (almost three day) battery performance makes IRIS Flow a pair of headphones that can handle it all comprehensively. Work, chill or play, at home or on the go IRIS Flow is possibly the best headphones I’ve tested in the past year that is suitable for all areas of personal audio.
For more information about Iris and Iris Flow, check out their website: https://irislistenwell.com
