écoute Audio TH1 Headphones & Vacuum Tube Preamp Review

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for some of the early product development meetings! Kickstarter crowdfunding sweetheart écoute has done quite a thing with this valve-amplified, noise-cancelling, dual-mono wireless headphone package. On its website, the manufacturer boldly asks the question, “What if your hi-fi system didn't sit on a shelf – but rather on your head?” The TH1 is the answer. It’s just the sort of weirdo product I love – one that attempts to solve a problem that no one really has, or perhaps didn’t realise they had until they saw this. 

Up Close

My review sample came in a cool gunmetal grey finish, though I still found myself looking longingly at the ‘satin’ version with its tasteful brown headband and light grey cups. Either way, it’s an attractive design. One side is flat with pressable sections of the cup that adjust volume and select tracks on your source. There are also three buttons (a multifunction, power and noise control), a USB-C port, and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

The other side is where the magic lies. There are no buttons or ports, but smack-bang in the middle of the cup is a small window exposing the tube within. Don’t expect any warm orange glow, though. This is a Korg Nutube 6P1 dual-triode thermionic valve, which uses fluorescent technology rather than a traditional filament. More on that shortly.

The headband is covered in a soft fabric that matches the removable pads, which are firm without being overbearing or overheating. The headphone doesn’t fold and weighs in at a portly 424 grams – a full 131g heavier than the Sennheiser Momentum 4. The earcups are also almost double the thickness of the Apple AirPods Max.

Speaking of bulk, the square case takes up a significant amount of space, so it feels better suited to shelf storage at home rather than being crammed into a backpack for a flight. Which raises a fair question: why include noise-cancelling if this isn’t engineered primarily for travel?

Overall, the TH1 boasts a striking aesthetic that stands out without being outrageously bold. I was mildly dismayed to learn that this modern take on tube technology glows fluorescent green rather than the warm orange radiance I associate with valves.

On my head, the TH1 feels more like large, desk-based over-ears than portable noise-cancellers. The tiny tube doesn’t get hot, so any warmth inside the cups comes from your own head. However, the weight becomes noticeable after an hour or so. Notably, the upcoming TH2 model adopts a suspension-based headband, which seems a wise evolution.

Internally, things get interesting. écoute has opted for a full dual-mono architecture. Where most headphones split the signal into left and right channels after amplification, the TH1 begins this separation at the DAC stage, feeding individual amplifiers for each driver. It’s an uncommon approach in this category, largely due to cost and bulk – neither of which appear to have deterred Ecoute.

DAC duties are handled by the Realtek ALC4050 chip, a solid and reliable choice for such a bespoke design. This combination delivers a quoted twenty hours of battery life, with just over three hours required for charging. That’s ten hours shy of Bowers & Wilkins’ PX8 S2 and only around a third of what the Sennheiser Momentum 4 manages.

The companion app provides basic functionality, including firmware updates. More importantly, it offers firmware-level EQ with eight bands. Impressively, these settings are embedded within the headphone itself rather than the app, meaning they persist even when switching to a different source, including via cable.

One drawback of this otherwise impressive design is that the earcups ring more than they should. A jolt can trigger a noticeable resonance that lingers for several seconds. It’s manageable with careful handling, and I’m told the upcoming TH2 will feature additional shielding to address the issue.

The Listening

I had a sense of how the TH1 would sound before listening, and broadly speaking, I wasn’t wrong. There’s a touch of tube colouration that lends warmth and expansiveness, though not a particularly incisive edge. Listening to Jump by Blackpink, I noticed a clear difference between Bluetooth and cable modes. My iPhone’s SBC codec is hardly ideal, and while the TH1 supports LDAC, the contrast was greater than expected.

Over Bluetooth, vocals sounded a little thin, as if bass was slightly rolled off. Comparing an iPhone 17 Pro Max (Bluetooth) with a MacBook Pro via USB-C, the wired connection proved more engaging and less coloured. The TH1 handles demanding bass and vocal passages capably, presenting music in an engaging rather than analytical manner. That said, it doesn’t quite match the accuracy of similarly priced open-backed, home-focused headphones.

Clover by Mumford and Sons delivered that familiar ‘in the room’ sensation. Here, the tube colouration is more apparent, gently boosting the lower midband while keeping upper mids and treble clean. The smoothness encourages longer listening sessions at healthy levels. Imaging is impressive, likely aided by the dual-mono topology. While it doesn’t quite project fully ‘out of the head’, it does offer a stable, well-defined acoustic image.

The TH1 features both noise-cancelling and transparency modes, activated via a button on the right earcup. They are functional, though not class-leading. The similarly priced Focal Bathys, for example, offers a more convincing transparency mode. The TH1’s noise cancelling reduces lower-frequency intrusion effectively, but seems to subtly affect higher-frequency tuning regardless of the selected EQ setting.

The Verdict

Can you really leave your hi-fi system at home and head out wearing a dual-mono, valve-amplified sound system on your head? In a sense, yes – but it’s not a substitute for a dedicated, mains-powered component system. Even so, the écoute TH1 is a quirky, genuinely interesting product that pushes boundaries in a market often dominated by safe iterations. It won’t be for everyone, but for those drawn to its eccentric blend of valves and wireless convenience, it fills a niche few others dare to approach.

For more information visit écoute Audio