Audiofly Goes All-In With Handful of New High-End Earphones [CES 2013]

The new Audiofly AF160. Somebody spent a looooong time setting this photo up.

Australian earphone-maker Audiofly was just a fledgling outfit with scarcely a handful of models and a shaky toehold in the earphone market when I first encountered a year ago at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. After I had a chance to spend some quality time with what was then the company’s flagship set, the fantastic AF78s, I was pretty certain that, if the company did eventually fail, it would be in spite of the brand’s quality — not because of it.

But they didn’t fail. Now here they are, a year after debuting at CES, with a trio of new, more expensive additions — all decadently equipped with multiple drivers and balanced armatures — that shove the AF78 into the middle of their lineup.

 The least expensive of the new models is the AF120, which sports a balanced armature and 9mm dynamic driver, just like the AF78. But they’re priced at $300 for the version with the microphone and $250 for the version without – considerably more than than the AF78’s base price of $200.

Next in line is the AF140, which includes two balanced armature drivers in each ear and two sets of detachable cables (one with mic, one without). The AF140 is priced between $250-300, though I’m not sure what the difference is, considering the set comes with both cable versions.

At the top is the three-armatures-per-ear AF160 with all the dressings of the AF140, and also the quizzical pricing: this time $400 and $450.

More good news: All sets will now come with Comply foam tips, the lack of which I complained loudly about in the AF78 review. Hurrah.