Grell Audio has introduced the OAE2, an open-back headphone built around the idea of making music heard through headphones feel less like it originates inside the listener’s head, and more that it comes from speakers placed in a room.
The OAE2 arrives as part of a wider international rollout that followed an initial release in Germany, with the headphones now confirmed for availability across the US, UK and additional markets from 31 March at $599 / £499 / €499 EUR through grellaudio.com and selected retailers.
At the centre of the product is a design principle that challenges how most headphones approach sound, redirecting acoustic output to work with the outer ear’s natural spatial processing rather than firing audio directly into the ear canal.
The concept draws on how loudspeaker listening actually functions, whereby sound interacts with the listener’s head, outer ear and upper body before reaching the ear canal, producing the timing and tonal cues the brain uses to judge distance and direction in a physical space.
Grell’s OAE2 applies this understanding to headphone acoustics through a front-oriented driver orientation, targeting a soundstage that registers as wider and more externalised without relying on digital signal processing or artificially widened stereo imaging to achieve the effect.
Axel Grell, who spent more than three decades at Sennheiser contributing to headphones including the HD 600, HD 650 and HD 800, founded his company to pursue acoustic research at a smaller and more focused scale, collaborating with Leibniz University Hannover on spatial hearing studies that directly inform the OAE2’s tuning decisions.
The headphone uses a 40mm wideband dynamic transducer with a bio-cellulose membrane, a fully modular metal frame with replaceable components, and a precision stainless-steel mesh manufactured in Germany, reflecting a build approach oriented toward long-term service rather than planned obsolescence.
Grell notes that listeners transitioning from conventional headphones may require an acclimatisation period before the OAE2’s spatial presentation feels fully intuitive, a characteristic consistent with headphones that prioritise perceptual accuracy over immediately familiar tuning signatures.
The OAE2 ships with a 1.8m single-ended 3.5mm cable, a 1.8m balanced 4.4mm cable, a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter and a carry case, supporting a broad range of amplifier and source equipment configurations.
