Dali IO-8

Great build, premium feel and excellent sound

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₹POR

Many speaker companies have tried, but hardly any have succeeded in producing truly class-leading headphones. That's something of a surprise considering just how similar the basic principles of these components are. The honourable exceptions in our experience have been Bowers & Wilkins, Focal and, after hearing the IO-8, Dali qualifies too.

The IO-8 sit in the middle of Dali's trio of noise-cancelling wireless headphones. They are nicely made and use a classy mix of metal, textiles and high-quality leather to give a solid aura of luxury. Battery life is competitive, with a claimed 35 hours of playback with noise cancelling off and only a small drop-off to 30 hours with it on. This is on par with rivals such as the Bowers & Wilkins Px8, Focal Bathys and the Mark Levinson No. 5909.

At the heart of these headphones is a relatively large 50mm paper/wood fibre driver. Dali has long used this kind of diaphragm material in its speakers, citing low weight, rigidity and good self-damping as benefits. The IO-8 tick the important boxes as far as codec compatibility is concerned and support the higher-quality aptX HD and aptX Adaptive alongside standard AAC and SBC codecs.

They are comfortable for the most part too, with a sensibly shaped headband and nicely judged padding on the earcups. There are two finish options: Iron Black or Caramel White, and both look smart to our eyes. As we walk along, these headphones don't resonate along with our footsteps as some rivals do, which points to a well-designed structure.

However, those with larger ears may find that the circular earpads aren't quite big enough to go around them properly, so press down on the base of the ear lobe, which can cause discomfort over longer listening sessions. Ideally, we would like Dali to change to the oblong earpad shape that most rivals employ to avoid this issue. There is no problem with weight, which at 325g is fine.