Astell & Kern's new titanium earbuds with planar magnetic drivers are the portable music upgrade of my dreams – but my wallet's nightmare

• Astell & Kern Luna cost £2,699 / $2,700 (about AU$5,612)
• Newly developed micro planar magnetic driver
• Titanium housings and copper/silver cable

Astell & Kern's new Luna in-ear monitors are the kind of audio product that makes me sad, because they're likely to sound incredible – and like many of the best wired earbuds for audiophiles, they're way beyond my budget.

The new, moon-inspired Luna are the third set of earbuds in Astell & Kern's own IEM series, and they're the firm's most luxurious listens yet. Where the previous flagship AK Zero 2 uses a "quad-brid" setup featuring four different kinds of driver, there's just one driver here: a planar magnetic one.

Astell & Kern Luna IEMs: key features and pricing

Each of the titanium buds here contains a specially developed 13mm Katabiki micro planar magnetic driver, which Astell & Kern created in collaboration with Madoo. It's a unipolar magnetic circuit featuring a single magnet and a dual ring-shaped yoke, which Astell & Kern says delivers "superlative control".

The idea with planar magnetic drivers is that they use a larger, flat, ultra-thin diaphragm compared to regular dynamic drivers. They're capable of deeper bass response and amazing detail compared to dynamic drivers, but they're hard to produce.

The housing for the planar diaphragm is CNC-machined aluminum for rigidity, and the ultra-thin diaphragm is made from lightweight film and a printed aluminum pattern for significantly reduced weight.

According to Astell & Kern, they deliver outstanding speed, exceptional audio resolution and a very natural and detailed audio experience with a frequency response from 20Hz to 30kHz.

Each pair of Luna IEMs is hand-made in Japan and comes with an attractive alcantara case. The cables are silver-coated OCC and copper OCC, blending high purity silver with copper plating and terminating in an aluminum-finished 2-pin 4mm connector. Seven sets of ear tips are provided, of different sizes and materials.

The Luna IEMs are on sale now with a price tag of £2,699 / $2,700 / €3,049 (about AU$5,612).

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