Noontec ZORO II HD Headphone

So yeah, these were and still remain one of my favourite headphones I have at my side whenever I leave my desktop rig behind. They are a breeze to drive- a decent phone or usb dac would suffice. Perching cozily atop one's head, they do not clamp as hard as many other on ear headphones, but are secure enough to avoid pulling a humpty-dumpty. I got hold of the blue version, and I must say that its trendy styling has turned many a head and caught many an eye (although I wouldn't be surprised if some view them as Beats wannabes). They are featherweight, and this combined with its folding hinges and detachable cable makes it an excellent travelling companion. Good thing it's detachable too, for the stock cable mars the otherwise commendable sound quality by a considerable amount (take note!). I, like many other owners, experienced a rather coarse and gritty upper midrange and treble performance. At first, I thought it was due to the drivers, and left it as such. It was only recently that I began experimenting with other wallet-friendly cables in the market, and to my delight, I found that the sourced cables not only reduced the grain in the sound, but also enhanced separation and bass extension. The only thing lacking now is probably a greater dose of external noise isolation.
 
I did mention that I love the design of the headphones. Despite this, there are some flaws which I would like to point out. Firstly, the headband extension of the headphones is rather limited. Fully extended on both sides (at the markings labeled 4), you'll get around 4cm of extra headband compared to when it is fully retracted. So saying, it is possible to stretch out another cm or so, which I discovered by accident when I unsheathed a marking labeled 5 one fine day on the left side of the headband while extending it as per normal. This I do not recommend, for it leads me to my second point which is regarding the build quality of the ZORO II. Delighted at first to see that there's another marking, I was dismayed to learn that the headband extension had come loose in allowing this to occur, and the next thing which slid out of the headband frame was no longer markings but wires. Fortunately I was able to stuff it back in without much fuss, but from that point onward I became rather wary in handling them.
 
So, there you go! A wonderful pair of headphones, but do be sure to change the cable, and handle it with tender loving care. People with large heads- beware!

Disclaimer: I haven't burnt these headphones in, this is a fresh brand new pair I am using.
Sadly I regret my purchase due to the misgivings of these on ear headphones, yet they got high praise from other people and websites.
Yet they didn't really go in depth with the sound signature claiming it is "tonality is balanced".
Yet I think either there hearing is damaged or I just got a bad new pair or defective?
I figure it's either a defective pair or just that this is the sound signature.
 
Anyways this headphone is far from being a pure neutral headphone but it's close except the mid emphasis.
I feel like the construction of the headphone is fairly good the reinfornced metal hinges gives a peace of mind.
The flat lengthy cord is fine for portability and at home usage. The sound signature is just painfully not as refined as it should be.
I figure maybe you need to "burn in" these headphones yet I've had non burnt in headphones that had decent sound signatures out of box.
The sound signature of these drivers are just leaning between an Audio Technica M40X and a Sony MDR7506.
M40X being better obviously. But I see some aspects they took from the M40X and MDR7506 implemented here.
The refinement needs improvement, the lows need to have a better emphasis doesn't have to be muddy or bleeding into mids.
Also if they were to relax the highs a bit while raising the lows it would even better for long term listening.
These aren't great for at home listening compared to the M40X. But they are okay for gym but I'm sure there is something better for cheaper.
Times have changed even mainstream store brands are improving their drivers despite being "cheap" alternatives.
I was let down by Noontec with the Zoro II HD. I should have stayed clear of them but decided to give them a chance.
Not exactly too happy with my purchase. Let's get in depth to the nitty gritty (pun intended).
 
BASS - It extends to 16 Hz but again it lacks proper emphasis more rolled off (relaxed almost and lacking the punch for most electronic tracks but it exists just not punchy).
TREBLE - Well if you consider the Treble being on the Bright side to be HD than sure you can say that but these are on the brightside of things and do have some grit and grain to the frequencies.
MIDS - There is a strong emphasis in this region so vocals do sort of "pop" in the mixes and are clear but there is some grittiness depending on how the song is mixed and source.
Overall Sound - They could have had a better emphasis on the low end while relaxing the high end a bit to reduce grain and grit, while turning down the mids a little bit to reduce that grit.
Low end needs better emphasis, mids should be dialed back a few dB and the highs should be more relaxed in a curve.
Pricing doesn't match sound quality

 
It all started with a message asking me if I’d like a free review sample of some headphones from a creatively off-beat name. I’d seen the name around Head-Fi and only guessed that they were inexpensive and may actually be half-decent, so I accepted. Later it turned out that they appeared to have given away quite a few pairs to people to review and that they were cheaper than expected. At $89.99 in blue or $99.99 in three other colour combinations they were on the end of the scale that I usually ignored except when a handful of cheap-headphone-spotters would start arguing about over them in the forums.
 
The small box that arrived with a front revealing-flap did not encourage me with the marketing on the front — “Surround Closed Cavity Body” (meaningless), “Votrik Speaker” (who?), “High Definition” (Ungh!). It brought back memories from decades ago of my $10 “Dyanmic Stereo Sound” speakers which were single drivers in a cheap plastic box. Inside the flap is a lot of very small writing going over the features which I felt were more relevant once I opened the box in which they were neatly folded.
 
The hinge is steel reinforced, which is a positive given that the headphones are understandably plastic. The outer plastic is coated in what is described as “piano crafting varnish”. Considering the colours it looks more like the pearl car paint and is very nice and fingerprint-magnet smooth. On the headphones, which are “Designed in Italy” the result is gorgeous, garnering immediate positive comments from my young daughter when she spotted them. The headband arc ends at the hinge and part of it on either end are two tiny lugs which, when you open headphones all the way, snap into place. I immediately worried about the durability of snapping and folding this daily a few times and reached out to Noontec to ask them about durability. They replied that they had tested the hinge and it didn’t have any problems after “5000 times test” [sic].
 
Noontec appears to have taken the time to make decent earpads. I’ve seen too many pairs of low-range headphones that had vinyl so thin that the earpads were destroyed in short order, so decently thick earpads with a reasonably soft and smooth but a little robust-feeling covering was a pleasant surprise. The Zoro IIs sit on your ears, rather than around them, so this is important. 
 
The fit and finish appears quite good, down to the cup swivels, which don’t just flop around. The headphones don’t rattle when shaken and even when folded the hinges only have a tiny amount of play, only about as much as one gets in a high-end zoom lens. Even the single-button-with-mike phone-compatible cable is decent enough — a long strip of thin rubber terminated with branded plugs.
 
So all that was left to do was plug them into my iPhone 6 and have a listen.
 
My first impressions were a shock and not at all what I expected from a pair of cheap headphones. At a moderate listening level the music was quite detailed and crisp. My usual experience with cheap headphones is that they tend to be boomy with a poor mid-range and very rolled-off treble, which might be OK with modern brightly-mastered pop but is rubbish for just about anything else. More recent models seem to be moving away from this trend, but I found that one usually has to spend a couple of hundred dollars first. 
 
Lately I’ve been going a bit retro and listening to Yello, specifically their latest album, Touch Yello. If you can imagine a slightly more modern version of the duo’s synth pop, this music welcomes detailed headphones and a good bit of bass punch. The album, ranging from dance tracks to ballads and soft jazz was delivered with both punch and delicacy as required. Heidi Happy’s voice, while not as well-presented as with some of my headphones, still came through very well, more like what I’d expect from a more expensive pair of headphones. I think this is due to the treble being slightly muted, which can make vocals seem slightly muffled.
 
For the treble I broke out Leigh Barker from the Kostas Metaxas Recording Samplers to have a listen to the cymbals. While not coming through as strongly as with some headphones, there was nothing disagreeable about the presentation. Likewise I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy by The Derek Trucks Band was very enjoyable, the percussion delivered very well at both ends. If anything, like with Heidi Happy, I could only find fault in the vocals, which had a touch of hardness, but no more than I’d expect to find in more expensive headphones.
 
I broke out the Amon Tobin to test the deep bass. Bricolage contains a number of tracks that seem to go down close to 20 Hz. The rumble came through, not strongly, but quite sufficiently, and not lacking detail as I had expected. Likewise with The Silent Sound Spectrum by A Guy Called Gerald, which focuses on “very low and very high sounds” was not left lacking. However, their inexpensive build doesn’t fare quite as well when the volume is turned up to louder levels, with vibrations clearly coming through the frame and a bit of harshness appearing in the presentation. A great deal of this is due to them being on-ears. Regardless, they held up remarkably well considering their price. 
 
Their overall tone is a touch warm, with a slightly reduced treble compared to regular “audiophile” headphones, which makes them a nice all-rounder for people who aren’t looking simply for deep, pounding bass all the time, or a “club” experience, for which I usually recommend V-MODAs. I found them remarkably enjoyable to listen with, as long as I didn’t turn the volume up too high. In fact, their presentation seemed to suit quieter listening levels quite well. Most unexpected was that I didn’t feel a desire to remove them from my head once I started listening, always an excellent sign. The slightly muted treble, while not perfect for some music, does make brighter, modern recordings less fatiguing. 
 
For $90-100, these are definitely a good buy for someone looking for a pair of decent on-ear portables.