First off, these were supplied to me for review by Pandora at Brainwavz for my honest and unbiased opinion, my thanks to them for their trust in me to do this. Here is a link to them on Amazon USA: 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014CNWSI2
 
I admit I almost passed on this one as I no longer have kids around the house for testing...but then I remembered that I have a neighbor with a nice "young lady"(she doesn't like to be called a"kid", lol) that I could try these out on and agreed to do this review. My thanks to my neighbor Stacy, a trendy, very opinionated 9 year old young lady that took a lot of time to give me her impressions of these. Now on to the review!
 
Firstly, the specifications and packaging content:
 
Specifications:



Bluetooth Profiles: HSP, HFP, A2DP, AVRCP 
Bluetooth Operating Distance: 10 meters / 33 feet 
Frequency range: 2.4 ~ 2.48 GHz 
 
Distortion: ≤1% 
Microphone Sensitivity: -40dB 
Working Time: Music Play Time up to 6 hours, Talk Time up to 10 hours 
Charging Time: Approx. 3hours


Contents & Accessories:

KIDWAVZ Bluetooth Headphones 
USB Charging Cord 
3.5mm AUX Cord 
Instruction Manual & Warranty Card

Colors Available:

Pink, Toy Blue and Black

 
I received these quickly and they were well packed and with no visible signs of damage to the package or headset. As these are aimed at a younger crowd, the yellow box fit. Not much on the box but the specifications and some Brainwavz/Kidwavz branding, and a large, solid clear window with which to peruse the KV100's clearly. 

 

 

 

 

 
Inside the box is a usb charging cable with pretty good length and an Aux cable that allows for hook up to your audio player or phone when not going wireless. It's length is ok, but could be a bit longer IMHO. It has a standard 3.5mm plug at both ends so it's easily replaceable if needed. Brainwavz says on the box that these have a 12 month warranty, but they in fact carry their new 24 month warranty, nice to know considering the target audience for these, it might be used quite often 
 
Build quality is ok for the price($39.50 on Amazon as of this writing). I think that for the target audience, they could have been a bit sturdier with less moving parts and exposed wires, but they seem pretty well designed all told. My only concern is the exposed wires, wandering little hands might well pull these out really easily if given the chance. Here's to hoping they hold up well over time. The buttons to control the bluetooth functions, while large and easy to hit, are a bit stiff and might be hard to press for little hands. They also all feel the same, making using said buttons a memory only affair. Otherwise, all is good on the looks and useage front. It needs to be noted that the controls available during wireless use are not available when plugged in, volume control is strictly based on the source used with the mic also being disabled. No issues were reported by my sidekick, she liked the looks and found it easy to use figuring it all out on her own in a few minutes. Bluetooth connection to my phone was effortless and it had a very good range, well over 30 feet line of sight in my testing. Even with a few walls thrown in, it performed well with no disconnects noticed. Battery life was also nice, I averaged 6+ hours on bluetooth, and the ability to use an Aux cable alleviated the worry of the battery going flat, just plug it in and you good to go again(see my worries on this for a kid below). Fit was good on even my big head, Stacy found them to fit great as well and found it not too tight for long usage, she said she only took them off once or twice the entire time she had them. 
 
As for the sound, I used my usual assortment of sources, from my Android 5.1.1 China phone (Umi eMax) to my LG G4 to my FiiO X1. Also used were a Samsung Galaxy S5 by my neighbor for her testing. All files on my end were flac, hers were high bitrate mp3's. Music was all over the map from Easy Listening to Death Metal, I play it all. Her selections were a bit more restrained with Justin Bieber(I know....) to One Direction. I listened for 20 hours, she used it a day, around 8 hours total. 
 
The sound out of the KV100's is a mixed bag, as these are purposefully limited to 85db to protect a young kids hearing while in bluetooth mode. It is just loud enough to hear the music on it clearly, but not too loud as to cause any damage to ones hearing. I think it's a good compromise. As a result of this, however, I found the sound to be a bit muffled, kind of like if too much padding were put on the ear pads. The bass signature is good, but not too deep, with a pleasing range and good detail. These were tuned more for midrange, with vocals taking center stage here, male vocals were clear and easy to hear, and female voices were a bit toned down, but still clear and easy to make out. Highs were like the bass, a bit subdued but clear and non fatiguing. These are obviously not meant for the audiophile, but they also don't sound bad at all. A good balance for the younger set just getting into listening to music. What I don't like is that once the Kidwavz' are plugged in, most of this goes away. The sound limitation is gone and these can get quite loud, enough to do some damage if not supervised. The signature is still much the same, but at a much higher volume, which changes it just a bit at the higher end to my ears. It doesn't get sibilant, but it can hurt a young person's ears after not too long a listening period. Therefore I think these should be limited to bluetooth only for kids, and leave the cable in the box or for adult use only.
 
As for my neighbor Stacy, she liked the overall sound "a lot", with no complaints listening to her favorite bands. She liked that the vocals sounded good, her favorite part. I guess that Brainwavz hit it right with the sound signature here, good on them. Her friends also chimed in on them, saying they looked good but they didn't like the big "KIDWAVZ" logo much saying it looked out of place on the small earcup. Take note, Brainwavz, looks are important to a kid these days....actually, they were for me my friends as well when I was a kid all those years ago  She also commented on the fact that she could talk with the KV100's over bluetooth on her phone, something I didn't think a kid would care about...guess I underestimated a young lady's ability to gossip at even that young an age 
 
Summing up, these are a great first bluetooth headphone for the younger set, not too pretentious in looks while not being so toned down as to look boring. Fix the logo and these should do just fine there. Sound quality is good if not great, but aimed squarely at what a young person likes to mainly hear, vocals. The rest of the signature is just good enough to allow a good beat to come through, which is a good thing indeed. I personally think, with the logos removed and replaced by a nice Brainwavz logo, that these might actually work well for adults as well. Not everyone needs a thumping bass signature all the time. These are very non fatiguing, and would really work well in a quiet office for instance. Add in that the build quality is good for the price and the long playback time between charges and this looks like yet another winner for Brainwavz!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Ignore the green rating bars on this review, for some reason they did not show as clicked and I could not fix them, thanks!
 
I'll start off by saying that the Brainwavz Jive's I'm reviewing here were given to me by Brainwavz for my honest, unbiased viewpoints. Thanks to Pandora for the set. They arrived to me undamaged and well packed. Here is a link to them on Amazon for those interested: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013OKX89M
 
I, as usual, did a full burn in of 48 hours prior to doing any critical listening. I used an assortment of devices for this review including a modded Android 5.1.1 China phone(Umi eMax), a brand new LG G4, my Rockboxed Sansa Clip+, and finally my FiiO X1 with the latest firmware. The time was split up evenly between them, over 80 hours in total and all files used were FLAC. 
 
Here are the shamelessly copied from Amazon specifications and included accessories:
Specifications:

Drivers : Dynamic, 9 mm 
Rated Impedance : 16 Ohms 
Frequency Range : 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz 
Sensitivity : 98 dB @ 1 mW 
Rated Input Power : 20 mW 
PLUG : 3.5 mm, Gold-Plated 
CABLE : 1.3 m, Copper

Microphone and Remote:

iOS & Android Versions 
Phone Call Control 
Audio Player Control 
3-Button Remote

Included Accessories:

1 x Comply S-400 medium foam tips 
3 x Pair silicone tips (S/M/L) 
1 x Velcro cable tie 
1 x Shirt clip 
1 x Brainwavz logo sticker 
1 x Brainwavz earphone carrying case 
1 x Instruction manual & Warranty card 

 
Do keep in mind throughout this review that I'm doing a review of a sub $30.00 Dynamic IEM, currently $25.00 on Amazon.com in the US. All opinions are my own and will reflect said fact. 
 
I'm a pretty big Brainwavz aficionado, having been using their full lineup since the get go. And while they do a great job of giving us some great headsets and IEM's at higher price points, they have also given us some great choices for the budget minded enthusiast. The Jive's sit squarely in the latter, and I think they are the best ones they have offered to date in this category. 
 
To begin with, the build quality is better than expected, with a solid metal build on the buds, plenty of strain relief located everywhere you would expect it to be, at the buds, the center split, and the plug area. There is even some located fore and aft of the inline controls, nice. Speaking of inline controls, Brainwavz offers a choice of either Android or IOS versions here, and, at least with my Android testing, work just fine. All control inputs felt solid, and even the mic was clear as my voice was well heard according to my friends whom I polled on that. The only issue I'm seeing aesthetically is that the colors offered, Red, Ink Blue, and Green aren't all too accurate, but at least they don't offend. If you have Brainwavz's Delta's, you will find the colors similar. Here's to hoping they find someone less, shall we say, colorblind for the next series . The cables, while rubbery, seem strong enough and only give off moderate microphonics, easily abated with the included shirt clip or by hooking them over your ears. 
 
Now onto the sound, and again, the Jive's do not disappoint. Out of the box, before burn in, I noticed a pretty high amount of harshness in the treble range, with one point in that range that actually hurt my ears a bit when first heard. That was with the included stock silicone tips. After switching to the included Comply tips, I no longer felt it anymore. After burn in, around 50 hours total, that peak was almost gone completely. As such, the Jive's will indeed benefit from a full burn in and said burn in isn't an option IMHO. Do it and you will be rewarded with a smooth, punchy, fast signature that pleases. Don't do it and judge them by the first few minutes of use, and you will be doing yourself an injustice as these get better with age no doubt. 
 
The types of music I tested with were varied and far reaching, from opera and classical to full on Death Metal, I gave it all a shot with the Jive's. Separation is great here, with a wide soundstage that favors the higher range, but doesn't at all sacrifice the bass or mid range. Vocals especially are front and center, with full range sound and almost no wash out noticed, very nice indeed. I did find myself actually favoring one type of music with the Jive's: 1970's era acoustic guitar driven Singer-Songwriter....Kenny Loggins and Joni Mitchell never sounded so good on a low end set of IEM's. Even older Bob Dylan popped here, very clear and rich, I really couldn't stop listening to it. I love it when a set of IEM's can make me do that, it's a treat for sure. And to get that rush from a set of under $30.00 IEM's....well that's just the icing on the cake! Nice job on the tuning here, Brainwavz, totally caught me off guard with that!
 
Summing up, you get one heck of a lot of IEM for not a heck of a lot of money here....a theme very familiar to us Brainwavz lovers. From all of the included accessories(great case!), to the good build quality(I couldn't kill them no matter how hard I tried...and I REALLY tried--hey, someones gotta do it ), to the fast, punchy, smooth sound, you get much more than your monies worth. A winner for sure. Great job once again, Brainwavz!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As this section wasn't up for my review I did a few days ago, I'll just link to it on here . Hope you like it!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/776667/brainwavz-hengja-headphone-hanger

Audrey over at Brainwavz asked me to do a review of their new BLU-100 bluetooth IEM headset and I jumped at the opportunity to do so. My thanks for the review unit 
 
As these are review units, not retail, I opted to not include any pictures as they might not be as the retail version is. There are plenty of reviews on here with pre-production pics, so look there if you want to see them. I will include pictures from the Brainwavz site, though, so at least you see something in this review. I'm also including the copied and pasted Specs and Content's and Accessories charts from their product page. They can be bought from here:: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YDVY34Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&keywords=bluetooth+earphones
 
Specifications: 
 
DriversDynamic: 8mm
Rated Impedance: 30Ω closed Dynamic
Frequency Range: 20 ~ 20000Hz
Sensitivity: 110 dB @ 1 mW
Bluetooth: 4.0
CodecaptX™
Max Distance: 10mt(30ft)
Battery: 60mAh
Playtime/Standby: 4hrs/100hrs
Charge Time: 2hrs(USB)
Noise Cancellation :CVC echo/noise
Voice Prompt: Yes
Profiles: HFP HSP A2DP
Pairing: Dual Pairing
 
Contents & Accessories: 

Silicone Ear Tipsx3 Pairs
Comply™ Foam Tips: S-400 Series
Ear Clips x1 
Hard Case x1
USB Cablex1
Manualx1
Warrantyx1 (12 Months)
 


 

 
 
Now onto the review.
 
First off, I have some real experience with cheap, no name brand bluetooth headphones. Re-branders like Arctic/Coby have been making these for a few years now. The Arctic version, the ones I'm using right now, are called the B235BT. They are an over the ear model with nearly 10 hour battery life, good build quality and decent sound, all for a price similar to the BLU-100's. I used these as my comparison units for this test. I used my bluetooth 4.0 enabled China based Android phones(a variety) for testing along with the app Poweramp (paid version) as my main playback app. I used a serious swath of music (FLAC only) for my testing from all genre's from Rock to Opera, I included it all. 
 
I'll break my review into categories starting with:
 
Build Quality:
 
I like the build quality of the BLU-100's quite a lot. The case is made from metal, isn't too bulky, and fits well in my ear without sticking out too much thanks to short nozzle's. The cables are flat, fairly strong feeling, and not too long being just long enough to allow for a good fit either over the ear or hanging down. I personally found the included Comply 400S tips to work best, YMMV of course. It included an inline controller hanging down a few inches or so from the right earpiece. It's well designed with a green accent color that's easy to see even in low light and a satisfying click when the 3 (three) buttons are pressed. As the pic above shows, it has a good amount of features as explained better below.
 
Ease Of Use:
 
The BLU-100's are a straight forward, easy to figure out IEM as bluetooth headsets go. I got them paired ( press and hold the center button), figured out how to use all of the playback functions and simply used them effortlessly without even having a manual available. After Audrey sent us reviewer's a PDF with the instructions, I found no more uses other than being able to Dual Pair the BLU-100's (a nice feature) that I hadn't already figured out by myself. Using it daily only made the functions available easier to use and I found myself liking the ease of use more and more as time passed. Good job here, Brainwavz 
The functions available are as pictured above, quite a few for a budget bluetooth IEM. I especially like the ladies voice that greets you with many of the functions that you use, making the BLU-100's much easier to use without having to look at the controller. As a comparison, the Arctic's I compared them to use a rather flimsy button arrangement on the ear cup that took awhile to get used to and they have no voice function to boot. Score one for the BLU-100's here. They are easy to charge up using a micro usb port located on one of the ear buds and charging only took 2 (two) hours as well. This is a good thing as the battery life is, IMHO, abysmal with, in my testing, only around 3 1/2 or so hours available per charge. One of the main reasons for using a wireless IEM is the ability to use it at least 6-8 hours daily without having the battery go flat on you. The Arctic's by comparison have around 10 hours per charge, with the same 2 (two) hour charge time. This is acceptable while the low usage time of the BLU-100's almost kills them for my use here. I'm sure they will find their own niche, like for gym/workout usage where long battery life isn't important, but for all other uses it falls flat. The only other flaw here is a too dim, and way too small, white LED that I thought was a spec of lint when I first saw it. This needs to be either bigger or brighter or both. The voice notifications do tend to negate the use/need of it, though, so it's not a biggie here. Bluetooth range is good, with around 10-15 feet  line of sight, 5-10 feet obstructed. As most will probably be using the BLU-100's with a phone, distance really isn't an issue here. Voice quality while in phone mode is good, with no complaints from anyone I was talking to either speaking or listening.
 
Sound:
 
Here is where the BLU-100's either shine or not, depending on what source you are using. The sound is warm out of the box, with the mids having a noticeable muddy tinge to them. The low end is strong enough and pretty full, the highs are ok with no harshness noticed by me. To be honest, this is not quite what I thought they were going to sound like, I had a bit higher expectation of them being a Brainwavz headset. I found them to be a little bit flat sounding, no real pop or personality. That was, until I EQ'd them. Those of us who use Poweramp do so for it's great sound shaping ability via it's excellent EQ. With just the tiniest of movement on it's sliders, I found that the BLU-100's took to this very, very well, more so than most all of my other wired IEM's as a matter of fact. The muddy mids? Poof--gone with EQing. Bass? Much improved with the smallest amount of EQing. I actually got the BLU-100's to sound just the way I like with every genre I used simply by EQing them that way. Truly a very nice surprise to be able to do that. The Arctic's don't have nearly the same flexibility here. Score another one here for the BLU-100's.
 
Conclusions:
 
Wrapping up, despite the poor battery performance, I still like the BLU-100's. Every other aspect of them is just so good for the price paid(currently $44.00 retail, $34.00 on sale). Quality of build is good, sound can be shaped exactly how you like very easily, the fit in my ear is good....really this is a fine first effort from Brainwavz. Fix the battery issue and they will have a real winner here. My thanks again to Audrey for the review unit, it's nice to be able to keep on trying out Brainwavz latest and greatest  

As my title suggests, the Brainwavz M1's are a recent push by Brainwavz to show the world what they might have missed a few years back when they were originally introduced. These were the only Brainwavz IEM's that I never had the pleasure of owning, my thanks to to the Brainwavz team for sending me a pair to review.
 
The review unit I received was not the retail packaged one you folks should get, so I'll not add any pics here because of that. The mp4nation site has plenty of good pics(as do earlier reviews on here) so that's all you need to go to to see 'em in all their glory. My unit arrived in the great Brainwavz IEM case that came with Comply tips as well as an assortment of regular tips. Getting any Brainwavz IEM pretty much guarantees a fine selection of said tips included all of the time, though, so no worries here. I settled on the Comply tips as best fit for my ears, YMMV of course. For my source, I used my rockboxed Sansa Clip+ and my FiiO X1 as well as my Colorfly C3. I split it up pretty much evenly throughout the review for over 150 hours before doing this review playing back mostly Rock and Metal with some Jazz and Country thrown in for good measure. 
 
Starting off, the M1's seem like a quality IEM on first inspection, with a good blend of materials used to make them seem more in line with much higher priced IEM's. The main case is comprised of both a metal nozzle and a plastic rear fitting(which is ported, nice). The cable is a braided silver cored affair, with a nice thickness to it, but it's also of the "memory" variety which makes it very stiff and not too pliable. If you tend to wind up your IEM's and place them in a case, this can cause the cables to kind of stick that way and be a pain to straighten out. This isn't the ideal cable for an IEM in my humble opinion. On the other hand, it is a strong cable, not likely to be easily broken over time, so at least it's got that going for it.
 
The sound quality, though, is the main reason for getting the M1's, especially if the sound your after is smooth and rich with no bad habits. There is no peakiness that I could hear, at either end of the spectrum, instead it's a full sounding IEM with a nice rounded sound to them. I especially like the high end, with no sibilance at all to be heard(yay!).The bass is good, with a strong presence without being too overbearing as many of it's like priced ilk tend to be. It does roll off a bit down low, but it doesn't ruin the effect one bit. The mids are strong, full and sweet, making the M1's a pleasure to listen to for long periods with little to no annoyance. I regularly use them for several hours at a time with no problems at all, very nice indeed.
 
The only other con I can think of besides the springy cable is the lack of stress relief for the buds, but so far they seem to be holding up well to my regular abuse I always subject my review units to(I'm here to see if they can take the abuse so you know what your getting into before you buy it, your welcome  ). The non standard angled plug may also turn off some folks who like a straight or normal 90 degree angle, but it doesn't bother me too much after using it for awhile. 
 
Summing up, the new old Brainwavz M1's are a great IEM for the price asked. The sound signature is indeed pleasing and fun, with none of the pounding bass nonsense that usually accompanies IEM's in it's price bracket. I'm glad I finally got the chance to try 'em out at last. Highly recommended! 

This is my review of the new Brainwavz AP001 headphone amplifier. Audrey(Salsera on here) sent me one for this review, thanks!
 
For starters, let me say I'm not a really big fan of portable amps. I like my portable rig as simple as possible to reduce bulk and make it easier to travel with. As such, I usually only try out smaller amps like the FiiO E5/6, they don't need to be stacked and are easier to use inline. But even they are a bit too bulky for me, so I rarely used them at all. The AP001, on the other hand, is truly tiny, only 38x38x12.2mm and weighing in at a featherweight 15.5g!! Inline, it's hardly even noticeable, making it a truly usable amp, at least to me.
 
What's in the box you ask? There's the AP001 of course, a short charging cord, and a patch cable to connect the amp to your portable DAP or phone. It comes packaged well in an all plastic package, and it is presented well. 
 

 

 
 
As for features, the AP001 has not one but two equally powered headphone out jacks, making this a great amp if you travel regularly with a friend or partner and like to share. It also has a large slit right down the middle of it allowing it to be hooked onto either the top of a pocket or on a flap inside of a bag to help keep it from coming unplugged. A clip would have been a better choice here, but this works ok if not handled too roughly. Battery life is also good here, with between 9 1/2 and 10 hours of use by my testing, very good considering it's size. Do be advised that the AP001 has not one single button or switch, it works by plugging in a headphone to turn it on or off....both a good and a bad thing. 
 

 

 

 
 
Now on to the sound. This is NOT a neutral amp, it's a bass boosting amp first and foremost. It has little to no effect on mids(it might make some songs a bit warmer, but that's it) and absolutely no effect on highs. What this means, of course, is if your headphones or IEM's are already bass heavy, this might not be the amp for you unless you want even more bass added. There is no way to shut off the bass boost, it's always on. At least it's a good boost, not harsh or grainy, but smooth and punchy, very likable to these ears. If most of your headphones or IEM's tend to be neutral, the AP001 is a great way to give them some bass without destroying they're sound signature. As I love neutral sounding cans and IEM's, this is a good match for me. YMMV, of course, but all told, I like the boost I get from these quite a bit, much more so then the boost I get from my E5's, more or less equal to what I get from my E6's. For the price, the sound from the AP001's is great.
 
In future, Brainwavz might make available an on/off switch to just allow these to be a volume boosting amp as well as a bass boosting one, but I'm really nitpicking here. I can honestly say that I've been using the AP001 with my FiiO X1 and even more so with my Colorfly C3(it really takes care of boosting it's bass roll off well) ever since getting it in a few weeks ago. As stated above, the AP001 works best with neutral sounding cans and IEM's, and I've been using them with my Brainwavz HM5's quite a lot and really enjoying the extra bass boost it gives them. All of my current IEM's, though, are already bass heavy enough and I found the AP001 not too useful there and even hurting their sound. Again, YMMV, just keep in mind that the AP001 is a bass boosting amp, period, and you'll be fine. 
 

 

 
 
Summing up, I like the price, sound, and build quality of the new Brainwavz AP001's. They're lightness, small size and battery life make for an effortless traveling experience to me, making me wan't to actually take them along with me every day, something I haven't really felt comfortable with with it's competition. If your new to amping and just wan't to get your feet wet without spending big bucks, this is a great introduction to it. Thank's to Brainwavz(and Audrey once again  ), the AP001's are winners for sure!