A notice before I begin my review:
Unlike a fair number of members on this forum, I'm comparatively very ignorant when it comes to fidelity audio, so unless I come around and modify my review, my explanations may be highly subjective or somewhat lacking. Please keep that in mind as you read through.
Change log:
Nov. 17, 2014 - Initial review
Review and reviewer background:
As mentioned earlier, I am not very knowledgeable in terms of audio fidelity. The Urbanite XL is not my first pair of headphones; my first-ever pair of cans was the Shure SRH440, and while I liked the sound, I noticed that it wasn't very comfortable. A fair bit of this review may hold some kind of comparison with those headphones indirectly.
I originally wanted to get the V-Moda M-100, but when I went to a reseller here in Korea, I noticed the Urbanite XL and tried it. I was motivated to get it partially because I liked what I heard, and also partially because the shop had a promotion where anyone who bought the Urbanite XL would get a Sennheiser MM55i for free with it. It so happened that I also wanted a new pair of IEMs, so I felt this was a good deal. Simply put, I don't regret the purchase one bit.
Packaging:
The box is nothing out of the ordinary; the headphones are prominently featured with the trademark blue bar on the bottom with the Sennheiser logo.
Once you unbox the package, you see the headphones proper and a soft carrying case. Underneath the case is the detachable cable. You have the option of buying the XL with a three-button inline mic for iOS devices, or a one-button inline mic for Android devices. To my knowledge, these headphones are not sold with a non-mic cable.
Here, I was a little downed personally because after seeing what the V-Moda offers in terms of accessories (hard case, three-button mic, one-button mic, non-mic), this seemed like an afterthought on Sennheiser's part. Then again, the Urbanite XL is $250 retail while the M-100 is $300.
(I wrote that my purchase price is $310. That is the retail price of these headphones in Korea, so unless you're reading this in Korea, disregard the price.)
Aesthetics and construction:
(picture from Amazon's page)
(raw picture of the headphones in subpar lighting taken with an iPhone 4S)
(picture with effects added to reflect what I feel are the true colors.)
Here is where things get extremely subjective. I feel that despite the stigma of the Beats headphones and earphones, I feel at the very least, they deserve credit for triggering competitors to give headphones a visual makeover. I was personally tired of all-black headphones, and I wanted a pair that could do double duty of giving me a pleasant listening experience as well as looking nice with my clothes. Note, I'm no fashionista who follows trends very closely, but I like to take a little bit of time to make myself look presentable. To that note, I was attracted to the mix of the red border and the navy blue top, and the beige denim-like band. I felt this was a very nice color combination that doesn't make the Urbanite XL stand out like the Beats does.
Construction-wise, these are some very sturdy headphones. Some kind of hard plastic makes up most of the headphones, but there is evidence of metal being used for the band. I also noticed (and you can spot it on the Amazon stock photo) that the cabling that connects the speaker parts is covered up with a thick layer of rubber. Aspects like this give me confidence that unless I start chucking the XL at the hard on purpose or act clumsy, these headphones will stand wear and tear much longer than others.
The detachable cable plugs into the hole seen above, and as a nice touch, you need to twist it a little to fasten it. Once it's fastened, short of damaging your headphones, there's no way to detach it.
The pads are very soft to the touch, but they do warm up after a bit. How much they warm up, I cannot exactly say as winter is coming. What I can say for sure is that in weather between 3-10 degrees Celsius, my ears feel just warm enough - not hot and sweaty and not cold. I wore these headphones in a bus that had minimal heating for about an hour, and I didn't feel stifled or bothered in the least.
Fit:
(self-censored selfie of me wearing the headphones)
For an Asian, I have a pretty big head. I have trouble buying hats here, and those that fit me say that they are sized to fit heads with up to a 62cm circumference. That said, I can easily put these headphones on after fully extending the cans.
As for extended listening, these headphones do not bother me in the slightest. According to Amazon, these headphones weight 1.6 pounds, and while my old Shure weighed 1.5 pounds, I experienced pain on the top of my head after extended listening, forcing me to take them off for a break. With the Urbanite XL, however, I have worn them for stretches of 3 to 4 hours, and I have felt ZERO discomfort or pain. Ever. And I have no idea why, maybe the Amazon numbers are wrong, but these headphones feel like they weigh so much less than the Shures.
Listening experience:
When there's no music on, and you're just wearing the headphones, there's some degree of noise isolation, which I found pleasantly surprising. Once you turn on music, even at moderate volumes, you are easily able to block out the world outside of you. This is great when you're sitting still, but I strongly recommend you watch yourself if you walk on the streets.
Sound quality:
(X Japan - Art of Life - one song I used to base my comments regarding sound quality. Genre: symphonic metal, J-rock, visual kei)
I went with this massive-length song for the review because the song has numerous loud and quiet moments, as well as a wide array of instruments from electric guitars and rock drums to pianos and strings. That way, I could also observe more closely how the instruments changed from one part to another in a gapless manner.
Having said that, let's review Sennheiser's market-speak for these headphones, straight from its product page: "an intense club sound on the move" and "massive bass but with Sennheiser’s uncompromising audio expertise ensuring excellent clarity across all frequencies"
In my uninformed opinion, at least for this song, while the intense club sound part didn't apply, I felt that the second tagline definitely did apply. In this song's portions where the metal doesn't kick in (0:00 to 2:58, and 15:23 to 24:00ish), there definitely was no indication that the bass was overwhelming the strings and piano rendition respectively. The strings and piano sounded beautiful and lulling to my ears. During the rock portions (other areas besides those mentioned), I could clearly pick up on the different individual instruments and I could take the time to marvel each instrument. However, what I felt was that regarding that tag line, Sennheiser may have been a little too uncompromising because while the drums were still easily audible, the bass drum thumps were still subtle. Noticeable, audible, but subtle. It's definitely nothing like Sony's XB series in that regard.
So for something a little more "clubby"...
(Skrillex - Bangarang. Genre: Moombathon - according to Wiki at least...)
Compared to Art of Life, this song has much more bass to begin with, and I realized that the Urbanite XL really shined. Here, I felt that both taglines applied in spades. It seemed that the Urbanite XL "amplified" the song, in a manner of speaking. The bass was more noticeable, and it felt like my ears were "thumping" for lack of a better term. However, despite that, the other instruments were still very much audible, and not muffled much.
(BeForU - I am... Genre: Pop-rock fusion)
This song is somewhat similar to Art of Life in which there are non-rock portions interspersed with rock elements. Where it differs is that the rock parts are more emphasized with wider ranges. Here, I felt the Urbanite XL shined as well. The bassy parts like the drums pounded, but the trebles and mids like the vocals, guitars and other instruments were still very much audible, though it seemed at certain parts, they felt a tad bit overwhelmed.
Miscellaneous details:
One thing I was somewhat unhappy about was that there (at least for now) doesn't seem to be any way to buy spare detachable cables. On top of that, even though the plugs are all standard size (2.5mm for the headphone, 3.5mm for the audio source), the plugs are narrow enough that I may have to rely solely on Sennheiser for replacement cables. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but if someone helpfully points me to the right direction, or if I stumble on something, I will gladly update this part.
Conclusion:
The impression I got with the Urbanite XL is that they almost seem like two headphones in one. When I play non-bassy songs, the trebles and mids resonate well without sounding tinny, and when bass is thrown in, the bass alter ego emerges, but at the same time, not overwhelmingly. I feel like I bought two headphones for the price of one.
To sum up my experience with the Urbanite XL, firstly, I'm not returning these. I'm very happy with my purchase despite any kind of misgiving I may have implied by accident. Sure, these may not be the holy grail of headphones, but for the price point, they are worth the mettle.
Unlike a fair number of members on this forum, I'm comparatively very ignorant when it comes to fidelity audio, so unless I come around and modify my review, my explanations may be highly subjective or somewhat lacking. Please keep that in mind as you read through.
Change log:
Nov. 17, 2014 - Initial review
Review and reviewer background:
As mentioned earlier, I am not very knowledgeable in terms of audio fidelity. The Urbanite XL is not my first pair of headphones; my first-ever pair of cans was the Shure SRH440, and while I liked the sound, I noticed that it wasn't very comfortable. A fair bit of this review may hold some kind of comparison with those headphones indirectly.
I originally wanted to get the V-Moda M-100, but when I went to a reseller here in Korea, I noticed the Urbanite XL and tried it. I was motivated to get it partially because I liked what I heard, and also partially because the shop had a promotion where anyone who bought the Urbanite XL would get a Sennheiser MM55i for free with it. It so happened that I also wanted a new pair of IEMs, so I felt this was a good deal. Simply put, I don't regret the purchase one bit.
Packaging:
The box is nothing out of the ordinary; the headphones are prominently featured with the trademark blue bar on the bottom with the Sennheiser logo.
Once you unbox the package, you see the headphones proper and a soft carrying case. Underneath the case is the detachable cable. You have the option of buying the XL with a three-button inline mic for iOS devices, or a one-button inline mic for Android devices. To my knowledge, these headphones are not sold with a non-mic cable.
Here, I was a little downed personally because after seeing what the V-Moda offers in terms of accessories (hard case, three-button mic, one-button mic, non-mic), this seemed like an afterthought on Sennheiser's part. Then again, the Urbanite XL is $250 retail while the M-100 is $300.
(I wrote that my purchase price is $310. That is the retail price of these headphones in Korea, so unless you're reading this in Korea, disregard the price.)
Aesthetics and construction:
(picture from Amazon's page)
(raw picture of the headphones in subpar lighting taken with an iPhone 4S)
(picture with effects added to reflect what I feel are the true colors.)
Here is where things get extremely subjective. I feel that despite the stigma of the Beats headphones and earphones, I feel at the very least, they deserve credit for triggering competitors to give headphones a visual makeover. I was personally tired of all-black headphones, and I wanted a pair that could do double duty of giving me a pleasant listening experience as well as looking nice with my clothes. Note, I'm no fashionista who follows trends very closely, but I like to take a little bit of time to make myself look presentable. To that note, I was attracted to the mix of the red border and the navy blue top, and the beige denim-like band. I felt this was a very nice color combination that doesn't make the Urbanite XL stand out like the Beats does.
Construction-wise, these are some very sturdy headphones. Some kind of hard plastic makes up most of the headphones, but there is evidence of metal being used for the band. I also noticed (and you can spot it on the Amazon stock photo) that the cabling that connects the speaker parts is covered up with a thick layer of rubber. Aspects like this give me confidence that unless I start chucking the XL at the hard on purpose or act clumsy, these headphones will stand wear and tear much longer than others.
The detachable cable plugs into the hole seen above, and as a nice touch, you need to twist it a little to fasten it. Once it's fastened, short of damaging your headphones, there's no way to detach it.
The pads are very soft to the touch, but they do warm up after a bit. How much they warm up, I cannot exactly say as winter is coming. What I can say for sure is that in weather between 3-10 degrees Celsius, my ears feel just warm enough - not hot and sweaty and not cold. I wore these headphones in a bus that had minimal heating for about an hour, and I didn't feel stifled or bothered in the least.
Fit:
(self-censored selfie of me wearing the headphones)
For an Asian, I have a pretty big head. I have trouble buying hats here, and those that fit me say that they are sized to fit heads with up to a 62cm circumference. That said, I can easily put these headphones on after fully extending the cans.
As for extended listening, these headphones do not bother me in the slightest. According to Amazon, these headphones weight 1.6 pounds, and while my old Shure weighed 1.5 pounds, I experienced pain on the top of my head after extended listening, forcing me to take them off for a break. With the Urbanite XL, however, I have worn them for stretches of 3 to 4 hours, and I have felt ZERO discomfort or pain. Ever. And I have no idea why, maybe the Amazon numbers are wrong, but these headphones feel like they weigh so much less than the Shures.
Listening experience:
When there's no music on, and you're just wearing the headphones, there's some degree of noise isolation, which I found pleasantly surprising. Once you turn on music, even at moderate volumes, you are easily able to block out the world outside of you. This is great when you're sitting still, but I strongly recommend you watch yourself if you walk on the streets.
Sound quality:
(X Japan - Art of Life - one song I used to base my comments regarding sound quality. Genre: symphonic metal, J-rock, visual kei)
I went with this massive-length song for the review because the song has numerous loud and quiet moments, as well as a wide array of instruments from electric guitars and rock drums to pianos and strings. That way, I could also observe more closely how the instruments changed from one part to another in a gapless manner.
Having said that, let's review Sennheiser's market-speak for these headphones, straight from its product page: "an intense club sound on the move" and "massive bass but with Sennheiser’s uncompromising audio expertise ensuring excellent clarity across all frequencies"
In my uninformed opinion, at least for this song, while the intense club sound part didn't apply, I felt that the second tagline definitely did apply. In this song's portions where the metal doesn't kick in (0:00 to 2:58, and 15:23 to 24:00ish), there definitely was no indication that the bass was overwhelming the strings and piano rendition respectively. The strings and piano sounded beautiful and lulling to my ears. During the rock portions (other areas besides those mentioned), I could clearly pick up on the different individual instruments and I could take the time to marvel each instrument. However, what I felt was that regarding that tag line, Sennheiser may have been a little too uncompromising because while the drums were still easily audible, the bass drum thumps were still subtle. Noticeable, audible, but subtle. It's definitely nothing like Sony's XB series in that regard.
So for something a little more "clubby"...
(Skrillex - Bangarang. Genre: Moombathon - according to Wiki at least...)
Compared to Art of Life, this song has much more bass to begin with, and I realized that the Urbanite XL really shined. Here, I felt that both taglines applied in spades. It seemed that the Urbanite XL "amplified" the song, in a manner of speaking. The bass was more noticeable, and it felt like my ears were "thumping" for lack of a better term. However, despite that, the other instruments were still very much audible, and not muffled much.
(BeForU - I am... Genre: Pop-rock fusion)
This song is somewhat similar to Art of Life in which there are non-rock portions interspersed with rock elements. Where it differs is that the rock parts are more emphasized with wider ranges. Here, I felt the Urbanite XL shined as well. The bassy parts like the drums pounded, but the trebles and mids like the vocals, guitars and other instruments were still very much audible, though it seemed at certain parts, they felt a tad bit overwhelmed.
Miscellaneous details:
One thing I was somewhat unhappy about was that there (at least for now) doesn't seem to be any way to buy spare detachable cables. On top of that, even though the plugs are all standard size (2.5mm for the headphone, 3.5mm for the audio source), the plugs are narrow enough that I may have to rely solely on Sennheiser for replacement cables. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but if someone helpfully points me to the right direction, or if I stumble on something, I will gladly update this part.
Conclusion:
The impression I got with the Urbanite XL is that they almost seem like two headphones in one. When I play non-bassy songs, the trebles and mids resonate well without sounding tinny, and when bass is thrown in, the bass alter ego emerges, but at the same time, not overwhelmingly. I feel like I bought two headphones for the price of one.
To sum up my experience with the Urbanite XL, firstly, I'm not returning these. I'm very happy with my purchase despite any kind of misgiving I may have implied by accident. Sure, these may not be the holy grail of headphones, but for the price point, they are worth the mettle.
