Pastapipo
500+ Head-Fier
TL;DR: Amazing slightly V sounding headphone that have a better balance, more detail and sound better than the pistons (Oh no he didn't!). Just the highs are to prominent for my liking. 450 Taiwan Dollar = 12 euro.
Yesterday I sneaked away from my internship here in Taiwan and went headphone shopping again.
Because every headphone is just hanging there to demo, I listened to the ones I didn't hear before. I've heard around 30 pair in these past week.
The majority of the cheap ones were bass booming crap. Until I stumbled upon the "Intopic Jazz i57" for 450 NTD (12 euro).
I was just amazed, the sound quality of these thing were nothing like the other crap that I've heard.
So I bought them and wanted to share them with you (as this is the discovery thread.)
(I can't read that)
(First time that I've seen budget headphones talk about a balanced form of frequency spectrum instead of just bass)
(the rear)
(Nothing else in the box, just S & L tips, that are not in the picture. The clip is 360 degrees spinnable on its foot, nice detail.)
(I'll compare them to the Piston 2.0 with Sony MH1 tips, since everybody seems to have them)
Build quality:
Great as far as I can judge, the headphones are made of some kind of metal, apparently Zinc Alloy, and feel really sturdy.
The mic and one button remote work fine, the cable is made of soft flat rubber, non tangling, but not made for running since you can hear it when they move (microphonics?)
Y cord with the mic/remote in the left cable, its not heavy. The stock tips have a good seal.
Sound: (burn in just 24 hours, sorry, too excited.)
Bass:
Nothing short of amazing, deep, tight and fast. Faster and more detailed than the Pistons, just not that prominent. Still a bass heavy sound.
I love the subbass on these things. Listening to An Audience With The Pope - Elbow resonates your ears with the bass from the bigdrum (something that was absent with the ATH-CK500M).
Phoenix - Lasso offer nice deep details to the bass, similar to the piston, but less prominent and not that warm(bloated?).
Mids:
The Jazz i57 have a slight V-sounding signature vs the more U-shaped Pistons. Due to my personal preference towards the midrange, I greatly favour the Jazz i57 in this round. The song I use to test the midrange is Radiohead - Reckoner in which the first few notes in your left ear reveal a lot about the headphones. The notes are more recessed compared to the cymbals in the Pistons.In the Jazz i57, the notes on different strings of the guitar sound more separated. Overall, more clarity and detail in the song with the Jazz I57.
Voices sound equally impressive on both, can't pick a winner here.
The Highs:
The Pistons take the crown here. Staying with the same song. The highs sound more natural and true to source with the Piston. I love accuracy and reverb of which the piston reproduce the highs. After owning the Xears XPA2Pro, sibilance is my worst feared enemy, the pistons comfort me on this matter. The Jazz i57 however has a very similar VSD1 sound. More prominent, more coloured highs (like the VSD1(S)), which at high volumes, busy drums, may be at the edge of sibiliant. Especially Miles Kane brings out my fear for sibliance. And at high volume they sound harsher than the Pistons, luckily not sibilant. At normal volumes, they sound very well, just a tad to prominent for my liking.
Soundstage is very small on the Jazz i57, comparable to a basketball a few inches in front of your head. The sound doesn't leave that area, while the Piston sound much wider.
Conclusion:
These headphones astonished me when I heard them. For their price (around 12 euro) there isn't any better around. Balanced sound, the perfect bass, nice midrange, only too prominent highs. I'm not trying to hype anything, nor do I work at Intopic. Just trying to share them with you. I hope more experienced people could review this headphone.
Yesterday I sneaked away from my internship here in Taiwan and went headphone shopping again.
Because every headphone is just hanging there to demo, I listened to the ones I didn't hear before. I've heard around 30 pair in these past week.
The majority of the cheap ones were bass booming crap. Until I stumbled upon the "Intopic Jazz i57" for 450 NTD (12 euro).
I was just amazed, the sound quality of these thing were nothing like the other crap that I've heard.
So I bought them and wanted to share them with you (as this is the discovery thread.)
(I can't read that)
(First time that I've seen budget headphones talk about a balanced form of frequency spectrum instead of just bass)
(the rear)
(Nothing else in the box, just S & L tips, that are not in the picture. The clip is 360 degrees spinnable on its foot, nice detail.)
(I'll compare them to the Piston 2.0 with Sony MH1 tips, since everybody seems to have them)
Build quality:
Great as far as I can judge, the headphones are made of some kind of metal, apparently Zinc Alloy, and feel really sturdy.
The mic and one button remote work fine, the cable is made of soft flat rubber, non tangling, but not made for running since you can hear it when they move (microphonics?)
Y cord with the mic/remote in the left cable, its not heavy. The stock tips have a good seal.
Sound: (burn in just 24 hours, sorry, too excited.)
Bass:
Nothing short of amazing, deep, tight and fast. Faster and more detailed than the Pistons, just not that prominent. Still a bass heavy sound.
I love the subbass on these things. Listening to An Audience With The Pope - Elbow resonates your ears with the bass from the bigdrum (something that was absent with the ATH-CK500M).
Phoenix - Lasso offer nice deep details to the bass, similar to the piston, but less prominent and not that warm(bloated?).
Mids:
The Jazz i57 have a slight V-sounding signature vs the more U-shaped Pistons. Due to my personal preference towards the midrange, I greatly favour the Jazz i57 in this round. The song I use to test the midrange is Radiohead - Reckoner in which the first few notes in your left ear reveal a lot about the headphones. The notes are more recessed compared to the cymbals in the Pistons.In the Jazz i57, the notes on different strings of the guitar sound more separated. Overall, more clarity and detail in the song with the Jazz I57.
Voices sound equally impressive on both, can't pick a winner here.
The Highs:
The Pistons take the crown here. Staying with the same song. The highs sound more natural and true to source with the Piston. I love accuracy and reverb of which the piston reproduce the highs. After owning the Xears XPA2Pro, sibilance is my worst feared enemy, the pistons comfort me on this matter. The Jazz i57 however has a very similar VSD1 sound. More prominent, more coloured highs (like the VSD1(S)), which at high volumes, busy drums, may be at the edge of sibiliant. Especially Miles Kane brings out my fear for sibliance. And at high volume they sound harsher than the Pistons, luckily not sibilant. At normal volumes, they sound very well, just a tad to prominent for my liking.
Soundstage is very small on the Jazz i57, comparable to a basketball a few inches in front of your head. The sound doesn't leave that area, while the Piston sound much wider.
Conclusion:
These headphones astonished me when I heard them. For their price (around 12 euro) there isn't any better around. Balanced sound, the perfect bass, nice midrange, only too prominent highs. I'm not trying to hype anything, nor do I work at Intopic. Just trying to share them with you. I hope more experienced people could review this headphone.
