Preamble:
The 1MORE Over-Ear Headphones (http://www.gearbest.com/headsets/pp_265776.html) were sent to me by GearBest for the purpose of an honest evaluation. The MSRP is $79.99; the headphones were prices at $50 on the GearBest website at the time of this review.
The Chinese company 1MORE was founded in 2013. Mainly focussing on audio products, especially headphones and in-ears, the manufacturer became more or less well known after just a short time.
To find out how their over-ear headphones, which are advertised as being tuned with the help of an internationally renowned sound engineer, assert themselves sonically and if they are worth their price, just read the following few paragraphs below.
On the GearBest website, the 1MORE Over-Ear Headphones are listed as “Super Bass Headphones” – whether “super” means “good” or “plenty” in this case will be found out during this review as well.
Technical Specifications:
Sensitivity: 104 dB
Frequency Response: 20 - 20000 Hz
Maximum Power: 50 mW
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Weight (without cable): 235 g
Cable Length: 1.2 m
Delivery Content:
The in-ears arrive in a black box with paper sleeve that has got a glossy silver “Voice of China” logo on the front and the technical specifications on the back. Removing the sleeve, the actual packaging which has got a 1MORE logo and a red impulse-wave-like pattern on its front gets visible.
Inside is the headphone which is securely covered in foam; a small red cardboard box contains the cable, a carrying pouch as well as a quick-start guide.
Looks, Feels, Build Quality:
Having seen the headphone in real life for the first time, I was quite stunned because of how awesome they look – the 1MORE is matte red metallic, with a very smooth soft-touch surface that clearly differs from many inexpensive headphones, as it is neither soft nor prone to scratches. The headphone is made of lightweight and very tough/sturdy TR-90 metal (the headband can be bent and twisted without any damage); the headband is bolstered on the inside.
Below the 1MORE logos, there’s a silver element on each side that may lead into thinking the headphone was foldable – unfortunately that is not the case!
The headband adjustment mechanism reminds me of the Sennheiser Momentum’s and is steplessly adjustable; the ear-cups have got a structure on the outside in the centre, which looks very nice upon close inspection.
The pleather pads don’t only look but also feel nice, solely the side markers inside the cups (why do some manufacturers even print them inside?!) look a bit cheapish.
The replaceable cable is quite good and flexible.
The visual and haptic impression of the 1MORE is excellent.
Solely it’s a bit sad that the headphone isn’t foldable (although it looks like it was) and that the side-markers are printed inside of the ear-cups (which I detest, as it doesn’t look good imho).
Comfort, Isolation:
I have got rather large ears and an average/smaller head, therefore the headphones are not over-ears but on-ears for me, but the pads are quite small in general.
People with (quite) large heads may have problems getting a good fit, as the largest expansion of the ear-cups might not be enough for them.
Although the ear-pads don’t surround my ears but lay on them, the headphone doesn’t feel much unpleasant, as pressure isn’t too much (though not too little either) and the pads are quite soft.
After some time, some heat builds up underneath the cups, although it doesn’t increase over time and remains on an identical, comfortable level.
The bolstered head-band offers a good pressure distribution but I wouldn’t mind if it was a bit softer.
Noise isolation is not bad for closed-back headphones and better than average. Exterior noise sounds damped but also a bit darker.
Remote Control, Microphone:
Unfortunately the buttons feel quite cheap and don’t do justice to the headphone’s nice looks – in my opinion, they could have been left out.
The microphone’s speech quality is average; voices sound slightly darker than natural and a bit coated.
Sound:
My main audio players for this evaluation were the iBasso DX80 as well as DX90. Music was stored in FLAC-, Hi-Res and MP3-format (320 kBps); just in case the headphones were burnt in before critical listening took place.
Tonality:
I would describe the sound as bassy-smooth and dark.
Down from 600 Hz, the lows’ emphasis starts slowly and evenly rising, reaching its climax at around 80 Hz as sort of a hump of about 7 dB – the focus lays on upper bass, however mid-bass and fundamental tone are audibly emphasised as well, with rather warm lows. Sub-bass at 30 Hz is still present with enough pressure yet less level.
Mids are a bit on the darker as well as slightly warmer side, though without much colouration.
Treble is very even, without any spikes or dips, and more in the background, yet not too much so that tonal balance is still good and the sound doesn’t shift into the dark and muffled direction too much but is just smooth-dark. Presence area and upper treble have slightly less level than middle treble.
Tonally, certain similarities with the Brainwavz HM2 and Sennheiser Amperior are undeniable due to the smooth-dark character – the 1MORE is a bit more balanced sounding than the HM2 (slightly less bass, slightly more treble, no muffled mids); the Amperior has a tad less bass but also the more relaxed middle treble with more level in the upper highs.
Resolution:
Detail retrieval is very nice, especially for $50 – sound is cohesive and only slightly lacks behind well-established models like the Shure SRH440 or Sennheiser Amperior; compared to the Brainwavz HM2, the 1MORE Over-Ears are a definite upgrade.
Vocals are rendered with a good amount of details and without any veil, though because of the tonal tuning, this headphone wouldn’t be my personal first choice for vocal-heavy music. The HM2’s muffled vocal veil is completely missing on the 1MORE, mids have audible more details.
The highs are very even, seem natural and not really artificial.
Lows are very controlled, quick and arid.
Soundstage:
For a closed-back headphone, the 1MORE generates a quite natural imaginary room in my head, sounding relatively airy and open.
The soundstage isn’t congested at all, with about average width and really good depth with decent layering. Instrument separation is very precise as well, keeping the price in mind.
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Vs. Brainwavz HM2:
1MORE’s isolation is better.
The 1MORE has a bit less bass (about 2 dB less) and doesn’t sound as dark.
The HM2 is a solid headphone for the price – the 1MORE however is a very good one, easily surpassing the Brainwavz regarding sound quality and resolution. HM2’s midrange veil is clearly lacking the 1MORE.
Treble and mids sound more natural, also being more detailed.
1MORE’s bass is faster, more arid and has better control and details.
1MORE’s soundstage is larger with the better instrument separation as well as layering.
Vs. Shure SRH440:
The Shure isolates slightly better.
The SRH440 sounds much more balanced/neutral, with quite flat lows and fundamental tone plus audible more treble, hence sounding brighter by quite a bit. 1MORE’s bass extends deeper.
Regarding resolution, both headphones are surprisingly close, with a slight edge towards the Shure in the mids and treble where the SRH440 is minimally cleaner. In terms of bass speed and lows’ details, both are on par, though the Shure sounds subjectively faster as its fundamental tone area is much leaner, hence it conveys a better sense of speed.
The SRH440 imho always had a really good soundstage for a closed-back headphone. The Shure’s generated imaginary field of sound is a bit larger and has got the airier and more precise instrument separation.
Overall, the Shure is technically better, however by much less than half a class.
VS. Sennheiser Amperior:
Amperior’s isolation is quite a bit better.
Tonally, both have got a more or less comparable character: Amperior’s lows are slightly less present by about one dB, mids are somewhat darker and more relaxed as a result of the more recessed middle treble. Sennheiser’s upper treble has more level than 1MORE’s, adding little more sparkle to compensate for the relaxed middle highs.
Just as compared to the Shure, both headphones aren’t far apart when it is about resolution, and the Amperior’s advantage isn’t that much, only being a slight bit more differentiated and cleaner. Also in the bass department, both are identically fast and dry, however the Amperior is a bit more differentiated and detailed, but then again by less than half a class.
I’d be lying if I was talking about soundstage when describing the Amperior – it has never been known as having some kind of expansive stage, though its “location precision” is excellent.
Conclusion:
Very often, fancy and nice looking portable headphones suffer from bad sound, but not in this case – for the quite little price, the 1MORE Over-Ear headphones don’t only offer excellent looks, flawless build with decent stability, but also a very well-made sound that is just as good as the headphones look and feel (and believe me, I find them very good looking).
Let’s get back to my initial question – what does “Super Bass” mean in this case? The 1MORE offers a good mixture of emphasised and qualitatively valuable bass, so it is no bloated bass monster with undifferentiated lows but offers quite enjoyable sound, with strong however not overpowered lows.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a clear winner for the price that does many things right and therefore scores 93% or 4.5 out of 5 stars – solely the inline remote could be better and it would be nice if the headphone was foldable, plus the fundamental tone area could be slightly less present for a better sense of speed.
When I got the 1MORE, I was very sceptical, too, and thought it was just a fancy headphone with mediocre sound. After playing the first beats, I first raised my eyebrows and then smiled. I smiled even more after the comparison with the Shure and Amperior, after it got obvious how close the 1MORE comes. Before first listening, I thought about comparing it to something in the $30 to 50 range as I thought it would be an average headphone. I was so wrong and after the first days, I knew that I had to compare it to the Shure and Sennheiser.