At the time of the review, the Ausdom M08 Bluetooth Headphones were on sale at Gearbest’s website. Here is a link to their listing of the product:
http://www.gearbest.com/headsets/pp_230468.html
Introduction
I’ve had the honor to cover some pretty cool headphones and earphones sold by Gearbest. This review follows suit. Today we will be going over a fun little bluetooth headset, the M08 bluetooth headset from Ausdom.
The current market has bluetooth earphone manufacturers fighting for their share of sales. Bluetooth technology is all the rage, and with new versions of bluetooth like 4.0, 4.1 and aptx it's easy to see why. These devices can produce sound quality on par with wired devices, and they are now being sold at similar prices as their wired counterparts. What does all of this mean? It means that consumers are seeing some really nice bluetooth earphone options being sold for cheap prices.
The M08 falls into a category of headphones that offer many variations of the same design. Today we will evaluate the M08 and see how it stacks up against some of the competition.
Disclaimer
I was given an opportunity to review the M08 in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I am in no way affiliated with Ausdom. I would like to take this time to personally thank George at Gearbest for the opportunity.
My Background
I AM NOT a numbers and graphs audiophile or sound engineer. Personal audio enthusiast? Absolutely! Headphone junkie? Possibly…
There’s something about quality DAPs, DACs, Amplifiers and Earphones that intrigues me, especially if they can be had for low prices. I will buy the $5 to $500 earphone that looks promising, in hopes that I will discover that one new gem that can compete with the big names in this industry. If you look at my Head-Fi profile you will see that I have purchased MANY different headphones and earphones, ranging from from dirt cheap to higher end products. For me, this hobby is more about getting great price to performance ratio from a product, and have a variety of different gears with varying builds and sound to mix and match. With personal audio gear, we tend to pay a lot of money for minor upgrades. One thing I’ve learned over the last few years is that just because a headphone has a higher price tag, it doesn’t mean that it has superior build and sound quality.
I’m always looking for great audio at a great price. I’m after headphones and IEMs that give me the “WOW” factor. I can appreciate different builds and sound signatures as long as they are ergonomic, and the sound is pleasing to the ear. It is my pleasure to share my experiences with audio products and make recommendations based gear I have owned and used.
REVIEW
The M08 comes in a white box with silver and gray accents. The front of the box displays a drawing of the headphones along with the Ausdom logo in silver print, and a brief description and name of the product.
The back of the box has specifications written in six different languages, including English. The sides of the box displays the company logo, and a drawing of the M08 side view.
The box operates as a sleeve to another inner green box that pulls out from the bottom. This reveals the M08 headset. Underneath the cardboard cutout that holds the M08 in place lies a somewhat generic 3.5 mm cable, a micro USB cable for charging, and an owners manual that explains the M08 functionality.
Specifications and Accessories
Specifications:
Certificate: RoHS, CE, FCC
Connectivity : Wired and Wireless
Connecting interface : Micro USB, 3.5mm
Application : Mobile Phone, Aviation, Computer, DJ, Portable Media Player
Plug Type: AUX-IN, Micro USB, Full-sized, Bluetooth
Cable length : 1.5m
Driver unit: 40mm
Sound channel: Two-channel (stereo)
Frequency response : 20~20KHz
Impedance : 32ohms
Sensitivity : 90 + / - 3dB S.P.L at 1KHz
Microphone frequency: 100Hz - 10KHz
Microphone dimension: Diameter 4 x 1.5mm
Power supply: Built-in 500mAh lithium-polymer rechargeable battery
Output power: 20mW
Talk Time: 25 hours
Music Time: 25 hours
Standby time: 250 hours
Charging time: 2 - 3 hours
Accessories:
1 x AUSDOM M08 Bluetooth Stereo Headset
1 x Micro USB Charging Cable
1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable
1 x User Manual (in English, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Italian)
Although I feel the cables included are on the cheap side, for the most part the 3.5 mm cable is not really needed. The long battery life makes the 3.5 mm cable pretty much obsolete. More on this in a bit.
Overall Build
The M08 is extremely lightweight yet still has a nice build quality, especially for its asking price. They are constructed of mostly aluminum alloy and synthetic protein material, with a little bit of plastic.
Starting with the headband, We have a somewhat rigid shiny plastic band with minimal flex. The top portion is a shiny plastic that can be a fingerprint magnet.
The underside (where the headphone makes contact with the user’s head) is a padded synthetic protein material. The plastic build prevents me from seeing just how flexible the band is out of fear that I might crack the plastic top. Just know it is formidable and you shouldn’t have any problem with the headband.
The band attaches to an aluminum alloy and plastic hinge and sliding mechanism that allows owners to adjust both the arm length and fold them up for storage and transport. The hinges fold inward, making the M08 more travel friendly. Sadly, there is no case in the package to store the folded headphones.
The band has slides that click into place to adjust the band size.
Another nicely crafted piece of aluminum alloy attaches to the other side of the slider arms and contours down to where the arms attach to the cups. I really like the way this was designed. The alloy arms attach to the cups via hinge that has minimal rotation, but enough to pivot and provide a nice fit. The hinge leads to a ovular flat disc which houses the PCB and battery. It appears to be made of brushed black aluminum and has a plastic outer shell.
The right side of this piece has a three button remote layout, a small microphone hole, a small hole for an function indicator light as well as a 3.5 mm port for using the M08 straight from a music source without utilizing the battery or bluetooth.
The left side has a micro USB port for charging the device, and a small hole for a light to indicate if the unit is charging successfully.
The smaller discs attach to a larger plate that follows the same design concept. The larger plate appears to be constructed of a tough plastic made to mimic the black aluminum used in the smaller disc that attaches to the arms. This ovular plate is attached via a ball and socket concept that allows them to articulate freely to give listeners a supreme fit. This plate holds the driver and pads.
Overall, I think Ausdom hit the mark by making something that seems fairly durable and lightweight. Although I think the M08 would hold up if dropped, I don’t think the M08 has a chance of withstanding being stepped on.
Cable
The 3.5 mm cable is about as cheap and generic as can be. Because of the great battery life and relatively short charging time, I had no need for the cable. Aside from testing that it worked, I have not needed or wanted to use it.
Functionality
The M08 functionality is superb. Connecting the device is relatively easy (I won’t go into too much detail because at this point it is standard for connecting a bluetooth headset) and instructions are in the owner’s manual for how to do so.
The button layout is simple and easy to use. Although I wish they would have indicated each button with a specific symbol to help identify them, once I learned the buttons I was able to use them without having to take the headphones off. Here is how each button works:
Power/Enter button: is the furthest back button from the front and operates powering the device on and off, accessing the connection mode, answering phone calls and playing/pausing music.
+/UP button: is the center button and controls volume. Long pressing this button will change songs forward when in music mode.
-/DOWN button: is the farthest forward button and reduces volume. Long pressing this button will restart the song when in music mode. Long pressing this button a second time after restarting a song will skip back to the previous track.
I was really impressed with the connectivity. I was able to use the M08 indoors and outdoors without any signal loss or cutting out. The range before the M08 lost connection with my LG G3 was around 20-25 feet.
When using the M08 for phone calls it worked great indoors. The same could not be said for outdoor use. The M08 microphone placement made having outdoor conversations difficult.
The M08 has 25 hours of continuous playtime, and 250 hours of standby time thanks to its built in 500mAh Li-Po battery. What that means is I was able to use them on and off for anywhere from two to four days (a few hours each day) before they needed to be recharged. Charging time was a couple of hours from a standard wall charger. This is incredible for a bluetooth headset and a big reason why consumers should put the M08 on the top of their list. With my LG G3, a battery meter was displayed on the top bar of my phone, indicating what my status was and when I was due for a recharge.
Comfort
Although not the most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve ever worn, the M08 was very comfortable for an on-ear design. The pads are a high quality synthetic protein material that prevented my ears from getting too sweaty. They have a decent amount of clamping force that I could see being a bit of issues for people with wide heads. For me it helped with isolation. I had several people try them on, all of which said not only did they sound really good, they also stated that the M08 isolation was excellent.
Sound Review
I did my demo with my usual gear. I used an LG-G3 with the latest firmware for portable and smartphone use, and either my Shanling H3 or iBasso DX80 for testing the wired connection.
I used my usual same songs for testing gear:
“Limit to your love” by James Blake (bass speed, punch, response)
“Doin’ it Right” by Daft Punk (sub bass)
“Get lucky” by Daft Punk (bass to midrange transition resolution, male vocals)
“Madness” by Muse (soundstage, separation)
“Some nights” by Fun (soundstage and male vocals)
“The soundmaker” by Rodrigo y Gabriela (texture and imaging)
“Bassically” by Tei Shi (bass to midrange resolution, female vocals)
“Skinny Love” performed by Birdie (female vocals, acoustic playback)
“One” by Ed Sheeran (male vocals, acoustic playback)
“Outlands” from the Tron Legacy Soundtrack (symphonic presentation, imaging)
“Sultans of swing” by Dire Straits (detail, separation, balance)
“And Justic for All” by Metallica (driver distortion, treble response, rock playback)
“Ten thousand fists” by Disturbed (driver distortion, treble response, rock playback)
Note: Other tracks were used, but the listed songs were primarily used to assess and break down the gear’s response.
Source Selection
The M08 needs a bluetooth connection that supports version 4.0. The built in decoder and amplifier of the M08 will do the rest of the work. From what I’ve read, Bluetooth 4.0 does not support lossless files. Fortunately for me, my LG G3 doesn’t support lossless music either. For the most part I streamed Google Music in it’s highest streaming quality and had no issues doing so. I tested and confirmed them to work with IOS on an Iphone 6 and Iphone 4, and also my old Sony Xperia TL.
Sound Signature
These things sound fantastic for a pair of bargain bluetooth earphones. The signature is warm tilted with a mid bass lift and relaxed upper frequency response. The sound was “big” to my ears and surprised me quite a bit. I wasn’t expecting them to sound as good as they do. To be honest they sounded better than several pairs of wired headphones that cost twice as much as the M08. Let’s break down each frequency to figure out why.
Bass
Midbass tones are the star of the show. Although that usually means an unnatural sound, the M08 midbass response was well controlled. Sub bass extended well, and there were times I was really impressed with just how low these could go. Is the M08 elite in terms of bass response? The answer is no. Sometimes these things to border on being stuffy sounding, but for the price they are phenomenal and can hang with just about everything in this range, especially for a bluetooth headphone.
Midrange
M08 has a polite and somewhat vanilla sounding midrange. Tones are balanced and neutral sounding to my ears. I did notice what seems to be a recessed upper midrange that made vocals have a very smooth finish. On top of this, the M08 lacks the detail and clarity that would make them elite. Still, the midrange is inoffensive and in good balance with the rest of tuning. Although discerning ears will wish they were more refined, they are very formidable and work well with all genres.
Treble
Treble is somewhat snappy and has good presence. It isn’t the most extended or crisp thing you will ever hear, but it just works. Cymbals have a nice and natural quality, albeit slightly distant as compared to the rest of the frequency response. There is no sense of sibilance in the M08 tuning. The overall perception that I got from the M08 treble is that it is polite and inoffensive.
Soundstage and Imaging
The M08 has some really solid soundstage depth. I’m more impressed with the sound when I focus in on this range. I feel like this is where they excel. The polite and smooth upper frequencies combined with a slight lack of separation and detail makes them seem like they have average height at best. M08 doesn’t have the clarity and refinement for me to say that imaging is elite. Still it is slightly better than the average on-ear headphone thanks to the lower frequency dynamics.
Comparisons
Meelectronics Air-Fi Matrix 2 ($65 to $95 USD on many sites)
The Matrix 2 was a breakthrough product when they released. They offer APTX bluetooth, and paved the way for a lot of the new bluetooth headsets, including the M08.
Comparing the two, the Matrix 2 is definitely the more bassy (and sloppier sounding) of the two. Midrange is slightly more veiled on Matrix 2, but they have a more refined upper midrange and treble area. Matrix 2 seems like it would work better for modern genres, while the M08 seems like it would be more universally suited for all types of genres, and appeal more to those looking for a balanced sound signature. The M08 also has superior isolation.
I give them a draw for build quality and functionality. X7 has more buttons and functions, but I really enjoy the simple layout of the M08. Accessories goes to the Matrix 2. Their flat carbon fiber carrying case is epic. Battery life and charging times are similar.
Ausdom M06 ($40 to $60 USD on many sites)
The Ausdom M06 is a previous Ausdom model that is cut from the same cloth as the other previously mentioned headphones. To be honest it could be mistaken for a love child of the Matrix two, having elements from both headphones, and a sound that sits between the two.
Comparing the two, The M06 has more boomy and less responsive bass as compared to the M08. To be completely honest, I put the M08 in another league than the M06 sound. Side by side, the M06 is muffled, boomy and sloppy in comparison.
Build quality, functionality and accessories is a draw.
Conclusion
Ausdom made a lightweight and great sounding earphone with fantastic isolation. That’s quite an accomplishment! Although they have the tuning, they don’t have the same detail and refinement to its sound as other more expensive high end wired earphones. Should that be a deal breaker? Absolutely not! These are an excellent pair of bluetooth headphones that are very reasonably priced and designed to be used for commuting, exercising, gaming and so on.
They M08 isn’t going to take the world by storm, but it is a step in the right direction for bluetooth headsets. They checked a lot of boxed with the M08, and will make a great addition to anyone’s bluetooth capable smartphone, computer or tablet.
Thanks for reading and happy listening!
