Introduction
After enjoying my re-branded Brainwavz HM5s for around 6 months, I decided that it was time to move onto the next best thing. Not that I got tired of my HM5s, but I just knew that there was something better out there. After looking around on Amazon, Head-Fi and a couple other websites and stumbled onto the Soundmagic HP100s. The looks really impressed me and although the headphones had very few reviews, every review that I read stated that they were one of the best headphones (if not, the best) within their price range. After doing a little bargain hunting for these headphones, I managed to find a deal on MP4Nation selling these headphones for $189 plus 2 day shipping. I'll post the link for the website right here --> http://www.mp4nation.net/soundmagic-hp100-closed-back-hifi-headphones-free-fedex-2-day-to-select-destination#review-form
First Impressions/Opening
My first impressions of these headphones after opening them were that they looked incredible. The carrying case that the headphones themselves came in was very high quality and to me vaguely reminiscent of the case that V-Moda packages their headphones in. After opening the case, one would see the headphones, a cleaning cloth for the earcups, a warranty card, along with a little fishnet back strapped to the inside of the case by velcro that contains a 3.5 to 6.3 adapter, an airplane adapter as well as a carbiner for use with the carrying case. As for the actual headphones, the construction looked top-notch (quite a bit better than my HM5s) and the earcups with their mirror-like glossy plastic and their beige checkerboard-esque printed lines truly gave me a feast for my eyes. The company logo and the headphones model number are placed seamlessly at the center of the earcups. The earcups also rotate which means that they can be used as DJ headphones or in the instance that one would want to hear something that someone said, instead of taking the entire unit off, one could just swivel the cups. The headphones also come with a lock mechanism for the earcup plug to prevent removing of the plug in the instance of turbulence on the cable. One final remark I would like to mention about these headphones is that they come with a coiled cable. I know that some have problems with coiled cables because they add weight to the headphone and may hamper portability but to me, coiled cables are a Godsend as they save me the extra effort of having to switch between cables when I want to use my headphones with my PC or with my phone (something that I found myself doing quite often with my HM5s).
Sound
Now the part that is most important, the sonic capabilities of these headphones. To be honest, I am not much of an audiophile so I cannot explain in detail every achievement or shortcomings regarding how these headphones sound, especially when the only other real headphones I've used were my HM5s and the V-Moda M80s which I've since sold. And while I cannot compare them to other headphones within their price range, what I've decided to do was to pick a total of 6 songs from different genres and state what my feelings where on how the headphones reproduced the sound. In addition, at the end of that segment, I will compare both the HP100 and my HM5s and they to elaborate more on the differences between the two headphones. As a point of reference, I have had my HP100s for around 2 months and any burn-in that will have been required to get the best sound out of these headphones has been completed. In addition, all audio for this test has not been amped and is coming straight from my PC.
Finally, compared to my HM5, the Soundmagics blow them out of the water. Practically anything pro you can think of in the HM5s is multiplied by 10 in the Soundmagics without any of the cons. The very first things that I noticed were much better in the Soundmagics than in my HM5s were the soundstage and the bass response. The soundstage in the HM5s to me was like listening to a 2.1 speaker system compared to the Soundmagics which were like listening to a 5.1 speaker system with a subwoofer. In addition, with my HM5s, I could at times enjoy rap and dubstep but always felt that there was something missing as the left earcup on those headphones is almost entirely devoted to treble and is almost completely devoid of bass. This was one thing that I enjoyed about my M80s when I had them; I very easily enjoyed the above two genres because they gave me the bass that I needed. The Soundmagics take it a whole step further and in addition to better bass, adds an amazing soundstage to complement the bass.
Final Thoughts/Conclusion
Overall, I am very pleased with these headphones and their functionality. In every single genre that I have thrown at it, these headphones have managed to reproduce the sound effortlessly and mystify me into listening to more and more genres to see how these headphones will rise to the challenge. If this review is any indication of how these headphones will handle other genres, then I am sure to enjoy these headphones for many years to come. At an MSRP price of $199, you are getting one hell of a deal that you will not be disappointed in. My only regret is not getting an amp to pair with these headphones as I can only imagine how much more impressed I will be when I find a great DAC and amp.
P.S.
For those reading, this was my very first review of a pair of headphones and I welcome any criticism to this review. If I left anything out of this review that you would have liked me to answer, a comment helping me to improve on ways to become a better reviewer would be amazing. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE - 12/04/2016
Over 3 years later, I can truly say that my Soundmagics have served me well. Every single headphone I've purchased in the last 3 years have been compared to the HP100s and each time, my Soundmagics still seems to give me the best sound and bang for my buck. Unfortunately, damage to the hinges of the earcups on both sides have rendered my current pair nigh unusable. I'm firmly convinced that this is due to the tension on the earcups caused by the straight cable replacement that I received around 6 months earlier. The coiled cable that I so loved with these headphones saw a slow but steady decay over the period of the first 2.5 years I owed my Soundmagics. By the time I finally convinced myself to pay up for another cable, I was very disappointed to learn that SoundMAGIC was no longer making the coiled cable for their headphones. I contacted SoundMAGIC and they promptly had one of their distributors in Minnesota send me a replacement cable with the extension, free of charge (Mad Props to SoundMAGIC!). I like to move around when I listen to my music but because the straight cable had no flexibility to move with me like the coiled cable did, the straight cable would often pull on things around my desk and would pull HARD on my headband in extreme cases. Finally, about three months ago, when I was putting on my pair to listen to some tunes, I noticed that the left earcup was sitting slightly lower on my head then the right earcup. Upon investigation, I found a significant fracture on the earcup holder right below the hinge; a similar but less severe crack was found in the same place on the right earcup holder. Prior to this, I had absolutely NO problems with the build construction and after 2.5 years at the time, they were still running strong with no visible damage. The final straw came a couple weeks back when I accidentally stepped on the extension cable while I was walking and the earcup holder on the left headband snapped clean off. I tried supergluing the broken part back to its original position to no avail.
So after 3 years of wonderful listening experiences, I was torn; do I move onto another headphone that could offer me better or worse performance to what I had been used to for so long or do I purchase another pair of Soundmagics but stay closed off to opportunities that could be better than what I've heard? As tortured as I was to move on from what had given me so much joy for such a significant period of my young audiophile life, lack of American distributors and a refusal to tolerate the straight cable that cause the downfall of my beloved HP100's from the HP150 forced me to look elsewhere for a period of time. After on and off searching for headphones, I happened upon the British SoundMAGIC division and saw that they had the HP100s, new in box and at a fraction of the price I originally paid for my pair. I ordered them about a week ago after an anxious, week long wait, got them in the mail yesterday. Now, honestly speaking, listening to the new pair and my old pair I can truly say they sounded pretty much identical, which is a VERY good thing. I've never really been one to believe in burn-in so YMMV but I'm happy I have another chance to listen and cherish one of the most important things that I've been able to experience in my entire life.
For anyone wanting to find the link for the deal I got, here's two links that I found. They are named differently, but they are both the same distributor: --> http://soundmagicheadphones.com/collections/pro-headphones/products/soundmagic-hp100-closed-back-headphones-with-replaceable-cable
--> http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/soundmagic-hp100-foldable-closed-back-dj-monitoring-headphones-with-replaceable-coiled-cable.html
After enjoying my re-branded Brainwavz HM5s for around 6 months, I decided that it was time to move onto the next best thing. Not that I got tired of my HM5s, but I just knew that there was something better out there. After looking around on Amazon, Head-Fi and a couple other websites and stumbled onto the Soundmagic HP100s. The looks really impressed me and although the headphones had very few reviews, every review that I read stated that they were one of the best headphones (if not, the best) within their price range. After doing a little bargain hunting for these headphones, I managed to find a deal on MP4Nation selling these headphones for $189 plus 2 day shipping. I'll post the link for the website right here --> http://www.mp4nation.net/soundmagic-hp100-closed-back-hifi-headphones-free-fedex-2-day-to-select-destination#review-form
First Impressions/Opening
My first impressions of these headphones after opening them were that they looked incredible. The carrying case that the headphones themselves came in was very high quality and to me vaguely reminiscent of the case that V-Moda packages their headphones in. After opening the case, one would see the headphones, a cleaning cloth for the earcups, a warranty card, along with a little fishnet back strapped to the inside of the case by velcro that contains a 3.5 to 6.3 adapter, an airplane adapter as well as a carbiner for use with the carrying case. As for the actual headphones, the construction looked top-notch (quite a bit better than my HM5s) and the earcups with their mirror-like glossy plastic and their beige checkerboard-esque printed lines truly gave me a feast for my eyes. The company logo and the headphones model number are placed seamlessly at the center of the earcups. The earcups also rotate which means that they can be used as DJ headphones or in the instance that one would want to hear something that someone said, instead of taking the entire unit off, one could just swivel the cups. The headphones also come with a lock mechanism for the earcup plug to prevent removing of the plug in the instance of turbulence on the cable. One final remark I would like to mention about these headphones is that they come with a coiled cable. I know that some have problems with coiled cables because they add weight to the headphone and may hamper portability but to me, coiled cables are a Godsend as they save me the extra effort of having to switch between cables when I want to use my headphones with my PC or with my phone (something that I found myself doing quite often with my HM5s).
Sound
Now the part that is most important, the sonic capabilities of these headphones. To be honest, I am not much of an audiophile so I cannot explain in detail every achievement or shortcomings regarding how these headphones sound, especially when the only other real headphones I've used were my HM5s and the V-Moda M80s which I've since sold. And while I cannot compare them to other headphones within their price range, what I've decided to do was to pick a total of 6 songs from different genres and state what my feelings where on how the headphones reproduced the sound. In addition, at the end of that segment, I will compare both the HP100 and my HM5s and they to elaborate more on the differences between the two headphones. As a point of reference, I have had my HP100s for around 2 months and any burn-in that will have been required to get the best sound out of these headphones has been completed. In addition, all audio for this test has not been amped and is coming straight from my PC.
- Tremonti - Proof
- Johnny Hammond - Lost on 23rd Street
- Origa - Inner Universe
- John Horner - A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics
- Dj Nat - Theory of Everything 2
- Nas - You Wouldn't Understand
Finally, compared to my HM5, the Soundmagics blow them out of the water. Practically anything pro you can think of in the HM5s is multiplied by 10 in the Soundmagics without any of the cons. The very first things that I noticed were much better in the Soundmagics than in my HM5s were the soundstage and the bass response. The soundstage in the HM5s to me was like listening to a 2.1 speaker system compared to the Soundmagics which were like listening to a 5.1 speaker system with a subwoofer. In addition, with my HM5s, I could at times enjoy rap and dubstep but always felt that there was something missing as the left earcup on those headphones is almost entirely devoted to treble and is almost completely devoid of bass. This was one thing that I enjoyed about my M80s when I had them; I very easily enjoyed the above two genres because they gave me the bass that I needed. The Soundmagics take it a whole step further and in addition to better bass, adds an amazing soundstage to complement the bass.
Final Thoughts/Conclusion
Overall, I am very pleased with these headphones and their functionality. In every single genre that I have thrown at it, these headphones have managed to reproduce the sound effortlessly and mystify me into listening to more and more genres to see how these headphones will rise to the challenge. If this review is any indication of how these headphones will handle other genres, then I am sure to enjoy these headphones for many years to come. At an MSRP price of $199, you are getting one hell of a deal that you will not be disappointed in. My only regret is not getting an amp to pair with these headphones as I can only imagine how much more impressed I will be when I find a great DAC and amp.
P.S.
For those reading, this was my very first review of a pair of headphones and I welcome any criticism to this review. If I left anything out of this review that you would have liked me to answer, a comment helping me to improve on ways to become a better reviewer would be amazing. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE - 12/04/2016
Over 3 years later, I can truly say that my Soundmagics have served me well. Every single headphone I've purchased in the last 3 years have been compared to the HP100s and each time, my Soundmagics still seems to give me the best sound and bang for my buck. Unfortunately, damage to the hinges of the earcups on both sides have rendered my current pair nigh unusable. I'm firmly convinced that this is due to the tension on the earcups caused by the straight cable replacement that I received around 6 months earlier. The coiled cable that I so loved with these headphones saw a slow but steady decay over the period of the first 2.5 years I owed my Soundmagics. By the time I finally convinced myself to pay up for another cable, I was very disappointed to learn that SoundMAGIC was no longer making the coiled cable for their headphones. I contacted SoundMAGIC and they promptly had one of their distributors in Minnesota send me a replacement cable with the extension, free of charge (Mad Props to SoundMAGIC!). I like to move around when I listen to my music but because the straight cable had no flexibility to move with me like the coiled cable did, the straight cable would often pull on things around my desk and would pull HARD on my headband in extreme cases. Finally, about three months ago, when I was putting on my pair to listen to some tunes, I noticed that the left earcup was sitting slightly lower on my head then the right earcup. Upon investigation, I found a significant fracture on the earcup holder right below the hinge; a similar but less severe crack was found in the same place on the right earcup holder. Prior to this, I had absolutely NO problems with the build construction and after 2.5 years at the time, they were still running strong with no visible damage. The final straw came a couple weeks back when I accidentally stepped on the extension cable while I was walking and the earcup holder on the left headband snapped clean off. I tried supergluing the broken part back to its original position to no avail.
So after 3 years of wonderful listening experiences, I was torn; do I move onto another headphone that could offer me better or worse performance to what I had been used to for so long or do I purchase another pair of Soundmagics but stay closed off to opportunities that could be better than what I've heard? As tortured as I was to move on from what had given me so much joy for such a significant period of my young audiophile life, lack of American distributors and a refusal to tolerate the straight cable that cause the downfall of my beloved HP100's from the HP150 forced me to look elsewhere for a period of time. After on and off searching for headphones, I happened upon the British SoundMAGIC division and saw that they had the HP100s, new in box and at a fraction of the price I originally paid for my pair. I ordered them about a week ago after an anxious, week long wait, got them in the mail yesterday. Now, honestly speaking, listening to the new pair and my old pair I can truly say they sounded pretty much identical, which is a VERY good thing. I've never really been one to believe in burn-in so YMMV but I'm happy I have another chance to listen and cherish one of the most important things that I've been able to experience in my entire life.
For anyone wanting to find the link for the deal I got, here's two links that I found. They are named differently, but they are both the same distributor: --> http://soundmagicheadphones.com/collections/pro-headphones/products/soundmagic-hp100-closed-back-headphones-with-replaceable-cable
--> http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/soundmagic-hp100-foldable-closed-back-dj-monitoring-headphones-with-replaceable-coiled-cable.html