With the kind permission of
@Gracesheng of Mixcder I have been sent 2 sets of Mixcder ShameMe 5 Bluetooth Headphones. My requirements were to demo away to my hearts content and to also mix it up with my long suffering headphone widow Jo1. This I have done in sufficient enough quantities to relay to you what I found along the journey towards Bluetooth freedom
I have worked with Grace before on a review tour of the Ausdom M04 , another lightweight Bluetooth headphone that was competitively priced. But this tour was for
2 of the same headphones ! Could such a thing work? The reason why I scratched my head and asked myself this time and again should be clear to all of you reading this ; headphones are solitary devices. Even the biggest device (the goliath that is the Abyss AB1266 perchance?) doesn't fit 2 heads in so easily. Sure , agreed , we all meet up every now and then and that is very social but
only for those that know what we know..... And another thing - how many of you out there have concealed the wild spending habits of your precious hobby from your loved one? Hands up!
The package
Nice bright packaged box
With a protective cardboard fap underneath
Which goes on to reveal these in the snapped down position
Why these are called Mixcder ShareMe
The premise of the ShareMe5 ; to share your musical experience with someone else. What you listen to in your headphones , well they get to hear the same stuff in an identical headphone. Not only can you pair the Bluetooth Headphone with your smartphone , Laptop , Boombox or other device , you can pair the Mixcder headphones with any other Mixcder headphones and it's not a difficult thing to do either. Listening to a movie , critiquing the latest Deezer releases , all can be done and adjusted to each person's individual tastes. When you realise that not everyone appreciates ear screeching volumes coming through the loudspeakers (my partner likes to listen at half the volume I do) then maybe one might reasonably consider this has some advantages to it. Each headphone has it's own volume controls on the side - you like it loud , crank itup , you like it soft and there's no need to holler "THAT'S TOO LOUD!!!!!" What this means is , if one's partner can cope with putting on a pair of cans , you the audiophile can have your dynamics and your stereo separation and intimacy etc and you can also share the experience with your loved one who can also share it but on their own terms. Revolutionary!
Let me stray away from the tried and trusted review routines and tell you - these headphones can be shared and can be enjoyed together , if you play it right. Now just think about that for a second. I cannot be alone in saying that my partner has been rathersurprised at my obession with the private world of headfidom. She puts on the headphones as a tolerance to me and my compulsion for perfection on micro details . You can see if leaves her cold. And she really tries ; because I know my Jo. But with the Mixcders I have essentially given my partner her own phones , to use as she likes , to adjust as she wishes , but which she can share what I am listening to , be it a movie or the latest tunes. If I share the same musical tastes (nurtured through repeated concert going) we may have something here. My partner put them on and having been shown the volume adjustment she took to them. So we now have my passion being shared by virtue of a simple volume adjustment and a bit of comfort. Who'd have thought it? Could your partner be sold in the same way?
Ease of Use
The Mixcder's here are simple enough to setup. Mixcder has a well written instruction booklet enclosed that shows how to pair the Mixcders together and how to pair your Mixcder to a bluetooth device. The voice verification when done successfully adds another touch and makes this childsplay.
Comfort
These are lightweight , have some lovely memory foam pleather pads
and headband cushion
and the clamping effect is minimised with a one screw per cup system.
The cups do not swivel overly but have a decent suspension system coming down from the headband. The combination is a winning one and keep the drivers where they need to be irrespective of how square or thin your skull may be.
Isolation
The true magic for me of a headphone - you put a pair on and you escape. You could be anywhere , have anything on your mind it doesn't matter. The music and you can have your own special world. You can zone the World out and bliss is sure to follow. Provided the isolation is right this can even be done in a noisy environment , be it on a plane , on the tube or wherever your life takes you. The better the isolation the more the illusion. I found the ShareMe's to be isolating enough to reach into that makebelieve childhoodlike state whenever and wherever I wanted.
That's good enough for me.
Versatility
Can the Mixcder's take you and your World anywhere? The gym perhaps , a stroll in the country or perhaps a jog through the park ? In fact the first 2 should be no problem , the ShareMe5 won't fall off your head that easily and go loud enough for long enough to outlast more than one long session. We have a problem for the runners amongst us . The single connector per driver from the headband has one drawback. For each footfall on the pavement during my run , there was a knocking noise which could not be alleviated. The flex inherent in the headband whilst being an advantage for many uses was a drawback for us runners. I really wanted them to work too but had to concede that the build was for comfort and alas ! - not for speed
Build
The Mixcder ShareMe 5s have a plastic and pleather memory foam surrounding a decent size angled driver
which is finished with a clamp on both sides of the headband. The clamp reduces the footprint of the ShareMe's down to pocket sized. The question as to whether the hinges may fail at some point in the future was not something that unduly concerned me in everyday use but I do accept that some reviewers have chosen this as the weak point of the headphones. Time will tell but I have not heard of any failures with this yet.
Sound Quality
I make no bones about putting the SQ for the ShareMe 5 so far down this review compared to my usual routine. The ShareMe 5 cannot simply be looked at in terms of pure sound reproduction in comparison with other phones in the same price bracket. This is because they are offering something quite different from phones I own. That being said , if they sound dreadful there's not much point in sticking them on your head. I tried these on classical to metal . I received these just after seeing Jamie Lawson's last gig on his 2 year World Tour promoting his album , Jamie Lawson.
He came home to his birthplace - a great way to take stock of just how far his fame has got him. If you still don't know who I mean , you may still have heard this if you come from the English speaking world.
He was the first signing of Gingerbread Records , a company owned by a chap called Ed Sheeran. Ed heard the above song a few years ago and knew it would be massive. Despite a brief spell in the Irish Charts in 2013 it never got anywhere. Ed rang Jamie and asked him how his songs were getting along and realised he was still in the doldrums. He signed him on the basis of that song alone. If you have Ed Sheeran behind you pushing that song hard , you're in with a chance. And now look at him.....
Yep that's Ed Sheeran and Jamie Lawson , together on stage , in Plymouth , jamming on their cowritten song - Can't See Straight
Back to listening - I've heard this album recently enough to use it as a reference tool to compare the ShareMe 5 against similar wireless and wired phones I have or that HMV are trying to flog.
Bass
Lots of sub and midbass characterise the signature of the ShareMe's. Jamie Lawson's album is mixed with plenty of bass and as many new releases are these days it has plenty of loudness. The album has plenty of punch to it. Critical listening reveals the Mixcder has lots of boost in the bass and is aiming for a consumer sound with a boomy sound.
Mids
The mids are slightly recessed in keeping with the consumer feel to the sound of these. Voices are still easy enough to follow , but the strings of Jamie's guitar to give off a tactile feel like the best will.
Highs/Soundstage/Detail
I am of the opinion more and more that these 3 things are inextricably linked. Space and micro detail are auditory effects created using the upper ranges and the distortion inherent in every analogue device we use. The ShareMe's are rolled off in the uppers , so they are quite smooth. So the shrillness present in some cheaper headphones , that at least is mercifully not here. The rolled off nature of the tuning of these means the soundstage is quite intimate. Cymbals and the echo created in the studio are artificially muted as I expected.
Comparisons
The Ausdom M05 from 2015. They retail on Amazon for £41.99. These have a similar sound signature , an aggressive bass recessed mids and rolled off in the highs. The ShareMe 5s had a fuller more detailed sound and the thickness and size of the cups being slightly deeper and bigger may have had a part in this impression.
The Pendulumic Stance S1+ retail at £169.95. They are several times more expensive than the Mixcder ShareMe 5's which are on Amazon at £45.99. The Stance offer a more accurate tonally balanced detailed signature whilst maintaining a comfort that belies their heavier weight. Whether they are worth the 4x price hike sonically is a question only you dear readers can answer. They are not able to do what the ShareMe's do - we are just talking about the SQ . I believe after 18 months of owning the Stance S1+ they can keep up with the best bluetooth headphones out there.
Verdict
ShareMe may have found a niche in the market here. Perhaps we can , as partners or friends , sit down together and put headphones on and have an enjoyable time without feeling too self conscious. And crank up the music sat in the living rooms of our headfi neighbourhoods without the neighbours knowing a thing about it. Maybe the unsociable aspect of using headphones can be addressed here and elsewhere. If that is something you've ever thought about it , then you should give these a try.
There are limitations to the Mixcder ShareMe 5 headphones in absolute sonic terms. I realised that the whole point of this review may not have been about sound quality after all. This is about a closed headphone that lets you into an open world and if you're like me - cuddled up to your loved one listening to something very old done in a refreshingly new way ; it might just put a smile on your face