ROSESELSA Distant Mountain
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This time i will review an unique headphone from Roseselsa, it have very retro vibes, very fashionable, and of course will make you looks very cool. Lets review the mesmerizing distant, Distant Mountain!
𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦
Packaging is a very special thing on Distant Mountain. The packaging design is luxurious and elegant. I can even guarantee that you will rarely find this kind of packaging on a headphone with 2 or 3 time price range of Distant Mountain.
The unboxing experience feel very premium thanks to magnetic seal on this box. They also have some accesories partitions that make the unboxing experience more fun and exiciting.
In the packaging we will get tons of accessories. First we get a MMCX to 3.5mm jack cable that already have built in mic, so you can use it for a phone call. Beside that, we get 2 pair of foam earpad, 1 pair normal foam, and 1 pair of donut shape foam. As a note, during the review i will use the normal foam that already installed on the headphone. Because the donut shape foam is reducing the mid bass and make the mid range position that already in forward, even more forward than before. So in my opinion, the donut shape foam is not suitable for this headphone characteristic.
Then, what make me amazed is we got DAC Dongle RZ200m that using ALC 5686 chip. The DAC increase the detail and have enough power to drive the Distant Mountain. Lastly, the most special thing… WAIFU Stand!!!
Honestly, i was not expecting there will be a waifu stand on the box. Its very suprising! Just look at the box design, its very elegant without anime things at all. But after i re-check behind the box, they write it down about the stand. So, well… My suggestion is that Roseselsa must make this kind of surprise more often!
𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬
With mezmerizing beauty that catching the eye, will the sound quality of Distant mountain mezmerize my ear too?? Lets review it!
𝗕𝗮𝘀𝘀
Surprisingly, the bass in this headphone is impactful enough, and the sub bass rumble is present and enough too. Of course, its not the most impactful bass, but just be honest, with the on ear earpad and the “open side” design of Distant Mountain, i didn’t expect that the bass quality to be this good.
𝗠𝗶𝗱
The mid range in Distant Mountain is in very forward position. This very forward mid make the vocal become shouty sometime, especially in the higher note. Using the Donut shape earpad make it even more shouty, so i am more recommending to use the normal earpad.
𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗲
This part actually safe enough, sometimes it can be slightly spicy and attacking, but overall i can say it safe enough. It have some detail, but not very resolving.
𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹
Soundstage is the main speciality in this headphone. As the name suggest, Distant Mountain, this headphone can present the soundstage as wide as the mountains!! Well, maybe its not that exaggerated, but i brave enough to guarantee you that there are not many headphones on this price range that can offer the soundstage as wide as Distant Mountain.
This wide soundstage may also due to the housing design which has holes on the sides, kind of open back, but on the sides… Maybe we can call it open side? This design of course have some weakness, that is the sound is leaking out.
The separation is good enough, even though when there are many instrument played, the sound feel overlapping each other. For the micro detail i think its present enough, the guitar strum or the sighing voice is easy enough to hear.
𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬
From the first sight, i've concluded that on ear design like this won't comfortable, but i was wrong. Distant Mountain is comfortable enough, the head clamp is fit and have enough clamping, you can adjust the housing fit up and down. The foam earpad is comfortable too, not hot and quite soft on the ear. But for long time listening, your ear lobe will feel quite sore because the on ear design in this headphone.
𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡
Do you want to look fashionable, classy, but still want a headphone with premium sound quality? Do you like a wide soundstage but still want enough bass? Do you want a headphone with the best unboxing experience and super complete accessories? Distant Mountain is the best choice on the market today!
Disclaimer:
Today we are going to see together the Roseselsa Distant Mountain kindly sent by Hifigo.A product that is very reminiscent of old school headphones but at a decidedly superior quality level. I was very curious about this on-ear model because, honestly, over-ear headphones create quite a bit of discomfort for me in prolonged use. They usually heat up my ears a lot and I only use them in the winter or cold months. These Roseselsa Distant Mountain are very open in structure so you can’t expect a performance like with closed ones. I could say that in some points they resemble some Hifiman that I have had the opportunity to try.
However, the review will still be 100% honest and in no way biased.
I’m not an audiophile; I’m just a guy that likes to test out different IEMs and DACs and spends a lot of time listening to music.
So I’m not going to use super-technical words to review it, but I will do my best to describe it.
Tech Specs:
Distant Mountain- Driver Units: 40mm Diaphragm Driver
- Total Harmonic Distortion: 2% @ 1000Hz
- Sensitivity: 115dB @ 1mW
- Impedance: 32 Ω
- Frequency Response Range: 20-2000 Hz
- Interface Type: 3.5 mm
- Cable Length: 120 cm
- Connector Type: MMCX
- Plug Type: 3.5mm to Type C
- Chip: ALC5686 Decoder Chip
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 124 dB
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): -95 dB
- PCM Sampling Rate: 32bits/384KHz
- Frequency Response Range: 20Hz – 20000Hz
- Dynamic Range: 113 dB
- Output Load: 3.0V – 5.5V
- Output Power: 22.5mW @ 32Ω
Packaging:
The packaging of the Roseselsa Distant Mountain has a scent of times gone by. The packaging is extremely well finished from every point of view. The design is simple, classic, and elegant, like the product itself. Opening to the left, the package “unrolls,” revealing different compartments with some of the accessories included. The headset is set in the main part and has some protections on the gold-colored chrome parts.
Inside we find the following accessories:
- RZ200-m Dongle
- 2 pairs of pads
- MMCX cable
- Anime gadgets
- Manual and warranty
In terms of accessories, you have everything you need. The cable is well made, like all those included with the Roseselsa. The pads are more than enough but you can buy more for greater comfort. The dongle is always a very useful accessory, especially if you don’t already have one. If you have others, you can easily get the version without it. A carrying bag is missing.
Design/Build Quality:
The design of the Roseselsa Distant Mountain immediately brings to mind the era of portable CD players. Times that are now gone but that are in the memories of all of us. Honestly, I find it a simple and effective design; personally, I like the retro look. The materials chosen by Roseselsa are high-quality: lambskin headbands and everything else is CNC-machined metal. They have their own consistency that makes them very solid and with a premium feel.
The choice of materials is perfect. The adjustment of the headband is a bit limited because there is no joint on the pavilions that causes the inclination to change. You need a medium-large head to fill the headband and give the right inclination to support the pavilions on the ears. In the case of a small head, the lower part of the pavilion will exert pressure while the upper part will not. This, in my opinion, will lead to several conflicting feedbacks from users. I have a large head so I have the best alignment that can be obtained. The earcups are practically open-back, as you can see from a ring of holes that runs all around. The MMCX connectors are not my favorite but on a product like this, they fit divinely. Once the pads are removed, you can take a peek at the topological drivers. Above we find a black mesh for protection.
Comfort/Fit:
I was comparing myself with other people in this hobby; I find them decidedly comfortable compared to my over-ear headphones because they don’t heat my ear at all. In addition, my head fills the headband, allowing me to have a higher level of comfort than perhaps those who have a narrower head. I don’t have other on-ear headphones apart from an old House of Marley, which, however, is very heavy and heats the ear a lot. This is infinitely more comfortable but I imagine there are much more comfortable models.
Maybe those who have a gap between the driver and the ear will opt for higher-quality pads but I still think that the sound situation changes relatively little.
Initial sound impression:
The Roseselsa Distant Mountain honestly surprised me in terms of sound quality. Despite the very open structure of the pads, the sound is halfway between closed and open back. They tend to be bright (but I don’t notice harshness or annoying peaks); on the other hand, the mids are nice and detailed and quite natural in the sound signature. The bass is surprising in my opinion; for the type of headphones, they are deep and have a good impact with a decent sub-bass extension. If the track requires it, they can bring out a certain unexpected character (obviously everything depends on the correct positioning of the same). There is no bass bleeding and the entire image is remarkably accurate. As a first listen, I was particularly surprised because I expected a detailed sound but with less richness. Pay attention to the source you choose because, from one to the other, I noticed differences in the mid-low range.Equipment used for testing:
Device:
- OSX
- Poco M4 Pro
- Amazon music UHD 24-bit 96kHz
- Creative SoundBlaster G8
- Fosi Audio K7 (upcoming review)
- EPZ TP35
- Fosi SK02
- Muse Hifi M4
- Fiio KA11
- Fiio KA17
- Fosi DS2
- Simgot DEW4X
- EPZ TP50
- Creative SoundBlaster X5
Final sound impression:
In the meantime, that I have been using them for a few weeks, I have read with interest the comments of other users and I have noticed a certain division of opinions about them. I believe the only plausible explanation is that since there is no mobile connection on the earcups for some, the positioning of the pads leaves space in the upper part of the ear, making the sound very bright. In my case, I find the mix perfectly balanced and extremely enjoyable.
Above all, on the comfort side, they do not cause me any strange pressure at any point. They are breathable and even external sounds permeate well inside, making them excellent even for use outside in traffic. Even the headband, despite being very thin and not very padded, does not cause me any discomfort.
It is a product that in its genre is particularly successful, there are no alternatives that use similar materials so I think it will have its own market share.
Treble
The treble of the Roseselsa Distant Mountain is crisp but has never bothered me. In terms of hardness for me, they are very safe. I will tell you that in terms of highs there is also a fairly early roll-off that takes away a bit of air and detail. The perception of extension for me is limited in a satisfactory way but I can understand that if the pads do not rest correctly on the ear, the problem of too much brightness could arise.Mids
As for the mids, I find them particularly pleasant and rich in details and with the right weight of the notes. The tone is slightly warm but for the most part, natural. I find it very pleasant to listen to R&B and jazz genres. Both male and female voices are very pleasant. They have the typical tone of Roseselsa and the type of topological driver. It reminds me a bit of some Hifiman headphones.Bass
The bass, as anticipated, is much more present and prominent than I would have expected. They are deep bass for the type of headphones you are listening to and even the sub-bass, even if in moderate quantity, does its part. We are far from the bass that one can expect from a Closed-back but I think their presence is still surprising. Thanks to them, the notes and voices have the right richness and the soundstage, even if quite intimate, manages to take a bit of depth.Separation/Imaging/Soundstage:
There is no noticeable bleeding; the soundstage is quite limited; we go out a few centimeters beyond the ears but it is still precise in its intimacy with a sharp and rich image. I realize that this perception depends entirely on the positioning of the Distant Mountain on the ears.Comparison:
I can’t make comparisons with Koss. The last time I used similar headphones was with a portable CD player, probably over 15 years ago. I have a pair of House of Marley On-Ear but with questionable sound quality. The Roseselsa Distant Mountain reminds me at times of some planar Hifiman that I tried with more warmth on the low range but less linearity on the treble. I honestly like them and currently they are the ones that guarantee me the best comfort.Conclusion:
The Roseselsa Distant Mountain is a retro-style on-ear headphone with very good overall quality. If we think about the materials and the sound it offers, in my opinion the asking price is more than fair. I’ve been spending several days now with them in my ears, listening in total relaxation to different albums and playlists. I think that an additional joint on the earcup would have made them even more comfortable. You need a head that can fill the space between the two earcups well; otherwise, you will have significant losses of low frequencies with an increase in treble. As for the audio sources, you need a good dongle; it also plays with the one offered by them in the bundle but in my opinion, you need something that is at least comparable to a CS43131, like a Fiio KA11.
A nice product at the right price.
Where to buy (no affiliations):
Introduction
ROSESELSA, the brand formerly known simply as Rose or Rose Technics, was founded in 2015. Since then, it has been dedicated to the pursuit of unrivalled original sound reproduction through intelligent technology and meticulous manufacturing. In recent years, it has introduced a series of excellent audio products that are well known among music enthusiasts around the world. ‘Dare to make differences‘ has been Rose Technics’ statement and determination since its inception, and its original intention adheres to the concept of original design and simplicity, continually designing classic and elegant products in pursuit of immortality in an era of rapid obsolescence. In this way, they have undoubtedly designed a product such as the Distant Mountain, a supra-aural headset with a distinctly retro and vintage design. They are made with a headband of solid stainless steel and genuine lambskin, which provides a stable, smooth fit without irritating the skin, and does not cause fatigue during use (this is what the brand itself says). The body has been CNC coaxial machined and the design is clearly fashionable. The 40 mm diameter dynamic driver uses a topological composite diaphragm. The redesigned dome and corrugated ring provide clear, transparent treble and deep bass. Thanks to the neodymium super magnets and the special acoustic structure for small headphones, the Distant Mountains offer richer sound details and a more natural treble extension. The metal grille reduces the impact of sound output on sound quality, providing smoother, more stable highs and a more delicate, fuller tone. The pressure-relieving design of the grille on the side of the cavity increases air permeability. At the same time, the air intake is several times higher than that of conventional large headphones, which significantly improves treble extension. The sponge ear pads take into account both softness and breathability. The headband allows for precise length adjustment and has a clearly visible scale. A braided 5N monocrystalline copper EMI cable with detachable MMCX interface is supplied. The classic headphone architecture leaves more space for the ears, allowing for transparency and comfort at all times during use. When playback is stopped, you can communicate with the outside world normally without removing the headphones. So you can concentrate on ambient sounds to travel more safely.
Undoubtedly, the brand's introduction is comprehensive, informative, accurate and coherent, and has a clear objective. Let's see in the following review whether it achieves its objective.
Specifications
Packaging
Unsurprisingly, the Distant Mountains come in a relatively large box wrapped in cellophane, which has a ring to be hung on a rod. The box is eminently white and has an actual photo of the product occupying much of the main face. At the top is the brand logo, below is text referring to the philosophy behind the creation of the model. On the back there is a brown bar at the top and then, on a white background, there is the whole description of the product in Chinese and English, the contents of the package and two real photos of the two models of the product, brown and black. My model is the black one. At the bottom, the compatibility of the product is indicated, next to it are the brand's contact details and the icons of the certifications it complies with. The box opens like a book in two halves. The first thing you see is an onion paper cover with a picture of the product seen from the front and the name of the model on the mountains that connect the two transmitters. On the spine there is a small white box that holds another set of doughnut-shaped foams. After removing the paper, you can see the headphones sheathed in white cardboard in a simple, but very effective way. It has a strip of cardboard in the form of a handle that fits the base, while the speakers are embedded in custom-made holes. The gold parts are protected by blue non-adhesive cellophane. On the left half is an envelope-like box with more accessories. The complete contents are as follows:
Both the presentation and the packaging combine elegant design with masterful simplicity to keep the product safe during a journey of several thousand kilometres. The refinement and great design of the product is apparent from the packaging itself. I'm missing a carrying bag and I'm missing the badge with the anime girl on it. On request, I would have liked a couple more spare foams, as they can always be hard to come by.
Construction and Design
The design has a clear retro and vintage character, but its style is remarkable and integrated into the present day. The materials used are of high quality, such as the headband, made of pure stainless steel, and its lambskin covering. It is a narrow rod with a gold-plated rectangle finish and the lettering indicating the channel inscribed on its outer side. On the inner side there are screws to secure the two rods together. A flat sheet of metal protrudes from the lower centre of the rectangle and has a gold-plated stop across the top of the rectangle. This sheet has slots and is the part through which the loudspeakers slide and fit into the corresponding slots. At the bottom there is another golden piece with a rectangular shape at its junction and a rounded finish at its free and opposite end. The piece that slides along the rod is a thick sheet metal with a groove and a cylinder attached which forms part of the same body. The outer face of the cylinder has a gold-plated circular piece with concentric grooves on the inside. On the bottom surface of the cylinder is the MMCX connection, each of which has a red plastic crown to indicate the right side and black for the left side. The inner face of the cylinder has a circular base with an upper diameter that enlarges conically to form the base that houses the loudspeakers. On the outer face of the base of the speakers there is a concentric groove and the model name inscribed along the round lines. The rim of the base of the container has multiple holes spread over its entire surface, all of which are protected by grooves. As it approaches the outside, the rim widens to form a flat face with a larger diameter. This face is thin and, on the other side, is completely protected by a thick, slightly domed mesh that protects the speaker. Finally, the foams fit over the thin, larger diameter side, wrapping all the way around the back to the holes in the rim. The doughnut-shaped foams allow a large part of the loudspeaker to be visible.
The cable consists of two coiled strands with a black textile sheath. The sleeve of the 3.5mm gold-plated plug is shaped like a smooth, metallic cylinder. The cable outlet is protected by a black double rubber sleeve. The splitter piece is a metal hexagon repeating the brand logo and bearing this inscription on the main face. The pin is a simple rubber ring perforated on the inside. The microphone is a cylinder with a black plastic button on one side and a hole on the other. The male MMCX connectors are gold-plated and both have a cylindrical black plastic sleeve that tapers at the cable exit. Each is inscribed with a small initial letter to identify the channel.
It is worth remembering that this product costs $65. The level of detail and refinement throughout the design is superior, simply elegant and beautiful. This is something that can be seen in all the product photos and is worth enlarging to see the precise and beautiful finishes. As the only flaw, the sliding system through the shaft is not too strong, although it is not completely smooth. I would have liked its movement to be a little more forceful. It is certainly a minimalist design that is a paradigm of elegance, simplicity and efficiency.
On the other hand, the weak link is the cable. I stress, as always, that I don't like the MMCX connection interface, but I understand that it is very suitable for this model. Although it may seem that it will fail during daily use with a lot of unintentional cable tugging. The problem lies with another model from the same brand: the QuietSea's cable is very similar, but thicker and can be chosen with a 4.4 mm balanced plug. No doubt, comparisons between the two cables are odious.
Adjustment and Ergonomics
With such a simple design, the comfort of the set can be questionable. The keys are the circularity of the upper pole, its dimensions, the angle of the pole through which the speakers slide and the thickness of the foams. I think the rod has sufficient adjustment travel for most. I can't boast of having a small head, but in my case, the rod travel is more than sufficient. My suffering is centred on the width and the pressure that the speakers exert on my ears. This pressure affects the temples of the glasses (at my age I need glasses to see up close). But it also affects me when I've been wearing them for more than an hour, and my limit is two hours at a time. On the other hand, the top temple hardly comes into contact with my head. I still have quite a lot of hair on the top of my head, which cushions and minimises contact. All in all, the fit is quite good, easy, quick and precise. The problem is the speakers, which press very hard against my ears and are very unbearable after two hours of use.
Sound
Profile
The Distant Mountains have a slight V-profile with an emphasis on the upper mids, a smooth low end, a fairly light sub-bass and treble with a falling extension. They feature two types of foam: full and donut. Donut foams lighten the low end and detract a little from the body of the sound, but improve the technical aspects by allowing a cleaner, crisper sound. I prefer the use of full foams, as the sound is lean in itself, and the following review will be based on this choice.
I must introduce that there are albums that the Distant Mountain have reproduced very well and that I have enjoyed very much. But many others do not sound the way I have them in my head. Can my unit be different from others?
Bass
It is clear that the Distant Mountains are not designed to handle heavy bass loads. With a 40 mm driver, they should be able to handle more power and deliver more realistic and natural bass. However, this is not the case. As soon as electronic music with its heavy bass drums, continuous bass lines and fast changes are played, you can see that the bass performance is not very appropriate. In the first instance, the bass drums feel coloured, with an audible vibrating behaviour that overlaps with the sound that should be emitted naturally. Admittedly, this behaviour is not the same for the entire bass range, but only for the sub-bass tones and the transition to the mid-bass. This can be observed in my classic very low frequency pure tone test. The tones between 20 and 30 Hz have a very low physical capacity, but are overly audible, which gives a coloured bass sound. They offer a perceptible and audible, but bearable, vibratory aspect. However, this less natural wave and pulsating character is enhanced between 40 and 100 Hz, until it drops below 200 Hz. This clearly translates into real music: the Distant Mountains do not support an excessive bass load or overly concentrated bass drums in a narrow low-frequency range. Under these conditions, the sound is neither too natural nor too realistic, the frequencies are coloured and a wave and vibration character takes over the sonority. It is clear that there is a critical bass range between 40 and 100 Hz. The evidence of complex, dirty and difficult-to-execute bass only highlights these problems. The bass lines moving through this frequency range highlight the limitations of this model in reproducing heavy bass. It is clear that these are not headphones for electronic music. However, there are some low frequencies or bass lines that do not affect the Distant Mountains as much and the sound becomes rather more acceptable. It is therefore not possible to generalise and claim that this behaviour is completely uniform for all music with prominent bass. In any case, this aspect makes them less versatile.
Mids
The midfield should be more noticeable. And indeed it is, but the problem is the imbalance between the first half of the mids and the upper mids due to an obvious and over-emphasised gain of bell. The second half is overemphasised and affects both the male voices and the base of many instruments. With a full-bodied, dense and almost hollow bass, the warmth and physical expression of the first part of the mids is non-existent. Thus, with such a low level of physicality, the male voices and instruments in this area sound too hollow, devoid of soul, base and strength. On the other hand, the emphasis is clearly on the upper mid-range and all the details, whispers, breaths and whistles are much more dominant than the essence of the voices. In this sense, many female voices are heavily favoured, while the male voices lack strength. It is no longer a question of a distant or close positioning of the voices, in which the male voices are placed at a middle distance, while the female voices take centre stage, but of a physical component that is absent and too thin. Thus, the tendency of the sound is to emphasise the part of the brightness, the details and even the sibilances. There are styles that are clearly favoured, while others are more off-putting because of this emphasis on the upper mids. The high excitation of the upper mids and the distance between the initial part of the midrange are enhanced by the low ability to reproduce the bass fully. Thus, the sound is unbalanced, too thin, hollow and distant at its base. Darker music can be a blessing, but more vivid rock or pop can be piercing. In this way, the mids as a whole moves away from a musical naturalness and towards a more marked and polarised extreme, focused on certain genres and even specific tastes.
It is true that the sound is clearer, brighter and more transparent, focused on details, even at macro level. But it lacks the foundation to be, once again, an all-rounder.
Treble
The treble has an appropriate initial sparkle that coincides with the transition between the upper mids and the first treble. Thereafter, they descend noticeably. The result is an initial sparkle that does not convey much excitement, lift or penetration, but rather shortness and limitation, both in power and brightness and in extension. The treble feels somewhat limited in its projection towards brightness and clipped in extension. The timbre is not the most adequate, but it is not so negative either. It doesn't manage to reach a complete realism and it is placed in that zone of soft treble of accompaniment of the rest of the bands, without being able to stand out by itself.
Soundstage, Separation
The scene appears moderately wide and loud, but shallow in depth. When bass is well reproduced, depth and physicality are gained. Still, the generation of layers is not very adequate. Most of the elements are in three planes, with the macro detail being more present and closer. This is the busiest plane, where things happen (for better and for worse). The bass, when executed correctly, can travel between the three planes. Male vocals and a lot of instrumentation stay in that low-key, physically charged second plane. The tendency is to push the music towards the main plane, which generates that hollowness and low physical load, as well as losing naturalness, homogeneity and realism.
The overall timbre is also not the most natural and tends towards brightness, so it can become somewhat metallic, less pleasant and penetrating.
Distant Mountains are prone to sibilance, although more so in the lower part, not in the brighter part.
There is a good distance between the elements horizontally, but not on the longitudinal axis. A three-dimensional image is not generated, but more flat.
At the detail level, some micro-detail is visible, but only if it is in a favourable frequency range and in the right plane. Some details are obvious and others are hidden. In this sense, it is not very coherent. Neither is the scene, which moves in these planes and creates a larger or smaller footprint depending on the plane and frequency range.
The image and its position are also affected by these characteristics and are more realistic on the horizontal axis, supported by an acceptable distance and separation.
Conclusion
The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain are headphones that are better as a whole than the sum of their parts. With a spectacular design, excellent construction, high quality finishes and two extremely attractive colours, ROSESELSA has created a very elegant and attractive product. I must admit that holding the Distant Mountain in my hands does not disappoint at all and only raises the expectations created by the pictures on the website or by any user who has them. Even the packaging is up to par and all for a relatively low price: $65. You don't expect such a build quality in a product of this format. Compared to many IEMS, the Distant Mountains are inexpensive, with exceptional build quality and design. However, the sound is less than perfect, for my personal and musical tastes. The Distant Mountains have a brilliant V-shape, with limited sub-bass, a fairly neutral mid-bass, a first half of light mids, a very prominent upper midrange and a soft, not too extended treble. You might think of the Distant Mountains as a good fashion item, a museum headphone, a great addition, but they wouldn't be my first choice for playing the music I like. And I've tried my best. They are the classic product that you want to like, but they fall short of being complete. They're like that album by your favourite band that you never really liked. However, headphones do have one thing going for them: equalisation. And the Distant Mountains allow it to enhance their performance and awaken their potential.
Sources Used During the Analysis
Purchase Link
You can read the full review in Spanish here
ROSESELSA, the brand formerly known simply as Rose or Rose Technics, was founded in 2015. Since then, it has been dedicated to the pursuit of unrivalled original sound reproduction through intelligent technology and meticulous manufacturing. In recent years, it has introduced a series of excellent audio products that are well known among music enthusiasts around the world. ‘Dare to make differences‘ has been Rose Technics’ statement and determination since its inception, and its original intention adheres to the concept of original design and simplicity, continually designing classic and elegant products in pursuit of immortality in an era of rapid obsolescence. In this way, they have undoubtedly designed a product such as the Distant Mountain, a supra-aural headset with a distinctly retro and vintage design. They are made with a headband of solid stainless steel and genuine lambskin, which provides a stable, smooth fit without irritating the skin, and does not cause fatigue during use (this is what the brand itself says). The body has been CNC coaxial machined and the design is clearly fashionable. The 40 mm diameter dynamic driver uses a topological composite diaphragm. The redesigned dome and corrugated ring provide clear, transparent treble and deep bass. Thanks to the neodymium super magnets and the special acoustic structure for small headphones, the Distant Mountains offer richer sound details and a more natural treble extension. The metal grille reduces the impact of sound output on sound quality, providing smoother, more stable highs and a more delicate, fuller tone. The pressure-relieving design of the grille on the side of the cavity increases air permeability. At the same time, the air intake is several times higher than that of conventional large headphones, which significantly improves treble extension. The sponge ear pads take into account both softness and breathability. The headband allows for precise length adjustment and has a clearly visible scale. A braided 5N monocrystalline copper EMI cable with detachable MMCX interface is supplied. The classic headphone architecture leaves more space for the ears, allowing for transparency and comfort at all times during use. When playback is stopped, you can communicate with the outside world normally without removing the headphones. So you can concentrate on ambient sounds to travel more safely.
Undoubtedly, the brand's introduction is comprehensive, informative, accurate and coherent, and has a clear objective. Let's see in the following review whether it achieves its objective.
Specifications
- Driver Type: 40mm dynamic driver with composite topological diaphragm.
- Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz.
- Sensitivity: 115±3dB.
- Impedance: 32Ω±15%.
- THD: ≤2% @1kHz.
- Jack Connector: SE 3.5mm gold-plated.
- Capsule Connection Type: MMCX.
- Cable with microphone.
- Cable length: 120cm.
- Starting price: $64.99 USD.
Packaging
Unsurprisingly, the Distant Mountains come in a relatively large box wrapped in cellophane, which has a ring to be hung on a rod. The box is eminently white and has an actual photo of the product occupying much of the main face. At the top is the brand logo, below is text referring to the philosophy behind the creation of the model. On the back there is a brown bar at the top and then, on a white background, there is the whole description of the product in Chinese and English, the contents of the package and two real photos of the two models of the product, brown and black. My model is the black one. At the bottom, the compatibility of the product is indicated, next to it are the brand's contact details and the icons of the certifications it complies with. The box opens like a book in two halves. The first thing you see is an onion paper cover with a picture of the product seen from the front and the name of the model on the mountains that connect the two transmitters. On the spine there is a small white box that holds another set of doughnut-shaped foams. After removing the paper, you can see the headphones sheathed in white cardboard in a simple, but very effective way. It has a strip of cardboard in the form of a handle that fits the base, while the speakers are embedded in custom-made holes. The gold parts are protected by blue non-adhesive cellophane. On the left half is an envelope-like box with more accessories. The complete contents are as follows:
- The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain headphones with full foams.
- One black textile-coated cable with two coiled strands, microphone and gold-plated 3.5mm SE plug.
- Two spare doughnut-shaped foams.
- One user manual.
- One figure of an anime girl on a transparent base plate with brand logo.
Both the presentation and the packaging combine elegant design with masterful simplicity to keep the product safe during a journey of several thousand kilometres. The refinement and great design of the product is apparent from the packaging itself. I'm missing a carrying bag and I'm missing the badge with the anime girl on it. On request, I would have liked a couple more spare foams, as they can always be hard to come by.
Construction and Design
The design has a clear retro and vintage character, but its style is remarkable and integrated into the present day. The materials used are of high quality, such as the headband, made of pure stainless steel, and its lambskin covering. It is a narrow rod with a gold-plated rectangle finish and the lettering indicating the channel inscribed on its outer side. On the inner side there are screws to secure the two rods together. A flat sheet of metal protrudes from the lower centre of the rectangle and has a gold-plated stop across the top of the rectangle. This sheet has slots and is the part through which the loudspeakers slide and fit into the corresponding slots. At the bottom there is another golden piece with a rectangular shape at its junction and a rounded finish at its free and opposite end. The piece that slides along the rod is a thick sheet metal with a groove and a cylinder attached which forms part of the same body. The outer face of the cylinder has a gold-plated circular piece with concentric grooves on the inside. On the bottom surface of the cylinder is the MMCX connection, each of which has a red plastic crown to indicate the right side and black for the left side. The inner face of the cylinder has a circular base with an upper diameter that enlarges conically to form the base that houses the loudspeakers. On the outer face of the base of the speakers there is a concentric groove and the model name inscribed along the round lines. The rim of the base of the container has multiple holes spread over its entire surface, all of which are protected by grooves. As it approaches the outside, the rim widens to form a flat face with a larger diameter. This face is thin and, on the other side, is completely protected by a thick, slightly domed mesh that protects the speaker. Finally, the foams fit over the thin, larger diameter side, wrapping all the way around the back to the holes in the rim. The doughnut-shaped foams allow a large part of the loudspeaker to be visible.
The cable consists of two coiled strands with a black textile sheath. The sleeve of the 3.5mm gold-plated plug is shaped like a smooth, metallic cylinder. The cable outlet is protected by a black double rubber sleeve. The splitter piece is a metal hexagon repeating the brand logo and bearing this inscription on the main face. The pin is a simple rubber ring perforated on the inside. The microphone is a cylinder with a black plastic button on one side and a hole on the other. The male MMCX connectors are gold-plated and both have a cylindrical black plastic sleeve that tapers at the cable exit. Each is inscribed with a small initial letter to identify the channel.
It is worth remembering that this product costs $65. The level of detail and refinement throughout the design is superior, simply elegant and beautiful. This is something that can be seen in all the product photos and is worth enlarging to see the precise and beautiful finishes. As the only flaw, the sliding system through the shaft is not too strong, although it is not completely smooth. I would have liked its movement to be a little more forceful. It is certainly a minimalist design that is a paradigm of elegance, simplicity and efficiency.
On the other hand, the weak link is the cable. I stress, as always, that I don't like the MMCX connection interface, but I understand that it is very suitable for this model. Although it may seem that it will fail during daily use with a lot of unintentional cable tugging. The problem lies with another model from the same brand: the QuietSea's cable is very similar, but thicker and can be chosen with a 4.4 mm balanced plug. No doubt, comparisons between the two cables are odious.
Adjustment and Ergonomics
With such a simple design, the comfort of the set can be questionable. The keys are the circularity of the upper pole, its dimensions, the angle of the pole through which the speakers slide and the thickness of the foams. I think the rod has sufficient adjustment travel for most. I can't boast of having a small head, but in my case, the rod travel is more than sufficient. My suffering is centred on the width and the pressure that the speakers exert on my ears. This pressure affects the temples of the glasses (at my age I need glasses to see up close). But it also affects me when I've been wearing them for more than an hour, and my limit is two hours at a time. On the other hand, the top temple hardly comes into contact with my head. I still have quite a lot of hair on the top of my head, which cushions and minimises contact. All in all, the fit is quite good, easy, quick and precise. The problem is the speakers, which press very hard against my ears and are very unbearable after two hours of use.
Sound
Profile
The Distant Mountains have a slight V-profile with an emphasis on the upper mids, a smooth low end, a fairly light sub-bass and treble with a falling extension. They feature two types of foam: full and donut. Donut foams lighten the low end and detract a little from the body of the sound, but improve the technical aspects by allowing a cleaner, crisper sound. I prefer the use of full foams, as the sound is lean in itself, and the following review will be based on this choice.
I must introduce that there are albums that the Distant Mountain have reproduced very well and that I have enjoyed very much. But many others do not sound the way I have them in my head. Can my unit be different from others?
Bass
It is clear that the Distant Mountains are not designed to handle heavy bass loads. With a 40 mm driver, they should be able to handle more power and deliver more realistic and natural bass. However, this is not the case. As soon as electronic music with its heavy bass drums, continuous bass lines and fast changes are played, you can see that the bass performance is not very appropriate. In the first instance, the bass drums feel coloured, with an audible vibrating behaviour that overlaps with the sound that should be emitted naturally. Admittedly, this behaviour is not the same for the entire bass range, but only for the sub-bass tones and the transition to the mid-bass. This can be observed in my classic very low frequency pure tone test. The tones between 20 and 30 Hz have a very low physical capacity, but are overly audible, which gives a coloured bass sound. They offer a perceptible and audible, but bearable, vibratory aspect. However, this less natural wave and pulsating character is enhanced between 40 and 100 Hz, until it drops below 200 Hz. This clearly translates into real music: the Distant Mountains do not support an excessive bass load or overly concentrated bass drums in a narrow low-frequency range. Under these conditions, the sound is neither too natural nor too realistic, the frequencies are coloured and a wave and vibration character takes over the sonority. It is clear that there is a critical bass range between 40 and 100 Hz. The evidence of complex, dirty and difficult-to-execute bass only highlights these problems. The bass lines moving through this frequency range highlight the limitations of this model in reproducing heavy bass. It is clear that these are not headphones for electronic music. However, there are some low frequencies or bass lines that do not affect the Distant Mountains as much and the sound becomes rather more acceptable. It is therefore not possible to generalise and claim that this behaviour is completely uniform for all music with prominent bass. In any case, this aspect makes them less versatile.
Mids
The midfield should be more noticeable. And indeed it is, but the problem is the imbalance between the first half of the mids and the upper mids due to an obvious and over-emphasised gain of bell. The second half is overemphasised and affects both the male voices and the base of many instruments. With a full-bodied, dense and almost hollow bass, the warmth and physical expression of the first part of the mids is non-existent. Thus, with such a low level of physicality, the male voices and instruments in this area sound too hollow, devoid of soul, base and strength. On the other hand, the emphasis is clearly on the upper mid-range and all the details, whispers, breaths and whistles are much more dominant than the essence of the voices. In this sense, many female voices are heavily favoured, while the male voices lack strength. It is no longer a question of a distant or close positioning of the voices, in which the male voices are placed at a middle distance, while the female voices take centre stage, but of a physical component that is absent and too thin. Thus, the tendency of the sound is to emphasise the part of the brightness, the details and even the sibilances. There are styles that are clearly favoured, while others are more off-putting because of this emphasis on the upper mids. The high excitation of the upper mids and the distance between the initial part of the midrange are enhanced by the low ability to reproduce the bass fully. Thus, the sound is unbalanced, too thin, hollow and distant at its base. Darker music can be a blessing, but more vivid rock or pop can be piercing. In this way, the mids as a whole moves away from a musical naturalness and towards a more marked and polarised extreme, focused on certain genres and even specific tastes.
It is true that the sound is clearer, brighter and more transparent, focused on details, even at macro level. But it lacks the foundation to be, once again, an all-rounder.
Treble
The treble has an appropriate initial sparkle that coincides with the transition between the upper mids and the first treble. Thereafter, they descend noticeably. The result is an initial sparkle that does not convey much excitement, lift or penetration, but rather shortness and limitation, both in power and brightness and in extension. The treble feels somewhat limited in its projection towards brightness and clipped in extension. The timbre is not the most adequate, but it is not so negative either. It doesn't manage to reach a complete realism and it is placed in that zone of soft treble of accompaniment of the rest of the bands, without being able to stand out by itself.
Soundstage, Separation
The scene appears moderately wide and loud, but shallow in depth. When bass is well reproduced, depth and physicality are gained. Still, the generation of layers is not very adequate. Most of the elements are in three planes, with the macro detail being more present and closer. This is the busiest plane, where things happen (for better and for worse). The bass, when executed correctly, can travel between the three planes. Male vocals and a lot of instrumentation stay in that low-key, physically charged second plane. The tendency is to push the music towards the main plane, which generates that hollowness and low physical load, as well as losing naturalness, homogeneity and realism.
The overall timbre is also not the most natural and tends towards brightness, so it can become somewhat metallic, less pleasant and penetrating.
Distant Mountains are prone to sibilance, although more so in the lower part, not in the brighter part.
There is a good distance between the elements horizontally, but not on the longitudinal axis. A three-dimensional image is not generated, but more flat.
At the detail level, some micro-detail is visible, but only if it is in a favourable frequency range and in the right plane. Some details are obvious and others are hidden. In this sense, it is not very coherent. Neither is the scene, which moves in these planes and creates a larger or smaller footprint depending on the plane and frequency range.
The image and its position are also affected by these characteristics and are more realistic on the horizontal axis, supported by an acceptable distance and separation.
Conclusion
The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain are headphones that are better as a whole than the sum of their parts. With a spectacular design, excellent construction, high quality finishes and two extremely attractive colours, ROSESELSA has created a very elegant and attractive product. I must admit that holding the Distant Mountain in my hands does not disappoint at all and only raises the expectations created by the pictures on the website or by any user who has them. Even the packaging is up to par and all for a relatively low price: $65. You don't expect such a build quality in a product of this format. Compared to many IEMS, the Distant Mountains are inexpensive, with exceptional build quality and design. However, the sound is less than perfect, for my personal and musical tastes. The Distant Mountains have a brilliant V-shape, with limited sub-bass, a fairly neutral mid-bass, a first half of light mids, a very prominent upper midrange and a soft, not too extended treble. You might think of the Distant Mountains as a good fashion item, a museum headphone, a great addition, but they wouldn't be my first choice for playing the music I like. And I've tried my best. They are the classic product that you want to like, but they fall short of being complete. They're like that album by your favourite band that you never really liked. However, headphones do have one thing going for them: equalisation. And the Distant Mountains allow it to enhance their performance and awaken their potential.
Sources Used During the Analysis
- iFi GO bar Kensei.
- EPZ TP50.
- Burson Audio Playmate 2.
- Aune X8 XVIII Magic DAC + OpAmp Sparkos Labs SS3602 + ifi ZEN CAN 1.
- Tempotec MARCH V.
ROSESELSA offered me this model, in exchange for writing an honest review. I want to make it clear that all my opinions written in this review have not been conditioned by this fact, nor will I ever write anything that I do not really think or feel here. I will only write about my personal opinion in relation to the revised product.
Purchase Link
You can read the full review in Spanish here
This hobby is an escapist's dream. Escape from daily routine and distress that's causing you via something as sincere and everlasting as listening to music. I believe that the power of music is still not fully understood since it works in mysterious ways. Allow it to do its magic on you and let your worries dissolve in melody.
Having had the possibility to try so many different sets in a relatively short time I felt obliged to go ahead and express my gratitude by trying to help some lost souls out there, just as I was when I first stumbled upon this weird hobby about wired earphones – so yesteryear! … I thought. Possibilities are seemingly endless and only by getting to meet the right people did I manage to jump onboard the train heading the 'right' direction without getting off-track thousands of times along the way. Make sure to understand the helping person's preferences and you too can find your footing and hit the ground running in no time.
I won't bore you for too long with personal trivia, however my quick & short background resume goes as follows. Currently I am 28 years old and more in awe of sheer power of music by the day. I have always been moved by music just that slight bit more than average, I'd say. My spending started with a roughly 200€ Bose bluetooth speaker back in my first grade of highschool. What an extraterrestrial thing that was in early 2010s. And it keeps on playing to this day – a true testament of quality. Also sounded fantastic back then, nowadays … yeah, not so much. Lots of BT speakers, TWS, car audio speakers, IEMs, etc., later bring me to this day when I truly consider myself an audiophile. What brings me the most joy beside listening to music is singing, so I am currently participating in a choir and challenging myself with solo vocal covers (check the links in my signature to hear my projects). Unsure where all this leads, but the journey itself is marvelous and life is nothing but a journey.
My preference lies somewhere in the neutral camp with just an ever so slight tilt towards warmth, but I try to keep an open mind and truly appreciate any outliers that dare do it differently and succeed. Our ears vary, so do our brain and tastes. I am an advocate for respectful discourse, especially in topics that don't even have many objective undeniable truths. Audio is one of those.
My preference lies somewhere in the neutral camp with just an ever so slight tilt towards warmth, but I try to keep an open mind and truly appreciate any outliers that dare do it differently and succeed. Our ears vary, so do our brain and tastes. I am an advocate for respectful discourse, especially in topics that don't even have many objective undeniable truths. Audio is one of those.
We are deep into 2025 and I am still finding footing for my reviews. I'm avoiding all lengthy yet substance-light topics that are covered in marketing materials or are totally subjective, and instead focus fully on elucidating how the highlighted IEMs sound to my ears.
This is how I imagined setting this one up: We will kick it off by mentioning the integral part of our hobby we often skip right by – the music! Followed by briefly letting thoughts loose where I'll just go through some stuff that was on my mind, go over my graphics (that have been the main attraction ever since I incorporated them) and an explanation under each of those. I will then finish with a concise summary including who these beauties are (not) for.
I hope you find this an enjoyable and worthwhile read!
I am all about transparency, so to kick it off, these headphones were sent to me by Roseselsa representatives in exchange for my review. They have no influence on what I write. And as always, I am grateful for the opportunity. All impressions were written using the stock cable and stock full foams.
THE MUSIC
To better understand what I listen to and thus perhaps have a clearer view as to what I look for, hiding behind the Spoiler is my list of roughly 100 tracks (in alphabetical order) I skip through for reviewing purposes. This is of course only a snippet of my expansive playlists, but it should give you a rough idea. I am sure everyone can find something they are familiar with. I also warmly recommend trying any of these for yourselves on whatever setup you guys have!
11 Past The Hour – Imelda May
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sons of Serendip
After Love – Anyma, Delilah Montagu
Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City – Robert Haglund
All About You – Sophie Zelmani
Animali in Marcia – Gianluigi Trovesi
Animamundi – The Spy From Cairo
Are We Lost? - Millenium
Avratz – Infected Mushroom
Balazando – Ballake Sissoko, Vincent Segal
Blues For J – Julian Sas
Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
Cadabra – Undercatt
Cannon in D Minor (Live) – Two Steps From Hell, Thomas Bergersen
Castaway Angels – Leprous
Ceremony: Evening – David Liebman
Creep – Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Haley Reinhart
Crisis – Jaco Pastorius
Divine Moments Of Truth – Shpongle
Domino Line (Live) – Casiopea
Dream On - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Morgan James
Drum Solo (Live) – Manu Katche, Luca Aquino, Tore Brunborg, Jim »James« Watson
Elementals – Kaminanda
Exhale The Ash – Ulcerate
Explore-the other side of stillness – Alanis Morissette
Eyes Don't Lie – Tones and I
Fading Sun – Terje Isungset, Lena Nymark
Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Get You - Stoto
Godforsaken – Insomnium, Johanna Kurkela
HALLUCINATION – Deborah de Luca
Hang On To Yourself – David Bowie
Hislerim – Serhat Durmus, Zerrin
Hopeful – Curtis Harding
Horizon (Japan CD) – Daft Punk
House Of The Rising Sun – alt-J, Tuka
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know – Vanessa Fernandez
I'm Done With You – Riverside
I'm In Love – Ayo
I Miss You – Adele
Improvisation (Live) – Emiel Scholsberg
Infinity (Original Mix) – DJ Pastis, DJ Ninu, Wasi Distorsion
Jean Pierre – Marcus Miller
Jinsei Iroiro – Yoshio Kimura
Kingston – Rod Modell
Kuwait – Mazde
La Nut Sacree – Goran Bregović
La Vida Es Un Carneval – Celia Cruz
Let The Music Flow – Sound Synthesis
Liberty – Anette Askvik
Lights - Soen
Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
Lonely Island – Amble
Long After You Are Gone – Chris Jones
Metropolitain – Kyle Eastwood
Mirage – Glass Beams
Moondance – Anne Bisson, Paul Brochu, Jean-Bertrand Carbou
Morning Bird – Sade
My Funny Valentine (Live) – Emiel Scholsberg
Nice To Know You – Incubus
No Sanctuary Here – Chris Jones
Now That You've Gone – Kasey Chambers, The Fireside Disciples
On A Long Lonely Night – Sko/Torp
Our Roots Run Deep – Dominique Fils-Aime
Passenger 57 Main Title – Stanley Clarke
Piece By Piece – Katie Melua
Pitch Black – Mazde, Lissa
Puccini: Turrandot / Act 3: »Nessun Dorma« - Luciano Pavarotti
Rattlesnake – Glass Beams
Rosita – Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster
Shivers – Ed Sheeran
Soldier Of Fortune – Deep Purple
Stormy Weather – Lucy Dixon
Summer – Emeli Sande
Sunset – The xx
Sysma – Dusty Kid
Take The Power Back – Rage Against The Machine
The Ballad Of The Jersey Wives – Jeff Beck
The Bird – SYML
The Emptiness Machine – Linkin Park
The Last Rebel – Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Mists Of Time – John Mayall
The Pot – TOOL
The Sound Of Silence – Geoff Castellucci
This Bitter Earth – Veronica Swift
Through Glass – Stone Sour
Ti Amo Cosi – Dimash Kudaibergen, Igor Krutoy, Aida Garifullina, Lara Fabian
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
Under Your Scars – Godsmack
Vidda – Ole Edvard Antonsen
Voodoo – Gorgon City
Want – The Cure
Way Down Deep – Jennifer Warnes
We Got Used To Us – Riverside
What A Little Moonlight Can Do – Molly Johnson
Winston Churchill's Boy – Benjamin Clementine
Witchcraft – Ben L'Oncle Soul
Writing's On The Wall – Tom Ball
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sons of Serendip
After Love – Anyma, Delilah Montagu
Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City – Robert Haglund
All About You – Sophie Zelmani
Animali in Marcia – Gianluigi Trovesi
Animamundi – The Spy From Cairo
Are We Lost? - Millenium
Avratz – Infected Mushroom
Balazando – Ballake Sissoko, Vincent Segal
Blues For J – Julian Sas
Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
Cadabra – Undercatt
Cannon in D Minor (Live) – Two Steps From Hell, Thomas Bergersen
Castaway Angels – Leprous
Ceremony: Evening – David Liebman
Creep – Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Haley Reinhart
Crisis – Jaco Pastorius
Divine Moments Of Truth – Shpongle
Domino Line (Live) – Casiopea
Dream On - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Morgan James
Drum Solo (Live) – Manu Katche, Luca Aquino, Tore Brunborg, Jim »James« Watson
Elementals – Kaminanda
Exhale The Ash – Ulcerate
Explore-the other side of stillness – Alanis Morissette
Eyes Don't Lie – Tones and I
Fading Sun – Terje Isungset, Lena Nymark
Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Get You - Stoto
Godforsaken – Insomnium, Johanna Kurkela
HALLUCINATION – Deborah de Luca
Hang On To Yourself – David Bowie
Hislerim – Serhat Durmus, Zerrin
Hopeful – Curtis Harding
Horizon (Japan CD) – Daft Punk
House Of The Rising Sun – alt-J, Tuka
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know – Vanessa Fernandez
I'm Done With You – Riverside
I'm In Love – Ayo
I Miss You – Adele
Improvisation (Live) – Emiel Scholsberg
Infinity (Original Mix) – DJ Pastis, DJ Ninu, Wasi Distorsion
Jean Pierre – Marcus Miller
Jinsei Iroiro – Yoshio Kimura
Kingston – Rod Modell
Kuwait – Mazde
La Nut Sacree – Goran Bregović
La Vida Es Un Carneval – Celia Cruz
Let The Music Flow – Sound Synthesis
Liberty – Anette Askvik
Lights - Soen
Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
Lonely Island – Amble
Long After You Are Gone – Chris Jones
Metropolitain – Kyle Eastwood
Mirage – Glass Beams
Moondance – Anne Bisson, Paul Brochu, Jean-Bertrand Carbou
Morning Bird – Sade
My Funny Valentine (Live) – Emiel Scholsberg
Nice To Know You – Incubus
No Sanctuary Here – Chris Jones
Now That You've Gone – Kasey Chambers, The Fireside Disciples
On A Long Lonely Night – Sko/Torp
Our Roots Run Deep – Dominique Fils-Aime
Passenger 57 Main Title – Stanley Clarke
Piece By Piece – Katie Melua
Pitch Black – Mazde, Lissa
Puccini: Turrandot / Act 3: »Nessun Dorma« - Luciano Pavarotti
Rattlesnake – Glass Beams
Rosita – Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster
Shivers – Ed Sheeran
Soldier Of Fortune – Deep Purple
Stormy Weather – Lucy Dixon
Summer – Emeli Sande
Sunset – The xx
Sysma – Dusty Kid
Take The Power Back – Rage Against The Machine
The Ballad Of The Jersey Wives – Jeff Beck
The Bird – SYML
The Emptiness Machine – Linkin Park
The Last Rebel – Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Mists Of Time – John Mayall
The Pot – TOOL
The Sound Of Silence – Geoff Castellucci
This Bitter Earth – Veronica Swift
Through Glass – Stone Sour
Ti Amo Cosi – Dimash Kudaibergen, Igor Krutoy, Aida Garifullina, Lara Fabian
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
Under Your Scars – Godsmack
Vidda – Ole Edvard Antonsen
Voodoo – Gorgon City
Want – The Cure
Way Down Deep – Jennifer Warnes
We Got Used To Us – Riverside
What A Little Moonlight Can Do – Molly Johnson
Winston Churchill's Boy – Benjamin Clementine
Witchcraft – Ben L'Oncle Soul
Writing's On The Wall – Tom Ball
BRIEF THOUGHTS LET LOOSE
These are the first On-Ear headphones I have tried besides the ones they gave us at work and are not even worth mentioning. Therefore, I was not sure what to expect and whether I'd enjoy this form factor at all. Glad to report that these bring something fresh to my listening and strike a great middle ground between headphones and earbuds with fantastic openness to their sound while allowing complete awareness of surroundings. Thing worth mentioning is that these will be heard by those around you as well, so perhaps not the greatest choice for certain situations. Their build quality is sufficiently sturdy and miles better than stuff like Porta Pro, but occasional creaks do occur when putting them on/off your head – their longevity remains to be seen.
Packaging was cool with so many segments, but when I get excited about a new toy, I have no patience for unboxing, so this puzzle seemed to take forever to solve.
And, of course, no earphone packaging is complete without a bit of ...
THE THOROUGH GRAPHICS
By now, most of you have come across these playful graphics of mine. I have received so much positive feedback on these that I dare not leave them out going into 2025 and am structuring even more of my reviewing right around them.
Since these on-ears are a one-of-a-kind, or at least the first ones of their ilk, in my reviews, their placement is a bit less specific or tough to understand, but all should be rather clear with my additional clarification below.
Warm to bright axis lands these right below the neutral mark, along with technicalities that are not all that marvelous, but regain their footing with ample staging size and beautiful timbre.
Just a tad thick is how I perceive them. Besides, they exude a mildly slower sensation and lean heavily on musical side over technical one.
These won't be the one to get you grooving, but that said, I actually appreciate how they handle stuff like minimal techno very much! They are neither basshead's nor treblehead's dream, since bass dissipates around the ears as much as it enters them, and treble is rolled off extensively.
Comfort is near as can be perfect, but expect the narrow headband to leave a mark in your hair, so use responsibly, perhaps not right ahead of any important meetings. Isolation is not a thing here. The foams are not thick enough to lay fully flush with the outer ear, hence isolation is minimal at best while also letting quite a bit of music into your surroundings - this inevitably limits their use case.
Bass is mostly focused around mid- and upper bass, but thanks to our brain's deeply rooted understanding of soundwaves, the overall sense is that these can provide some rumble too, just sufficient to make them enjoyable with many genres since it feels beautifully elastic and punchy or eager to boogie. I appreciate that it's not even trying to attempt a huge raucous bass and instead focuses on its inherent strengths more. Talking of which, low midrange is where the fun begins as it is skillfully sculpted and refuses to sound boxy or too thick. Timbre here is marvelous and replays anything from bass guitars to male vocals really well while, of course, not serving as a surgical tool set, but more as a car mechanic's tool set. The rest of the midrange is just as musical and well implemented with ample control over all risky areas that could make these shouty or tinny, only thing it struggles with is electric guitars, especially in crowded and heavily distorted mixes, but oh well, these won't be heavy rocker or metalhead's first choice. All of that is topped off with treble that seems just a tad shy and perhaps too laid back. It also lacks any significant extension, but this is not what the Distant Mountain is about and I'm willing to look right past that given how captivating and soulful it is. None of that would be the case if the frequencies were in a constant quarrel with each other, so I am glad that cohesion is second to none. Roseselsa really did their homework with these. The flow is downright perfect, but keep in mind this prefers slower genres.
Soundstage is very wide and decently high with no pulls downwards and well placed vocals, but lacks slightly in depth. Not too surprising, seeing how these sit over the concha and channel sound right in from either side. Here both headphones and IEMs have an advantage with their more peculiar designs and abilities to play around with IEM shells and headphone earcups.
THE CONCISE SUMMARY
Ah, the Roseselsa Distant Mountain … This is one of those rarities in our hobby that are an easy recommendation - but be aware of the obvious shortcomings of on-ear headphones which no amount of tuning or power can 'solve'. Roseselsa have hit it out of the park with the design as well as sound characteristics, so those that like the look and think these could fit a niche in their listening habits or simply need ideas on how to spruce up their little audio man cave (or woman cave, of course!) should by all means go for it. This is an easy Triple Yes from me.
Thanks for reading and stay wonderful.
★ Introduction :-
Currently, everyone is more or less familiar with the chinese audio brand rosetechnics or roseselsa. Although they are a fairly new chi-fi brand, they have already released a number of offerings in the market which have received fairly positive feedback. I had previously tried some of their budget offerings which seemed to be good for the price. Roseselsa recently launched a vintage headphone called Distant Mountai n in their entry level line up and created a huge response in the international market. I have been using this headphone for more than two weeks and today I'm going to share my detailed opinion about it. At the same time i'm going to clarify how equitable for its asking price (within 70$) category.
★ Disclaimer :-
This unit was sent to me directly from Rosetechnics for review purpose. I had no financial agreement with them to promote their product. As always the entire opinion of this review is completely my personal.
★ Box content at a glance:-
The unboxing experience of this vintage headphone was quite satisfying. Of course, rosetechnics always tries to provide good accessories with their products and this one is no exception. I'm saying here that they have provided the best accessories here but considering the price, there is not much room to complain. The Distant mountain headphone comes in a very spacious box of white colour. Out of the box headphones come with two pairs of foam pads, nylon braided mmcx single end terminated with mic supported cable, a waifu art template and lastly an unnecessary user manual guide.
1. Distant mountain headphone ×1
2. Stock nylon braided mmcx cable ×1
3. Waifu art template ×1
4. Two kind of ear pads
5. User manual guide × 1
Distant mountain is a set of 32Ω impedance whose sensitivity level is 115dB, so not very powerful amplification is needed to drive it, I got decent loudness from the phone's 3.5mm port, but if a good quality dac amp or portable player is used, then it gets scaled up with the sources (neutral-warm)and becomes better sounding.
★ Design, Build Quality & Comfort :-
Its design is reminiscent of the vintage design language of the early 20s, where roseselsa has tried to bring out such old styles in a new way. This vintage headphone has a touch of premium looking throughout. The entire cnc-machined headband & earcup area has been given a very smooth with slight shiny finishing. Looking at the entire headband, you will see that it is completely surrounded by a type of lambskin that helps proper clamp force as well as contributing to comfort. While using it in my daily life, I felt a little doubtful whether it was pure lambskin or not. However, initially it didn't seem like a big issue to me, in fact, it made its retro look much more attractive.So it can be said that it is quite attractive along with solid build quality and roseselsa really deserves praise in this aspect.
Let's talk about comfort, I would say it is in a bit of a hit or miss condition. Many folks personally do not want to get used to such on-ear retro type headphones, especially because the comfort is not as expected. I have not noticed any exception in the case of this vintage headphone. Although it fits my ear cups fairly well, I can safely say that the clamp force will be a bit uncomfortable during long-term use. Along with the stock pad, it also comes with a pair of extra donut pads as special pads which are capable of giving a slightly better experience than the regular one, at least with minor changes in isolation. On the other hand, its stock cable also contributed well in the comfort section as I didn't see any extra bulk added from it and the braid was decent enough. However, the downside was definitely that the quality of the inbuilt mic with this mmx cable is below average and the cable rubs against the shirt creating microphonics which is really annoying in my daily use.
★ Sound Aspect :-
The Distant Mountain headphone is basically a mild U shape profile where the sub bass emphasis was more than the mid bass. On the other hand, the presence of treble region was also good. However, the characteristics of the sound are largely related to the earpad. First of all, the quantity of sub bass in its regular foam pad is more compared to mid bass but the presence is not completely absent. Due to the rumble of the sub bass, the mid bass is largely covered and there was a noticeable lack of impact & texture. The lower midrange is affected by the sub bass, which makes the recession seem less, but the natural timbre of the vocal is lost, although it seems a bit dull to me, and it becomes quite difficult to identify the placement of other instruments with the vocal. The treble section, especially the upper treble, has a bit of a roll-off and the detail retrieval of the lower treble was at a mediocre level. Technicalities are also not very impressive with this foam pads.
On the other hand, the donut pad makes a significant difference in sound. The tonality is on the brighter side, although the bass is more impactful than the previous ear pads. In the bass section, it is ideally sub bass focused as the mid bass presence is a bit more noticeable than before, but it naturally takes a back seat.This time the recession of the mid region is more noticeable than before and makes the upper mids more clean & forward, making the vocal section fall a bit on the lifeless side. Because in addition to the thinness in the male vocal, the 2-3khz peak often brings shoutyness while lending extra energy to the female vocal. The extension of the treble is much better than before and there is also a change in the case of detail retrieval.
Although the energy of 5khz here makes the lower treble a bit splashy which makes the sparkle feature slightly fatiguing. However, its technical ability benefits the most. The sound stage seems a little more open and the sound presentation can be said to be out of your head. Even though the stage depth was improved, the width needed to be wider. Apart from that, the imaging capability is quite good with this donut pad but the problem is its mic quality during gaming. Tonality & timbre accuracy is not its strength by any means and my expectations were higher. Many may dislike its sound due to the timbre issue. On the other hand, macro & micro detail offers a much leaner presentation so there is not much more to say in this regard.
★ Conclusion :-
This vintage headphone from Rosetechnics will be loved by many for its design and aesthetics wise. However, Its sound section lacks fun and engaging factors. But there's no way to keep it behind in terms of price ratio even considering all the aspects. Moreover, I think it could be ideal for the majority of folks who like to have something unique pieced in their arsenal. I might not highly recommend it to many folks due to its comfort, but if those who buy it also use an after market pad and a decent upgrade cable, they will be more satisfied with it, there is no doubt about it. So if someone want to buy something in this price category they can put distant mountain on their wish list.
I've provided the purchase link below for everyone convenience
Roseselsa Distant Mountain (Link isn’t affiliated)
Currently, everyone is more or less familiar with the chinese audio brand rosetechnics or roseselsa. Although they are a fairly new chi-fi brand, they have already released a number of offerings in the market which have received fairly positive feedback. I had previously tried some of their budget offerings which seemed to be good for the price. Roseselsa recently launched a vintage headphone called Distant Mountai n in their entry level line up and created a huge response in the international market. I have been using this headphone for more than two weeks and today I'm going to share my detailed opinion about it. At the same time i'm going to clarify how equitable for its asking price (within 70$) category.
★ Disclaimer :-
This unit was sent to me directly from Rosetechnics for review purpose. I had no financial agreement with them to promote their product. As always the entire opinion of this review is completely my personal.
★ Box content at a glance:-
The unboxing experience of this vintage headphone was quite satisfying. Of course, rosetechnics always tries to provide good accessories with their products and this one is no exception. I'm saying here that they have provided the best accessories here but considering the price, there is not much room to complain. The Distant mountain headphone comes in a very spacious box of white colour. Out of the box headphones come with two pairs of foam pads, nylon braided mmcx single end terminated with mic supported cable, a waifu art template and lastly an unnecessary user manual guide.
1. Distant mountain headphone ×1
2. Stock nylon braided mmcx cable ×1
3. Waifu art template ×1
4. Two kind of ear pads
5. User manual guide × 1
Distant mountain is a set of 32Ω impedance whose sensitivity level is 115dB, so not very powerful amplification is needed to drive it, I got decent loudness from the phone's 3.5mm port, but if a good quality dac amp or portable player is used, then it gets scaled up with the sources (neutral-warm)and becomes better sounding.
★ Design, Build Quality & Comfort :-
Its design is reminiscent of the vintage design language of the early 20s, where roseselsa has tried to bring out such old styles in a new way. This vintage headphone has a touch of premium looking throughout. The entire cnc-machined headband & earcup area has been given a very smooth with slight shiny finishing. Looking at the entire headband, you will see that it is completely surrounded by a type of lambskin that helps proper clamp force as well as contributing to comfort. While using it in my daily life, I felt a little doubtful whether it was pure lambskin or not. However, initially it didn't seem like a big issue to me, in fact, it made its retro look much more attractive.So it can be said that it is quite attractive along with solid build quality and roseselsa really deserves praise in this aspect.
Let's talk about comfort, I would say it is in a bit of a hit or miss condition. Many folks personally do not want to get used to such on-ear retro type headphones, especially because the comfort is not as expected. I have not noticed any exception in the case of this vintage headphone. Although it fits my ear cups fairly well, I can safely say that the clamp force will be a bit uncomfortable during long-term use. Along with the stock pad, it also comes with a pair of extra donut pads as special pads which are capable of giving a slightly better experience than the regular one, at least with minor changes in isolation. On the other hand, its stock cable also contributed well in the comfort section as I didn't see any extra bulk added from it and the braid was decent enough. However, the downside was definitely that the quality of the inbuilt mic with this mmx cable is below average and the cable rubs against the shirt creating microphonics which is really annoying in my daily use.
★ Sound Aspect :-
The Distant Mountain headphone is basically a mild U shape profile where the sub bass emphasis was more than the mid bass. On the other hand, the presence of treble region was also good. However, the characteristics of the sound are largely related to the earpad. First of all, the quantity of sub bass in its regular foam pad is more compared to mid bass but the presence is not completely absent. Due to the rumble of the sub bass, the mid bass is largely covered and there was a noticeable lack of impact & texture. The lower midrange is affected by the sub bass, which makes the recession seem less, but the natural timbre of the vocal is lost, although it seems a bit dull to me, and it becomes quite difficult to identify the placement of other instruments with the vocal. The treble section, especially the upper treble, has a bit of a roll-off and the detail retrieval of the lower treble was at a mediocre level. Technicalities are also not very impressive with this foam pads.
On the other hand, the donut pad makes a significant difference in sound. The tonality is on the brighter side, although the bass is more impactful than the previous ear pads. In the bass section, it is ideally sub bass focused as the mid bass presence is a bit more noticeable than before, but it naturally takes a back seat.This time the recession of the mid region is more noticeable than before and makes the upper mids more clean & forward, making the vocal section fall a bit on the lifeless side. Because in addition to the thinness in the male vocal, the 2-3khz peak often brings shoutyness while lending extra energy to the female vocal. The extension of the treble is much better than before and there is also a change in the case of detail retrieval.
Although the energy of 5khz here makes the lower treble a bit splashy which makes the sparkle feature slightly fatiguing. However, its technical ability benefits the most. The sound stage seems a little more open and the sound presentation can be said to be out of your head. Even though the stage depth was improved, the width needed to be wider. Apart from that, the imaging capability is quite good with this donut pad but the problem is its mic quality during gaming. Tonality & timbre accuracy is not its strength by any means and my expectations were higher. Many may dislike its sound due to the timbre issue. On the other hand, macro & micro detail offers a much leaner presentation so there is not much more to say in this regard.
★ Conclusion :-
This vintage headphone from Rosetechnics will be loved by many for its design and aesthetics wise. However, Its sound section lacks fun and engaging factors. But there's no way to keep it behind in terms of price ratio even considering all the aspects. Moreover, I think it could be ideal for the majority of folks who like to have something unique pieced in their arsenal. I might not highly recommend it to many folks due to its comfort, but if those who buy it also use an after market pad and a decent upgrade cable, they will be more satisfied with it, there is no doubt about it. So if someone want to buy something in this price category they can put distant mountain on their wish list.
I've provided the purchase link below for everyone convenience
Roseselsa Distant Mountain (Link isn’t affiliated)
Roseselsa Distant Mountain: A classic-style cool look...
Intro:
Previously I would like to say thank you very much to Roseselsa for sending this unit for me to review. In this review, I used the full stock of accessories obtained from the cable & earpads foam unit. As for the source, I used FIIO KA15.
Lastly, I want to emphasize, honestly this is my first experience using this type of headphone so I don't have many preferences or experiences but I will make an honest review from my experience in using it for several days. So if there are any shortcomings, please understand.
Completeness :
For completeness, honestly it is very interesting & enthusiastic because for me every time I try a product from Roseselsa, they are always not stingy about completeness. This is always my first plus point for every Roseselsa product. For the completeness of the Roseselsa Distant Mountain itself, the following is obtained:
1. Headphone Unit.
2. 2 Pairs of Foam (1 pair of full foam & 1 pair of donut foam).
3. MMCX cable with MIC.
4. 1 acrylic character "WAIFU"
5. 1 dongle (Should have gotten this, but my unit didn't get it because it was out of stock after I confirmed it with Roseselsa)
Overall, the completeness that is obtained is very interesting and the unboxing feel is also interesting because the shape of the box is large & the small parts of the accessories are well considered in their placement, so it feels like it's not an expensive or limited item.
Build Quality:
For the build, no comment, this can be said to feel good from the headphones which are fairly solid made of a sturdy iron or steel frame, the leather part also doesn't look cheap & the overall finishing is also neat. As for the quality of the cable, it is also okay, coated with sleeves, flexible & not microphonic. Then for the foam, it is also comfortable, there is no impression that makes it uncomfortable when used for a long time.
Overall, for me, the build quality is good for its price class.
Sound Quality:
- Bass
The first when I use full foam, the bass has a medium quantity & feels quite balanced between the subbass & midbass. For the subbass, it has an extension that is still okay, it still feels quite deep although not very deep & the rumble still feels quite okay. For the midbass, it feels quite solid but unfortunately the texture feels less good, and the control doesn't feel that good. The speed of the bass feels medium, not too fast.
While for the use of the donut foam, the bass doesn't feel as big as the full foam. The bass also feels a little tighter, the bass control is also a little better & the speed also feels better. The only minus if you use the donut foam, the subbass doesn't feel as deep & the midbass isn't as smooth as if you use the full foam.
- Mid/Vocal
For the mid, if you use full foam, it has the right weight with its position right in the middle. For the vocal presentation, it can be said that it is quite balanced between the male and female vocals. The male vocals have the right weight, not too thick and not too thin. For the female vocals, the weight is also right, but for me personally, the vocals feel less energetic and like they are held back or like they are not free enough.
Now, if you use the donut foam, the female vocals feel better. They feel more energetic and freer, not held back like when using full foam. In addition, the vocals also feel clearer and a little more forward. But on the other hand, the weight feels thinner, which means that the male vocals are not as good as when using full foam.
- Treble
For the treble, actually, for using both foams, the results don't feel much different because basically the treble part tends to have a smooth presentation with a treble extension that is not that good or tends to roll off. So I don't recommend using full foam for those who still need treble because using full foam makes the treble presentation worse than the donut foam. But for those who are sensitive to treble, I think it's okay to use full foam.
- Technical
For technical, from the soundstage, it still feels quite wide while for depth & height it feels sufficient. Then for the separation it's still quite okay, it still feels quite neat even though in certain songs that are busy sometimes it still feels piled up. For clarity & resolution, it still feels quite good when using donut foam, especially in the mid/vocals area, it still feels quite clear & clean.
Finally, for the details, it feels a bit less good, like something is missing compared to when I use IEM, like the details are better on my IEM.
View attachment 1000003941.webp
Conclusion: Roseselsa Distant Mountain is one of the products that is still relatively new from Roseselsa Silence. With its cool appearance with a retro classic design, it yep people. In addition, the sound presented is still arguably enjoyable even though it is not very good. Just for casual everyday use, this should be enough to enjoy, especially since it also does not require a complicated source, just with a DAC dongle, you can enjoy it. So for the price of around a million, I quite recommend trying this headphone, especially for those who like the design & for casual everyday use.
Intro:
Previously I would like to say thank you very much to Roseselsa for sending this unit for me to review. In this review, I used the full stock of accessories obtained from the cable & earpads foam unit. As for the source, I used FIIO KA15.
Lastly, I want to emphasize, honestly this is my first experience using this type of headphone so I don't have many preferences or experiences but I will make an honest review from my experience in using it for several days. So if there are any shortcomings, please understand.
Completeness :
For completeness, honestly it is very interesting & enthusiastic because for me every time I try a product from Roseselsa, they are always not stingy about completeness. This is always my first plus point for every Roseselsa product. For the completeness of the Roseselsa Distant Mountain itself, the following is obtained:
1. Headphone Unit.
2. 2 Pairs of Foam (1 pair of full foam & 1 pair of donut foam).
3. MMCX cable with MIC.
4. 1 acrylic character "WAIFU"
5. 1 dongle (Should have gotten this, but my unit didn't get it because it was out of stock after I confirmed it with Roseselsa)
Overall, the completeness that is obtained is very interesting and the unboxing feel is also interesting because the shape of the box is large & the small parts of the accessories are well considered in their placement, so it feels like it's not an expensive or limited item.
Build Quality:
For the build, no comment, this can be said to feel good from the headphones which are fairly solid made of a sturdy iron or steel frame, the leather part also doesn't look cheap & the overall finishing is also neat. As for the quality of the cable, it is also okay, coated with sleeves, flexible & not microphonic. Then for the foam, it is also comfortable, there is no impression that makes it uncomfortable when used for a long time.
Overall, for me, the build quality is good for its price class.
Sound Quality:
- Bass
The first when I use full foam, the bass has a medium quantity & feels quite balanced between the subbass & midbass. For the subbass, it has an extension that is still okay, it still feels quite deep although not very deep & the rumble still feels quite okay. For the midbass, it feels quite solid but unfortunately the texture feels less good, and the control doesn't feel that good. The speed of the bass feels medium, not too fast.
While for the use of the donut foam, the bass doesn't feel as big as the full foam. The bass also feels a little tighter, the bass control is also a little better & the speed also feels better. The only minus if you use the donut foam, the subbass doesn't feel as deep & the midbass isn't as smooth as if you use the full foam.
- Mid/Vocal
For the mid, if you use full foam, it has the right weight with its position right in the middle. For the vocal presentation, it can be said that it is quite balanced between the male and female vocals. The male vocals have the right weight, not too thick and not too thin. For the female vocals, the weight is also right, but for me personally, the vocals feel less energetic and like they are held back or like they are not free enough.
Now, if you use the donut foam, the female vocals feel better. They feel more energetic and freer, not held back like when using full foam. In addition, the vocals also feel clearer and a little more forward. But on the other hand, the weight feels thinner, which means that the male vocals are not as good as when using full foam.
- Treble
For the treble, actually, for using both foams, the results don't feel much different because basically the treble part tends to have a smooth presentation with a treble extension that is not that good or tends to roll off. So I don't recommend using full foam for those who still need treble because using full foam makes the treble presentation worse than the donut foam. But for those who are sensitive to treble, I think it's okay to use full foam.
- Technical
For technical, from the soundstage, it still feels quite wide while for depth & height it feels sufficient. Then for the separation it's still quite okay, it still feels quite neat even though in certain songs that are busy sometimes it still feels piled up. For clarity & resolution, it still feels quite good when using donut foam, especially in the mid/vocals area, it still feels quite clear & clean.
Finally, for the details, it feels a bit less good, like something is missing compared to when I use IEM, like the details are better on my IEM.
View attachment 1000003941.webp
Conclusion: Roseselsa Distant Mountain is one of the products that is still relatively new from Roseselsa Silence. With its cool appearance with a retro classic design, it yep people. In addition, the sound presented is still arguably enjoyable even though it is not very good. Just for casual everyday use, this should be enough to enjoy, especially since it also does not require a complicated source, just with a DAC dongle, you can enjoy it. So for the price of around a million, I quite recommend trying this headphone, especially for those who like the design & for casual everyday use.
ROSESELSA also known as ROSE TECHNICS is one of the latest audio companies that really stands out in the portable audio market as they have a diverse offerings from TWS up to the headphone amp dongles. And now we have the latest product from them and this is quite different from their usual vend.
This is ROSESELSA Distant Mountain also known as Harukana Yama (Harukana = faraway, far-off and Yama = Mountain or in some transliteration, Demon King of the Netherworld) is an on-ear type of headphone that shares the same form factor with the highly acclaimed classics like Koss Portas, Sony MDRs and Sennheiser PX series. Its overall design takes some inspiration from vintage on-ear headphone style which will invoke some nostalgia factor to some folks reminiscing their audio enthusiasm in those eras.
UNBOXING AND INCLUSIONS:
The Distant Mountain is pretty well-packed with accessories for an on-ear headphone as it includes some inclusion that could be utilised. It was packed in a large flat square packaging box with some product illustrations on the front and side part, while at the back, it had some printed product highlights with list of inclusions
The contents inside have their own
compartment.
The headphone itself takes the largest space on its internal box and it was firmly securely on the light card box attachment. It has a full foam earpad
Here are rest of the accessories.
A MMCX-connector detachable 2-core silver-plated cable with nylon-sheated insulator cable with 3.5mm termination plug.
An extra pair of donut foam earpads
A DSP Hi-Fi dongle with Conexant DAC chip inside
Bonus: A resin product mascot standee for holding the headphone.
The earpad foams are somehow of a decent quality although still a bit thin if it was compared to third party ones like from the Yaxis which offers better fitting and comfort as it rests well to the pinnas without adding some wear fatigue on the helix and tragus part from long listening sessions.
BUILD QUALITY:
The build quality of the Distant Mountain is quite well-constructed and materials that were used here are of good quality. It has a stainless steel headband which gives a better tensile strength while having a good flexibility on it, and it was wrapped with lambskin leather to give that premium look. We can alter the head beam length via its bottom part with a satisfying and tactual fine level of adjustment according to your head size and to alleviate some tight cramp on the ears. But to be honest, even on the maximum level of loose adjustment, it still gives me that soreness due to compressed clamp fitting for a long usage
The ear cavity shells are made of CNC-
milled aluminium alloy that were anodised and buffed to give the glossy texture surface. Inside of those shells sports a 40mm dynamic driver with a composite diaphragm that underwent a topological process, and we all know the topology diaphragms are type of transducer membranes that were coated with nano-particles materials and as it was applied, it give those irregular geometric patterns it will offer a better control on handling those sound waves for less distortion while improving the clarity and detailed on its overall sound quality.
The stock cable has an in-mic console with a single button for receiving calls and basic media control for playback. The 3.5mm single-ended plug is still universally compatible with devices that still have this analogue connectivity feature.
Upon ordering, you can choose two colourway options; either a black one or brown one.
OVERALL TONAL PERFORMANCE:
Depending on the earpads that will be used on this headphone, the full earpads will give a warm U-shaped sound profile and while the donut earpads deliver a more V-shaped with a brighter sound profile.
FULL EARPADS
It has punchy and tactile bass response which will be enough to some bass-clef instruments and deep male vocals but it has some noticeable bass bleed that smudges towards the midrange. The midrange of this one has a warm, rich and weighty sound on the vocals and instruments in which this type of tuning will be more suitable to male vocals and some instruments like brasses and percussions. But there are some caveats as this one will sound a bit veiled and dampened as it loses some crispness and energy as I noticed it on the female vocals and woodwinds. The treble response of this one is rather smooth and relaxed that some of its airy extension is rather modest and a bit dampened sparkle but there's a silver lining on this one as this will be more conducive to treble-sensitive folk who are very susceptive to upper-mids and presence peaks.
DONUT EARPADS
It has more rumbly sub bass presence while the mid bass texture was lessened a bit to give a bit cleaner and segregated bass response that gives more resonance and canorous on some deep male vocals and instruments particularly on string and some percussives. As for its midrange, apparently its overall presentation is noticeably more recessed and also quite hollowed, but unlike the Full Earpads mode, it sounds more gleaming and energetic as it gives the sense of openness, more gleaming and crispness which are more beneficial to female vocals and on instruments like woodwinds and strings but again there are some reservations about as it adds more sharper, fiery, spiciness, metallic and too coppery sound on the tonal colours on some vocals and instruments. The treble part sounds more bright with some improvements on its airy extension that we will notice a more intense glistening, more shimmering and a tad perceiving sounds on glockenspiels, celestas and cymbals respectively.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
On its perceived sound/speaker stage size, the full earpads will give that intimate head room that makes the width, depth and height sounds a bit narrower and congested that also affects other technical aspects like layering, separation and to some extent, resolution capability particularly on micro-dynamics as lessens the sharper definition on retrieving some micro-details, grains and nuances on note textures like reverb tails and vocal ends.
Meanwhile on the donut earpads mode, it somehow improves the width and height of its head stage as it has a moderate wideness on lateral span size and some added height ceiling on it. It also gives that concave-like stereo imaging presentation with decently layered soundscape with acceptable separation between vocals, instruments along with some of its section placement in which will be more helpful to enjoy some live recordings of symphonic orchestral pieces. It has a solid macro-dynamics as it is able to highlight the varying degree of loudness levels on both the choral passages and instrumental lines, while its micro-details seems to have a sharper definition on exhibiting some micro-details and subtleties like notational attacks of instruments, reverb tails and vocal ends that were extracted from an audio track.
The driver coherency of this one is relatively very responsive on delivering fast transient response on bass section while having a clear and detailed sound on the midrange and treble regions without any sort of phasing issues or distortions.
As for its power requirement, while this headphone was rated to be a low impedance one, it still needs some sources with better output rating to utilize its overall sound performance. And so, the best devices that this set should be paired with are the headphone DAC/Amp dongles with proven DAC chips and high quality headphone amp module, DAPs ( at least on medium or high gain mode output and desktop DAC/Amp dongle.
PEER COMPARISONS:
KOSS PORTA KPH40
Aside from the DISTANT MOUNTAIN, this is the only on-ear headphone that I currently have until the arrival of the latter set.
- An entry-level headphone from a classic audio brand and like the DISTANT MOUNTAIN, it is also an on-ear type of earphone.
- It has a utilitarian and minimalist design as it has a slimmer profile and is lighter to wear which is better for long listening sessions and it doesn't give me a tight clamping that will be detrimental to my outer ears.
- The cable is rather fixed on this one and it has flat texture on it but it has a feature that we can interchange via detaching its splitter section in which is the half part of length of the cable.
- When it comes to its overall tonality, this one shares a similar tonal profile from its cousins which has its own charm especially if you are very familiar with Koss’ in-house tuning, a mild U-shaped sound with balanced-warmish tonality which sounds pretty analogue sounding but in a good way.
- It has more mid-bass texture to give more roundness and punchiness on the grooves on some bass instruments, a lush, rich and warmer yet clean midrange that makes the vocals and instruments sounds more natural and clear, smooth and pleasant treble response.
- Technical performance of this one is quite competent as it projects a fairly roomy head room on its sound/speaker stage and a good resolution capabilities.
- This set requires a bit more power output as it was rated to have 60 ohms on its power output.
SENNHEISER PX100II
I used to own this one as I bought it at a discount sale price around mid 2010s. One of the few Senny sets I have along with HD515 and HD25.
- An old entry-model from highly reputable German audio brand, Sennheiser.
- It has a slimmer profile with swivel ear pieces and foldable headband.
- The cable is rather fixed on this one as it also has a thinner texture of its overall build.
- It has a U-shaped sound with warmish-balanced tonality which is quite a tonal contrast to the midrangers and flagship sets that Senny's are known for its balanced-neutral sound signatures.
- This one has more mid-bass focused bass response as it sounds more punchy and impactful but it produces some bass bleed leakage that delivers a warmer and rich tones on the midrange presentation and a bit dark and relaxed treble response that it doesn't have an energetic and crisp due to its dampened and veiled presentation that somehow affects the resolution.
- The technical aspects of this one is rather modest from a fairly roomy head stage, less well-defined on layering and separation, and less resolving on its resolution capability.
- This set is actually pretty easy to drive. Some of my Nokia phones are able to amplify this set effortlessly at optimal performance.
As I conclude this product assessment, it shows that ROSESELSA shows its versatility as an audio company as it delivers a good headphone at reasonable price that will be satisfying to some audio enthusiasts due to its appealing looking and also tonal performance. Its overall design exudes vintage-feel that harkens back the good old days of portable analogue audio from the 80’s and ROSESELSA put some effort by using some good quality materials and components to construct this listening headpiece.
There are some polishing touches that this set needs particularly on its limited physical features like earpieces that can't do any swivel motion and also on some of its tuning aspects that still need some refinement. But overall, this headphone is still a comparatively good set that can be recommended to some audio enthusiasts looking for coloured and engaging tuning.
The ROSESELSA/ROSE TECHNIC DISTANT MOUNTAIN/HARUKANA YAMI is now available on HIFIGO, I just provided a non-affiliated link below if you are interested in purchasing this product.
LINK:
https://hifigo.com/products/roseselsa-distant-mountain
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: ROSESELSA DISTANT MOUNTAIN
IMPEDANCE: 32Ω
SENSITIVITY: 105dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz - 20kHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m
PIN TYPE: MMCX-TYPE CONNECTOR
PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm
DRIVER UNIT(S): 40mm DYNAMIC DRIVER
TRACKS TESTED: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)
Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *
Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **
Mountain - Mississippi Queen *
Queen - Killer Queen **
Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'
Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'
Pearl Jam - Daughter **
Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *
Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*
Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *
New Order - Blue Monday *
The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *
The Madness- Buggy Trousers *
Metallica - Motorbreath **
Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *
Destiny's Child - Say My Name *
Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *
Mozart - Lacrimosa *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *
Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*
Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *
Exciter - Violence and Force *
Diana Krall - Stop This World **
Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*
The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**
Suzanne Vega – Luka **
Lauren Christy – Steep *
Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *
Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*
Type O Negative - Black No.1 *
Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **
Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *
Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *
P.S.
I am not affiliated to ROSESELSA nor receive any monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.
Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to TEAM HIFIGO for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
Introduction
ROSESELSA, formerly known as Rose Technics, isn’t a new brand in the Chi-Fi landscape. They have produced and sold many IEMs but this is the first time they come out with a pair of on-ear headphones.Let’s see how they perform and how they fare against similar products.
SPOILER: THEY COULD BE AN EASY 4.5/5 BUT THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT KILL ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE (WHICH CAN BE EASILY FIXED).
Technical Specifications
- Driver Configuration → 1 x 40mm Dynamic Driver
- Impedance → 32 Ω
- Spec-sheet Frequency Response → 20Hz-20kHz
- Sensitivity → 115 dB
- Cable → 1.25m braided cable with MMCX connectors
- Plug Type → 3.5mm
- Plug Type: 3.5mm to Type C
- Chip: ALC5686 Decoder Chip
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 124 dB
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): -95 dB
- PCM Sampling Rate: 32bits/384KHz
- Frequency Response Range: 20Hz – 20000Hz
- Dynamic Range: 113 dB
- Output Load: 3.0V – 5.5V
- Output Power: 22.5mW @ 32Ω
Packaging
The packaging of the ROSESELSA Distant Mountain looks very good and well designed. It contains:- The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain
- A pair of Donut Pads (this is the first time I see donut pads of this size)
- The RZ200M Type-C dongle
- A plastic anime gadget (a lot of brands are including something like this nowadays, even though I don’t think it’s a useful addition)
- User manual
Design, Build Quality, Comfort and Isolation
The Distant Mountain are very solid, they feel premium in the hands and they also look very unique also thanks to the well managed combinations between the materials (metal, plastic and pleather) and colors.The headband is adjustable and feels sturdy while adjusting it and the two drivers are hidden by a metal mesh. The driver shells are perforated leading to an open-back design.
Comfort is so-so, they feel super safe on the head and I haven’t experienced any situation in which they were falling off my head. However, the two pads don’t have any headroom to slightly move horizontally or vertically, so they basically push on the ears while remaining flat with no swivel at all (and this can cause some discomfort after some time), and the pressure is mostly concentrated on the lower part of the earpieces. Not only that, this can also cause sound differences depending on how they sit on the ears and this may vary from user to user.
Isolation is not a thing when speaking about on-ear headphones, and the Distant Mountain are no exception: they don’t isolate from the surrounding environment so you can hear everything around and everyone can catch what’s being reproduced. I bet that I will be able to fully appreciate them for my daily commuting during summer season thanks to their breathable pads.
The cable is not fixed (good thing) and in fact MMCX connectors have been used.
Cable
The cable is detachable and it looks and feels very good. It was very hard for me to connect it before the first usage, so be careful as you may break it if you don’t have enough patience. Once connected, though, it’s super solid and I am happy that ROSESELSA designed the Distant Mountain with a detachable cable.There’s a remote control and microphone on the cable as well, so you can use it for calls and similar tasks.
Sound
GEAR USED FOR THE TEST- DAC: Topping E30
- AMP: Topping L30, Fiio A3
- Mobile phones: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Xiaomi Mi A3, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Moondrop May’s DSP cable with PEQ=0
- Dongle: Apple Type-C dongle, Fosi DS2, Hidizs XO, RZ200M dongle
- Portable DAPs: Benjie S8/AGPTEK M30B
- Bluetooth Adapters: KBEAR S1, KZ AZ10
- Other sources: Presonus AudioBox iONE, Elgato Wave XLR
Amplifier needed?
The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain don’t strictly need amplification, even though some proper amplification can help with the overall dynamics. I suggest pairing them with a warm source since they’re a bit bright overall, as this would provide for a richer low-end (counterbalancing the brightness).
Let’s speak about the sound.
Straight to the point, the ROSESELSA Distant Mountain have one big issue: the 2.5k peak.
It kinda seems like ROSESELSA tried to tune these just like they would do with IEMs but the fact is that the ear-gain is very delicate when it comes to on-ear headphones.
The result is a set that doesn’t sound “terrible” but the overall signature isn’t natural and comes across as slightly thinner than average and unnatural in terms of timbre.
The bass is punchy and has some proper weight (especially considering the fact that these are open-back on-ear headphones), the detail retrieval and overall resolution are very good and the treble has some good sparkle. It’s a fun V-shaped set actually, and it could really rule this price range, but as soon as the volume increases the upper midrange becomes more and more prominent, the female vocals start sounding more nasal and shoutier and the sound becomes thinner and loses some body.
I am not saying that they sound “bad” per se, but the tuning is characterized by a strange timbre and tonality that I’m sure many won’t find appealing.
The soundstage is on the intimate side and the imaging is pretty good considering the very tight space in which every instrument or singer plays.
What have I done for my personal listening sessions?
I have set a personal equalization profile with PK@2500Hz and 2 as Q (Quality Factor) and set a -9dB value to correct the upper-midrange, and with this small refinement I was able to enjoy female vocals without completely shutting them off and without making them too lean to be enjoyable, and all of this while retaining the good value proposition of the Distant Mountain when it comes to other frequencies.
Another thing I’ve done (which I quite liked) was playing with low-end and upper-end EQ, and noticed that these take EQ very well so I will probably use these with my own preset even though I am not a big fan of EQ. I was able to hear some sub-bass also, which is something that I had never experienced with a pair of on-ear headphones.
What about the donut pads?
Don’t use them. The sound is already very forward as it is, the donut pads make the headphones sound more forward in the upper mids and treble and also tame the bass so you get an even thinner response, with less body and more shout.
What about the included dongle?
It's very good for the money (a few dollars more for the variant with the included dongle), it's more powerful than the european version of the Apple dongle and sounds pretty clean as well. I have better dongles around but it comes for less than 10$ and I can't really find true cons.
Are they something I would use considering my taste and preferences?
Not without EQ. I like some forwardness in the upper midrange but this is too much for me also. When I activate my personal EQ profile I quite like the way these sound, and I am also progressively reducing the pressure of the pads by stretching them over some books: this old trick reduces the overall clamp and makes them more comfortable to wear.
Sound
ROSESELSA Distant Mountain vs Koss KSC75ROSESELSA Distant Mountain vs Koss KPH30i
Final Thoughts
The ROSESELSA Distant Mountain showed some issues and these probably depend on the fact that these are the first on-ear headphones that ROSESELSA releases. The upper-midrange tuning has some evident issues that are easily fixable with an effortless and easy EQ, but this is not going to justify the out-of-the-box tuning. However, I can actually see the value here and it’s pretty obvious that with a few refinements here and there these could have been a true hit.That's what I mean in the title: sometimes you gotta stand on your toes and try to do that little push that provides for the better view.
If you are willing to download a simple EQ app to tone down the 2.5kHz, and if you are also willing to wait a few days for the Distant Mountain to stretch a bit over books, these will be a super sturdy, good looking and good sounding bargain with very good technical chops and a fun, punchy sound. If you want a plug’n play set with proper out-of-the-box tuning and stellar comfort, instead, the good old KSC75 and similar products still provide more bang for your buck.
Rose Technics - Distant Mountain
For the non-readers...
Disclaimer & Introduction
Rose Technics or Roseselsa generously provided me this Distant Mountain sample for the purpose of this review.
Anyone who follows me knows that I have a difficult relationship with on-ear headphones and portable earphones because most of them are either uncomfortable or have too many other shortcomings, and I can assure you that it’s not for a lack of trying.
To be frank, I don’t use earphones regularly any more.
They don’t isolate city noise on my commute to work, they are very leaky so they’re useless for quiet indoor situations and I’ve found so many of them have too many quirks or oddities for them to become part of my regular listening cycle.
Take the Koss PortaPro for example. Great little earphone, but the sliding headband loves to occasionally pinch hair at the top of your head.
Or the Sennheiser PMX-100, a hybrid ear-hook type with the same great sound as the PX100, but extremely uncool.
Let’s take a look at the Distant Mountain and see how it fairs, particularly against these two.
Build, Design & Ergonomics
To get straight to the point, there is no escaping that the Distant Mountain has been beautifully designed.
If you go through the entire history of non-sealing, foam-ear-pad, Walkmen-type earphones from Audio Technica, AKG, AIWA, Technics, Nakamichi, Pioneer, JVC, Sony, and Yamaha, only a tiny handful of models comes anywhere close to this level of simplicity and style, and I think it’s among the prettiest earphones ever made.
What it lacks in ultimate simplicity it makes up for in style and extremely high build quality; there isn’t a single piece of plastic in the chassis and these feel like a premium, high-end product.
The gold accents are incredibly quite resistant to fingerprints.
The adjustment sliders are implemented thoughtfully.
MMCX sockets are included allow for easy replacement and any combination of cables to suit your style.
The metal parts are beautifully machined and integrate together almost seamlessly, which is where the only obvious flaw in the build can be observed; there is a fairly large tolerance where the headband slots into the earphones, so there is some wobble, but considering the strength and density of these metal parts and that the adjustment remains snappy enough and holds well, I don’t see this as a big enough problem to mark it down.
The fabric headset cable is fine.
It doesn’t exactly feel high-end, but neither is it scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The button on the cable behaves as a remote for pause and next track, depending on how many times you press it, and the microphone quality is actually really quite poor, making it the worst part of this product.
However redundant it might be, there is padding under the skeepskin leather headband, and by the feel of it, I believe they’ve opted for a thicker type of skeepskin that should at least be more hard wearing than the type usually chosen for ear pads.
Ergonomics are always going to be subjective, so I’ll just give my own experience.
The sound of these earphones doesn’t change much wherever you wear it over your ears, so I was able to wear these quite a bit more forward than usual, adding some pressure more forwards towards my face, which improved the wearing comfort vastly.
But to reach that point where I was actually satisfied did require bending the headband a little.
This is the only singular part of the design where I can mark it down just a tiny notch – the earphone parts have no swivel.
Around half of the others (historically speaking) have some kind of ball joint or single axis rotation, so here you might have to bend the headband until the angle of the pads matches the curve of your skull and ears.
To be fair, this was fairly trivial for me as I’ve done this sort of thing quite a few times with other headphones and don’t see it as an obstacle any more, but for first-time buyers, this can be extremely off-putting and not a simple task.
If you do find you need to bend yours, just remember to bend both sides simultaneously, unless of course you’ve got an asymmetrical head
I don’t normally delve too deeply in the unboxing experience on this channel, but Rose Technics has consistently provided little hits of dopamine in the unboxing experience, the same goes for their QT-X IEM I reviewed last year.
The magnetic lid unfolds revealing the Distant & Mountain Accessories, the spare EarPads (one word) and the printed tracing paper over the headphone.
In the Accessories compartment are two boxes, one for the cable, and one for the ‘Giveaway’ which in this case was some kind of magical, red-haired, waifu who is sitting on a floating Rose, which no doubt is directly related to the brand name.
I would have preferred if she at least had some kind of function like a headphone stand, or at least as some kind of mystical ward against demons or Beats by Dre...
The Sound
These, funnily enough, have a kind of ‘distant’ sound going on…
The tuning is overall moderately dark with it’s fairly deep bass kick, veiled treble and slight upper midrange vocal peak, which altogether sort of makes you want to turn the volume down a bit and just relax.
As it goes with most earphones, the bass hits hardest somewhere around 100hz, so some electronic music can get slightly fatiguing after a while, but that’s extremely dependent on the type of bass sound used.
While the overall tone is objectively incorrect with it’s darker tone, the timbre never sounds obviously broken, only like everything is pushed further away.
I would say it’s the antithesis of the best Sony Walkmen earphones of the 80’s which had their strongest focus on upper mids and treble, with huge amounts of detail and almost no body to the sound with bass being an afterthought.
The tuning is done very tastefully, and I particularly found low-fi type music extremely enjoyable and relaxing.
(miniDSP EARS is not great at measuring anything other than full-sized headphones - bass sounds stronger than shown, peak at 4KHz is not that strong, treble is less rolled-off)
For example, in the first week of testing these, I went out to pick up some new leather ear pads for my STAX SR-Λ from the post office, so I put these on and started playing the E.VAX album.
Not only did I feel like some kind of fashionista nerd with my retro styled earphones, but this combination with the music was just an absolute vibe.
The foam pads almost completely reduced wind noise and I could clearly hear traffic and outside noises which made me feel like I was walking around with my own background soundtrack.
Somehow in the recent past, I’ve been dedicating my energy to finding great closed-back headphones and IEMs, all in the quest for superior isolation, and I forgot the feeling of mixing music with reality; and somehow that also brought me joy.
Comparisons
As I mentioned earlier I’d like to compare these directly to two giants of the earphone world from Koss and Sennheiser.
It doesn’t take more than a moment to hear that the Distant Mountain is overall darker and has a focus on bass and upper mids.
The PortaPro is the most fun and direct sounding of the three. In that regard, it is more like a Grado, where everything sounds present and more energetic, but it is clear that it lacks bass extension and deep slam. It has a strong focus on upper bass.
The PMX100, which has fundamentally the same sound as the legendary PX100, has the classic smooth Sennheiser sound.
Technically it sounds more neutral than the PortaPro and Distant Mountain and has the most obviously correct timbre.
One could argue it is less fun than the other two, but that’s often the sacrifice you make for more pure audio reproduction.
The Distant Mountain obviously has the deepest and most textured bass.
I knew the bass was good for an earphone but this is actual step up in class.
I have never ever heard an earphone do sub-bass until now.
They take EQ extremely well and even handle bass boosts with ease, delivering just about the deepest, strongest bass you can get out of an earphone.
The upper mids do have a slight gain around 4KHz, but it’s more tastefully tuned than what you sometimes hear in IEMs and helps prevent vocals becoming drowned out and from sounding too smoothed out which adds some fun and musicality to the sound.
Conclusions
When I take these out, I boost the sub-bass (depending on noise levels), bring down that 4KHz peak a touch and boost the treble a smidge, depending on the recording.
Of course, that’s just my preference.
Out of the box, it has a tasteful tuning that is both smooth and warm but never lets the vocals get drowned out of the mix, altogether implemented in one of the best-built and prettiest earphones ever made.
Contrary to my expectations, it ticks almost every single box while adding it’s own personality and flair at an unusually affordable price.
It stands completely apart from any other earphone that came before it and so I find myself in the rare position to give this a very strong recommendation.
For the non-readers...
Disclaimer & Introduction
Rose Technics or Roseselsa generously provided me this Distant Mountain sample for the purpose of this review.
Anyone who follows me knows that I have a difficult relationship with on-ear headphones and portable earphones because most of them are either uncomfortable or have too many other shortcomings, and I can assure you that it’s not for a lack of trying.
To be frank, I don’t use earphones regularly any more.
They don’t isolate city noise on my commute to work, they are very leaky so they’re useless for quiet indoor situations and I’ve found so many of them have too many quirks or oddities for them to become part of my regular listening cycle.
Take the Koss PortaPro for example. Great little earphone, but the sliding headband loves to occasionally pinch hair at the top of your head.
Or the Sennheiser PMX-100, a hybrid ear-hook type with the same great sound as the PX100, but extremely uncool.
Let’s take a look at the Distant Mountain and see how it fairs, particularly against these two.
Build, Design & Ergonomics
To get straight to the point, there is no escaping that the Distant Mountain has been beautifully designed.
If you go through the entire history of non-sealing, foam-ear-pad, Walkmen-type earphones from Audio Technica, AKG, AIWA, Technics, Nakamichi, Pioneer, JVC, Sony, and Yamaha, only a tiny handful of models comes anywhere close to this level of simplicity and style, and I think it’s among the prettiest earphones ever made.
 |  |
 |  |
What it lacks in ultimate simplicity it makes up for in style and extremely high build quality; there isn’t a single piece of plastic in the chassis and these feel like a premium, high-end product.
The gold accents are incredibly quite resistant to fingerprints.
The adjustment sliders are implemented thoughtfully.
MMCX sockets are included allow for easy replacement and any combination of cables to suit your style.
The metal parts are beautifully machined and integrate together almost seamlessly, which is where the only obvious flaw in the build can be observed; there is a fairly large tolerance where the headband slots into the earphones, so there is some wobble, but considering the strength and density of these metal parts and that the adjustment remains snappy enough and holds well, I don’t see this as a big enough problem to mark it down.
The fabric headset cable is fine.
It doesn’t exactly feel high-end, but neither is it scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The button on the cable behaves as a remote for pause and next track, depending on how many times you press it, and the microphone quality is actually really quite poor, making it the worst part of this product.
However redundant it might be, there is padding under the skeepskin leather headband, and by the feel of it, I believe they’ve opted for a thicker type of skeepskin that should at least be more hard wearing than the type usually chosen for ear pads.
Ergonomics are always going to be subjective, so I’ll just give my own experience.
The sound of these earphones doesn’t change much wherever you wear it over your ears, so I was able to wear these quite a bit more forward than usual, adding some pressure more forwards towards my face, which improved the wearing comfort vastly.
But to reach that point where I was actually satisfied did require bending the headband a little.
This is the only singular part of the design where I can mark it down just a tiny notch – the earphone parts have no swivel.
Around half of the others (historically speaking) have some kind of ball joint or single axis rotation, so here you might have to bend the headband until the angle of the pads matches the curve of your skull and ears.
To be fair, this was fairly trivial for me as I’ve done this sort of thing quite a few times with other headphones and don’t see it as an obstacle any more, but for first-time buyers, this can be extremely off-putting and not a simple task.
If you do find you need to bend yours, just remember to bend both sides simultaneously, unless of course you’ve got an asymmetrical head
 |  |
I don’t normally delve too deeply in the unboxing experience on this channel, but Rose Technics has consistently provided little hits of dopamine in the unboxing experience, the same goes for their QT-X IEM I reviewed last year.
The magnetic lid unfolds revealing the Distant & Mountain Accessories, the spare EarPads (one word) and the printed tracing paper over the headphone.
 |  |
In the Accessories compartment are two boxes, one for the cable, and one for the ‘Giveaway’ which in this case was some kind of magical, red-haired, waifu who is sitting on a floating Rose, which no doubt is directly related to the brand name.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
I would have preferred if she at least had some kind of function like a headphone stand, or at least as some kind of mystical ward against demons or Beats by Dre...
The Sound
These, funnily enough, have a kind of ‘distant’ sound going on…
The tuning is overall moderately dark with it’s fairly deep bass kick, veiled treble and slight upper midrange vocal peak, which altogether sort of makes you want to turn the volume down a bit and just relax.
As it goes with most earphones, the bass hits hardest somewhere around 100hz, so some electronic music can get slightly fatiguing after a while, but that’s extremely dependent on the type of bass sound used.
While the overall tone is objectively incorrect with it’s darker tone, the timbre never sounds obviously broken, only like everything is pushed further away.
I would say it’s the antithesis of the best Sony Walkmen earphones of the 80’s which had their strongest focus on upper mids and treble, with huge amounts of detail and almost no body to the sound with bass being an afterthought.
The tuning is done very tastefully, and I particularly found low-fi type music extremely enjoyable and relaxing.
(miniDSP EARS is not great at measuring anything other than full-sized headphones - bass sounds stronger than shown, peak at 4KHz is not that strong, treble is less rolled-off)
For example, in the first week of testing these, I went out to pick up some new leather ear pads for my STAX SR-Λ from the post office, so I put these on and started playing the E.VAX album.
Not only did I feel like some kind of fashionista nerd with my retro styled earphones, but this combination with the music was just an absolute vibe.
The foam pads almost completely reduced wind noise and I could clearly hear traffic and outside noises which made me feel like I was walking around with my own background soundtrack.
Somehow in the recent past, I’ve been dedicating my energy to finding great closed-back headphones and IEMs, all in the quest for superior isolation, and I forgot the feeling of mixing music with reality; and somehow that also brought me joy.
Comparisons
As I mentioned earlier I’d like to compare these directly to two giants of the earphone world from Koss and Sennheiser.
It doesn’t take more than a moment to hear that the Distant Mountain is overall darker and has a focus on bass and upper mids.
The PortaPro is the most fun and direct sounding of the three. In that regard, it is more like a Grado, where everything sounds present and more energetic, but it is clear that it lacks bass extension and deep slam. It has a strong focus on upper bass.
 |  |
The PMX100, which has fundamentally the same sound as the legendary PX100, has the classic smooth Sennheiser sound.
Technically it sounds more neutral than the PortaPro and Distant Mountain and has the most obviously correct timbre.
One could argue it is less fun than the other two, but that’s often the sacrifice you make for more pure audio reproduction.
The Distant Mountain obviously has the deepest and most textured bass.
I knew the bass was good for an earphone but this is actual step up in class.
I have never ever heard an earphone do sub-bass until now.
They take EQ extremely well and even handle bass boosts with ease, delivering just about the deepest, strongest bass you can get out of an earphone.
The upper mids do have a slight gain around 4KHz, but it’s more tastefully tuned than what you sometimes hear in IEMs and helps prevent vocals becoming drowned out and from sounding too smoothed out which adds some fun and musicality to the sound.
Conclusions
When I take these out, I boost the sub-bass (depending on noise levels), bring down that 4KHz peak a touch and boost the treble a smidge, depending on the recording.
Of course, that’s just my preference.
Out of the box, it has a tasteful tuning that is both smooth and warm but never lets the vocals get drowned out of the mix, altogether implemented in one of the best-built and prettiest earphones ever made.
Contrary to my expectations, it ticks almost every single box while adding it’s own personality and flair at an unusually affordable price.
It stands completely apart from any other earphone that came before it and so I find myself in the rare position to give this a very strong recommendation.
Jacobal
1kHz- The KPH30i is probably the greatest headphone ever made. No joke. It just sounds “right”, it’s affordable, it’s lightweight, and comes with lifetime warranty. I even prefer it to the HD800, Audeze, Utopia, etc. The only bad thing is its plastic build quality.
ShaolinGrump
I'm testing cheap AliExpress pads on the Distant Mountain. 50mm size is tight to install but sounds really good to me. Comfort is far superior to stock pads, and I am still waiting to switch back to stock pads for critical listening comparison. The upgrades sound too good. Midrange is somewhat recessed, but that is probably not a criticism considering the current costs and a very cheap pad swap. I just ordered 60mm and 70mm sizes to increase swapability and inner diameter of listening port (hopefully).
[AlieExpress linked failed for too many characters.]
[AlieExpress linked failed for too many characters.]
I find them to be a little tinny in sound, clear sound but yeah kinda v shaped. The ones i have has a kind of hollow clean shouty sound like it needs more weight in the sound if you know what i mean.
The Koss Porta pro and KPH30i to me sound better and more comfortable although plastic. I can see the appeal with metal on these but I prefer the Koss and many other phones over these for sound. Maybe they are just not for me, but they are nice to look at.