Freshly coming off their quite impressive price/quality earbuds I was delighted to try out their over ear A2 model and see just how it compares. I’ve said it many of times but the sub $100 range of audio products are, in my personal opinion, the most competitive of any others so I like to see these do something that makes them stand out from the rest. So how about the Soundpeats A2? Well, allow me to explain my thoughts during my time with them.
A little about me
I would like to say that first and foremost I am NOT an “audiophile” but rather an audio enthusiast. I listen to music to enjoy it. Do I prefer a lossless source? Yes, of course. But I can still be very happy streaming from Pandora or even my YouTube “My Mix” playlist. I also prefer equipment that sounds the best to me personally regardless of what frequency response it has or rather or not it's “sonically accurate” and I always have and shall continue to encourage others to do the same.
I'm a firefighter for both the civilian and military sector and the cliché of wanting to do this since I was born couldn't be more present with me. I've worked hard over the last several years to earn this position and now it's time for me to work even harder to keep it.
My interests/hobbies are powerlifting, fishing and relaxing to audio products and reviewing them to help other decide on what products would work for them. Few things make me as an audio enthusiast/review feel more accomplished than when someone tells me that I helped them find the type of sound they've always been looking for.
Now, the sound signature I personally favor is a relaxing, warm and sensual sound that just drifts me away in the emotional experience of the music being performed. Yes, accuracy is still important but I will happily sacrifice some of that if I'm presented with a clean, warm sound that can wisp me away into an experience that makes me yearn for more.
My ideal signature are that of respectably forward mids and upper bass range with the bass being controlled but with some slight decay. I like my treble to have nice extension and detail reveal with a smooth roll off up top as to not become harsh in the least. Examples of products that have given me chills and keep giving me the yearning for more feels are the (in no particular order) Bowers & Wilkins P7, Oppo PM-1/2, Empire Ears Hermes VI & Zeus XIV, Audeze LCD-XC, Meze Headphones 99 Classics.
I would like to say that first and foremost I am NOT an “audiophile” but rather an audio enthusiast. I listen to music to enjoy it. Do I prefer a lossless source? Yes, of course. But I can still be very happy streaming from Pandora or even my YouTube “My Mix” playlist. I also prefer equipment that sounds the best to me personally regardless of what frequency response it has or rather or not it's “sonically accurate” and I always have and shall continue to encourage others to do the same.
I'm a firefighter for both the civilian and military sector and the cliché of wanting to do this since I was born couldn't be more present with me. I've worked hard over the last several years to earn this position and now it's time for me to work even harder to keep it.
My interests/hobbies are powerlifting, fishing and relaxing to audio products and reviewing them to help other decide on what products would work for them. Few things make me as an audio enthusiast/review feel more accomplished than when someone tells me that I helped them find the type of sound they've always been looking for.
Now, the sound signature I personally favor is a relaxing, warm and sensual sound that just drifts me away in the emotional experience of the music being performed. Yes, accuracy is still important but I will happily sacrifice some of that if I'm presented with a clean, warm sound that can wisp me away into an experience that makes me yearn for more.
My ideal signature are that of respectably forward mids and upper bass range with the bass being controlled but with some slight decay. I like my treble to have nice extension and detail reveal with a smooth roll off up top as to not become harsh in the least. Examples of products that have given me chills and keep giving me the yearning for more feels are the (in no particular order) Bowers & Wilkins P7, Oppo PM-1/2, Empire Ears Hermes VI & Zeus XIV, Audeze LCD-XC, Meze Headphones 99 Classics.
Equipment used at least some point during the review
-Sources
-LG V20/HP Pavilion
-Playing Pandora, YouTube, and various format personal music
-Sources
-LG V20/HP Pavilion
-Playing Pandora, YouTube, and various format personal music
Disclaimer
I am by no means sponsored by this company or any of its affiliates. They were kind enough to send me a product for an arranged amount of time in exchange for my honest opinion. I am making no monetary compensation for this review.
The following is my take on the product being reviewed. It is to be taken “with a grain of salt” per say and as I always tell people, it is YOUR opinion that matters. So regardless of my take or view on said product, I highly recommend you listen to it yourself and gauge your own opinion.
I am by no means sponsored by this company or any of its affiliates. They were kind enough to send me a product for an arranged amount of time in exchange for my honest opinion. I am making no monetary compensation for this review.
The following is my take on the product being reviewed. It is to be taken “with a grain of salt” per say and as I always tell people, it is YOUR opinion that matters. So regardless of my take or view on said product, I highly recommend you listen to it yourself and gauge your own opinion.
The Opening Experience
Why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience
Please allow me to explain why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience with a product. Maybe it’s due to my southern roots in the hills of eastern Kentucky, but I’ve always been raised under the pretense of when you introduce yourself to someone for the first time you present yourself with confidence, class, character, pride, and competence. You greet the other person with a true warm smile, eye contact and a firm handshake. Anything less or short implies to other person that you either don’t care about them, are too full of yourself, too busy to be bothered by the likes of them, or worse, just generally disrespectful.
As a consumer, I take this same belief to when I open a new product. Why? Because think about it this way. How else can a company introduce themselves to their customers? How do they present their products? Are they packaged with pride and presented in such a way that makes the listener eager to listen to them? Or maybe they’re just wrapped up and placed in an available space. How about the box itself? Is it bogged down with jargon that says look at this, look what I can do. I’m better than anything on the market and here’s why read this and check out that. Or, is the package clean, simplistic and classy? As if saying to the customer ‘Good day, pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Please give me a listen and allow me to show you what I can do and allow my actions to speak louder than my words.’
This is why I feel so strongly about the initial presentation of a product, and I feel it’s truly a shame more people don’t. But with all that aside, let’s discuss how this products introduced itself shall we?
Please allow me to explain why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience with a product. Maybe it’s due to my southern roots in the hills of eastern Kentucky, but I’ve always been raised under the pretense of when you introduce yourself to someone for the first time you present yourself with confidence, class, character, pride, and competence. You greet the other person with a true warm smile, eye contact and a firm handshake. Anything less or short implies to other person that you either don’t care about them, are too full of yourself, too busy to be bothered by the likes of them, or worse, just generally disrespectful.
As a consumer, I take this same belief to when I open a new product. Why? Because think about it this way. How else can a company introduce themselves to their customers? How do they present their products? Are they packaged with pride and presented in such a way that makes the listener eager to listen to them? Or maybe they’re just wrapped up and placed in an available space. How about the box itself? Is it bogged down with jargon that says look at this, look what I can do. I’m better than anything on the market and here’s why read this and check out that. Or, is the package clean, simplistic and classy? As if saying to the customer ‘Good day, pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Please give me a listen and allow me to show you what I can do and allow my actions to speak louder than my words.’
This is why I feel so strongly about the initial presentation of a product, and I feel it’s truly a shame more people don’t. But with all that aside, let’s discuss how this products introduced itself shall we?
For the most part I found that the unboxing experience with Soundpeats A2 to be of normal headphones around this price. Very showy box with a lot of “look at me’s” that are meant to attempt to set it apart from others of this price. As you open the box the headphones are placed inside of a cheap generic plastic holder so nothing great about that either. Soundpeats did provide a carrying pouch which I will say was nice. Then finally you’re given the warranty and instruction manual, micro USB charging cable and 3.5mm aux cable.
A very short and straight to the point section I know but this is was a very straightforward and simple unboxing that, at least to me, didn’t really stand out from any other general headphone around this price range.
Construction
Similar to the unboxing, the construction is of expected cheaper plastic throughout and general foam padding. The headband has a generous amount of adjustment to I’m confident that the vast majority of people won’t have an issue wearing these at all. All the controls for the bluetooth function are on the right cup. The top button is the noise reduction setting that also works like an amplifier for the already powerful bass so when it’s on, whewy, it’s potent, does a meh job reducing noise though. Below that are the track forward/volume up, play/pause/answer/hangup, and back/volume down buttons with the micro USB port and aux port finishing up the extras.
Comfort
As is no surprise or news to anyone who has followed me or watch me on YouTube know that I’ve some good sized ears. I do have to keep reminding myself that most people don’t have ears as big as mine so most won’t have the issues that I find myself having. As with the A2, I find their ear cups to not fully encapsulate my ears and thus puts pressure on the outside of my ears and causes a bit of discomfort in relatively short time frame (like 30-45min). Now, for those with regular sized ears, I don’t think you’ll have an much of an issue because the padding should fit nicely on your head. My only withdrawal is that the padding itself isn’t that dense and does have a fair amount of give to it.
But other than the ear cup, I think Soundpeats did an acceptable job in the A2’s comfort. They’re very lightweight and don’t pull my hair pack (what little I try and keep) and also stay put on my head and don’t slide at all. The isolation is alright. I have mowed my lawn in these and though I’d rather use a pair of in ears (like the Q32 model they sent me to review previously) I was still comfortable with the overall isolation level these provided.
Sound
The Soundpeats A2 is most certainly a darker fun sounding headphone. There’s a lot of bass that’s more than enough to go around. But it’s still an enjoyable headphone to just sit back and enjoy some music and especially movies with. They do have a smaller soundstage and I never felt the desire/drive to close my eyes to fully enjoy the music so the imaging could’ve been better. Now, for those who enjoy a strong bass punch but don’t want to spend a lot of money and/or need something inexpensive and quick, I think you should, at the very least, check the Soundpeats A2 out. But allow me to talk about their individual characteristics so that maybe I can explain how they sound a little bit better.
Treble
This is arguably where the excitement and detail of a headphone can reveal itself. I for one and very subject to the chill bumps when a lovely violin piece gets really amped up and the headphone/speaker I’m listening to makes me feel the energy and emotion of the artist. Unfortunately, that’s not that present in the A2’s. Though there’s treble representation, at least to me and my ears, I never got excited over listening to any in particular pieces. From my current favorite and go to tracks “Ballade #1 in G minor, Op 23 (violin version)” by Chopin in the “Your Lie In April soundtrack and “A Moon Filled Sky” by Tenmon, for those who keep up with me and my reviews are likely tired of seeing these same tracks brought up so many times but they’re just so beautiful to listen to and, to me, do a fantastic job and showcasing an audio equipments ability or deficiency in producing an enjoyable treble experience.
When listening through the Soundpeats A2, even though these are definitely a V shaped sound headphones, the treble doesn’t showcase itself anywhere close to the bass power. The strings of the violin don’t present the resenance of the strings (which I really can’t expect it would at this price range truthfully) and to not beat a dead horse, just really didn’t have any magic to it, the A2 played treble notes.
Mids
The mid range. Where I personally take the most enjoyment and pay the most attention to. My favorite part of listening to music is hearing the artist’s voice and hearing their emotion being portrayed in the song of music they’re expressing themselves in. When listening to music on the Soundpeats A2, though the vocals come through fairly nice, albeit a little recessed, they are notably being influenced by the powerful bass that bleeds into the mid range territory. Listen to the song “Rise” by Boyce Avenue (Piano Acoustic cover). The AMV attached to it certainly helps the emotion but the vocals to a fantastic job on their own. And for the most part the A2 portrays the males voice just fine but you can definitely tell the bass has lowered his voice a little bit. This becomes more evident in many female focused tracks as well.
Now, with that aside I personally think that Soundpeats did a pretty good job with the midrange cause I can get an impressive sense of body in these headphones especially for these to only be around $40ish. These also do respectably well when listening to string instruments. One of my favorite instruments to listen to is the Cello and though the A2 doesn’t do the best of jobs are showcasing the beautiful resonance a cello has, it still expresses the soft melody of the instrument itself and, at least for me personally, provided a very musical experience. BabyMetal also sounds really good too.
Bass
My my my my my are these a fun headphones to get your thump on with. I know I’ve brought it up a couple times but these are quite V shaped and geared toward the mass of people, especially those who like some hard bass. Check out both “Oracle” and “Punjabi” by Timmy Trumpet. The Soundpeats A2 has some seriously impressive bass that punches right along with these very heavy bass tracks, and I mean even in the subbass range as well. Now, for audiophile listening I’m not quite certain you’ll get the same level of enjoyment because there’s a lot of bass decay that does bleed the bass notes into each other. Hence audiophile will likely not like these if they’re wanting a critical listening pair, but for those just wanting to enjoy their bass punch private party side, then, at least from my experience, you’ll be in for a wonderful time. So in other words, Soundpeats did a FANTASTIC job in the bass in the A2.
Conclusion
My overall thoughts on the Soundpeats A2 as a whole are that they’ve made a all round good headphone that fits well in it’s requested asking price. It has great battery life and has a really fun sound to listen to. The comfort issues that I personally had may make these difficult to listen to for long periods for some but shouldn’t be any issue for those looking for a quick, relatively inexpensive, pair of wireless cans to listen to for a flight.
Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.
