I picked this up on a whim off Amazon for $40. I figure for that price, even if they fell flat on their face, I wouldn't be out a ton of cash. I've been listening almost exclusively to my AKG Q701 and K550 headphones for the past few months, so this review is coming from someone who is used to great treble and light-yet-tight bass. I'll be comparing these primarily to the K550s, since those are also 32ohm closed back cans.
- Looks, comfort, build quality: The first thing I noticed when they arrived was the size: although they're advertised as over-the-ear headphones, you'd have to posses fairly small ears to fit fully in the stock cups. Me and my dumbo-ears turned them into half-on/half-off ear headphones, albeit surprisingly comfortable ones, a touch more comfortable than out-of-the-box Grados, I'd say. The build quality isn't going to inspire comparisons to armored vehicles, but they don't feel like toys that could break at a moments notice. The band is decently thick metal, pretty resistant to bending and twisting while the cups themselves aren't fully wood, but rather plastic with (cheap) wood backing. There are a few rattles if you shake them, but nothing that sets off any red flags. It'd be nice to have the adjustment band be dampened by some foam or rubber instead of being allowed to rattle around, but again: 40 bucks. The cord, though. While the fact that it's removable and terminates in 1.5mm plugs is nice, it'll be rather simple to build you own if you can track down 1.5mm plugs. And you may well want to build your own, because this cord picks up the slightest movement and translates it directly to the headphones, probably the fabric they used to cover it... whatever it is, it's exceedingly annoying.
- Sound: The Amazon reviews said these lean towards the bass side of things and they were right on the money, there is a plethora of bass and low end... sadly, it gets out of control pretty easily and steps all over the mids if you turn it up. Compared to the K550's lack of bass quantity, but excellent bass quality. Using EQ to reduce how much bass the source outputs helps, but you'll still get a little bit of sloppyness. The treble is surprisingly good for a cheap closed back headphone, but I still would only recommend these for songs where the volume and intensity of wubs is paramount. Soundstage is about what you'd expect with closed-back headphones, less than the K550, but not terrible.
Note: I had a spare pair of HM5 leather pads lying around. Comfort skyrocketed and the increased distance between my ear and driver helped open things up a little. I removed the small foam disk when I swapped pads as well, these cans have more than enough bass to compensate and the slight boost in treble was worth it.
Songs:
X-Rated - Excision feat. Messain: I was grinning like an idiot with this song and these cans. The K550s do an okay job, but this is definitely a quantity > quality song. Low rumbles, big impact, mids pretty much vanished after the first drop, treble just enough to give you a full song and not an extended bass track. I had to take a few minutes off after blasting this song, I think my ears hated me, but it was so much fun.
Turn Down For What - DJ Snake feat. Lil John: Along with X-Rated, this song plays entirely on these cans strength: rumbles and wubs. Once again, the bass track largely overwrote the mid track, but not to the extent that X-Rated did... almost as though the composers of this song wanted more than just bass-heaven. Treble was once again adequate without being stellar.
Calling - The Birthday Massacre: Now we're starting to step away from the bass-heavy tracks, although TBM still has more bass than your average band. What I noticed with this song was the mids and had vanished or was barely there in the last two songs came back, likely a result of the greatly reduced bass emphasis in the song itself. Treble continues to be acceptable, nothing spectacular, but more than enough to give Chibi's voice it's due.
Die & Rise - Lacuna Coil: We may have found a band that doesn't work very well with these at last. Lacuna Coil tends to be very mid-centric... sadly, these headphones struggle with mids. The chords and notes are still there, but they don't flow and sound natural like they do with K550s. It's a shame, because the treble lets Cristina's voice carry nicely and the bass gives a nice impact and presence to the bass guitar. But those mids... *sigh*
Dangerous - Big Data feat. Joyweave: This song more than any other reveals the sloppy bass these headphones have. The very prominent bass drum is louder, but loses the drilling impact my K550s impart. A slap instead of a punch, if you will. The other percussion is prominent and sounds great, with the lyrics and other instruments were enjoyable present and the overall song sounds pretty good once you get past the bass drums.
Busy Earnin' - Jungle: Pretty darn good, I'll admit. Fun and upbeat, it benefits from the bass emphasis, mids carry the rest of it pretty well, treble not so great, but enough to fill out the song.
Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin: Alright, this kind of isn't fair, because nothing is going to do this song justice like the open-back Q701s. That said, you probably want to stick with dubstep/rap/rock. Treble is flat, mids overpowering, bass steps over everyone when it shows up. Yeah, these most certainly are NOT classical/orchestra headphones.
Conclusion: If you want a stylish on-the-go headphone for cheap, you can do far worse. If you happen to have some HM5 pads lying around, all the better. I'd figure out a solution for the cord though, that gets annoying fast. 3.5 stars for being a decent headphone, but nothing to gush about.
- Looks, comfort, build quality: The first thing I noticed when they arrived was the size: although they're advertised as over-the-ear headphones, you'd have to posses fairly small ears to fit fully in the stock cups. Me and my dumbo-ears turned them into half-on/half-off ear headphones, albeit surprisingly comfortable ones, a touch more comfortable than out-of-the-box Grados, I'd say. The build quality isn't going to inspire comparisons to armored vehicles, but they don't feel like toys that could break at a moments notice. The band is decently thick metal, pretty resistant to bending and twisting while the cups themselves aren't fully wood, but rather plastic with (cheap) wood backing. There are a few rattles if you shake them, but nothing that sets off any red flags. It'd be nice to have the adjustment band be dampened by some foam or rubber instead of being allowed to rattle around, but again: 40 bucks. The cord, though. While the fact that it's removable and terminates in 1.5mm plugs is nice, it'll be rather simple to build you own if you can track down 1.5mm plugs. And you may well want to build your own, because this cord picks up the slightest movement and translates it directly to the headphones, probably the fabric they used to cover it... whatever it is, it's exceedingly annoying.
- Sound: The Amazon reviews said these lean towards the bass side of things and they were right on the money, there is a plethora of bass and low end... sadly, it gets out of control pretty easily and steps all over the mids if you turn it up. Compared to the K550's lack of bass quantity, but excellent bass quality. Using EQ to reduce how much bass the source outputs helps, but you'll still get a little bit of sloppyness. The treble is surprisingly good for a cheap closed back headphone, but I still would only recommend these for songs where the volume and intensity of wubs is paramount. Soundstage is about what you'd expect with closed-back headphones, less than the K550, but not terrible.
Note: I had a spare pair of HM5 leather pads lying around. Comfort skyrocketed and the increased distance between my ear and driver helped open things up a little. I removed the small foam disk when I swapped pads as well, these cans have more than enough bass to compensate and the slight boost in treble was worth it.
Songs:
X-Rated - Excision feat. Messain: I was grinning like an idiot with this song and these cans. The K550s do an okay job, but this is definitely a quantity > quality song. Low rumbles, big impact, mids pretty much vanished after the first drop, treble just enough to give you a full song and not an extended bass track. I had to take a few minutes off after blasting this song, I think my ears hated me, but it was so much fun.
Turn Down For What - DJ Snake feat. Lil John: Along with X-Rated, this song plays entirely on these cans strength: rumbles and wubs. Once again, the bass track largely overwrote the mid track, but not to the extent that X-Rated did... almost as though the composers of this song wanted more than just bass-heaven. Treble was once again adequate without being stellar.
Calling - The Birthday Massacre: Now we're starting to step away from the bass-heavy tracks, although TBM still has more bass than your average band. What I noticed with this song was the mids and had vanished or was barely there in the last two songs came back, likely a result of the greatly reduced bass emphasis in the song itself. Treble continues to be acceptable, nothing spectacular, but more than enough to give Chibi's voice it's due.
Die & Rise - Lacuna Coil: We may have found a band that doesn't work very well with these at last. Lacuna Coil tends to be very mid-centric... sadly, these headphones struggle with mids. The chords and notes are still there, but they don't flow and sound natural like they do with K550s. It's a shame, because the treble lets Cristina's voice carry nicely and the bass gives a nice impact and presence to the bass guitar. But those mids... *sigh*
Dangerous - Big Data feat. Joyweave: This song more than any other reveals the sloppy bass these headphones have. The very prominent bass drum is louder, but loses the drilling impact my K550s impart. A slap instead of a punch, if you will. The other percussion is prominent and sounds great, with the lyrics and other instruments were enjoyable present and the overall song sounds pretty good once you get past the bass drums.
Busy Earnin' - Jungle: Pretty darn good, I'll admit. Fun and upbeat, it benefits from the bass emphasis, mids carry the rest of it pretty well, treble not so great, but enough to fill out the song.
Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin: Alright, this kind of isn't fair, because nothing is going to do this song justice like the open-back Q701s. That said, you probably want to stick with dubstep/rap/rock. Treble is flat, mids overpowering, bass steps over everyone when it shows up. Yeah, these most certainly are NOT classical/orchestra headphones.
Conclusion: If you want a stylish on-the-go headphone for cheap, you can do far worse. If you happen to have some HM5 pads lying around, all the better. I'd figure out a solution for the cord though, that gets annoying fast. 3.5 stars for being a decent headphone, but nothing to gush about.
Great review.
Were the ear cups removable or did you have to tear them out?