At the time of the review, the Ubsound Dreamer Headphones were on sale at their website and on Amazon.com. Here a couple links to the listings of the product:
http://www.ubsoundshop.com/en/home/17-ubsound-dreamer-8053251320559.html
http://www.amazon.com/Ubsound-Dreamer-Quality--ear-Headphones/dp/B010MEBWR8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1449709448&sr=8-4&keywords=ubsound
Introduction
Ubsound is one of the newer players in the game of headphones and IEMs. I first heard of them from a display banner on the Head-Fi forums. Based out of Italy, I was curious to see what they were capable of in terms of product quality. The first review I did for them was the Fighter in-ear monitor. It was a consumer friendly and stylish earphone with a fairly high quality build. After sampling and reviewing the fighter, I let Clara know that I would be happy to cover any more products released by their company.
Today I will be covering the Dreamer headphone, which is Ubsound’s first headphone to go to market.
Disclaimer
I was given an opportunity to review the Dreamer headphone in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I am in no way affiliated with Ubsound. I would like to take this time to personally thank Clara for the opportunity to review their products.
My Background
I AM NOT a numbers and graphs audiophile or sound engineer. Personal audio enthusiast? Absolutely! Headphone junkie? Possibly…
There’s something about quality DAPs, DACs, Amplifiers and Earphones that intrigues me, especially if they can be had for low prices. I will buy the $5 to $500 earphone that looks promising, in hopes that I will discover that one new gem that can compete with the big names in this industry. If you look at my Head-Fi profile you will see that I have purchased MANY different headphones and earphones, ranging from from dirt cheap to higher end products. For me, this hobby is more about getting great price to performance ratio from a product, and have a variety of different gears with varying builds and sound to mix and match. With personal audio gear, we tend to pay a lot of money for minor upgrades. One thing I’ve learned over the last few years is that just because a headphone has a higher price tag, it doesn’t mean that it has superior build and sound quality.
I’m always looking for great audio at a great price. I’m after headphones and IEMs that give me the “WOW” factor. I can appreciate different builds and sound signatures as long as they are ergonomic, and the sound is pleasing to the ear. It is my pleasure to share my experiences with audio products and make recommendations based gear I have owned and used.
REVIEW
The Dreamer came in a simple black box with white lettering. The front of the box featured the Company and product name and a stylish picture of the product.
The back of the box featured some couture yet slightly cheesy pictures on the back of the package.
The right side of the box had a brief description of the product in five different languages (including English).
The left side of the box had some diagrams explaining the headphone’s functionality and applications.
Specifications and Accessories
*High performance 40mm independent dynamic drivers.
*Sensitivity: 110dB/mW
*Frequency response: 18Hz - 22.000Hz
*Maximum distortion: <0,2%
*Impedance: 32Ω
*Professional quality 1,35m single tangle free wire
*Full, textured and round Bass. Rich, warm and detailed Mids. Clear and advanced Highs.
*Compatible audio file formats: MP3, APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, DSF, MP4, Lossless
*Comes with velvet like material drawstring carrying bag and owner’s manual
Overall Build
I’m going to be brutally honest, the dreamer earphone build quality is not good. The entire headphone is made of plastic and synthetic materials. There isn’t any part of the headphone that feels premium. If there wasn’t a cheap synthetic protein covering the headphone, it had a shiny black or chrome finished plastic that looks prone to scratching.
The headband is made of a flexible material that is covered in a synthetic gray padded covering and leads into a plastic ring which houses plastic slides.
A plastic arm leads down to a rotating socket design that holds the plastic cups in place and allows them to swivel in all directions and enough to get a decent seal. Notice a theme here? Ya, all plastic. Matter of fact I think the only metal on them is a couple screws that attaches the band to the slides and arms.
The pads on the Dreamer are synthetic protein material that is similar to the headband. It isn’t the soft breathable stuff, but more of the plasticy feeling stuff that gets hot on the ears.
Cable, Cable Jack, Strain Reliefs
An attached black rubber cable runs from the bottom of the left cup. The jack is a rubber coated straight jack that seems durable. There are some very short strain reliefs at the housing and jack.
Functionality
The Dreamer cable has an inline single button universal microphone and remote that works for Android and IOS. When using the Dreamer for calls I could hear voices with good clarity. When talking to family, they reported my voice coming through at a three on a scale from one to five.
Comfort
Dreamer’s on ear design was uncomfortable for me. The pads got hot and sticky on my ears, and the clamping force made them uncomfortable after a short time wearing them. The combination of clamping force and pad material is not an ideal pairing.
Sound Review
I did my demo with my usual gear. I used an LG-G3 with the latest firmware for portable and smartphone use, and either my Shanling H3 or Sony Walkman F806/Cayin C5 amplifier for a high fidelity portable use. For desktop use I used my Toshiba Satellite Laptop in combination with a HIFIMEDIY Sabre ES9023 USB DAC/Bravo Audio Ocean Tube amplifier with a Mullard 12AU7 tube for higher impedance, and a Fiio E18 USB DAC & Amplifier in both high and low gain. Both were run at 24 bit, 96000 Hz. I also tested them with other DAPs and amplifiers as well. I used Google Music downloaded in its highest download quality (320 KBPS) and I also streamed FLAC via Tidal streaming service. I also used purchased and downloaded tracks in MP3, FLAC, WAV and DSD. I make sure that any gear I test has sufficient playtime before writing a review.
I used my usual same songs for testing gear:
“Limit to your love” by James Blake (bass speed, punch, response)
“Doin’ it Right” by Daft Punk (sub bass)
“Get lucky” by Daft Punk (bass to midrange transition resolution, male vocals)
“Madness” by Muse (soundstage, separation)
“Some nights” by Fun (soundstage and male vocals)
“The soundmaker” by Rodrigo y Gabriela (texture and imaging)
“Bassically” by Tei Shi (bass to midrange resolution, female vocals)
“Skinny Love” performed by Birdie (female vocals, acoustic playback)
“One” by Ed Sheeran (male vocals, acoustic playback)
“Outlands” from the Tron Legacy Soundtrack (symphonic presentation, imaging)
“Sultans of swing” by Dire Straits (detail, separation, balance)
“And Justic for All” by Metallica (driver distortion, treble response, rock playback)
“Ten thousand fists” by Disturbed (driver distortion, treble response, rock playback)
Note: Other tracks were used, but the listed songs were primarily used to asses and break down the gear’s response.
Source Selection
At 32 Ohms they are pretty universal in terms of source requirements. A cell phone will work with these which also makes use of the microphone and remote. DAPs work, and higher powered source will work too. The consumer friendly signature is forgiving with poor recordings and low bit rate files. They don’t necessarily scale with better recordings.
Sound Signature
The Dreamer is a warm tilted sound with a V-signature. They won’t blow you away with tremendous fidelity, but I find it to be a decent tuning that works well with modern genres.
Bass
Bass has a decent punch but doesn’t extend well into sub bass regions. Bass is relatively non existent from 10- 50 Hz. The bass that isn’t rolled off isn’t necessarily the tightest bass. It’s decent and has a nice punch, but there is an unwanted resonance that goes along with it.
Midrange
Midrange has a warm tilt and is overall respectable. There is a bit of a haze that lingers over the midrange and impacting the resolution. Timbre is pretty decent although most male vocals have a bit too much weight and sound somewhat unnatural.
Treble
Treble is pretty well done. It's a little elevated but not harsh at all. It doesn’t extend very far, but i find it to be pleasant, and in my opinion it’s the best aspect of the Dreamer tuning.
Soundstage and Imaging
The lack of extension on both ends along with a slight haze over the midrange makes the Dreamer seem somewhat closed in. All tones kind of blend together, especially during complex music passages. Because of this soundstage and imaging is below average.
Comparisons
Superlux HD681 EVO (with damping mod) ($45 to $65 USD on many sites)
The EVO has a similar plasticy build and price.
Comparing the two, the EVO is a bulkier and uglier pair of headphones in my opinion. Ubsound wins in the looks department. However, the super comfortable AKG-like design makes the EVO far more comfortable.
As far as sound is concerned, the EVO sounds better in just about every possible way. Bass extends and is tighter, midrange is more resolving and clear, and treble is more extended and better defined. The soundstage on the EVO is one of it’s best features.
Monoprice MHP839 ($20 to $50 USD on many sites)
The MHP839 has a similar plastic build and price.
The MHP839 is a Innerfidelity “wall of famer” which goes to show that a high fidelity audio experience doesn’t have to come at a higher price tag.
The pads on the MHP839 are cheap (but replaceable). Fit and comfort is a draw because the MHP839 is prone to popping and crackling at the plastic joints.
Soundwise, the MHP839 bests the Dreamer in just about every aspect. It is more balanced and with a very nice midrange at any price, let alone the budget asking price. extension and resolution is better at every frequency.
Conclusion
With their first release into the world of on ear headphones, the Dreamer leaves lots of room for improvement. They fall short in too many aspects for me to say that they are worthy of their asking price. I think Ubsound needs to commit to using more premium materials throughout its entire design in order to hang with the competition at this price point. While I don’t think they have a winner with this design, Ubsound has potential to learn from this product and use it as a benchmark from which they can improve.
Thanks for reading and happy listening!