About Me
Like most people, I am an avid fan of music ranging from my all-time favorite Metallica to 2Pac to Mozart, YoYo Ma and a lot in between (sorry country but heck no). I have what doctors would call a compulsive disorder for headphones as I can never seem to stop buying and trying. I am not an audiophile, but I have a worthy quest to find the best headphone / earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear… a lot. I rely on my ears, and my listening pleasure to determine review scores. I just hope to help other people find nice devices that will suit their taste and their budget.
As my ocd of headphones is expensive I tend to hover around the $200 or less range of headphones, sorry fancy schmancy headphone connoisseurs. Also I prefer Bluetooth as I am on the go a lot and don’t like cables (que the diss sesh of poor BT quality headphones). Enjoy!
Tech Specs for us nerds
· Drivers : Not stated
· Rated Impedance : Not stated Ω
· Frequency Range : Not stated
· Sensitivity : Not stated
· Expected Battery: 6 hrs
· Bluetooth Version: 4.1
· Codecs: APT-X
· Weight: 14g
Accessories
· Micro USB charging cable
· Silicone ear buds and fins (S, M, L)
Build Quality
Housings: These look and feel very similar to the 1More iBfree earbuds. The housing is a big piece of aluminum that looks and feels sturdy, but is big and sticks out quite a bit.
Cable: The cable is a flat, mid-size wire with pretty robust strain reliefs at the earbuds. The cable is nice and tangle free and should hold up over time.
Functionality/Pairing/Range
Pairing for most BT is the same so I will only call out if there are issues.
The Silencer has a built in 3 button controller like just about all BT headsets. Volume Up, Down, Power, Sync, Track Skip.
Using my OnePlus 3 all buttons worked without issue.
The signal was strong and I was able to walk about 20-25 ft before skipping occurred. Pretty standard.
Comfort
I will be honest; I don’t like silicone tips. Once you go Comply, you don’t go back. So I always buy the correct comply tips to go with my set. Unfortunately comply doesn’t have these buds on their site. They have a huge speaker portion of the driver and none of my comply tips fit, so I reverted to the horrible silicone ones…Arg
All that said with the silicone tips and the fins they actually weren’t too bad for comfort. They don’t go into the ear canal too much so this helped prevent fatigue. Overall due to the size and lack of comply I am impressed.
Sound Review
I always test with the same devices and song list:
Devices: OnePlus 3 & Macbook Pro
Songs (don’t judge me):
Eagles – Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over Live Edition]
Metallica – No Leaf Clover or Fade to Black
Big Tymers – Still Fly
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Brass
Enya – Oronoco Flow
Wholy crap these have bass… I mean BOOOOOOM
If you like bass, you will love these earphones, they are definitely enhanced in that space and all music has a boom too it no matter if it should or not. Hotel California knocked me back with how hard the bongos hit. Still Fly was like back in the day when your teenage neighbor bumped his 18” subs.
That all said with bass, all the other portions were muffled due to this. Bass overpowered everything. Vocals, mids and other instruments are pushed aside for Megan Trainor (All About that Bass).
Comparisons
Ghostek Silencer vs E10BT
Same price for both of these. If you want all bass and nothing else, Ghostek delivers. If you want a clean rounded sound the E10BT are far superior.
Ghostek Silencer vs Avantree Clari Air
Similar pricing again, but the Ghostek emphasizes bass and hits way harder. Avantree sounds clear compared to these in the mid and vocal space, but still muted. As for comfort Ghostek does a much better job.
Conclusion
I noticed the brand Ghostek doing a standard google search that they were here to kill Beats. And for their price and quality build I say they do assuming you want all bass. If you prefer to hear vocals and other instruments these aren’t for you.
Also props for Ghostek for making their advertising (website) and box kinda fun. They have a comic book storyline inside that’s entertaining.
