[xluben]

I just recieved my Gemini Eggphones from ElectronicsCity.com and I have a few pics and some initial thoughts about them (for anyone who cares). I only paid $9.95 with free shipping, so I figured I'd try them out, as they cost 1/10 of what I just paid for my D66's! As you can see by the picture their design is nearly identical to the the D22's. I don't have the D22's, and I have never seen them in person or ever used them. My comparisons will be against the D66's, but the D22's would be a better comparison because they are more similar.

First here are pics of the of the packaging:

Starting from the top it says:
'Super bass stereo Headphones'
'Compact Folding Style'
'Protective travel bag'
'EGGPHONE SUPER BASS STEREO HEADPHONES'

The back says:
'EGGPHONES SUPER BASS STEREO HEADPHONES'
'Compact folding style'
'Protective travel bag'
'1/4" Jack Adaptor Included'
'Driver Unit: 40mm dia. Dome'
'Impedence: 32 ohms'
'Sensitivity: 108dB (S.P.L. at 1 KHz)'
'Frequency Responce: 20Hz to 20KHz'
'Cord: Approx. 1.5m with 3.5mm dia. stereo plug'

It also has a 'stamp' that says there is a 90 day limited warranty from gemini, but there is no other documentation of this warranty inside the packaging.

Overall I really liked the style of the packaging. It was catchy to look at and displayed the headphones (folded up). It was two pieces, and utilized Japanese-style plastic tabs which held the pieces securely together, but did not require tools to open.

Here are some pics comparing them to my D66's (the Eggphones are always on the right):

This is what they look like from the front (if someone was wearing them you would be looking at their face).
As you can see the Eggphones seem to be angled more forward.

Here's a pic comparing them folded up.
The design of the D66's make them look a little different folded, but I think the Eggphones would look nearly identical to the D22's folded:

I took the pads off and they seem VERY cheap and not nearly as well made as the D66 pads. I wanted some pleather pads for the D66's, but I will not be using these as replacements. They are also quite a bit more difficult to put back on (than the D66 which are very easy). After I took the pads off I unscrewed the two pieces which house the driver, and took them apart. The design inside is nearly as similar as the outside design. They have an angled driver (but less angled than my D66's), and there are holes letting air (from behind the driver); towards your ear, on the edges (into the pad), and out a vent in the silver part of the outside of the earpieces. All of these holes have an equivalent hole on my D66's (but I had to make one of them in the D66 following BoweR64's bass mod). Unlike the D66's which have a 'tube' extending from the silver cap, on the outside of the earpiece, in towards the back of the driver, the Eggphones are just a hollow shell behind the driver.

I put the headphones back on and started listening to them. My first impression was that they were pretty muffled in the mids, and a little in the highs. They did have significantly more bass than my modded D66's, but it was at the cost of some accuracy. The fit was fairly good, but the headband has to be adjusted a little bit larger than on the D66's due to the hard plastic headband. This results in a slightly looser, but fairly comprible comfort level. For extended listening I think the D66's would excel because of their thicker earpads, and more comfortable headband. Because of the less angled driver, the foam inside the earcup slightly touches the edge of my ear cartilage. I tried taking out this foam, and the mids became more present, but the highs became harsh, and somewhat painful.

Overall, these are no where near the Eggo's, which is probably obvious due to their $10 price, but I find them to be more comfortable, and sound better than anything you will find for <$20 at WalMart, Target, BestBuy,....... They have a low quality build, and feel much more flimsy than my D66's. I do not think that there is any real danger of them prematurely breaking under normal use, but you would be more likely to find them cracked after a day in a backpack. They do not actually feel like they would break, but they have very loose joints, resulting in a 'flimsy' feeling. They have a very non-audiophile sound, which is bass heavy, and lacking in mids and highs, the result is very muffled audio (but good bass). For a few dollars more you could get some Koss KSC's which would provide much better audio quality. I would not recommend these unless you REALLY like the Eggo design, want a really cheap pair of headphones, and like a lot of bass

 

[kramer5150]

Thanks... nice to see cheap stuff reviewed.
bloated bass and slightly piercing highs, sounds similar to a maxell HP2000 (another $20 cheap can)

Garrett

 

[straye]

Can someone please recommend some alternatives to the eggos with regards to its portability/design and within the price range.

I saw a pair of these the other day and the size and look of these are exactly what im looking for on my trip to uni everyday. However just browsing this forum here it sounds like ill probably be disappointed with the sound, kinda like how i was with my beyer dt231s i picked up quite a while back.

 

[xluben]

"Thanks... nice to see cheap stuff reviewed."

Sarcasm? I just like to play with my digital camera. I was kinda hoping I could get decent replacement parts for my Eggos for $10. Considering D77 (pleather) pads are $45 from audiocubes I figured I'd give it a shot, and as long as I had a whole pair of headphones I figured I'd listen to them a little bit too. Now that I know that I'm not going to use the pads I might have to give these to my brother (the one that didn't get my Aopen HP-590's that I got for $17). I guess I'm really a sucker for knock-offs and gimmicks, although if I had gotten these 6 months ago I probably would have loved them. They sound better than my high school favorites:

As I continue to listen to them, even though the sound is fairly unrefined they really have a good bass thump that has some level of control.. The bass is more (quantity) AND better (quality) than my other pair of high school headphones:

So, for what it's worth I would like to give the Gemini Eggphones an award:

xluben's favorite $10 headphones - OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben "Thanks... nice to see cheap stuff reviewed." Sarcasm?

I could be wrong, but I don't think kramer was being sarcastic at all. I, for one, find your review rather refreshing. It's nice to see something more than affordable...........who knows, maybe if more of us did this we might find a diamond in the rough. Thanks (and that's not being said sarcastically.)

 

[xluben]

I actually told my roommate that I was hoping for a 'diamond in the rough' when I ordered these. He is happy with his EX71's and doesn't see why I would want more expensive headphones. I thought that these looked like that they had a pretty decent build quality (screws in headband, exact same design as $60 Sony D22's), and they were something that others hadn't tried before (unlike name brand cheap headphones that everyone knows are bad), so I figured I'd give them a shot. And if they didn't sound good, maybe I could get replacemnt parts from them if they were compatible with my D66's.

I have found that I don't like the pads, and the headband is not compatible with the D66's (without resoldering wires), but it may be with the D22's (if anyone sits on theirs I'd recommend checking these out). With a few hours of burn-in these things have a LOT of BASS! They can really thump, and don't sound too bad in doing so. They will be a good, fun, pair of backup headphones when I'm looking for something a little less refined.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood I could be wrong, but I don't think kramer was being sarcastic at all. I, for one, find your review rather refreshing. It's nice to see something more than affordable...........who knows, maybe if more of us did this we might find a diamond in the rough. Thanks (and that's not being said sarcastically.)

Nope I was being sincere.... No sarcasm at all. Its refreshing to see inexpensive cans get some review time as well as the more costly ones. Im sure theres another KSC75 (diamond in the rough) out there waiting for one of us to find it.

Garrett

 

[Zvio]

You think it would be wise to replace these drivers with Koss KSC's? Might be a good cheap eggo housing for pleasurable sounding headphones..if anyone else wants to explain to me why this is not possible, I think it's what I'm going to do!

 

[xluben]

I don't know what size driver the Koss KSC series uses, but I know that these have 40mm drivers (just like the D66's). Obviously you'd probably have to actually have both headphones to find out if they will fit. I'm not quite sure how the driver is seated in the housing, but I know that what the actual driver is mounted on is angled. Of course doing a mod like this would require some basic soldering. If they drivers would fit, and you like the Eggo's styling I think this would be a good mod to try, but you have to keep in mind that the housing the driver is in can make a huge difference in how they sound. I believe the Koss's are open, while these are semi-open, and there is a lot of space behind the driver where sound could bounce around and get distorted. These are a good Eggo-style phone, and if you like more crisp sound the Koss mod would be good to try. I find them fairly comfortable although the get a little hot after a while.

After using these a bit more, they have reallylarge amounts of bass. I know I said this before but now they REALLY thump. And it's not totally one-note bass either. I can really hear the actual bass tone on deep bass hits. I listen to a lot of rap, and for SOME songs the extra bass makes them more fun to listen to than the D66's. They're living up to their "Super Bass Stereo Headphones" If you are someone that likes the pack in Sony CD player headphones, you'd love these things. If they had them available at Walmart/Target for $10 I think they could become a junior high/high school favorite. For someone that has listened to anything that is discussed at this forum (Koss KSC, EX71, pretty much $50 or up) I think they wouldn't really like them, but for anyone that likes bass boost on the highest level and aren't worried about anything else I'd recommend these to.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben I don't know what size driver the Koss KSC series uses, but I know that these have 40mm drivers (just like the D66's). Obviously you'd probably have to actually have both headphones to find out if they will fit. I'm not quite sure how the driver is seated in the housing, but I know that what the actual driver is mounted on is angled. Of course doing a mod like this would require some basic soldering. If they drivers would fit, and you like the Eggo's styling I think this would be a good mod to try, but you have to keep in mind that the housing the driver is in can make a huge difference in how they sound. I believe the Koss's are open, while these are semi-open, and there is a lot of space behind the driver where sound could bounce around and get distorted. These are a good Eggo-style phone, and if you like more crisp sound the Koss mod would be good to try. I find them fairly comfortable although the get a little hot after a while. After using these a bit more, they have reallylarge amounts of bass. I know I said this before but now they REALLY thump. And it's not totally one-note bass either. I can really hear the actual bass tone on deep bass hits. I listen to a lot of rap, and for SOME songs the extra bass makes them more fun to listen to than the D66's. They're living up to their "Super Bass Stereo Headphones" If you are someone that likes the pack in Sony CD player headphones, you'd love these things. If they had them available at Walmart/Target for $10 I think they could become a junior high/high school favorite. For someone that has listened to anything that is discussed at this forum (Koss KSC, EX71, pretty much $50 or up) I think they wouldn't really like them, but for anyone that likes bass boost on the highest level and aren't worried about anything else I'd recommend these to.

The koss drivers are a little bigger than 40mm. here are pics of my KSC driver installed into an MDRV6... The V6 is on the left the KSC is on the right. Disregard the driver in the middle, thats a KSC driver that I modded and messed up.

I also have UR40s that Ive modded. IMHO the koss 60 ohm driver is not terribly influenced by the type of enclosure its mounted in (sealed/open). While the earcup type can impact its acoustics, IMHO its more heavily influenced by the proximity to the eardrum. If you transplant the driver in an earcup that has the driver far away from the ear, bass resides and mids become more pronounced... to the point of being extreme IMHO. Mount the drivers so they are flush and pressed against the ear (with the KSC foam pads), and bass becomes enhanced.

Garrett

 

[steel102]

so lets have a Eggphones/Philips HP170/Maxwell HP2000 Shootout!!!

 

[xluben]

Do you actually prefer the Koss drivers to the stock V6 drivers? I don't know if it would be possible for the driver to be flush against the ear. The Eggphone driver's are angled, and they don't really press against the ear at all.

Thanks for the pics

 

[BowerR64]

THe philips HS900 for $17. are a good replacement for eggos on a budget. If you can get past the color then you would like them. I have read they break easy bt mine are about 5 months old and i dont see any cracks or anything.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben Do you actually prefer the Koss drivers to the stock V6 drivers? I don't know if it would be possible for the driver to be flush against the ear. The Eggphone driver's are angled, and they don't really press against the ear at all. Thanks for the pics

in some ways yes... the koss driver has a flatter response than the stock V6. But IMHO its less fun to listen to without that V6 bass boost. Mids are not as hot sounding with the KSc driver. So its a nice alternative... like a closed UR40.

Garrett

 

[xluben]

BoweR64 - Are you still thinking of getting the Eggphones. I'd like to hear your impressions of them because you've had the Coby's, Philips, and all varieties of Eggo. I have nothing to compare them to. I think for $10 they are a pretty good buy even if you don't like them

kramer5150 - You think the V6's have too much mids AND good bass! Sounds like something I would like. I was looking to get the Eggos because they're mids are better than the EX series, and the Eggphones have tons of bass, I wish I could get them both in one