This is one of my favorite headphones ever. It's sound is just so addicting. It has my near perfect signature and just makes music so much more fun to listen to. After all the time I spent listening to this I can't believe I never gave it a full review. This isn't a headphone for everyone, but people who love headphones with good mids, should give this a try. I keep looking for a closed budget headphone under $200 that can top this as a favorite. The KRK KNS-6400 has come so close. Recently I've been listening to this headphone so much because of finding out that the M50 pads fit them! It may seem hard to believe, but the M50 pads really transform this headphone into something better. Due to this, my new K501 has sat unused for nearly a week!
I think it's a good idea to just totally forget the idea that they're labeled as a DJ headphone! They don't sound anything like what I normally would expect one to sound like. As a DJ headphone it would be quite good I imagine.
Since the DJ100 fanboy went overboard in his review, feel free to skip to the end for a quick summary. The full review is just a bunch of random notes basically and a bit all over the place. Some of it may not even make sense.
Got a question about the headphone? Ask anything and I'll do my best to answer them.
COMFORT
The comfort is just average for me. The main problem is that the pads are round and are not that deep. I've found that often the pads will touch the tips of my ears too much. Many people have had the same problem and stuff something under the pads. I have not tried this. I suggest to immediately buy the M50 pads for them. This improves the sound and comfort. The DJ100's pads are round, but the M50 pads fit perfectly despite being oval shaped.
I had the impression of a much larger soundstage and more treble. The mids are a touch less forward, but it's not enough of a change to be a problem. I took the foam backing off my M50 pads and this was a mistake. The M50 foam backing smooths out the sound and makes it less fatiguing, but gave me the impression of a little more bass. Nothing to really ruin the signature. The JVC RX300, M30 and MDR-V6 pads also fit. RX300 pads offer a signature the most similar to stock, but make the mids maybe 1-3% less forward due to the angled pads. The M30/V6 pads reduce the treble a little. The M50 pads REALLY improve the entire sound so much that it's almost a requirement to me. Despite the foam backing, it does not seem to muffle the sound. I can't say this enough, but the M50 pads are a MUST!
The clamping force can be strong right out of the box, but it goes away within a day or two. Trust me on this!
BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN
The cups are aluminum, but the insides are plastic. The headband and a screw is metal. Everything else is plastic. Since I bought these in June 2010 I've never had any problems. They do come with a lifetime warranty.
I love the simple design of these. For me, they don't have a lot of clamping force and I like this. They still have a secure fit on my head. I can even use them during exercise without any problems. I'm not a fan of coiled cables, but this is not a problem.
BURN-IN MYTH
UPDATE: My last pair purchased on 4/10/12 sounded great out of the box. Zero burn-in required.
Now I am a believer of burn-in for sure, but I skip burn-in on 95% of the headphones I buy. If they sound great out of the box I will usually just let them burn-in while I listen to them! With the several dozen pairs of headphones I've tried, only 2 or 3 made me feel they improved with burn-in (KRK KNS-8400, DJ100 and K601).
Now if you don't believe in burn-in, the DJ100 WILL make you a believer of it. Since these came out I've owned four pairs of them. First pair needed zero burn-in to sound good. Second pair needed 3 days to sound like my first. Third needed FIVE DAYS!
Most people will say there is no way a headphone can sound terrible out of the box and then sound great with burn-in. I wish this was true because my last 2 DJ100's sounded like garbage out of the box. In a few of my old posts you can see that I actually thought some pairs were defective!
If the sound is not clear and very muffled with a lack of treble, they need BURN-IN. I don't know how this is possible, but something seems screwy with the soundstage when not properly burned-in.
Of course most pairs should sound great out of the box. I just want to warn people that if they sound terrible out of the box, PLEASE give them a chance with burn-in. It kind of makes me sick how bad my last two pairs sounded at first. I even compared them side by side to a good pair.
Koss really needs to do more burn-in at the factory. I think this could keep many people from keeping them. If I didn't know any better, I would have returned them.
I can't say it enough, with these headphones (unless you get lucky) you can't just open the box and judge them right away because they won't be at their best.
AMPING
I always said these sounded horrible without an amp and sure that is a bit overdoing it. They sound bad enough without an amp that I refuse to use them without one. I think the main problem is that a very small MP3 player can't drive them very well. On some music it will sound great and on others really bad.
Just recently I was listening to them straight out of my Cowon Iaudio 7 with FLAC. I was shocked at how bad they sounded. Felt like sound was coming out of a tin can. The sound was just very fatiguing and not very clear. I was wondering what the heck had happened to my poor DJ100. I connected them up to an E5 and it was a tiny bit better. Switched to the Nuforce Mobile with the High Gain setting and the DJ100 was back to it's old self.
I wrote down the symptoms of how these sound unamped and they're spot on with ljokerl's impressions of them when going without an amp. Fatiguing treble, reduced soundstage and less forward mids. Most definitely less clear for whatever reason. It's as if the entire sound just isn't very well controlled in any area.
Now if you use them without an amp and just the Ipod Touch, then the results are a little bit better. I always felt like an Ipod Touch + Fiio E5 is the bare minimum. Then the bad part of all this is that often the sound will vary between sources and amps. On my Ipod Touch and E5 they're actually kind of bright and a little more fatiguing! I think they'll sound better with an Iaudio 7 and say an E7. I like them a lot with the Total Airhead and an Ipod Touch. It seems they sound best on portable amps for whatever reason.
UPDATE 4/17/12:
Sometimes these sound much better straight out of a portable device instead of using a LOD cable to an amp. This is rare. Here's the setups i've tried:
Excellent:
Ipod Classic 3G > LOD cable > Fiio E9 (large jack ONLY. Doesn't seem to negatively effect the DJ100. Good soundstage with the right music)
Ipod Classic 3G > LOD cable > Headroom Micro Amp
HRT Music Streamer II (DAC) > Fiio E9 or Headroom Micro Amp (larger soundstage and more detail from DAC)
Ipod Classic 3G > 3.5mm cable > Total Airhead (makes no sense)
Sansa Fuze > LOD cable > Total Airhead (near perfect to my ears and quite balanced sounding)
Ipod Touch > 3.55mm cable > Fiio E5 (I have no clue why this is so good)
Sansa Clip+ > 3.55mm cable > Total Airhead (surprised this didn't hurt the sound!)
Sansa Fuze > LOD cable > Fiio E11 (so far, but based on a few hours of use)
Very Good:
Ipod Classic 3G (no external amp. Love the sound of this old thing)
Sansa Clip+ (bass is not at it's best, but not too bad. Amazed such a small thing drives it so well)
Good:
Sansa Fuze (bass is kind of sloppy)
Ipod Touch 2G
Not suggested/did not like:
Ipod Classic 3G/Ipod Touch 2G > LOD cable to Fiio E5 or Headroom Total Airhead (not sure why this is so bad. On the Ipod Touch with this setup it seems almost like a V-shape signature compared to what it should be)
(When using the headphone jack to amp, they're perfect?!)
Panasonic Portable CD player
Sansa View > LOD cable > Total Airhead
Sansa View
Cowon iaudio 7
Sansa View (bass seemed a bit sloppy with some bass bleed. Will test more soon)
Creative X-Fi Go Pro (messed up signature with DJ100. Output impedance too high?)
SOURCE QUALITY
Despite being only $80 these are actually quite revealing of the source quality. I've found it very easy to pick out all the garbage tracks. No, not as much as a DT-880! They're much less forgiving than my HD-598, K240 Studio and K501. Not quite sure why. They can pick up lots subtle details including recording hiss etc. They're much more detailed when using a DAC or my CD player. They're less detailed on my Ipod Touch with amp. Despite this, they're not analytical in any way, but fun and engaging. Level of detail is up to the M50, MDR-7506 and MAYBE the KRK KNS-6400. The 6400 would be some serious competition for the DJ100 in this area.
WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE?
Take a very detailed (and completely flat) studio monitor and then give it a good sized bump in the bass. No excessive (and annoying) mid-bass hump! Then give it another peak in the upper mids. Then roll off the treble very slightly. Make the treble not too fatiguing, but don't make it a really dark headphone.
I always felt these were one step under being bass heavy. The bass is just enough so that it NEVER bleeds into the mids or makes any part of it's signature less clear. If I was to guess, I'd say they have maybe 5% less bass than my new white boxed M50, but putting this into a percentage is kind of stupid. The bass of the M50 sacrifices the mids more than the DJ100 does. Not too badly though. If you remove the foam from the M50 pads the bass quantity is even closer. I have a feeling the DJ100 has more sub-bass and I wish I knew if I was right.
The bass itself is very well controlled and not bloated at all ever. If it ever is, it's due to improper amping or bad synergy. On some of my desktop amps, the sound becomes less clear.
The main focus of this headphone is on the mids, the bass and then the treble. If anything suffers the most, it's the treble. You can't have everything, but this headphone makes me think otherwise! To me, it's NOT a dark headphone and I don't understand how anyone could think this. Out of the box, it's easy to be fooled into thinking this. I hate dark headphones but I love non-fatiguing treble.
If there anything that could fatigue me with these headphones it's actually the treble first! Yes, really. The mids are never a problem if the music is well mastered. Some really bad recordings can be an issue. Taking the foam off the M50 pads made the treble on these a little more fatiguing. I wish I had not done this. Yes, it's possible to make the DJ100 have fatiguing treble! It seems like the more open the pads are, you get the impression of more treble. I think the stock pads give some people the impression of them being too dark. They kind of kill the treble a bit.
With stock pads the sound often sounds somewhat less clear and the treble suffers a bit. The RX300 and M50 pads offer the best treble. With upgraded pads I don't see a lack of treble at all. I really do believe the stock pads negatively effect the sound and make them sound darker than they really are. It took me awhile to figure out why some people found them too dark. It's most likely the pads.
I remember someone once describing the DT-48E as like having music from a USB cable being plugged straight into your brain. That's what the DJ100 feels like to me! Female vocals are so impressive with this headphone. Crystal clear sounding! Now this may be a negative to some but at times it feels like someone is singing into your ears. Of course this varies between recordings. The overall sound is like a front-row like experience for me. One that's not too fatiguing.
If you love the mids of a Grado, you may love the mids on this headphone. They're some of the most engaging mids I've heard. Now, this front row experience is reduced a little with M50 pads. It makes the soundstage a little larger and more accurate. For those that are wondering, the DJ100's treble is much, much less fatiguing than that of the Grado SR-80. The DJ100 is similar to the SR-80 in some ways, but much more clear, more bass and less treble.
With lots of burn in and good pads, the sound has always felt crystal clear. This varies between amps. It seems noticeably less clear on my Micro Amp than when using a portable amp and mp3 player. Further testing is needed though. In comparison it feels more clear than even my HD-598. Comparable to my KRK KNS-6400, but the KRK might have a slight edge.
The sound is very, very clear on the Fiio E9. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is a fairly neutral amp?
If I had written down everything I wanted in a FUN headphone, the DJ100 would be a perfect match. How often does that happen?! Almost never!
WOULD I LIKE THIS HEADPHONE?
If you want some engaging mids with good bass that's not overkill, definitely try these out. I'd suggest them ONLY if you're willing to burn them in if they sound bad out of the box.
People who listen to a lot of female vocals, especially Jpop or any kind of Asian Pop, would love these. I have a very good feeling that people who love the HD-598 or K501 would love these! They did have a few similarities to my Sextett also, but my pair wasn't all that clear sounding and probably not at it's best.
Take some things from a Grado and an M50 you may get close to the DJ100's signature. The DJ100 is less warm than the M50 and a bit thinner sounding I believe. Not like say the DT-880 though.
Despite the forward mids and extra bass, the DJ100 to me still sounds fairly well balanced. I don't know how they managed that.
I think "trebleheads" would be the ones who would dislike these the most. If you love good mids, you should give these a try.
How do they compare to...
M50
DJ100 has more forward (and engaging) mids, less bass, but it's better controlled. Treble on the M50 and DJ100 (with M50 pads) is similar, but the treble on the DJ100 I believe rolls off earlier. The M50's treble is a little more fatiguing. M50 is also less dependent on amping, but not by much.
Soundstage of the DJ100 is a little bit better. Detail between the two is similar. Sound clarity might have the edge on the DJ100, but i'd have to compare them again. Definitely more mid-bass on the M50 too. M50 seems just as picky with source quality as the DJ100.
As much as I like the M50 (believe I gave it an 8/10 for sound), it's not all that fun to listen to. It's signature just kind of doesn't do it for me. M50 does have some fairly relaxed mids and I like this at times.
SR-80
DJ100 is a lot more clear sounding with more detail, but less treble. DJ100 has more sub-bass and perhaps less of a mid-bass hump. Both are good with female vocals. When it comes to tonality of specific instruments, the DJ100 is a closer match to a Grado than a Sennheiser.
HD-598
DJ100 sounds more clear and detailed. Pretty sure the DJ100 has more treble and definitely more forward upper mids. Female vocals are far better on the DJ100. Obviously the soundstage is huge on the HD-598 compared to the DJ100. Most instruments carry more weight on the HD-598 though and this is good sometimes. DJ100 is a little thinner sounding, but not in a bad way. HD-598 is much more warm. DJ100 has much more bass than the HD-598 and almost makes it seem bass light, which it's not.
HD-598 has a much, much more relaxed and smoother signature, yet still fun and engaging. However that is. The DJ100 is much more aggressive in it's signature and even makes the HD-598 sound very, very slightly muffled..and it's really not! With m50 pads the DJ100 isn't really fatiguing for me unless I remove the foam.
KRK KNS-6400
DJ100 has MUCH more bass impact for sure, but less treble than the KRK I think. Mids on the DJ100 are more forward. My guess is that the KRK has more detail and a MIGHT be a little more clear. I'd need to compare them more. This is the headphone that came close to dethroning my DJ100 as a favorite. You can even buy memory foam pads for it! I wish the DJ100 had those, but the M50 pads are close enough!
K501
This is a tough one. If I felt that everything on the DJ100 was "just right", this is even more so! The K501 is so much smoother sounding, but more clear and detailed than the HD-598. I'm going to guess than the K501 is more forgiving of source than the DJ100, but I'd have to verify this. The K501 is fairly forgiving, but less so than the K601. Unlike the more aggressive DJ100 I could listen to the K501 all day without fatigue. Like an HD-600 that doesn't bore me to death. DJ100 is every bit as engaging as the K501 for me. K501 is just more relaxed. Not like a Sennheiser.
DJ100 obviously has a ton more bass, more forward mids, but maybe less treble. No surprise here.
I think the DJ100 has more similarities to the K501 than the HD-598. At least when it comes to the mids and treble. The K501's soundstage is massive compared to that of the DJ100. BTW the K501's soundstage doesn't ever make vocals sound too distant, which is nice.
GAMING
With the M50 pads, these get my vote as one of the best closed headphones under $200 for gaming. For competitive gaming where less bass is best, the KRK KNS-6400 is another idea. The DJ100 has enough detail and has a little extra bass, so it's a little more fun than a boring studio monitor. I tried these with Uncharted 2 recently and was very impressed with how well they did. With stock pads they're not great for gaming and just good.
TL;DR (TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ!)
Plus:
Extremely good for vocals, especially female. Impressive and well controlled bass with no excessive mid-bass hump (not bass heavy!). Crystal clear sound with lots of detail. $80. Non-fatiguing treble. Good soundstage with M50 pads. Forward and very engaging mids. Lifetime warranty. Simple design and very portable. Not forgving of garbage sound files (yes, this is a positive for me!). SOMEHOW still sounds well balanced and non-fatiguing despite it's signature. Perfect for Jpop/Asian pop music. Very good as a closed gaming headphone.
Negative:
Quality varies between pairs and some need 3-5 days of burn in to sound great. Needs an amp to be at it's best. Stock pads not comfortable and not deep enough and negatively effects the sound IMO. They hurt the soundstage, sound clarity and treble. Not enough treble for some? Could be fatiguing if you're sensitive to a forward sounding headphone.
