viperxp
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2014
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Greetings,
This review will be dedicated to a budget friendly earphones from OnePlus, named Silver Bullet.
Well, after ordering and hearing the Xiaomi Pistons 2 I was very interested in these headphones. Why? Because they claimed to be better (that's what I thought anyway), at a very affordable price. http://www.merimobiles.com/ were nice enough to provide me a pair for a review.
well .. let's begin.
Tech. specs
Nothing extraordinary here. Note that the sensitivity is at 500hz and not the usual 1kHz.
Part 1 - Package and unboxing
The package is very unusual, I don't remember ordering anything in such a package. The big carton box has to be torn apart in order to expose a smaller box.
Note that the technical specs differ from those stated on the website. I really liked the second seal on the white box.
Inside the white box there is the matte box with the earphones, use manual and spare/different sized eartips.
Hello there
. The headphones look and feel really nice. Made of metal, they don't feel heavy, but have enough weigh to not be felt cheap. The cable feels thin. It feels made of/coated with some sort of silicone.
Compared with the Anti-hero , the Xiaomi pistons 2. Pistons feel heavier. The cable of Xiaomy feels of much better quality, the kevlar coating really adds to the nice feeling. The controls of the Xiaomi are made of metal, vs the plastics of the Silver Bullet.
Here is one earphone without the silicone tip.
Part 2 - comparison with the Xiaomi, sound
You might think, what's there to compare? The Xiaomis are looking better, have a better cable and are here with us for a while now, what's the reason to go for the Bullet, especially when it costs more in most of the cases (23.98$ shipped worldwide from merimobiles at time of publication)?
Well, there are many noticeable differences, that make the Silver Bullet a much better choice (for me anyway)
1. The sound.
When I first got the Xiaomi I really tried enjoing them, and just could not. The sound signature felt too much v-shaped, with a bloated bass and harsh treble. Something like an old car stereo with "loud" button pressed. I guess that there are people that like this king of sound, I know. My wife likes Xiaomi, and like it better than the OnePlus, but I don't. I like a more balanced sound, without need to EQ it a lot.
So, how is the sound in OnePlus? It's much more balanced, mature maybe. It is not fatiquing, I have used the headphones for about 20 hours before writing this review, so I got time to understang what are they. The bass is surely not as pronounced as in Xiaomi, but it is also there, well controlled and getting low. The mids are there, nothing to write home about but there is no humps or bumps there - the sound does not feel coloured or harsh. The high frequency extension is average I would say, but again, not fatiquing, very neutral.
2. The fit - the left Xiaomi earphone keeps falling of my ear, and putting the largest eartips does not help. The OnePlus stay in my ears, even using the "medium" tips that came on the earphones by default.
3. The control unit - while not being made out of metal is more practical to me. Why? If you look at the pictures you will see that there is a big difference between the Xiaomi and the OnePlus. In OnePlus the control is located on the cable of the right earphone - so when you need to wear the earphones you can know immediately where is the left and the right without reading small letters - simply by looking in the remote. It's not the situation with Xiaomi.
Part 3 - more about the sound
Well ... What's more to say? I really liked the sound of those. While not having some extraordinary resolution, these fit just about any music that I tried listening. Metal, rock, pop, classics - all sound very enjoyable with the Silver Bullets. If I would be asked how I would improve the overall clarity of the headphones, they sound a bit warm. I also like the understated simple but stylish looks of those.
I used Sansa Clip+ (rockboxed), Nexus5, and Like5 A970 amp for the review. Thanks for reading - I will like to hear your thoughts about the headphones, and my review. If there is something I can help you with - don't hesitate to ask.
If I will think of something else useful I could share about the headphones I will update the review or leave a comment.
English is not my mother tonque, so exuse me for typo's and different mistakes.
This review will be dedicated to a budget friendly earphones from OnePlus, named Silver Bullet.
Well, after ordering and hearing the Xiaomi Pistons 2 I was very interested in these headphones. Why? Because they claimed to be better (that's what I thought anyway), at a very affordable price. http://www.merimobiles.com/ were nice enough to provide me a pair for a review.
well .. let's begin.
Tech. specs
| Impedance | 32Ω+/-15% |
| Sensitivity | 108dB (at 500Hz) |
| Frequency | 20Hz-20000Hz |
| Maximum Power | 20mW |
| Connector | 3.5mm |
| Wire | Environmental TPE, 1.1M |
Nothing extraordinary here. Note that the sensitivity is at 500hz and not the usual 1kHz.
Part 1 - Package and unboxing
The package is very unusual, I don't remember ordering anything in such a package. The big carton box has to be torn apart in order to expose a smaller box.
Note that the technical specs differ from those stated on the website. I really liked the second seal on the white box.
Inside the white box there is the matte box with the earphones, use manual and spare/different sized eartips.
Hello there
. The headphones look and feel really nice. Made of metal, they don't feel heavy, but have enough weigh to not be felt cheap. The cable feels thin. It feels made of/coated with some sort of silicone.Compared with the Anti-hero , the Xiaomi pistons 2. Pistons feel heavier. The cable of Xiaomy feels of much better quality, the kevlar coating really adds to the nice feeling. The controls of the Xiaomi are made of metal, vs the plastics of the Silver Bullet.
Here is one earphone without the silicone tip.
Part 2 - comparison with the Xiaomi, sound
You might think, what's there to compare? The Xiaomis are looking better, have a better cable and are here with us for a while now, what's the reason to go for the Bullet, especially when it costs more in most of the cases (23.98$ shipped worldwide from merimobiles at time of publication)?
Well, there are many noticeable differences, that make the Silver Bullet a much better choice (for me anyway)
1. The sound.
When I first got the Xiaomi I really tried enjoing them, and just could not. The sound signature felt too much v-shaped, with a bloated bass and harsh treble. Something like an old car stereo with "loud" button pressed. I guess that there are people that like this king of sound, I know. My wife likes Xiaomi, and like it better than the OnePlus, but I don't. I like a more balanced sound, without need to EQ it a lot.
So, how is the sound in OnePlus? It's much more balanced, mature maybe. It is not fatiquing, I have used the headphones for about 20 hours before writing this review, so I got time to understang what are they. The bass is surely not as pronounced as in Xiaomi, but it is also there, well controlled and getting low. The mids are there, nothing to write home about but there is no humps or bumps there - the sound does not feel coloured or harsh. The high frequency extension is average I would say, but again, not fatiquing, very neutral.
2. The fit - the left Xiaomi earphone keeps falling of my ear, and putting the largest eartips does not help. The OnePlus stay in my ears, even using the "medium" tips that came on the earphones by default.
3. The control unit - while not being made out of metal is more practical to me. Why? If you look at the pictures you will see that there is a big difference between the Xiaomi and the OnePlus. In OnePlus the control is located on the cable of the right earphone - so when you need to wear the earphones you can know immediately where is the left and the right without reading small letters - simply by looking in the remote. It's not the situation with Xiaomi.
Part 3 - more about the sound
Well ... What's more to say? I really liked the sound of those. While not having some extraordinary resolution, these fit just about any music that I tried listening. Metal, rock, pop, classics - all sound very enjoyable with the Silver Bullets. If I would be asked how I would improve the overall clarity of the headphones, they sound a bit warm. I also like the understated simple but stylish looks of those.
I used Sansa Clip+ (rockboxed), Nexus5, and Like5 A970 amp for the review. Thanks for reading - I will like to hear your thoughts about the headphones, and my review. If there is something I can help you with - don't hesitate to ask.
If I will think of something else useful I could share about the headphones I will update the review or leave a comment.
English is not my mother tonque, so exuse me for typo's and different mistakes.
