brandobean
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2010
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This review comes out of a frustrated purchase a couple of months ago of the Head Direct Re-0 headphones. I read rave review after rave review here. A steal at $200 people said, so it seemed a ridiculous bargain at the $79 I bought them for on sale. Read on to find out why I ended up switching to a different brand for my preferred phones.
ABOUT ME: I'm a bit of an audiophile you might say. I'm not trying to establish some credentials or impress anyone...just telling you that I'm the sort who swapped the caps in the crossover of my Celestion home speakers because it made the treble smoother. I like the sound of tube amps. I think aggressive harsh treble is the enemy of music
. I'm also a drummer and bass player though so I like music to make me want to move.
I like all kinds of music, from Prince to avant-garde, to alt-country, to electronica. I needed headphones that could perform well with everything.
WHAT I USE AT HOME: For headphones at home, I like Sennheisers. I've been using HD-280s for years, but I like the newer ones too. They are laid back, relaxing yet still defined. The only downside is they tend to make everything sound too good... so when I produce music, I use Sony V600s or something bright so I can hear treble grunge.
MY THOUGHTS ON IN-EARs in GENERAL: I needed in ear headphones as an upgrade for standard iPod buds because my HD280s were too hard to commute with to work (and the wimpy iPod headphone amp can't drive them well). I needed something for travel, for working out, and for plane rides. Also, the HD280s leak sound everywhere, annoying for coworkers. I've never been fond if sticking things in my ear (Qtips) so I'm not sure I'm ever going to really like ANY IERs as they always feel awkward to me. The "seal" makes me claustrophobic. That said, I appreciate that they don't leak sound and they block out the noise of the city.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE RE-0s:. I really wanted to like these headphones. All the reviews claimed warm transparent treble with enough bass to balance it out without sounding hyped or overpowering. I found the sound to be quite good. It sounded especially good on female vocals like Bonnie Raitt's newer discs. I would be totally happy with them except for a few major things:
1. The cord is horribly microphonic: Why didn't anyone mention this to me? It's truly terrible. You can't move your head at all without getting an earthquake of rumble in your ears. I tried the cord-over-the-ear trick... it's awkward, takes 30+seconds to set up and while it helps, makes walking around even more awkward. This alone is a deal breaker. Standard iPod buds are nowhere near this bad. If a cheap bud can do this better... why can't the RE-0s?
2. They don't image well: The treble is balanced, but I never got over the feeling of "treble-at-each-ear" instead of feeling like the music was inside my head (or ideally outside of it).
3. They don't fit well. My right ear is smaller than my left. The medium plugs keep popping out, but the small plugs don't seal well and have bad bass. I ended up keeping the medium plug and found I couldn't workout without it popping out.
overall... for issue #1 alone, these phones are a total fail. Issue #2 & 3 sealed the deal, so I went looking for replacements
SKULL CANDY TITAN and DENON AH-C452: These are slightly downmarket at $40-60 but I wasn't about to waste $80+ on phones that could disappoint so much. They arrived this morning and I've had a chance to compare all 3.
The Denon's were an immediate improvement in fit over the RE-0s. The bass was ridiculous too. I thought I might love these... and at half the price. But soon I found the bass wasn't realistic. Electronic music had lots of blurred mud down below and the treble was starting to wear me out. The midrange felt scooped, like it was missing in action. Overall, these sounded like a teenagers car stereo.
I switched to the SkullCandy Titans and wasn't initially impressed. Aside from the huge jump in sensitivity... there was less bass (though still tons), less treble and pretty unexciting. But they've grown on me. Even though the treble is downright recessed compared to the Denons, they image better, finally giving me a slight sense of "in-my-head-ness" I'd been missing. Also, the recessed treble allowed me to listen for longer periods without distracting me/wearing me out. The cord on the Skullcandys is microphonic too (grrr...) but better than the RE0s for sure.
Switching back to the RE0s I found the midrange most natural on them... better bay far than both the Denon and Titans... but I was missing the bass of the other phones, and the microphonic cord and troubled fit started to bug me again.
So overall, as of now, I'm going with the Skullcandy Titans. If the cord was less microphonic, I'd give them an A for their price point... with the cord as it is... I can only give them a B.
UPDATE: : The bass of the Titans started to give me a bit of headache after an hour. I'm in an office so maybe the bass would sound better outside/walking, but in office, it's a bit much, especially at lwoer volumes. I ended up switching to the flimsy but steal-for-the-money Over-ear Koss Porta pros which are proving less fatiguing.
OVERALL RATINGS (for their price):
Head Direct RE-0:
----------------
Overall: C
Treble: B
Midrange: A
Bass: B
Imaging: B-
Fit: C
Cord/Microphonics: D
Denon AH-C452
----------------
Overall: B-
Treble: B- (too forward)
Midrange C- (scooped, not a lot of detail here)
Bass: For Dance music = B+ otherwise, B- (too heavy slow)
Fit: B+
Cord/Microphonics: B
Skullcandy Titans
----------------
Overall: B-
Treble: B+ (bit recessed & chalky, images well)
Midrange: B
Bass: B
Fit: B
Cord/Microphonics: C
Comments/recommendations welcome.
ABOUT ME: I'm a bit of an audiophile you might say. I'm not trying to establish some credentials or impress anyone...just telling you that I'm the sort who swapped the caps in the crossover of my Celestion home speakers because it made the treble smoother. I like the sound of tube amps. I think aggressive harsh treble is the enemy of music
I like all kinds of music, from Prince to avant-garde, to alt-country, to electronica. I needed headphones that could perform well with everything.
WHAT I USE AT HOME: For headphones at home, I like Sennheisers. I've been using HD-280s for years, but I like the newer ones too. They are laid back, relaxing yet still defined. The only downside is they tend to make everything sound too good... so when I produce music, I use Sony V600s or something bright so I can hear treble grunge.
MY THOUGHTS ON IN-EARs in GENERAL: I needed in ear headphones as an upgrade for standard iPod buds because my HD280s were too hard to commute with to work (and the wimpy iPod headphone amp can't drive them well). I needed something for travel, for working out, and for plane rides. Also, the HD280s leak sound everywhere, annoying for coworkers. I've never been fond if sticking things in my ear (Qtips) so I'm not sure I'm ever going to really like ANY IERs as they always feel awkward to me. The "seal" makes me claustrophobic. That said, I appreciate that they don't leak sound and they block out the noise of the city.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE RE-0s:. I really wanted to like these headphones. All the reviews claimed warm transparent treble with enough bass to balance it out without sounding hyped or overpowering. I found the sound to be quite good. It sounded especially good on female vocals like Bonnie Raitt's newer discs. I would be totally happy with them except for a few major things:
1. The cord is horribly microphonic: Why didn't anyone mention this to me? It's truly terrible. You can't move your head at all without getting an earthquake of rumble in your ears. I tried the cord-over-the-ear trick... it's awkward, takes 30+seconds to set up and while it helps, makes walking around even more awkward. This alone is a deal breaker. Standard iPod buds are nowhere near this bad. If a cheap bud can do this better... why can't the RE-0s?
2. They don't image well: The treble is balanced, but I never got over the feeling of "treble-at-each-ear" instead of feeling like the music was inside my head (or ideally outside of it).
3. They don't fit well. My right ear is smaller than my left. The medium plugs keep popping out, but the small plugs don't seal well and have bad bass. I ended up keeping the medium plug and found I couldn't workout without it popping out.
overall... for issue #1 alone, these phones are a total fail. Issue #2 & 3 sealed the deal, so I went looking for replacements
SKULL CANDY TITAN and DENON AH-C452: These are slightly downmarket at $40-60 but I wasn't about to waste $80+ on phones that could disappoint so much. They arrived this morning and I've had a chance to compare all 3.
The Denon's were an immediate improvement in fit over the RE-0s. The bass was ridiculous too. I thought I might love these... and at half the price. But soon I found the bass wasn't realistic. Electronic music had lots of blurred mud down below and the treble was starting to wear me out. The midrange felt scooped, like it was missing in action. Overall, these sounded like a teenagers car stereo.
I switched to the SkullCandy Titans and wasn't initially impressed. Aside from the huge jump in sensitivity... there was less bass (though still tons), less treble and pretty unexciting. But they've grown on me. Even though the treble is downright recessed compared to the Denons, they image better, finally giving me a slight sense of "in-my-head-ness" I'd been missing. Also, the recessed treble allowed me to listen for longer periods without distracting me/wearing me out. The cord on the Skullcandys is microphonic too (grrr...) but better than the RE0s for sure.
Switching back to the RE0s I found the midrange most natural on them... better bay far than both the Denon and Titans... but I was missing the bass of the other phones, and the microphonic cord and troubled fit started to bug me again.
So overall, as of now, I'm going with the Skullcandy Titans. If the cord was less microphonic, I'd give them an A for their price point... with the cord as it is... I can only give them a B.
UPDATE: : The bass of the Titans started to give me a bit of headache after an hour. I'm in an office so maybe the bass would sound better outside/walking, but in office, it's a bit much, especially at lwoer volumes. I ended up switching to the flimsy but steal-for-the-money Over-ear Koss Porta pros which are proving less fatiguing.
OVERALL RATINGS (for their price):
Head Direct RE-0:
----------------
Overall: C
Treble: B
Midrange: A
Bass: B
Imaging: B-
Fit: C
Cord/Microphonics: D
Denon AH-C452
----------------
Overall: B-
Treble: B- (too forward)
Midrange C- (scooped, not a lot of detail here)
Bass: For Dance music = B+ otherwise, B- (too heavy slow)
Fit: B+
Cord/Microphonics: B
Skullcandy Titans
----------------
Overall: B-
Treble: B+ (bit recessed & chalky, images well)
Midrange: B
Bass: B
Fit: B
Cord/Microphonics: C
Comments/recommendations welcome.