[brandobean]

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.

 

[stonyboys]

kinda seems like you're a basshead. Not saying it's a bad thing, but you and me have different scales for measuring sound quality.

 

[brandobean]

That's the thing... I don't think I'm a bass-head. I don't like boomy subwoofers or generally overhyped low end. I'll generally take tuneful bass over sheer bass weight any day. I will say that when traveling, or on a bus, you need a little bonus bass to sound balanced in all that ambient noise. I ended up preferring the Titan's because their teble bothered me the least and they seemed to at least image a little whereas the others didn't at all. I think the RE-0s have the best midrange but the handling noise made them unusable.

By the way, I AM noticing these Skullcandy's are a bit bass forward on some types of music. I'm starting to think they might be TOO bass heavy. Or am I just getting a headache...hmmm. update soon.

What do you like?

PS: I just ordered the Soundmagic PL50 too. Buying all these relatively cheap headphones is addictive. I chose them because of the great midrange and lack of microphonics.

 

[grahamnp]

Maybe you should experiment with different tips for the RE0? I don't like the way Complys made them sound (more bass, less treble detail) but the T400s should solve your fit issues. Maybe you can try fit the tips from the earphones that do fit onto the RE0.

The RE0 is not microphonic if you wear them over the ear but if you don't like the bass I guess they are not for you.

 

[ClieOS]

Out of curiosity, are your RE0 v1, v2 or v3?

RE0 v1 (the one in my review) has PVC cable, not particularly great in the microphonics department but not really that bad. The problem with v1 cable is that it is a little stiffer, which is what v2 cable (fabric) was supposed to fix. Unfortunately for v2 cable, thought soft, has too much microphonics and tends to disconnect on the mini plug too easily. That is where the current v3 cable (PPE) comes in. It has less microphonics then v2 and much softer than v1.

 

[rawrster]

$79 was the price of his RE0 which means after Novemeber of 2009. They changed the cables after they changed the price to 79 if I remember correctly?

Also about over the ear..most of the earphones as you go higher in price typically is intended to be used over the ear. ibuds are not microphonic because they do not isolate

 

[ClieOS]

I can't really recall when the v2 to v3 change occurred without going back a few hundreds posts I made. But I do remember reading people complains about why they received the PPE instead of the fabric version around that time, and I don't think it really have anything to do with price change as the price of RE0 was lowered to $99 on last year summer sale. The price was lowered again to the current $79 for Black Friday sale.

If I remember correctly, v2 was already in market back in summer sale, the v3 was more likely late November or December (or even January) after RE252's release.

 

[ethan961]

As far as I remember the $79 sale corresponded with the latest revision change, to the PPE cable. At least that's when I remember it starting, the first bit sold after the sale may have still been fabric cable.

 

[rawrster]

Well I think I bought mine either the last week or 2nd to last week of November. When I bought mine they already had the latest version of the cable for around a week so it was definitely November that the cable was switched to the current version. However ethan may be right that some of the fabric cable was still being sold when they first changed it from 99 to 79.

Also I guess since the OP hasn't been using iem's as long that microphonics are a big issue. They are pretty much a non issue since I wear everything over the ear and if possible with a clip.

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandobean /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's the thing... I don't think I'm a bass-head. I don't like boomy subwoofers or generally overhyped low end. I'll generally take tuneful bass over sheer bass weight any day. I will say that when traveling, or on a bus, you need a little bonus bass to sound balanced in all that ambient noise. I ended up preferring the Titan's because their teble bothered me the least and they seemed to at least image a little whereas the others didn't at all. I think the RE-0s have the best midrange but the handling noise made them unusable. By the way, I AM noticing these Skullcandy's are a bit bass forward on some types of music. I'm starting to think they might be TOO bass heavy. Or am I just getting a headache...hmmm. update soon. What do you like? PS: I just ordered the Soundmagic PL50 too. Buying all these relatively cheap headphones is addictive. I chose them because of the great midrange and lack of microphonics.

I second that, you don't have to be a basshead to find the RE0 lacking. I EQ the bass down by -8db on my IE8, because I think it's too bass heavy. Nevertheless the RE0 doesn't reproduce true to life bass quantity IMO.

Moreover, to my ears the RE0's treble is very extended and detailed - but at the same time poorly refined, quite piercing and at times squeaky. Overall I get easily fatigued, no matter if I listen to these unamped or amped.

I don't have fit and cable issues, but still I'm not nearly as excited about the RE0 as other head-fiers. BTW from reading your impressions, I'm pretty confident that you'll like the PL50s.

 

[Pianist]

I also found RE0 to be lacking bass and sounding harsh in the treble in the beginning. But after 6 months of use, those problems almost completely disappeared. My RE0 now has plenty of bass and the treble sounds very smooth, clear and defined with very little to no harshness. So my experience is that RE0 really need a lot of burn in to open up, but after they do they are one heck of an IEM - right up there with the very best universals IMO. I still prefer my Ortofon e-Q7, but there are some things that RE0 definitely does better, like treble and separation.

 

[7swell]

Hmm, I might be the only one who finds the re0 extremely easy to wear over the ears. I don't wear them over the ears just because of microphonics, it's also because a proper fit was harder to achieve with the cable straight down.

 

[TheGame21x]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7swell /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I might be the only one who finds the re0 extremely easy to wear over the ears. I don't wear them over the ears just because of microphonics, it's also because a proper fit was harder to achieve with the cable straight down.

X2 on this.

Wearing the RE0s over the ear is extremely easy for me and the housings are so small and light that I barely feel them once I've jammed them into my ear canals.

 

[Pianist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame21x /img/forum/go_quote.gif X2 on this. Wearing the RE0s over the ear is extremely easy for me and the housings are so small and light that I barely feel them once I've jammed them into my ear canals.

X2 The microphonics on the RE0 can be almost completely eliminated if you wear them over the ear. And wearing them over the ear is just as easy as with the cable straight down, especially if you get some bendable earhooks from Phonak or Senn IE series.

@OP: Regarding the bass and the treble issue on the RE0 - burn them in for at least 200 hours, they should improve noticeably after a lot of burn in. Mine sure did. Also, even brand new RE0 sounds very nice if you amp it - unamped it was almost unusable for me out of the box, but amped, it sounded pretty darn nice, albeit a little sibilant. BTW, the soundstage/imaging improves with amping - the locations of sounds within the soundstage become more precise and easier to pinpoint. Also, try stuffing a bit of cotton inside the nozzle. That should help smooth out the treble and will also bring the bass forward a little. If you put too much in that will muffle the details though, so experiment with different amounts. I would also recommend that you reset the foam covering the driver. It's behind the filter - carefully take the filter off with a sharp object (i.e a needle) pull the foam out and then put it back in, but in such a way so that there is some space left between it and the driver. That will allow the driver to move more air and should improve bass, treble and soundstage.

 

[Max F]

I'll subscribe to this thread as I feel that I have the same tastes as the OP. The RE0 are on my list but really like some bass punch - especially on drums.

To the OP, the PL50 and HJE900 are on my list too.

BTW, I loved my MylarOne X3 but they have long since suffered from the infamous bass burn out