White Lotus
Reviewer for Stereo.net.au
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2010
- Posts
- 3,354
- Likes
- 1,026
[size=x-small]Foreword:[/size]
[size=x-small]I'm a production manager, but mainly focus on [/size][size=small]live sound engineering and lighting[/size][size=x-small]. I install and tune P.A equipment, and mix live acts in:
- live venues,
- concert halls,
- bars, and
- nightclubs.
I've taken a huge liking to headphones - IEMs in particular. I like the idea of having my own personal PA system that I can take with me anywhere. With Rockbox being in such advanced stages, and great low-impedance portable amps becoming available, you can really seem to get any sound signature you wish out of a portable rig.[/size]
[size=15pt]Enter, the Domokun Canal Type Earphones.[/size]
So, during a recent visit to southeast asia, a few friends of mine and I had a few too many beverages, and thought it might be appropriate to go shopping. Some of the impulse-purchased clothing I bought actually wasn't too bad. But then, I stumbled upon a store, selling nothing but Domokun branded products. Naturally, I hurried inside. A more sober me would have laughed, and moved on.
Once inside, I purchased a variety of clothing that was far too small, a small stuffed version of the much-loved Japanese TV icon, but then spotted, like a shining holy grail:
The Domokun Canal Type Earphones.
There were racks and racks of them. Being the keen audiophile that I believe myself to be, the natural instinct was to purchase them. I paid $8, and even then, I was probably ripped off.
We went out clubbing afterwards, and these were in my pocket the entire time. I woke up with these on my pillow and wondered "What the hell did I do last night?"
[size=15pt]Packaging and accessories:[/size]
They came in a fairly generic plastic and cardboard packaging. They clearly display the product, and it's accessories.
The rear section was stapled to the front. Now that, my friends, is quality packaging:
It came with a belt/tie/wrap clip. No idea why. It's huge, and dwarves the earphones themselves by comparison.
They came with only one size tip.
Build quality:
Pretty shonky. Machine made by the thousands, I assume. The happy little Domokun emblems on the outside of the units are glued on with cheap adhesives, and I broke the product when trying to peel them off. I assume that this emblem changes depending on who they are manufacturing for.
The cable is white, and rubbery. I've heard worse microphonics on other products before, but for the sake of their reputation, I won't name them here. The cable is rated as "1.2m long" but I'm telling you now, it's around 30cm.
[size=15pt]Feel/comfort:[/size]
As this product is most likely aimed towards younger asian females, I found these largely uncomfortable. Both in terms of physical comfort, and the fact that I was wearing them at all made me feel pretty uncomfortable - with myself.
The one included tip size was pretty small, so isolation was pretty much non-existent. I tried to fit a few different tips on there (including comply) but had no luck. Perhaps my review of the sound will be a little biased because of this.
The product itself has a strange shape to it:
This might make it perfect for smaller ears, but for mine, it was just painful. WHY WOULD YOU DESIGN A PRODUCT LIKE THIS? But lo, I tried them for a SOLID HOUR for this review.
[size=15pt]Sound:[/size]
[size=small]Isolation:[/size]
Seriously, I can't believe you've even made it this far through the review. Why are you still reading this? Isolation was terrible. They barely sat in my ears, and even then were just painful.
[size=small]Bass:[/size]
These hit all the way down to 60Hz with my test tones. I was pretty impressed by that. But by the time it got to even near that, it was distorting, so I didn't try to hit too low. Maybe with better isolation it would hit a little lower. Every time a bass-hit would come in a song, these would distort pretty badly. Being a single driver dynamic, naturally it distorted across the entire spectrum. Not the most pleasant experience.
[size=small]Mid:[/size]
Starting to give me a bit of a headache, but I'll keep listening anyway. Incredible amounts of squawk. Zero mid-bass. The mids drown out absolutely everything else. Instead of having a "frown" or "smiley" shaped EQ curve, these had more of an "Upward facing pin" spike, right in the vocal range. You can hear vocals, and not much else.
[size=small]High:[/size]
Pretty much non-existent, again. They aren't even sibilant or painful, the roll off starts at around 8Khz, and is pretty steep after that.
[size=small]Overall opinion of sound:[/size]
I'd rather get hit by a train then listen to these analytically again. I broke one of the drivers with my bass test tones eventually.
I was going to start posting comparisons with some of my higher tier IEMs, but what's the point, really.
Thanks for reading, and I hope your life is that much better for it.
[size=x-small]I'm a production manager, but mainly focus on [/size][size=small]live sound engineering and lighting[/size][size=x-small]. I install and tune P.A equipment, and mix live acts in:
- live venues,
- concert halls,
- bars, and
- nightclubs.
I've taken a huge liking to headphones - IEMs in particular. I like the idea of having my own personal PA system that I can take with me anywhere. With Rockbox being in such advanced stages, and great low-impedance portable amps becoming available, you can really seem to get any sound signature you wish out of a portable rig.[/size]
[size=15pt]Enter, the Domokun Canal Type Earphones.[/size]
So, during a recent visit to southeast asia, a few friends of mine and I had a few too many beverages, and thought it might be appropriate to go shopping. Some of the impulse-purchased clothing I bought actually wasn't too bad. But then, I stumbled upon a store, selling nothing but Domokun branded products. Naturally, I hurried inside. A more sober me would have laughed, and moved on.
Once inside, I purchased a variety of clothing that was far too small, a small stuffed version of the much-loved Japanese TV icon, but then spotted, like a shining holy grail:
The Domokun Canal Type Earphones.
There were racks and racks of them. Being the keen audiophile that I believe myself to be, the natural instinct was to purchase them. I paid $8, and even then, I was probably ripped off.
We went out clubbing afterwards, and these were in my pocket the entire time. I woke up with these on my pillow and wondered "What the hell did I do last night?"
[size=15pt]Packaging and accessories:[/size]
They came in a fairly generic plastic and cardboard packaging. They clearly display the product, and it's accessories.
The rear section was stapled to the front. Now that, my friends, is quality packaging:
It came with a belt/tie/wrap clip. No idea why. It's huge, and dwarves the earphones themselves by comparison.
They came with only one size tip.
Build quality:
Pretty shonky. Machine made by the thousands, I assume. The happy little Domokun emblems on the outside of the units are glued on with cheap adhesives, and I broke the product when trying to peel them off. I assume that this emblem changes depending on who they are manufacturing for.
The cable is white, and rubbery. I've heard worse microphonics on other products before, but for the sake of their reputation, I won't name them here. The cable is rated as "1.2m long" but I'm telling you now, it's around 30cm.
[size=15pt]Feel/comfort:[/size]
As this product is most likely aimed towards younger asian females, I found these largely uncomfortable. Both in terms of physical comfort, and the fact that I was wearing them at all made me feel pretty uncomfortable - with myself.
The one included tip size was pretty small, so isolation was pretty much non-existent. I tried to fit a few different tips on there (including comply) but had no luck. Perhaps my review of the sound will be a little biased because of this.
The product itself has a strange shape to it:
This might make it perfect for smaller ears, but for mine, it was just painful. WHY WOULD YOU DESIGN A PRODUCT LIKE THIS? But lo, I tried them for a SOLID HOUR for this review.
[size=15pt]Sound:[/size]
[size=small]Isolation:[/size]
Seriously, I can't believe you've even made it this far through the review. Why are you still reading this? Isolation was terrible. They barely sat in my ears, and even then were just painful.
[size=small]Bass:[/size]
These hit all the way down to 60Hz with my test tones. I was pretty impressed by that. But by the time it got to even near that, it was distorting, so I didn't try to hit too low. Maybe with better isolation it would hit a little lower. Every time a bass-hit would come in a song, these would distort pretty badly. Being a single driver dynamic, naturally it distorted across the entire spectrum. Not the most pleasant experience.
[size=small]Mid:[/size]
Starting to give me a bit of a headache, but I'll keep listening anyway. Incredible amounts of squawk. Zero mid-bass. The mids drown out absolutely everything else. Instead of having a "frown" or "smiley" shaped EQ curve, these had more of an "Upward facing pin" spike, right in the vocal range. You can hear vocals, and not much else.
[size=small]High:[/size]
Pretty much non-existent, again. They aren't even sibilant or painful, the roll off starts at around 8Khz, and is pretty steep after that.
[size=small]Overall opinion of sound:[/size]
I'd rather get hit by a train then listen to these analytically again. I broke one of the drivers with my bass test tones eventually.
I was going to start posting comparisons with some of my higher tier IEMs, but what's the point, really.
Thanks for reading, and I hope your life is that much better for it.
