[astroboy907]

Got these cans from my parents for christmas. Its been a few weeks and I've gotten about 100hrs of burn in on them (mostly vocal/spoken voice tracks), so its about time for a review.
 
First of all, the look
 

 
 
These things look a LOT like Beats headphones, but I assure you, they are better. They are ergonomic, but are a bit small, and barely fit completely over my ears, so those with larger ears might want to look for something else. Fit is great and I do not mind wearing them for a length of time. The sides fold, and extend nicely, and seem to be pretty durable, but I would not thrown them into the bottom of a backpack and call it good.
 
There is an approximately 3 foot long, flat, 3.55 M to M cord that comes with the cans. Since it plugs into the left can, you get virtually no cable noise (some is there, but for general use it is MUCH better than any IEM I own or my Sennheiser HD202's).
 
Isolation is OK. Not for completely blocking out noise. I can hear the clicking of my keyboard as I type this with some middle volume music. I took a plane ride with these and preferred the isolation of some hacked together foam tips made from earplugs. 
 
 
 
Sound
 
The sound on these is great. I mean, truly, these are WAY better than Beats. Sound is very, very clear, clearer than anything I have heard before. Lows are definitely there, but these are not basshead phones. If you are looking for thumpy, huge, overpowering bass on these, its not there. These headphones tone down lows and help them accompany the music better.
Mids are great, vocals are a bit more recessed than I would prefer. Any guitar/synth is brought forward a lot. The point where the mids fade to the lows is a bit muddy too. Mids are the selling point of these headphones. Highs are recessed, but I prefer my highs recessed anyways. 
 
Beats, compared to these, are static-y, mid-lacking, pieces of crap. In my opinion, these are a much better buy.
 
 
So really, these are great headphones for the price of about $100.
 
Sorry for the short review, but I am not a huge audiophile (These are now the most expensive piece of gear I have. Don't even get me started on the crappy output from my macbook line out. It sucks). I really don't have the cash for any huge gear, but would still like to put a review out there cause you guys are awesome. Anyways, first review blues.

 

[Aaron94]

Could I possibly get you to use some EQ settings on these? Even if its just the EQ from iTunes I would like to know how they respond to both treble and bass EQing. 

 

[astroboy907]

Well, I have a nice 31 band EQ on my mac let me know if you have any preference for EQing, I dont really EQ often so I am not sure what I need to be doing for better treble, etc. 
 
 

 

[Aaron94]

I wont lie, I have no idea how to use an equalizer, iTunes has one on it that has settings already built into it with options like bass boost and treble boost, so thats what I know.

 

[astroboy907]

Ok, I will check those settings and give you a heads up on what sounds better (to me at least). If you are using a mac, here is how I got an EQ on it (if you have a mac, if you are on Win/Linux there are better options)- its a bit complicated but worth it in the end. I get to boost what I like in my music, plus it seems to smooth my output a bit more and reduce some static. Maybe that is just placebo though
http://osxdaily.com/2012/05/18/equalizer-for-all-audio-mac-os-x/

 

[astroboy907]

Ok, EQ'ed a bit on these... 
Thing is, with EQ, it changes a lot on the type of music you listen to, as well as what volume. I listened to these a lot louder than I usually would, because it brings out the EQ. 
 
Here is the EQ I ended up with listening to "Too Close" by Alex Clare
 

 
So the bass pumped up a bit, treble kicked up and 8k up to bring out the vocals from the mids a little more than they were. Sounded more even to me.
 
Here is what I got listening to "This Love" by Maroon 5, again, don't really know what you listen to but thats just what came up next in shuffle, and its mostly my sisters music...
 

 
More toned up bass, toned down mids (like i said, the mids on these  headphones are pretty prominent, but not unbearably so.., on this I put the treble a bit lower. You almost need more bands because the 8k to 16k difference is a lot, I would like to boost around 10-12k, not the super high treble, just a personal preference)
 
"Float On" by Modest Mouse 
 

 
This I decided to really kick up the bass line and tone down the mids. As there was not much treble in the song (only the guitar, which was too caught up in the 8k vocals to bring out without kicking up the singers voice higher than I would like). Really nicely balanced with a bit more bass and just a hint more treble. 
 
 
So I don't really know if this helped any, I really dont know what to do with EqQ-ing besides find a personal preference. My preference is very high on bass, but I try to keep that in check and move up the highs to and sometimes mids if the headphones are mid-lacking (*cough* cheap Skullcandy IEMs)

 

[Aaron94]

Im a pretty big bass head, and Ive read that the bass on these is not thumping or anything, I mainly wanted to know how they respond to bass boost

 

[DrSeven]

Thanks for the review

 

[Tom22]

for all those interested in the new zoro II HD headphones i've created a thread and unboxed them as well! looks like a good improvement to the original zoros!
 
heres the link:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/751685/noontec-zoro-re-imagined-zoro-ii-hd-impressions-thread#post_11243065

 

[Tom22]

if anyone is interested in the new Noontec Zoro II HD (an improvement to the popular Zoro Headphones)
 
here is the link to my review:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/noontec-zoro-ii-hd-headphone-professional-sound-good-sound-quality-durable-foldable-comfortable-adjustable-fashion-on-ear-stereo-headphone-earphone-for-mobile-phone-smart-phone-violet/reviews/12746
 
here is my video review: