WakiDabeast
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
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Review of the Phiaton MS 400s
Source : Computer, On board Gigabyte Realtek sound cardOn the Iphone and Ipod Touch all of the things said in this review is the same, except the sound quality, there are more upper mids on the Iphone, and the mids are more forward.
Price : on amazon 240$ you can probably look around and find a new pair for < 190$
Design(including build quality): The design of the Phiaton MS 400 is fairly flashy, and it will turn heads. The 40mm drivers are in a carbon fiber enclosure. There is high polymer cover over the carbon fiber where the logo "Phiaton" is written. There is nice red padding on the upper band. The headphones are foldable flat and in ward (like the picture below), they must be folded flat like in the picture above to fit in the case. These headphones are VERY portable when put into the case, unfortunately it is a pain in the ass to put into the case itself, but seeing the case is very durable and protects the headphones very well it is worth it. The build quality is pretty damn good. The hinges and headband do feel slightly flimsy, but they are actually very durable, and won't break easily. There is metal support on the hinges and the headband is metal underneath the padding. Most of the rest of the headphone is made of very durable plastic feels a lot like ABS plastic.
Rating : 4.5/5
Fit and Comfort: These headphones are extremely comfortable and have a good fit. The padding on the headband an on the cups are extremely plush and soft, the ear pads a little more so. The headphones will stay on your ear for running and head banging to your music. They are half way between supra aural and over ear, for me they are almost completely over ear. In general these headphones are VERY comfortable and have a very good fit.
Adding cotton inside the ear pads are a big help, the fit will feel very natural, and since it will become nearly completely over ear they will stay on your head even better. I personally put the cotton on only the back half of the pads so it will angle the drivers for a much more natural sound.
Rating : 4.5/5 (5 being ear muffs and 0 being a horse shoe on your head)
Isolation : These headphones isolation pretty well, thankfully they isolate noises such as ones on a bus ride or a car ride, so they are great for that. The pads are very soft and make a nice fit around your ears giving a very good amount of isolation. Even if you have your music very quiet you probably won't hear anyone talking and at a little more than medium (not hard to hear and not hurting) you won't be able to hear a car on the highway or a bus at that.
Rating : 4/5 (about 18 decibels of isolation) (1 being apple ear buds and 5 being noise cancelling headphones at about 25 db of isolation )
Sound Quality- (1) presentation and (2) overall detail, range, and accurate response (SQ):
(1) Presentation : These headphones have a decently good sound stage considering their size. I have gamed with them in FPS shooters, and they fared useful. The depth is kinda good, the height is average, and the width is not so great. The sound stage may be slightly small, but the separation of instruments is really good, probably because of its forward mids. Which brings us to the sound presentation. The bass is very slow and long decay, very relaxing. The bass slams more than anything, not like punchy POW but like BOOSH. They have more low end but not as much boom, that doesn't mean it doesn't have any thump, when the song calls for it these will thump. The mids are very forward, which make them seem more prominent. The treble is slightly recessed but still is not overpowered. The headphones are slightly darker sounding, but the forward mids make that very hard to notice. (4/10)
(2) Overall Detail, Range, and Accurate Response : These headphones have very good sound quality. Thanks to the forward
mids you can really hear the detailed and the melodic vocals. The mids are warm and not harsh on your ears, despite their forward presentation. Still the mids are very clear and detailed. The bass, or lows, is melodic, not aggressive unless the song asks for aggressive bass and the bass still has a full bodied sound. The bass is very accurate to the music. With music that has more mids and treble you can hear a tight laid back precise bass. With music that has more bass, like hip hop and dubstep, they will really shine with luscious and piquant lows. With more neutral music like acoustic rock the sound will be more warm than neutral. The highs are very good, unlike what many say, not amazing but still very good. Cymbals and such will most definitely sound short of amazing, they seem to fail and making short claps and such sparkle, but when it comes to instruments, such as the piano or violin, they really shine and give out that rich melodic sound, and surprisingly very detailed. The headphones frequency response as shown here :
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2941&graphID[]=3021&graphID[]=3121&graphID[]=863
Their actually pretty balanced, they portray the music very accurately, but with a melodic chill touch, considering that they are consumer headphones. (4.5/10)
Rating : 8.5/10 (1 being the Sansa Fuze default ear buds or plane headphones, the Apple stock ear buds would be around 3, The Sony ZX100's and JVC Flats would be about a 5, The Beats Solos would be about a 6,Koss PortaPros would be about a 7, Kicker DJ headphones would be 7, Beat Studios would be about a 7, a 7.5 would be the AKG 518LE, and the Skull Candy Aviators would be about an 8, a 9 would be the HD25's, and a 9.5ish would be the ATH-M50 headphones, I haven't heard a "10" yet; these are most of the headphones that I've gotten a good amount of time of listening most of these are friend headphones I've borrowed, the beats studio were at the mall)
SUMMARY -
Pros : Stylish, Durable, Comfortable, and very convenient headphones. Sound Quality is great, slightly warm signature with forward mids, slightly recessed treble, and VERY accurate mellow bass.
Cons : Can feel Flimsy and it's a pain in the ass to get into the case. The treble can sometime be lacking some sparkle. The semi over ear fit can be annoying to some, I loved it though.
Bass - Slow, not in a bad way - doesn't add any unnatural punctuation
Mids - Warm and melodic - great for being impressed by vocals
Treble - Touch of warmth, ok extension and detail - great for chillin' late at night
Overall Rating : 21.5/25
Value : 8.5/10
it's my first review 
