vlenbo
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2011
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ATH-MSR7 Review
Introduction/Personal Matters
Hello fellow headfiers! This is vlenbo, a headfier who had reviewed quite a lot of FOTM headphone/earphones that gained traction to become well known products loved by audiophiles and music lovers everywhere. I reviewed the ath-ckr9 along the thinksound on1s and created the audio technica headphone comparison thread. Despite this bombastic introduction, I want to briefly state that I have been away from headfi for two years now.
I do want to apologize for not keeping my reviews up to date with the latest equipment I owned.
I humbly apologize.
Additionally, I also want to apologize with other manufacturers who sent me review samples, I understand if you do not trust me anymore, especially since I should have been stronger. However, I do have my reasons for not dedicating the time for the reviews, but that doesn't excuse my behavior.
To keep my personal matters short, I had faced anxiety issues that were arduous to resolve. These days however, I feel like I am obdurate enough to continue living life normally with my hobbies, even if I may still experience some anxiety while writing this. The anxiety just randomly came which made it hard for me to function well. Driving and sleeping were the most difficult tasks for me during the two years I was away. Now that I have mostly recovered, I plan to write up all of the reviews I missed. I plan to make a review and publish by at least every 3 days to make up for it, so watch out for the future products that will be reviewed thoroughly in my repertoire of headphones.
Creative Roar Blaster 2 - Wireless speaker
Thinksound's Rain 2 - In-ear headphones
Sony's Xba-40 + H3 + H1 + Sony sscs5 - In-ear headphones + speakers
Ortofon's eq-5 - In-ear headphones
Ath-im02 + ath-ck10 + Cks1100 + R70x - In-ear headphones + Open Headphones
Hifiman's Re 262 - In-ear headphone
Without divulging any further information, I present to you, the ATH-MSR7s!
ATH-MSR7's INTRO
I personally believe this headphone deserves the praise it receives, especially because Audio Technica managed to make a stylish headphone that reproduces wonderful sound. While I had my fair share of qualms with this headphone, I do continue to use it to this day. While I may be an Audio Technica fanboy due to the collection of the R70x, Ath-ckr, ckm, and cks series, I do tend to share issues with other products they produced. For example, their latest ckr1100 was something I liked, but had the worst fit to even take advantage of the sound. I do like that headphone to bits, for reasons I'll explain in another review.
Regardless, this headphone almost became one of the products that I'd completely abhor. With enough burn-in (or brain burn-in), I found the headphone to produce delightful sound in nearly all frequency ranges except the bass in terms of quantity. I would suggest burning them in for around 100 hours before you start to fully appreciate the sound (brain burn-in recommended). After a while, these became my reference monitor headphones that are fun to listen to! I do, however, suggest that you do not bring them outside despite their "portability" due to the treble and semi-open design.
Music Used for general sound quality:
Beatles – Nowhere Man
Simply Red – If you don’t know me by now
Phil Collins- in the air tonight
Loreena Mckennith – Dante’s Prayer
Seether’s version of Immortality
Queens – Don’t stop me now
Queens – Another one bites the dust
Toto- Africa
Pink Floyd - Breathe
Design/Build Quality
Aesthetically speaking, these are the most beautiful headphones I currently lay my eyes on. While the thinksounds look pretty great, I appreciate the direction Audio technical took with its metal/plastic design. Making beautiful woodies, in my opinion, is a bit of an easier task than an industrial design. The colors grey, red, and brown were not colors I thought would mesh. Yet Audio Technica corrected me by stylizing the headphone through a color contrast. Despite the plastic pieces used to hold the metal cups together, the durability on this headphone is phenomenal. Granted, I had not frequently dropped this headphone. When I did, any traces of deprecation placed on this headphone were minuscule to none. I enjoy this type of resistance because it demonstrates the thought put into the build quality. If you ever plan to own this headphone in the future, please be warned of one thing. One of the cups (or if you’re unlucky, both) have this irritating squeaky or creaky sound that does not disappear. This CAN STILL occur with even if it’s broken in for a while. Other than that, this headphone is great for what it is.
LISTENING VOLUMES
I always hear headphones with at least 60db, at most 80db on my players.
PERSONAL SOUND SIGNATURE BIAS
I normally prefer headphones like the Ath-ck10s, Ath-im02s, Thinksound's On1s, and these Msr7s because each headphone provides a different take on the midrange to treble frequencies. Vocals, instruments, and cymbals are my top priority in music, especially because I get to experience the emotions that the singers evoke. I strive for euphoric music. These days I want more subbass rumble with my music to create an additional layer of euphoric sound.
Comfort
Please do not wear this immediately after you purchase them. Let them loosen up since these do enjoy clutching onto your head pretty tightly. The headphone’s vigorous clamping actually detracts from the experience if you wear them longer than an hour. Additionally, headband looks extremely comfortable and plush. It is not. Please do not think that the headband contains enough cushion to protect your head from any form of discomfort.
Accessories
The only thing you have to worry about this headphone are two major accessories. The 3.5mm headphone cable, and the pouch. If you would like to keep it somewhat protected, please do keep the pouch. Other than that, this headphone pitifully lacks proper accessories for the price point. I’m frankly speaking on the matter of a good quality headphone case, or better quality 3.5mm cables that don’t feel flimsy. There are three 3.5mm cables that come with this headphone, one that is an L-shaped plug 3.5mm and the other, a straight 3.5mm connector. The length for the L shaped plug and the straight connectors are 1.2m. However, they provided a 3 meter cable that was long enough to make it a bit difficult to traverse.
Fit/Isolation
Fit: Pretty good, it’s an over-ear headphone that can potentially cover your ear. I’m saying potentially because it’s pretty good in size, but bigger ears might have an issue fitting into these snuggly. The earpads have this nice pillow cushioning that implores you to continue wearing them....until you realize that the clamp immediately mitigates this sensation.
Isolation: Really lacking, but there is some isolation to be had. You’ll still have some trouble hearing people when you have music on when you’re wearing them, especially when one listens to music higher than 70 db. You’ll still be able to hear music, but not very clearly if there are others who are talking pretty loudly. Noise leakage is also a huge issue as listening to these louder than 70db (potentially even 60db) could entice people’s curiosity to what you’re listening.
Sound Quality – Basic lows/mids/highs
Lows: The bass is not overtly obtrusive towards the rest of the frequencies. However, the midbass can sometimes bleed into the low mids, or the male vocals. Additionally, the sub-bass lacks prominence that it truly deserves in order to give the lower instruments more weight, or added thickness to them. Do not confuse prominence with presence, though even then it lacks power in its presence. I do not feel any sort of rumble, tremor, or bombastic bass that impacts you viscerally. However, I do hear that it's there up to 35hz or so. Regardless, the bass is pretty tight and powerful when needed in a recording, but be forewarned that it doesn’t reach lower than 34hz or so without it sounding inaudible. The bass is pretty tight as the bass instruments plucked by the beatles, Queens, and Toto Africa bands. The bass can be addicting due to the details the mid-bass produces as well as the cohesiveness with the rest of the frequencies. You'd expect the bass player to be forgotten, but this headphone likes to remind you that even if the singer is upfront, the bass player is there as the under dog. Despite some sub-bass quantity issues, the bass does contain this euphonic quality to them that one can appreciate despite the possible bleed with the mid-bass.
Mids: Male and female vocals are rendered beautifully by this headphone, more so on the female vocals. The female vocals are conveyed with authority as they are presented a bit more forward than a neutral set of headphones. They have weight, detail, and smooth sonic characteristics that can intimidate music lovers due to the forward presentation. While this region has a somewhat thick textured weight to it, instruments and vocals can potentially sound thin at times. For most of my music selection however, the vocals sounded pretty clear, thick, and textured enough to enjoy listening to them. Additionally, the headphones displayed a profound emotion to the tone of the singers performing in my music list. For instance, the Ath-msr7's portrayed Toto Africa bombastically as their lyrics were not only exciting to hear, but also inspiring as the headphones produced clarity like no other headphone I own with confidence! The guitars (especially electric) have enough weight to them that they sound as if you’re listening to the band live. The crispy depiction of electric guitars this headphone presents makes them stupendous! The electric guitars have the crunchy texture of potato chips you’d probably snack on whenever you feel hungry and are in a hurry. This headphone reproduces the same effect, but the quality of the timbre from instruments like guitars and female vocals are realistic to the point of returning to your favorite rock songs again.
Once again, this headphone renders vocals pretty accurately as you can hear the singer breathe into the microphone, the micro details can actually be heard despite the somewhat congested soundstage. The voices sound pretty silky and transparent with added weight, similar to that of drinking water after a refreshing meal. The feeling one gets from drinking water is exactly how I would describe the headphones, a thirst quencher.
Highs: Absolutely phenomenal. The most prolific treble I have heard since the treble sounds not only vibrant, crispy, textured, and detailed, but also pretty prominent. There’s enough treble from the cymbals and female vocals to absorb into your ears without having it sound fuzzy, distorted, or even dull. It’s a bright headphone that can be borderline sibilant for people. However, for my ears, the sibilance is nearly non-existent now that I’ve broken them in for a bit. Additionally, the recording does impact the treble sibilance so please be sure to watch out for that. I do not believe there is any sort of sibilance in 5-8k region, but I will admit that frequencies that are at 6-8khz are almost the center of attention of these headphones. Since high mids generally fall along these frequencies, I thought I’d mention once again that the low mids are mostly superseded by the female vocals. The highs do not ever sound frail, flaky, distorted, or strident enough to make you want to stop listening to the music.
General sound conclusion: The headphone contains a harmony frequencies that has a bias towards the female vocals. As other reviews mentioned, this headphone has this U-shape curve that have the low mids (male vocals) taking a backseat. Yet, the bass and treble are pretty euphonic to listen to. Recommended for rock, pop, and potentially, R&B music fans.
Music used to evaluate bass, mids, and highs:
I used Pink Floyd's "Breathe" songs to test the headphone's latent ability in reproducing potent bass. Sufficed to say, the headphones lack bass impact to invigorate your head or ears. However, the quality is optimal as the bass is textured well, tight, and just thick enough for you to enjoy how the bass lines are delivered, especially in Breathe. The bass notes are pretty mimetic due to the mellowness of this song. However, the other frequencies such as the vocals and instruments somewhat overpower the bass, but not the point where you have an issue separating the instruments individually. The ath-msr7's bass depiction actually makes the bass strings sound pretty addicting as the guitarist plucks the strings in such a tranquil manner. Unfortunately, there's not enough boost to the bass to match its quality. While this song had been used to test the bass, the vocals and instruments present were a thrill to hear. They sound almost upfront in your face, as if you're taking the first row seats to their concert. Their voices were euphoric due to the headphone's technical mids ability, and were not dominated by the percussion and cymbals. In fact, they were center stage, the exact attention they need to relax the listener. While the voices were not silky smooth, the smooth nature of the vocals alleviated the raspy throats that can be heard due to the recording limitations. Additionally, no sibilance was present.
Phil Colin's in the air tonight starts off with a rumbling subbass that can reach as low as 30hz. Depsite that, near the midpoint mark of the song, the mid-bass has this tactile sound whenever it's being played. This headphone can keep up with the mid-bass notes being played, albeit not as fast as other songs out there. The bass quality is pretty textured to a point where you can dance to it. The bass quality is comparable to a motorcycle's engine being revved up, the crispy, tactile bellows that derive from it are exactly what can be described when listening to this track. Unfortunately, this headphone lacks the extension to reproduce the rumble from the intro bass, which is a missed opportunity really. However, the vocals for Colin were spectacular because his voice sounded pretty potent enough to express his extreme thrill when he reminds the listener that he "REMEMBERED."
Sound Quality – 3D Imagery
Not exactly the best in terms of 3d imaging. It does have precision in imaging, but the space it delivers is pretty clustered. While there is still enough depth to help the individual separate the music in a 3d environment, it sounds somewhat congested. If it had more width to the soundstage and more height, maybe there could have been a way where the imaging would be improved. Yet, the headphone does have moments where the imaging impresses when you have instruments sounding closer to you while pushing back the bass, vocals, or cymbals. These impressive moments do not apply to most songs as the female vocals are boosted to a fault.
The song used to test this was Loreena Mckennit's - Dante's Prayer, where the instruments played were somewhat congested. Despite the congestion, I could still hear the depth potential these headphones contained. I could position the vocals in the center, piano in the foreground, and violins in the background. Make no mistake, this headphone contains the strength to accurately produce a 3d stage, but the problem is that the vocals are upfront to a fault. I can hear the spatial cues, but if I had to pinpoint the space between each instrument, it'd be around a foot away from each other. Not exactly impressive, but pretty good for me to continue enjoying the 3d imagery that it can produce.
Music used specifically for this section: Loreena Mckennit's – Dante’s Prayer and Phil Colins – in the air tonight
Sound Quality – Soundstage
This headphone lacks some width despite being a semi-open headphone. The other thing is that this headphone has amazing height despite the somewhat congested stage. The cymbals in certain bands I’ve heard (beatles, Seether) are placed overhead of the singer, followed by the guitars placed at a lower position. Once again, Loreena Mckennit had helped me understand that this headphone can produce a pretty good stage due to it's 3d imagery. However, the stage itself sounds as if it's at least half a foot away from your ears in width and in height, especially because her voice is upfront.
What helps me enjoy her song is the headphone's ability to warmly reproduce her vocals without it sounding strident, grainy, or distorted.
Conclusion
When I first heard this headphone, I completely abhorred the treble and female vocals due to its grating personality. The vocals were etched enough to the point where they sounded strident. The sound made my ears uncomfortable to hear any more of it as the graininess made it nearly impossible for me to enjoy the music. Nowadays, this headphone leaves me with mixed feelings of appreciation and continuous want. While I do adore the presentation of the bass and highs, the male vocals and subbass did not receive enough love to make this headphone the perfect headphone for me. The subbass lacked tremor and excitement, while the male vocals were usually being dominated by the female vocals. . After some burning in however, I did enjoy this headphone to the end and I do recommend it as a potential purchase due to its current price point.
Once again, I truly apologize to the companies that gave me review units (Thinksound and SA), I will immediately have them reviewed now so that something like this never happens again.
Edit: Will update this with more pictures soon.
Introduction/Personal Matters
Hello fellow headfiers! This is vlenbo, a headfier who had reviewed quite a lot of FOTM headphone/earphones that gained traction to become well known products loved by audiophiles and music lovers everywhere. I reviewed the ath-ckr9 along the thinksound on1s and created the audio technica headphone comparison thread. Despite this bombastic introduction, I want to briefly state that I have been away from headfi for two years now.
I do want to apologize for not keeping my reviews up to date with the latest equipment I owned.
I humbly apologize.
Additionally, I also want to apologize with other manufacturers who sent me review samples, I understand if you do not trust me anymore, especially since I should have been stronger. However, I do have my reasons for not dedicating the time for the reviews, but that doesn't excuse my behavior.
To keep my personal matters short, I had faced anxiety issues that were arduous to resolve. These days however, I feel like I am obdurate enough to continue living life normally with my hobbies, even if I may still experience some anxiety while writing this. The anxiety just randomly came which made it hard for me to function well. Driving and sleeping were the most difficult tasks for me during the two years I was away. Now that I have mostly recovered, I plan to write up all of the reviews I missed. I plan to make a review and publish by at least every 3 days to make up for it, so watch out for the future products that will be reviewed thoroughly in my repertoire of headphones.
Creative Roar Blaster 2 - Wireless speaker
Thinksound's Rain 2 - In-ear headphones
Sony's Xba-40 + H3 + H1 + Sony sscs5 - In-ear headphones + speakers
Ortofon's eq-5 - In-ear headphones
Ath-im02 + ath-ck10 + Cks1100 + R70x - In-ear headphones + Open Headphones
Hifiman's Re 262 - In-ear headphone
Without divulging any further information, I present to you, the ATH-MSR7s!
ATH-MSR7's INTRO
I personally believe this headphone deserves the praise it receives, especially because Audio Technica managed to make a stylish headphone that reproduces wonderful sound. While I had my fair share of qualms with this headphone, I do continue to use it to this day. While I may be an Audio Technica fanboy due to the collection of the R70x, Ath-ckr, ckm, and cks series, I do tend to share issues with other products they produced. For example, their latest ckr1100 was something I liked, but had the worst fit to even take advantage of the sound. I do like that headphone to bits, for reasons I'll explain in another review.
Regardless, this headphone almost became one of the products that I'd completely abhor. With enough burn-in (or brain burn-in), I found the headphone to produce delightful sound in nearly all frequency ranges except the bass in terms of quantity. I would suggest burning them in for around 100 hours before you start to fully appreciate the sound (brain burn-in recommended). After a while, these became my reference monitor headphones that are fun to listen to! I do, however, suggest that you do not bring them outside despite their "portability" due to the treble and semi-open design.
Music Used for general sound quality:
Beatles – Nowhere Man
Simply Red – If you don’t know me by now
Phil Collins- in the air tonight
Loreena Mckennith – Dante’s Prayer
Seether’s version of Immortality
Queens – Don’t stop me now
Queens – Another one bites the dust
Toto- Africa
Pink Floyd - Breathe
Design/Build Quality
Aesthetically speaking, these are the most beautiful headphones I currently lay my eyes on. While the thinksounds look pretty great, I appreciate the direction Audio technical took with its metal/plastic design. Making beautiful woodies, in my opinion, is a bit of an easier task than an industrial design. The colors grey, red, and brown were not colors I thought would mesh. Yet Audio Technica corrected me by stylizing the headphone through a color contrast. Despite the plastic pieces used to hold the metal cups together, the durability on this headphone is phenomenal. Granted, I had not frequently dropped this headphone. When I did, any traces of deprecation placed on this headphone were minuscule to none. I enjoy this type of resistance because it demonstrates the thought put into the build quality. If you ever plan to own this headphone in the future, please be warned of one thing. One of the cups (or if you’re unlucky, both) have this irritating squeaky or creaky sound that does not disappear. This CAN STILL occur with even if it’s broken in for a while. Other than that, this headphone is great for what it is.
LISTENING VOLUMES
I always hear headphones with at least 60db, at most 80db on my players.
PERSONAL SOUND SIGNATURE BIAS
I normally prefer headphones like the Ath-ck10s, Ath-im02s, Thinksound's On1s, and these Msr7s because each headphone provides a different take on the midrange to treble frequencies. Vocals, instruments, and cymbals are my top priority in music, especially because I get to experience the emotions that the singers evoke. I strive for euphoric music. These days I want more subbass rumble with my music to create an additional layer of euphoric sound.
Comfort
Please do not wear this immediately after you purchase them. Let them loosen up since these do enjoy clutching onto your head pretty tightly. The headphone’s vigorous clamping actually detracts from the experience if you wear them longer than an hour. Additionally, headband looks extremely comfortable and plush. It is not. Please do not think that the headband contains enough cushion to protect your head from any form of discomfort.
Accessories
The only thing you have to worry about this headphone are two major accessories. The 3.5mm headphone cable, and the pouch. If you would like to keep it somewhat protected, please do keep the pouch. Other than that, this headphone pitifully lacks proper accessories for the price point. I’m frankly speaking on the matter of a good quality headphone case, or better quality 3.5mm cables that don’t feel flimsy. There are three 3.5mm cables that come with this headphone, one that is an L-shaped plug 3.5mm and the other, a straight 3.5mm connector. The length for the L shaped plug and the straight connectors are 1.2m. However, they provided a 3 meter cable that was long enough to make it a bit difficult to traverse.
Fit/Isolation
Fit: Pretty good, it’s an over-ear headphone that can potentially cover your ear. I’m saying potentially because it’s pretty good in size, but bigger ears might have an issue fitting into these snuggly. The earpads have this nice pillow cushioning that implores you to continue wearing them....until you realize that the clamp immediately mitigates this sensation.
Isolation: Really lacking, but there is some isolation to be had. You’ll still have some trouble hearing people when you have music on when you’re wearing them, especially when one listens to music higher than 70 db. You’ll still be able to hear music, but not very clearly if there are others who are talking pretty loudly. Noise leakage is also a huge issue as listening to these louder than 70db (potentially even 60db) could entice people’s curiosity to what you’re listening.
Sound Quality – Basic lows/mids/highs
Lows: The bass is not overtly obtrusive towards the rest of the frequencies. However, the midbass can sometimes bleed into the low mids, or the male vocals. Additionally, the sub-bass lacks prominence that it truly deserves in order to give the lower instruments more weight, or added thickness to them. Do not confuse prominence with presence, though even then it lacks power in its presence. I do not feel any sort of rumble, tremor, or bombastic bass that impacts you viscerally. However, I do hear that it's there up to 35hz or so. Regardless, the bass is pretty tight and powerful when needed in a recording, but be forewarned that it doesn’t reach lower than 34hz or so without it sounding inaudible. The bass is pretty tight as the bass instruments plucked by the beatles, Queens, and Toto Africa bands. The bass can be addicting due to the details the mid-bass produces as well as the cohesiveness with the rest of the frequencies. You'd expect the bass player to be forgotten, but this headphone likes to remind you that even if the singer is upfront, the bass player is there as the under dog. Despite some sub-bass quantity issues, the bass does contain this euphonic quality to them that one can appreciate despite the possible bleed with the mid-bass.
Mids: Male and female vocals are rendered beautifully by this headphone, more so on the female vocals. The female vocals are conveyed with authority as they are presented a bit more forward than a neutral set of headphones. They have weight, detail, and smooth sonic characteristics that can intimidate music lovers due to the forward presentation. While this region has a somewhat thick textured weight to it, instruments and vocals can potentially sound thin at times. For most of my music selection however, the vocals sounded pretty clear, thick, and textured enough to enjoy listening to them. Additionally, the headphones displayed a profound emotion to the tone of the singers performing in my music list. For instance, the Ath-msr7's portrayed Toto Africa bombastically as their lyrics were not only exciting to hear, but also inspiring as the headphones produced clarity like no other headphone I own with confidence! The guitars (especially electric) have enough weight to them that they sound as if you’re listening to the band live. The crispy depiction of electric guitars this headphone presents makes them stupendous! The electric guitars have the crunchy texture of potato chips you’d probably snack on whenever you feel hungry and are in a hurry. This headphone reproduces the same effect, but the quality of the timbre from instruments like guitars and female vocals are realistic to the point of returning to your favorite rock songs again.
Once again, this headphone renders vocals pretty accurately as you can hear the singer breathe into the microphone, the micro details can actually be heard despite the somewhat congested soundstage. The voices sound pretty silky and transparent with added weight, similar to that of drinking water after a refreshing meal. The feeling one gets from drinking water is exactly how I would describe the headphones, a thirst quencher.
Highs: Absolutely phenomenal. The most prolific treble I have heard since the treble sounds not only vibrant, crispy, textured, and detailed, but also pretty prominent. There’s enough treble from the cymbals and female vocals to absorb into your ears without having it sound fuzzy, distorted, or even dull. It’s a bright headphone that can be borderline sibilant for people. However, for my ears, the sibilance is nearly non-existent now that I’ve broken them in for a bit. Additionally, the recording does impact the treble sibilance so please be sure to watch out for that. I do not believe there is any sort of sibilance in 5-8k region, but I will admit that frequencies that are at 6-8khz are almost the center of attention of these headphones. Since high mids generally fall along these frequencies, I thought I’d mention once again that the low mids are mostly superseded by the female vocals. The highs do not ever sound frail, flaky, distorted, or strident enough to make you want to stop listening to the music.
General sound conclusion: The headphone contains a harmony frequencies that has a bias towards the female vocals. As other reviews mentioned, this headphone has this U-shape curve that have the low mids (male vocals) taking a backseat. Yet, the bass and treble are pretty euphonic to listen to. Recommended for rock, pop, and potentially, R&B music fans.
Music used to evaluate bass, mids, and highs:
I used Pink Floyd's "Breathe" songs to test the headphone's latent ability in reproducing potent bass. Sufficed to say, the headphones lack bass impact to invigorate your head or ears. However, the quality is optimal as the bass is textured well, tight, and just thick enough for you to enjoy how the bass lines are delivered, especially in Breathe. The bass notes are pretty mimetic due to the mellowness of this song. However, the other frequencies such as the vocals and instruments somewhat overpower the bass, but not the point where you have an issue separating the instruments individually. The ath-msr7's bass depiction actually makes the bass strings sound pretty addicting as the guitarist plucks the strings in such a tranquil manner. Unfortunately, there's not enough boost to the bass to match its quality. While this song had been used to test the bass, the vocals and instruments present were a thrill to hear. They sound almost upfront in your face, as if you're taking the first row seats to their concert. Their voices were euphoric due to the headphone's technical mids ability, and were not dominated by the percussion and cymbals. In fact, they were center stage, the exact attention they need to relax the listener. While the voices were not silky smooth, the smooth nature of the vocals alleviated the raspy throats that can be heard due to the recording limitations. Additionally, no sibilance was present.
Phil Colin's in the air tonight starts off with a rumbling subbass that can reach as low as 30hz. Depsite that, near the midpoint mark of the song, the mid-bass has this tactile sound whenever it's being played. This headphone can keep up with the mid-bass notes being played, albeit not as fast as other songs out there. The bass quality is pretty textured to a point where you can dance to it. The bass quality is comparable to a motorcycle's engine being revved up, the crispy, tactile bellows that derive from it are exactly what can be described when listening to this track. Unfortunately, this headphone lacks the extension to reproduce the rumble from the intro bass, which is a missed opportunity really. However, the vocals for Colin were spectacular because his voice sounded pretty potent enough to express his extreme thrill when he reminds the listener that he "REMEMBERED."
Sound Quality – 3D Imagery
Not exactly the best in terms of 3d imaging. It does have precision in imaging, but the space it delivers is pretty clustered. While there is still enough depth to help the individual separate the music in a 3d environment, it sounds somewhat congested. If it had more width to the soundstage and more height, maybe there could have been a way where the imaging would be improved. Yet, the headphone does have moments where the imaging impresses when you have instruments sounding closer to you while pushing back the bass, vocals, or cymbals. These impressive moments do not apply to most songs as the female vocals are boosted to a fault.
The song used to test this was Loreena Mckennit's - Dante's Prayer, where the instruments played were somewhat congested. Despite the congestion, I could still hear the depth potential these headphones contained. I could position the vocals in the center, piano in the foreground, and violins in the background. Make no mistake, this headphone contains the strength to accurately produce a 3d stage, but the problem is that the vocals are upfront to a fault. I can hear the spatial cues, but if I had to pinpoint the space between each instrument, it'd be around a foot away from each other. Not exactly impressive, but pretty good for me to continue enjoying the 3d imagery that it can produce.
Music used specifically for this section: Loreena Mckennit's – Dante’s Prayer and Phil Colins – in the air tonight
Sound Quality – Soundstage
This headphone lacks some width despite being a semi-open headphone. The other thing is that this headphone has amazing height despite the somewhat congested stage. The cymbals in certain bands I’ve heard (beatles, Seether) are placed overhead of the singer, followed by the guitars placed at a lower position. Once again, Loreena Mckennit had helped me understand that this headphone can produce a pretty good stage due to it's 3d imagery. However, the stage itself sounds as if it's at least half a foot away from your ears in width and in height, especially because her voice is upfront.
What helps me enjoy her song is the headphone's ability to warmly reproduce her vocals without it sounding strident, grainy, or distorted.
Conclusion
When I first heard this headphone, I completely abhorred the treble and female vocals due to its grating personality. The vocals were etched enough to the point where they sounded strident. The sound made my ears uncomfortable to hear any more of it as the graininess made it nearly impossible for me to enjoy the music. Nowadays, this headphone leaves me with mixed feelings of appreciation and continuous want. While I do adore the presentation of the bass and highs, the male vocals and subbass did not receive enough love to make this headphone the perfect headphone for me. The subbass lacked tremor and excitement, while the male vocals were usually being dominated by the female vocals. . After some burning in however, I did enjoy this headphone to the end and I do recommend it as a potential purchase due to its current price point.
Once again, I truly apologize to the companies that gave me review units (Thinksound and SA), I will immediately have them reviewed now so that something like this never happens again.
Edit: Will update this with more pictures soon.
Last edited:
