caimanjosh
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2011
- Posts
- 20
- Likes
- 0
Greetings head-fi'ers -- I've been browsing the site off and on for some time now, and I've come to consider it really the best place to try and learn about IEM's before purchasing...since as far as I know, there's no way to actually try them without purchasing them. I've read a lot of reviews on here for many different headphones, and since I haven't seen any for the PB120, I thought I'd write up a quick little review, since I've recently purchased a pair.
First a bit of background on my listening experience -- I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile. Til now, I've done most of my listening on a pair of Creative EP-630's (which I liked overall, though the bass did seem to crowd out the mids more than I'd prefer), some Soundmagic PL11's (which believe it or not, I found a bit 'boring', but not bad), Soundmagic PL30's (amazing soundstage, but just not enough bass for metal, which is what I listen to 90% of the time), and recently some Sennheiser CX281 (which I overall like).
So, about the PB120's...
Accessories/Build Quality: They came packaged fairly simply, and the kit includes the 'phones themselves, the usual 3 pairs of S/M/L tips, some biflanges, some foam tips, and a pouch to hold the headphones. I haven't used the tips much, because as soon as I put them in, I found that they seemed to sort of "fold" inside my ear and fail to form a good seal. As such, I immediately swapped them out with some Soundmagic tips, which worked much better. Some users on here have noted the poor quality of the Xears tips, so I wasn't surprised. (As I sort of doubt that there's anyone on head-fi who doesn't have multiple spare pairs of tips, I doubt this is a big deal, but for anyone who doesn't have some spares around, beware.) The phones themselves seem to be of roughly average build quality - the wires are perhaps a bit thinner than those of other canalphones I've owned. They don't include a shirtclip, which disappointed me, so I had to steal one from one of my inactive pairs of headphones. Happily, I haven't had major issues with cable tangles so far - hopefully that will hold.
Comfort: I find them quite comfortable, with my Soundmagic tips in place at least. As they are small, you can insert them fairly deeply if you do desire. The cable is a 'Y' cable, not one of those irritating 'J' cables, and the cable length is about right to use them with your mp3 player in your pants pocket.
Isolation: Isolation is definitely less than with many other pairs of canalphones I've used. Checking the outside of the housings, I believe I see why. There appears to be a small hole on the outside of each. I suspect that this may be in order to facilitate more of a soundstage (more on that later). In terms of isolation, I think they may be similar to my Soundmagic PL30's.
Sound: Now to the heart of the matter. The Powerballs unquestionably have a bass-heavy sound. As this is what I was looking for when I bought them, I'm not complaining. The bass is quite prominent and might possibly even be larger in quantity than my EP-630's (as I recall them...they died on me a couple of months ago, RIP). However, I was pleased to discover that the mid-range is also fairly prominent. Vocals in general sound good and cut right through the thick layer of bass that permeates these earphones. Treble, though, I found to be a bit lacking. To be sure, it's there, but it seems rather muted to my ears. In short, the PB120's are definitely more for those looking for some serious bass.
That brings me to what I found to be perhaps the most interesting characteristic of these headphones, which is the soundstage. To my surprise, they have what feels like a pretty large soundstage. In my experience, the only ones that could match them on this would be the famous Soundmagic PL30's. In a way, though, the soundstage here feels even "bigger" - not wider, but just bigger, owing I suspect to the substantial bass presence. Despite the fact that these canalphones are very small, they have about the "biggest" sound of any earphones I've tried. This "big" sound is assisted by the very high sensitivity which these sport, 125 db. With these 2 factors combined, the resulting listening experience is unquestionably a powerful one, though one that I'm not sure will appeal to a lot of people on head-fi.
Conclusions: I'm not sure exactly who these will appeal to most. I would think anyone who likes various types of electronica/dance would probably like these quite a bit, with their impactful bass and clear mids. Acoustic guitar sounds very nice as well. For rock/metal (which is what I bought them for), they're maybe something of a mixed bag - the mids are decent, the bass is powerful (almost too much so), but the treble a bit lacking. But for ~$23, I'm fairly happy with them, and I'm even more intrigued to try out the famous (well, on head-fi) Xears TD100's or whatever their current iteration is. I'd be curious to see comments from anyone else who has a pair of these and what they think about them or my review of them.
Pros:
- plenty of bass
- decent mids
- surprisingly big soundstage
- budget-oriented
Cons:
- recessed treble
- too much bass for some
- poor stock tips
I hope this is helpful to a few people at some point. Happy listening!
First a bit of background on my listening experience -- I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile. Til now, I've done most of my listening on a pair of Creative EP-630's (which I liked overall, though the bass did seem to crowd out the mids more than I'd prefer), some Soundmagic PL11's (which believe it or not, I found a bit 'boring', but not bad), Soundmagic PL30's (amazing soundstage, but just not enough bass for metal, which is what I listen to 90% of the time), and recently some Sennheiser CX281 (which I overall like).
So, about the PB120's...
Accessories/Build Quality: They came packaged fairly simply, and the kit includes the 'phones themselves, the usual 3 pairs of S/M/L tips, some biflanges, some foam tips, and a pouch to hold the headphones. I haven't used the tips much, because as soon as I put them in, I found that they seemed to sort of "fold" inside my ear and fail to form a good seal. As such, I immediately swapped them out with some Soundmagic tips, which worked much better. Some users on here have noted the poor quality of the Xears tips, so I wasn't surprised. (As I sort of doubt that there's anyone on head-fi who doesn't have multiple spare pairs of tips, I doubt this is a big deal, but for anyone who doesn't have some spares around, beware.) The phones themselves seem to be of roughly average build quality - the wires are perhaps a bit thinner than those of other canalphones I've owned. They don't include a shirtclip, which disappointed me, so I had to steal one from one of my inactive pairs of headphones. Happily, I haven't had major issues with cable tangles so far - hopefully that will hold.
Comfort: I find them quite comfortable, with my Soundmagic tips in place at least. As they are small, you can insert them fairly deeply if you do desire. The cable is a 'Y' cable, not one of those irritating 'J' cables, and the cable length is about right to use them with your mp3 player in your pants pocket.
Isolation: Isolation is definitely less than with many other pairs of canalphones I've used. Checking the outside of the housings, I believe I see why. There appears to be a small hole on the outside of each. I suspect that this may be in order to facilitate more of a soundstage (more on that later). In terms of isolation, I think they may be similar to my Soundmagic PL30's.
Sound: Now to the heart of the matter. The Powerballs unquestionably have a bass-heavy sound. As this is what I was looking for when I bought them, I'm not complaining. The bass is quite prominent and might possibly even be larger in quantity than my EP-630's (as I recall them...they died on me a couple of months ago, RIP). However, I was pleased to discover that the mid-range is also fairly prominent. Vocals in general sound good and cut right through the thick layer of bass that permeates these earphones. Treble, though, I found to be a bit lacking. To be sure, it's there, but it seems rather muted to my ears. In short, the PB120's are definitely more for those looking for some serious bass.
That brings me to what I found to be perhaps the most interesting characteristic of these headphones, which is the soundstage. To my surprise, they have what feels like a pretty large soundstage. In my experience, the only ones that could match them on this would be the famous Soundmagic PL30's. In a way, though, the soundstage here feels even "bigger" - not wider, but just bigger, owing I suspect to the substantial bass presence. Despite the fact that these canalphones are very small, they have about the "biggest" sound of any earphones I've tried. This "big" sound is assisted by the very high sensitivity which these sport, 125 db. With these 2 factors combined, the resulting listening experience is unquestionably a powerful one, though one that I'm not sure will appeal to a lot of people on head-fi.
Conclusions: I'm not sure exactly who these will appeal to most. I would think anyone who likes various types of electronica/dance would probably like these quite a bit, with their impactful bass and clear mids. Acoustic guitar sounds very nice as well. For rock/metal (which is what I bought them for), they're maybe something of a mixed bag - the mids are decent, the bass is powerful (almost too much so), but the treble a bit lacking. But for ~$23, I'm fairly happy with them, and I'm even more intrigued to try out the famous (well, on head-fi) Xears TD100's or whatever their current iteration is. I'd be curious to see comments from anyone else who has a pair of these and what they think about them or my review of them.
Pros:
- plenty of bass
- decent mids
- surprisingly big soundstage
- budget-oriented
Cons:
- recessed treble
- too much bass for some
- poor stock tips
I hope this is helpful to a few people at some point. Happy listening!
