Like any audio speaker or headphone, these are best heard with an amp, though not completely necessary. These are middle-of-the-road consumer headphones that will get you to hear intelligible audio, but that’s about it.
My first impression was how bright these phones carried music and speech. Vocal frequencies cut through the upper-mids, and brighter instruments (high-hats, cymbals, upper extension of vocal harmonics, etc.) have incredible presence.
The audio becomes a little crunchy below the midrange. It sounds squeezed, like it was heavily compressed and pushed to its highest level before distorting. The result is a lack of dynamics in mid and lower instruments like keys, bass and low speech/vocals. I cross-checked this crunchiness against several genres and production styles and the phones performed consistently.
Lower-end frequencies do not translate well in these phones, but judging from their size and shape, you probably wouldn’t expect them to. You can hear the lower instruments’ upper harmonics, and a very low rumble, bordering distortion, where the body of the music’s lower spectrum should fall.
These are ideal for running or when you’re in the gym. They are flexible, light and clamp to your ears. Actually, they clamp a little too hard. After a half-hour the frame dug behind my ears, resulting in a bigger headache than headphones should give. This may go away after they’re broken in, but the digging looks like a function of their shape and design, not the strength of material.
One very thin cord comes out of the left side and has a fader about a foot down. Though small and light, the fader box doesn’t have a clip to fasten to your clothes. It’s a great feature with bad placement, unless you don’t mind a little box bobbing into your ribs.
If you’re a fan of listening to heavier music while working out, these are the phones for you. If you’re settling in for a night of lining up Dark Side with the Wizard of Oz, I would suggest looking at some of Ableplanet’s higher-end gear.
The Verdict
