All Entries in the "Headphones" Category

a-Jays THREE earphones in review – got bass on my mind

“Back when Cube was rollin’ with Lorenzo” – stolen from Dr. Dre’s What’s the Difference, is innocuous; it betrays nothing of Dre’s ego. But American rap’s pride is why after years, I keep coming back to it. And though this is a headphone review, I think that a bit of good ol’ fashioned American pride applies tastily. In 2010, the Swedish headphone guru, Jays, redesigned itself, shirking cuteness in favour of big business, of pride. One look at the newly minted a-Jays will prove to you just how much business they mean too: flat cables, matte colours, three bold designs, and good prices is enough to make any Monster shake – at least a little bit.

Earsonics EM3Pro custom earphone in Review – quite simply the best!

Earsonics have a killer lineup. Their SM3 professional universal monitor is fantastic, blowing the socks off a disgustingly large portion of the audiophile earphone market with its easy-to-drive architecture and beautiful sound. Its lofty price tag is worth it. So how about Earsonics’ top end; how ‘bout their customs? you might ask. Same old story. The triple-driver, dual-crossover EM3Pro is a beautiful product at a fantastic[er] price that should come away from a firefight with the biggest and best in the land without a hitch.

a-Jays Four iPhone headset – powerful, stylish, sexy

The ever-stylish Jays have got a new piece of eye-candy headset for music-loving iDevice owners. The new headset is based on the a-Jays Three, a bass-driven earphone for music/movie lovers on a budget. The new a-Jays comes in the following models: One, Two, Three. The headset, a-Jays Four is a natural extension of the new line. The a-Jays Four has a beautifully designed remote/microphone pill built into the cable.

TouchMyApps will be reviewing the a-Jays Three in a couple of weeks.

More information after the gap:

Earsonics SM3 earphone in Review – 2010′s Star Child

Back when Earsonics’ SM2 debuted, it rocked the professional earphone scene. Dry, neutral, detailed, powerful, and well-constfitructed (for a professional earphone), it sort of bagged the cat as it were. It was – and still is – one of the best professional earphones available. But Earsonics perfection-pursuing head, Franck Lopez, has looked to his laurels this year and debuted an even better earphone. The Earsonics SM3 betters the SM2 in almost every benchmark and along the way, has become a personal favourite of mine.

ortofon e-Q7 earphone in review – a touch of class

The earphone market has never been more poised. Multiple driver earphones have come down in price, build quality is on the rise, and selection is huge. But with a huge selection comes the nearly impossible task of selecting the perfect earphone. Every company has a party line, each one sounding better than the last. Then, there’s the driver war that follows the following formula: competitor’s flagship model + 1 speaker unit. The formula and good marketing surely sells earphones, but meanwhile, hapless customers have to sort through a hogwash of marketing speak. Well, cartridge-baron ortofon, commissed the clever lads and lasses from the land of the rising sun to make the e-Q7, a single balanced armature earphone that really munches on the brains and selling points of many of its multi-speaker brethren.

Feel free to discuss the ortofon e-Q7 in our forums.

Monster Turbine Pro Copper earphones in Review

2009’s party, mixed by last year’s Monster Turbine earphone, was off the charts. But in early 2010, Monster’s sophomore Turbine, the Turbine Pro Gold, took everything to higher levels. Everything the original Turbine did right: bass, mids, treble – is trumped, and each is more controlled, more readily adapted for any music you throw at it. The Turbine Pro proves that Monster are ready to pick up the cheque as the best high-volume dynamic inner earphone maker on the planet. Today’s Turbine Pro Copper review will differ only slightly from the Gold review, so I’ve copied and pasted all the ‘same’ stuff: fit, package, build quality; and I’ve re-written the sound portion as only that really differs. For your posterity (you know what I mean), however, I’ve taken shiny new photos.

If you’d like to discuss the Monster Turbine Pro Copper earphones, head to our forums.

I’m not a doctor stethoscope headset!

Antrepo Design have a great-looking and surely whuffie-inflating headset design for the wannabe med. In layman’s terms, it is a stethoscope headset, but its medical name is the Stetheadphone. Anyone else think this thing would look rad with their iPod touch/iPhone? iWant one. Bad.

The “I’m not product series” is continuing, The last one is “Stetheadphone”, created by Antrepo Design Industry. It is headset with remote and mic, you can make and receive calls, access voice-control features, and listen to and manage playback from your iPhone or iPod.

Material used is ultra light and flexible plastic for your comfort Also three sizes of soft silicone ear tips help you tailor a fit that’s right for you. The color options are white, black, pink, blue or green.

We are now in a research process to find a partner company for the production process. The companies interested in this product may contact Antrepo Design Industry through its website.
antrepo4.com

By all means, intrepid headphone companies, get on this!

Check the Stetheadphone out at A2591

RIP Dr. Fritz Sennheiser – we owe you our ears

Sennheiser’s founder, Dr. Fritz Sennheiser died yesterday at the respectable age of 98. More than anyone in the professional audio field, Dr. Sennheiser influenced condenser audio for the on-the-road professional. His company has also gone on to produce some of the best headphones in the world, and the smashing Sennheiser IE8, a great portable earphone. Portable music lovers everywhere, doff your hats for the good Doctor.

Thanks Sennheiser and Engadget for the pic.

Woo Audio WA3 headphone amp in Review – Da Bomb!

If there ever was an argument for valves in audio, it no more evident than at home. A large, heavy, and hot valve power amp is an item of luxury. But if you ain’t got the home, or you just prefer to augment your collection with a good headphone set up, your source (surprisingly, even an iPod) and a good valve headphone amp are a match made in heaven. Why? Valves aren’t about performance – they are about sound. Woo Audio has been churning out quality amp after quality amp, each with one thing in common: milky smooth valves and a lot of power. Their WA3 is a great valve amp at a very good price point which puts the fuzzy wuzzies into your best records.

Continue on to the Woo Audio WA3 headphone amp review.

FiQuest headphone amp in review – Adroit audio evangelism

If you aren’t ready to take the wild walk on the DIY side, but still want to really get down and dirty with tweakable headphone amps, there are a very few options available to you. One of them is to experiment McGuyver style with cotton, fish, cookies, and an oiled grouse to achieve a truly experimental sound. But if lock picking DIY isn’t your thing, there are only a few choices on the market. Some such as Graham Slee, Firestone, iBasso, etc., offer headphone amps with user-replaceable op-amps and slightly modifiable circuits, but no one outdoes MST, a one-man operation out of Akihabara Japan. MST’ FiQuest project is as ground-up tweakable a design as is possible in a pre-fabbed design. In a way, it is the audio evangelist among portable amps.

Feel free to discuss the FiQuest in our forums.