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"Great Headphones - A few points to consider."
on by mebuscemePros Weight, Sound Quality, Efficiency, Comfortability
Cons Lack of Vol. Control, Cord Length, Don't fold.
Summary These are great headphones. They are some of the best I've heard and are the best I've ever owned. I've had several brands of over the ear style headphones in different styles with different features, but these stand out above the rest.
Performance:
The sound quality from these headphones is unbelieveable. The TriPorts are - just as the company claims - tuned to reproduce music as faithfully as can be expected. They are extremely responsive, bringing out the most minute subtleties in a recording at low to moderate volume levels and maintaining every bit of the same crispness and definition at full volume. Provided, of course, that the source can deliver distortion free sound at maximum volume. The efficency of their rare earth drivers means that on a volume scale of 1-10 one might get the same sound level at a '5' that a cheaper set would require a '7' to produce, thus saving battery charge on portable devices.
Feel:
The feel of wearing them is great. The leather surrounds are very soft, the neoprene band over the head is forgiving, and the swivels where each cup meets the adjustable headband provides a custom fit feeling. Wearing them for four hours and more is not a problem because of their breathability (possibly due to the ports). Very often I've found my ears to be hot after wearing a set of headphones, but these seem to leave ones ears feeling as if they are within a degree or two of ambient temperature.
Cons:
One of the drawbacks I've noticed is that the cord is very long. That might be good for one person and bad for another, but if you're listening to an MP3 player that's in your hip pocket, you'll probably have a bunch of extra cord in there too.
Also, the lack of a volume control could be a drawback for some as could be the inability to fold up - however, these features could also simply be seen as breakage liability and for $140 dollars, I don't want flimsy headphones. (The newer models have fixed a design flaw which led to breakage at the aforementioned swivel point)
Conclusion
The above mentioned feel and performance produce a fine set of headphones, well worth their price. You're not going to find another set of headphones outside of this price range that will provide such a level of value per dollar. After all, you've got to pay to play. -
"Good cans, if you listen to rock/pop"
on by YavreyPros Light, stylish, comfortable
Cons Midrange, too delicate build
Summary I am not currently in a market for headphones; however I was curious to see whether all that Bose-bashing around were any just. So I picked up Jethro Tull's 'Thick as a Brick' CD and auditioned Bose' $140 Triport together with Ultrasone's $200 HFI-550. This little review therefore applies to both Triport and HFI-550.
Headphones were connected to NAD C542 CD player without an amplifier --- don't really think you need one with either pair of cans.
Both Triport and HFI-550 are apparently marketed to younger, non-audiophile consumers. You can tell this based on the styling/design. Both pairs delivered accordingly --- lots of bass, lots of (a bit harsh) highs. My impression was that Triport outperformed HFI's in the midrange. With HFI's, Anderson's flute sounded a bit metallic; the sound didn't have this taste to it with Triport. Having said that, I found both pairs to be inferior in the midrange to my AKG K601 ($280). I got to mention, though, that (a) K601 is an open-back design, and (b) its highs and bass are rather unimpressive. However, HFI's beat Triport soundly on the ruggedness front. Triport are decidedly more delicate a thing and will not withstand a good deal of abuse.
The bottom line: (a) Triport performed equally well compared to Ultrasone HFI-550, even better in a certain respect; (b) both Triport and HFI-550 seem to be a good choice for rock/pop listening; (c) Triport would benefit from a tougher build; and (d) I have seen no trace of trickery with these Bose cans --- these are a solid product and priced quite adequately. -
"Great full-sized headphones"
on by ark_v2Pros - Great balanced sound
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Fair priceCons - Flimsy headband
- Not so good at isolation; leak a considerable amount of sound as well.
- Thin cableSummary These headphones offer one of the best values around. They sound great; sound separation is impressive and they don't struggle when a lot is going on. They are balanced across the spectrum so bass addicts, look somewhere else. The sound doesn't sound trapped in your head like most closed earcup models tend to do; in fact they sound almost as open phones and even better than some. Of course, the trade in is a considerable amount of leakage.
Design wise I'm not particularly crazy about them. They are average looking cans with a headband that's kind of a mixed bag. The flexible top feels sturdy and nice, but the lower part that joins to the headphone itself feels extremely cheap; so no taking these out for a walk or campus. Still, they are extremely comfortable and can be worn for hours straight. These were a great deal, less than $100 (and in Mexico, by the way); even so I would have paid the full price. -
"Great sounding headphones"
on by pongratztPros Awesome rich sound
Cons Large... can't fold up
Summary These are awesome sounding headphones. I returned a pair of Shure 110's for these. I would rather spend $140 and get great headphones instead of spending $100 on an OK pair of headphones that don't fit my ears well. I would recommend these headphones for anyone.
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"These headphones are good for the price, but do have some annoyances"
on by Ian30425Pros The headphones sound clear and cancel out a great amount of ambient noise
Cons I can hear the headphones optimizing their sound to what I'm listening to
Summary For the price these are decent headphones. I would be a lot more likely to pay $90 for them than I would $140. They feel great, they are very comfortable, and sound ok for the most part. However, if you are an audio engineer and are using these for either live monitoring or post mixdown mastering you may run into some difficulty. These do have some background noise from the acoustic equalizer changing the frequency response settings to increase your listening quality. It's a high pitched digitalized noise.
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