Click Here - Orb Audio Speaker Sale
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 7 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3.0 stars
"Poor quality sound... suitable for casual travel"
Pros: Aesthetic design, build quality, comfortable. blocks out continuous sounds well, short cable, fairly efficient. Sound plays in passive mode.
Cons: Muffled sound, lacking in detail and subtlety. Exaggerated low end with an uneven frequency hump at 180Hz resulting in masking of higher frequencies. Does not block out random sounds. No locking feature on mini stereo jack.
Summary: First I should allow a disclaimer as I am a sound engineer and I was hoping to use this product for professional mix purposes-- live classical music. Thus I needed to block out the original source and mix only the recorded program.
The noise reduction is good for continuous hum but, poor to non existent for random noises. The unit does have natural sound blocking abilities being a closed (circumaural) design as it seals the ears well. When used outdoors the unit is susceptible to wind noise. I don't know if all NC units have the same problem as they employ external microphones. Yes you can hear very low level hiss--reported in every NC unit on the market.
Build quality is very good and the unit is very comfortable and looks great -- 9/10 on all three counts.
I also like the short cable (for working) but for pro use, any unit with a mini stereo jack HAS TO HAVE A LOCKING FEATURE. This unit does not.
I found these headphones very efficient, a surprise as that was one of the knocks against them. Perhaps I am use to inefficient pro units which require proper amplification.
AUDIO QUALITY: Here is where I give this product a poor grade --C minus.
First off being a circumaural design there is a natural lack of "air and spaciousness" to the sound. That much I expected. However, most disappointing is the lack of detail revealed in recordings. Sound is muffled as if a blanket were over top. All of the subtleties are missing. Part of the problem is a hump in the response around 180Hz which has a masking effect on higher frequencies. Play back on a John Mayer track, 'Your Body Is a Wonderland' the snare looses all of it's snap and sounds contained and boxy. The kick drum has a big low end thump and not the true body and texture that was originally recorded, especially on the attack--the beater hitting the skin. The vocal is closed and contained as opposed to open and breathy. Acoustic guitars have really high harmonics which are missing--again the quality of 'air' and 'space'.
- 1 reply to this review
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My experience is quite opposite, but perhaps it's because I'm running it with a Bithead portable amp. I've compared it with and without an amp and without an amp portable players just can't get through and the texture as you pointed out is lost. That amp is essential, though i kind of look like a terrorist with all these bundled wires in my pocket. LOL!
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Sennheiser PXC 450:
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