Headphone review: fallen on your ears..

Someone literally walks through life with them someone does not use them at all someone looks at them as an inexpensive compromise in relation to quality speakers and for someone they are the primary means of listening to music. Guess what it’s about? Of course, about headphones!

Author: Ivan Musinov.

In the eyes of many users, headphones are just an accessory to the player. Well, or a device that allows you to listen to music, play or watch movies at home, at a time when the housemates neighbors object to the use of speakers – deep at night, for example.

Few people think of headphones as a high-quality means of listening to music… And they can play that role. And serve as an alternative or even a replacement for a not incomparably more expensive high-end speakers.

And this applies not only to full-size headphones, but to in-ear headphones, too. Yes, exactly those miniature droplets, which are convenient to use with the player. Imagine having a sound comparable to that of a large, high-quality stereo system you carry in your pocket! You may be surprised, but it’s possible – all you have to do is buy a pair of high-quality headphones to go with your player. Although there are more radical measures to achieve even better sound quality – portable amplifiers, for example..

But about them, and in general, about the sources, in this article we will not talk in detail – our program, for today, is limited to a comparative test of twenty models of quality headphones.

We tested ten plug-in and ten full-size models. For each of these two form-factors we have allocated two price categories, the first of which corresponds to the principle “good quality for reasonable money” the second, in fact, implies the user’s willingness to pay any price for the desired sound characteristics – so in this category the upper price limit is very conditional. It is worth noting that by “overstepping” it, you will not get a significant increase in sound quality – that is – in resolution, but only be able to expand the range of available “taste” alternatives.

In the case of in-ear headphones, the first price category – from 2500 to 4000 Dollars, the second – from 7000 to 20 000 Dollars. For full-size models, the price range is from 14,000 to 20,000 Dollars and from 30,000 to 40,000 Dollars, respectively.

Technical characteristics of headphones are given in the tables. Which of these characteristics give information about the sound quality of headphones? Yes, they don’t! The maximum, what we can conclude from the above tables – is how well the headphones will “match” with a particular source – the impedance and sensitivity “will tell” about it.

With headphones with high impedance “low-power” playing devices – smartphones, tablets and most portable players – can’t “squeeze” the full quality potential. And the headphones that have low sensitivity will play too softly with such devices.

Optimal for use with such equipment headphone impedance is within the range 16-64 ohms, the optimal sensitivity – from 95dB/mW and above.

So, for example, headphones Audio-Technica ATH-W3000ANV, despite not at all portable form factor, are capable enough to play loudly and well enough in connection with an average portable player – although, of course, with high-end stationary source and amplifier their sound quality will be significantly higher. But Etimotyc ER4S and MyST Nail 2 may not be powerful enough. In order to play loudly and qualitatively they need a special player such as Hifiman HM-801 , portable amplifier or qualitative stationary source.

Let’s note right away that the result of our testing was a draw – there are no winners or losers among the participants. All the headphones proved to be worthy, each model has its own “chips” that will surely suit the tastes of a particular range of listeners. Headphones from Alessandro, for example, can be commended for genre versatility, Hifiman HE-400 and HE-500 – for a very detailed study of the midrange, models from Sennheiser – for a comfortable and unstressing sound delivery, Audio-Technica ATH-W3000ANV – for interesting and effective construction of the imaginary scene, etc. d.

Let’s get acquainted with our test subjects and have a look at their characteristics.