Headphones

By August 9, 2017 Read More →

iFrogz Impulse Duo Dual Driver Wireless Bluetooth headphones Review

IMG_0600It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a product. I had the opportunity to play around with the iFrogz Impulse Duo dual driver wireless Bluetooth headphones (not an easy title to get your tongue around). At around £39, these are on the lower end of the pricing spectrum and I am generally wary of companies that start with a small “i” and swap “s” for “z”, so it’s fair to say that expectations were not exactly high.

The headphones were nicely presented in a simple but elegant box and slip cover that does what it needs to do without going overboard. There is no pouch or case included, but you do get 3 sizes of tips. The actual ear pieces are pretty funky looking thanks to the dual 6mm drivers and an unusual mix of materials and textures – they certainly don’t look like regular headphones. Despite the slightly odd shape, they are actually pretty comfortable to wear, although there is a small nub on one side which can sometimes be a little irritating.

 

The earpieces are connected to a small control unit which features a nifty magnetic retention clip, so you can wind the cables around it for neat storage when not in use. The unit houses the battery, Bluetooth system microphone for call handling and offers 3 control buttons. The two volume buttons double as track forward and back controls if you long press them and the centre button activates the play/pause, call answer, power on/off and paring functions depending on how long you hold it for. Simple, but effective. The buttons are quite big, but they do need some deliberate pressure to push them, so accidental activation is not much of an issue. In use, the remote dangles from the earpieces, threatening to pull them out, so you will need to attach it to your clothing. The problem is that the cables are only about 35cm long, so it will need to be clipped to something quite close to your head. The magnetic clip does a decent job at this, although I don’t think it’s quite as good as a traditional clip and there may be a bit of an issue if you don’t have anything to attach it too (so no super tight muscle shirts or boob tubes!).

ifrogz, headphones, earphones, uk, review, dual driver

The box claims a battery life of up to 10 hours and the unit is charged by a micro USB cable (supplied). This is often difficult to verify as you are rarely listening to them constantly for such a long period of time, but in testing, they certainly did seem to hold a charge for a considerable amount of time. When powered on, there is a blue indicator light which blinks periodically. I quickly learned to hate this light, and if you listen to music in bed at night, you will learn to loathe it too. It more closely resembles an emergency distress beacon than an indicator – that thing is bright! The cables are fairly short too, so it’s always going to be close to your head and is almost impossible to ignore. I was almost reaching for the duct tape but ended up finding a small pouch to put it in just to hide it. Yes, it’s that annoying! Not so much an issue during the day of course.

The sound from the iFrogz is what surprised me the most. For the price point, I expected a flat and tinny sound, but thankfully that is far from the case. Sure, they do not have the dynamic range of some of the competition, but I feel that they do punch above their weight. The first thing you will notice is that they are quite bass heavy. This is great for some musical genres, but with others, the mids and highs can seem overwhelmed by the booming resonant bass tones. One of my regular go to testing tracks is “It Won’t Be Long” by Super Collider as it is exceptional for testing tonal balance, bass response/distortion and seeing how much detail is retained. The iFrogz handled it well and did not distort too noticeably at the really low levels, but you could notice the flattening of the upper frequencies. But for £39, this is more than acceptable.

The other aspect it really liked about the iFrogz was when I fired up Youtube and was immediately impressed that there was no noticeable lag time. The sound was well in sync with the visual, something that is often an Achilles heel of Bluetooth headphones, particularly at the cheaper end of the market.

So, good battery life, comfortable, decent sound and under £40, if you want something cheap and functional, it’s hard to knock these.

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By August 7, 2017 Read More →

Brainwavz B200 Audiophile grade earphones review

IMG_0581I must confess that I was not familiar with the brand when I was given word that their latest headphones were coming to us for review. They operate in the audiophile circles of the headphone world, but their aim is to keep the cost of their products at the more reasonable end of the spectrum. When I was given these in ear headphones, all I knew was that they were audiophile grade and cost £156.

The first thing that struck me when I was handed the box is that it smacked of neither audiophile nor £156. It is a pretty basic box with minimal amounts of styling, made from fairly thin card and a plastic tray inside. It looks remarkably like an early DVD box set or an Amiga game. This is not always a bad thing, however. Regular readers will know that I have mixed feelings about packaging. Sure, I like some swish presentation to give a premium feel as much as the next guy, but at the same time, I do not like the idea that a product has its price bumped by £20 just to get a swanky box that will ultimately be thrown out anyway.

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In the box, you get a rather nice, rigid carry case that feels very well constructed, with dividers to house the spare tips for the ear buds. There are 2 sets of small, medium and large tips included plus a bonus set of “premium” memory foam tips that honestly feel kinda like chewing gum. The headphones themselves are extremely lightweight and there is good reinforcement at the joints, but I couldn’t help but think that the wires were worryingly thin. Making tech super lightweight is great, but sometimes it can leave products feeling a little flimsy, even if that is not the case.

After a few minutes of experimentation, I figured out how to wear the headphones and which one went in which ear – yes, I know how to wear headphones – but the B200’s feature a neat design where the cable loops over your ear thanks to a semi rigid sleeve over the wire so you put them in your ear with the wire pointing up. It takes one or two goes to get the technique down, but it’s not tricky. For me, the premium tips were an absolute winner. They feel weird, but once you squish them and push them into your ears, they are incredibly comfortable and do an excellent job of cancelling out ambient noise. The loop design means that the weight of the cable is not applied directly to the ear bud, so there is not the usual battle of earpiece retention vs gravity. The result it that these headphones stay in place exceptionally well. I was able to enjoy a brisk walk on a windy evening and never once had to push the headphones in to keep the fit nice and snug. Brilliant!

As usual, I let the B200’s burn in for a day or two before really testing the sound quality on them. It’s a very natural sound, nicely balanced, which is my personal preference. There is plenty of bass, but it is not an auditory assault like on some sets. Mids and highs are nicely separated with a good amount of crisp detail which gives a satisfying breadth to the sound and again, nothing seems overly forced. The benefit of a neutral sound is that it lends itself well to a wide variety of musical genres and I found that the B200’s handled any track I threw at them in their stride. Listening to podcasts where the focus is on people speaking, the voices do not sound overly bass heavy and resonant which music focused headphones have a tendency to do. These are really nice headphones.

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Brainwavz offers a 24month warranty on the B200’s(“should any problem arise due to a defect in workmanship”) which shows a reassuring level of faith in their products and quality control. This is not something to be underestimated. I do maintain some concerns about how fine the cable is on these headphones and I did notice that they do tangle up quite easily because of the loops, but at least if there is a weakness there, Brainwavzshould look after you and that is reassuring. Whilst they are reasonably priced for headphones at this level, £156 is still a significant chunk of money so a little reassurance is a very good thing!

If you haven’t heard of Brainwavz, I would certainly you encourage you to check them out. They certainly don’t look as flashy as some of their peers, they may perhaps lack some of the prestige feels, but there is absolutely no escaping the excellent performance or the phenomenal comfort of these headphones.

The Brainwavz B200 are for sale on Amazon here for £149.50.

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By June 1, 2017 Read More →

1MORE brings its award winning Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones to the UK

triple_mainDescribed by The Wall Street Journal as ‘China’s answer to Beats’, specialist audio manufacturer 1MORE today introduces its award winning Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones to the UK. The headphones feature two balanced armatures and a separate dynamic driver to deliver an extremely accurate listening experience with unsurpassed dynamic power and are available for just £99.99 from http://uk.1more.com

1MORE uses the latest patented designs and materials to enhance sound, comfort and aesthetic appeal. From aerospace grade materials to genuine Swarovski crystals, 1MORE takes no shortcuts to maintain a standard of modern excellence in both function and form. 1MORE may not as yet be a well-known audio brand in the UK, but it has sold more than 10 million earphones in China and has expanded globally into X countries including the highly competitive U.S market. The Triple Driver In Ear Headphones have received rave reviews in all territories and been described as ‘an audiophile bargain’, ‘impressive sound at a great price’ and ‘simply wow.’

Winner of numerous awards including the “Best of Award” for home theatre review and 2016 winner of the Richard Beers Innovation Award, the Triple Driver In-Ear headphones have been expertly tuned by Grammy Award winning sound engineer Luca Bignardi to deliver a precise representation of a listener’s favourite music.  The two balanced armatures and a separate dynamic driver deliver an extremely powerful yet intimate listening experience which together create a spacious and transparent feeling of having nothing between users and their music.

The patented armatures work together to deliver sizzling highs and can withstand extremely high input power without distortion. They have an extended frequency range up to 40,000 Hz to reproduce high-resolution audio – frequencies in this range add “transients”, a sonic quality normally only heard in live music. The armatures are uniquely inset with durable silicone covers for lasting performance and resilience. The patented triple layer driver with aerospace grade metal inside two outer layers of PET, a resilient polymer, greatly increases bass and midrange response time, definition, and fullness.

 

The headphones are comprised of a lightweight aluminium body with an interior enamelled copper wrapped around Kevlar cable to increase durability and strength. The surface of the cable is enhanced by TPE for softness and comfort with a final braided layer of nylon for lasting resilience and tangle resistance. The oblique angled ear fittings naturally match the ear canals and the snug fit increases noise isolation, fullness, and bass to ensure a fully satisfying listening experience without the need for unhealthy volume levels. There are 6 sets of different ear tip sizes included to ensure a good fit for all ears.

The Triple Driver’s dual-system intelligent control technology also supports both Apple devices and mainstream Android devices, solving the in-line control compatibility between the current Apple and Android system, allowing users to turn up or down the volume and select between songs. The headphones also have hands-free calling capability where problematic cross-talk is a thing of the past with ground wires set independently to provide a high fidelity sound experience so users can focus on their conversations, instead of background static. Additionally, the single-sided control is control is conveniently located for easy access when it is required to take a call.

Available for just £99.99, the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones deliver a spectacular sound at amazing value when compared to other headphones of similar specifications available in the market. 1MORE are proud to be superior to the industry standard.

The 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones are available for £99.99 from http://uk.1more.com

High res imagery is available here

 

TECHNICAL DETAILS

  • Frequency Range: 20-40,000 Hz
  • Plug: 3.5 mm Gold Plated
  • Colour: Black With Brushed Gold

 

CONTENTS

  • In-ear triple driver headphones
  • 6 sets of silicone ear tip sizes
  • 3 sets of foam ear tip sizes
  • Magnetic clasping traveling case
  • Attractive storage case
  • Quality dual prong airline adapter
  • Matching shirt clip
Posted in: Headphones, News
By May 14, 2017 Read More →

The SoundPEATS Q16 Unboxing

6106Mgbv59L._SX425_Here we take a look at a truely wireless headphone arrangement, the SoundPEATS Q16. These are Dual Wireless Earbuds with separate batteries, Bluetooth 4.2 and a dash of Sweatproofing for the Sporty types out there. The In-Ear Headset also features a Microphone and a Secure Fit to keep them in place during whilst active.

SoundPEATS Audio is a relatively new company (2010) that has a wide range of music listening products for in-ear, on-ear, sport and business use. Their latest product is the Q16 True Wireless Bluetooth 4.2 Earphone. It’s a pretty nice and compact piece of gear because it’s simply two parts (one for each ear). It really is “true wireless” because there’s no connecting wire between your earphones or the streaming device.

The ideal application for the Q16 Bluetooth Earphone is sport or daily workouts. It really works well for anyone who is constantly on the go and doesn’t want the annoyance of wires. They’re quite simple to put on (just slips over and in the ear) and connecting them to your Bluetooth device is easy. Once you get them adjusted in the ears and connected the noise isolation is great but without blocking all your ambient noise. This leaves you to enjoy your music or talk on the phone while still remaining aware of your surroundings. It’s all hands-free.

The Q16 True Wireless Bluetooth 4.2 Earphone by SoundPEATS charges easily with a split USB cable (included) and has a battery life of about 6 hours.

By May 3, 2017 Read More →

Sennheiser HD 569 Unboxing

Image49The closed HD 569 with around ear design brings a flexible option to the Home entertainment space. It provides a rich and clear bass, adding further flexibility by making it possible to enjoy the full personal experience without disturbing others. Featuring an Impedance of 23 Ω and a frequency response of 10- 28,000 Hz these will marry up very well to the Sennheiser Flex 5000 we looked at recently.

Grab yours from Amazon here.

 

By April 28, 2017 Read More →

A Look At The Cozyphones Kids

Image40Cozyphones Kids are headphones designed for children. A soft fleece material headband provides the style and support for the headphone units. Rather than inserting earbuds and with less chance of them falling of Cozyphones provides a safe and fun way to help smaller children experience music and other sounds on their own.

You can purchase the Coxyphones Kids Headphones from Amazon for £15.99 here.

CozyPhones Kids Character Headband Headphones

By April 10, 2017 Read More →

Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless Unboxing

Image20Sennheiser has sent over their good looking Momentum In-Ear Bluetooth headphones for evaluation.

The new MOMENTUM In-Ear Wireless combines sleek design, immaculate sound performance and take-anywhere mobility. This premium neckband headset made of luxurious, high-quality materials, offers exceptional hi-fi wireless sound assured by Bluetooth 4.1 and Qualcomm® apt-X™. With NFC for simple one-touch pairing, an integrated microphone, and a ten-hour battery life, it is the perfect companion to mobile devices.

  • Extreme sound precision and the typical momentum sound
  • Ergonomic and durable, lightweight and sits on the neck; Design for all-day listening
  • Wireless Bluetooth 4.1 – technology
  • NFC connection by pressing a button – ready for immediate pairing with smart devices
  • 10 hours of battery life with faster USB charge in 1.5 hours

You can grab them off Amazon for £169.99 here.

By March 23, 2017 Read More →

Audeara – The world’s first full fidelity headphones with in built hearing test

unsspecifiedAudeara, the world’s first full fidelity headphones with an in built hearing test to protect users ears, delivering a supreme, catered sound like no other headphone, is currently live on Kickstarter.  An instant hit, it reached its funding target within the first 15 hours and has now more than doubled its original target!

Everyone has a degree of hearing loss. Not just as a result of every loud gig they’ve been to, every busy street they’ve walked down, or every police siren that’s ever gone past but also damage can be sustained purely by listening to their headphones too loud. More and more young people have some loss of hearing, an increasing number with the same hearing health aged 30 that people would usually associate with a 60 year old.

Audeara headphones can be used to test and retest hearing over a lifetime and adapt music to the users’ individual needs. They make music better, not louder, and provide perfect sound, always. The first time the headphones are worn, the user undertakes a hearing test – the results of which, are subsequently stored in the headphones themselves. The headphones use this hearing profile to adjust the sound signal as it passes through them. They adjust the right ear differently from the left, making sure each part of the signal reaches the user’s brain in a way that’s heard as a perfect reflection of the intended signal.

What makes the Audeara headphones especially powerful is that all the technology is inside the headphones themselves. After the first test, the app isn’t required again unless the user wants to retest. This means headphones are no longer passive magnets for signal conversion, instead, they’re sophisticated tools for personalised sound reproduction.

The Technology

Audeara headphones use a software interface from a smartphone application to send Bluetooth commands to the on-board printed circuit board (PCB). This allows the headphones themselves to generate the tones and maintains consistency across all Bluetooth devices.

The headphones are calibrated and the profile is used as the baseline for accurate audiogram testing. After the user performs the audiogram, a modulation table is applied. This adjusts all incoming musical signals to the user’s requirements. Using an attenuation model, rather than increasing gain, ensures maximisation of the overall signal intensity, without distortion.

With the modulation table stored in the on-board PCB, the user only has to test once for the headphones to apply that table to any Bluetooth signal source. The user can, however, test multiple times, and the software application stores numerous profiles that are then uploaded and stored as the active profile.

The result of the audiogram is displayed for the user, perfect for long-term tracking of any hearing loss, and also as an educational tool in preventing long-term hearing impairment. If the user’s hearing profile shows significant impairment an alert will be shown, which suggests they seek more specialist advice and analysis.

The Audeara Headphones are currently available to backers from just £155 on the Early Bird Special (RRP: £310) on Kickstarter, widely available in July 2017

 

Features

  • Low-latency, high-fidelity Bluetooth.
  • High-quality 40mm Mylar speakers.
  • Adjustable headband and soft over-ear cushion.
  • Rotatable design for easy storage in a slim, hard carry case when traveling.
  • Built-in lithium-ion battery, rechargeable via Micro-USB jack.
  • The headphones can be used as a common wired headphone with 3.5mm port.
  • Advanced, active noise cancelling design effectively reduces noise by up to 85%.

Specifications

  • Bluetooth & ANC
  • Speakers: 40mm Mylar
  • Audio impedance: 32Ohm
  • Charging time: approx 3.0 hours
  • Charging: micro USB
  • Operating range: ≥10 m
  • Connection: 3.5mm jack
  • Working time :

– Noise cancelling function only: 30 hours
– Bluetooth function only: 15 hours
– Noise cancelling + Bluetooth function: 12 hours

Posted in: Headphones, News
By January 28, 2017 Read More →

New Veho ZB-1 Wireless In-Ear Sports Headphones

ddddThe Veho ZB-1 wireless in-ear headphones are small, lightweight and feature low energy Bluetooth connectivity, ideal for connecting up wirelessly to your Bluetooth music device.

The headphones feature 10mm acoustic drivers to help deliver well balanced sound with thumping bass, according to Altitude Blog they are ideal for gym workouts, cycling, running, skiing and any other sports activity.

The ZB-1’s feature Veho’s flex anti-tangle cable and come with a built-in microphone and remote control for making and receiving calls or changing track and volume control.

The Long battery life in the ZB-1 is capable of up to 8 hours continuous music playback from only a single charge, meaning that you can spend less time charging and more time listening to your music.

Compatible with all Bluetooth devices including the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android smartphones, tablets, MP3 players, and many more the Veho’s ZB-1 Bluetooth wireless in-ear headphones will retail for £39.95 and are available from online and retail stockists.

Posted in: Headphones, News
By January 20, 2017 Read More →

Creative Outlier Sports Bluetooth Headphones Unboxing

Image31Creative has sent us the Outlier Sports, a Wireless Sweatproof In-ears variant. Loosing cables hold you back that will likely interfere with your enjoyment of running, adding anchors for your ears to keep them from falling out and providing a base audio quality the Outlier Sports could be a stylish and fulfilling option. Run, hike, or hit the gym wirelessly with the sweatproof Outlier Sports Bluetooth headphones. Block out distractions with superior audio and comfortable earbuds that fit securely. The high-performance 11-hour battery life keeps you going even when everything else has stopped. Lightweight – only 15 grams

  • Lightweight sweatproof and behind-the-neck design for active sports and everyday use with IPX4 certification
  • Ergonomic easy-to-wear sport ear tips for perfect non-slip fit – Designed for long hour listening and comfort, custom fit to different ear sizes with a kit of ear-tips and secure-tips
  • AuraSeal silicone ear tips sealing outside noise and moisture, ensuring outstanding deep bass impact, crystal clear highs and balanced audio performance
  • Up to 11 hours of audio playback for uninterrupted workout
  • Inline remote for easy access to calls and playback control; Invisible microphone with ClearSpeech Engine for calls

Pick up a pair from Amazon for under £70!

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