INTRODUCTION:
 
When getting into the world of Hi-Fi audio I couldn’t fathom how someone could spend more than a couple hundred dollars on a set of headphones. I had just purchased my first set of real deal headphones (Shure SE-425 for those who are wondering) and while I was happy with them, it was still an endeavor to spend as much money as I did. Seeing people talk about buying $1500.00 headphones and more would do nothing less than make my jaw hit the floor. Surely they can’t be that much better…
 
Enter modern day in my life and I have several pieces of equipment in the $500.00 range. And I can begin to understand how the next step up really makes a difference. This is when I found myself in the review tour for the Hifiman Edition X. Finally, a chance to determine if there was a reason someone should spend such an amount on headphones. So will it be worth the cash? Let’s find out!
 
 
 
PACKAGING AND IN THE BOX:
One thing that always amazes me when looking at more expensive equipment is the amount of care and planning that goes in just the packaging. The Edition X is no exception, coming in a leather covered hard box with silver front. There is plenty of padding in the box to keep the headphones nice and secure. Typically, I am not one to care much about the packaging as I tend to rid myself of it within a few days of ownership. But I can see myself storing these headphones in this box when not in use.
 
In the box you will find a standard assortment of items. I have included a list of included things in my box. Please note that because this is a review unit, the included accessories could change. With that said, included were the following:
 
 

1. Edition X headphones (duh)
2. 3.5mm stereo headphone cable
3. ¼ inch stereo headphone cable
4. Warranty card
5. Owner’s manual

 
SPECIFICATIONS:
 

1. Impedance: 25Ohm (±3 Ohm)
2. Sensitivity: 103 dB @ 1kHz 
3. Response: 8Hz - 50KHz
4. Type: Planar Magnetic

 
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN:
As many others have noted, the Edition X takes many of its design elements from the Hifiman HE1000 headphones. This relies on a suspension strap to rest the phones and some rather incredibly large egg shaped cups. These are some of the more comfortable headphones I have ever owned. There is no noticeable weight, they don’t clamp too hard on your head, and my ears didn’t even touch the inside driver wall.
 
After wearing the headphones for several hours I found no fatigue. The only issue I had came when I was doing some organizing of my house while listening and my ears got rather hot. Granted, I was doing physical labor, but if your ears get warm naturally you may find some heat issues here.
 
It is worth noting that the headphones are nothing short of gigantic. At 5’11” and a solid 280 Lbs, I am not exactly a small man. In fact, sometimes I find that I cannot use certain headphones because the band is simply too small. I found that the Edition X fit me on either the tightest setting or one up from the tightest setting. I fear for the man whose head is too big for these cans. However, I will state that if you have a smaller head you may run into some issues.
 
What I was surprised to find was that the gimbals on the headphones, as well as the cups seem to be plastic. While this is no doubt to keep weight down on the headphones, coming from the all metal HE-400 I was disappointed to see this. It seemed to be questionable in terms of the longevity of the device including so much plastic. However, on the other side of that argument, I never had an issue with any of the plastic components.
 
While the plastic did not seem to be an issue, the ports for the cable may present a different issue. In my testing I did have to return the unit for service as the left cup had intermittent issues with audio cutting out. I also found that the port on that side of the cup seemed loose. I cannot say for sure if the issue is build quality, as there were several other reviewers before me and I have no idea what level of care they received before being in my care (Not to say that any one of them would abuse their equipment). But it did provide enough worry that I was skeptical of their survivability in the long term.
 
The cable ports terminate at a forward facing angle, rather than straight down, this helps avoid rubbing and microphonics, which is appreciated. As a fellow reviewer stated, I did enjoy that Hifiman has switched to a more standard cable connection to the cups, rather than sticking with the micro-coaxial connection the HE-400 uses. I enjoy the security that type of cable provided, but having to ‘assemble’ your headphones was a bit of a chore if you keep them put away.
 
THE SOUND:
For those who do not have experience with many planar magnetic headphones, they have a tendency to sound okay on low power devices, but always sound better when getting proper power from the source. What I found abnormal is that the HEX provided an impressive sound when just paring with a smart phone. The headphones provided a great soundstage, instrumentation, and clarity with just a good ol’ phone.
 
As the Smartphone was my first test (Hifiman has been touting how well the HEX works straight through the phone), I figured that the law of Planar Magnetics surely must apply. So I ventured fourth to grab my X1/Q1 stack. I was confused when the sound really did not change much when provided the extra power from the q1.
 
Next was my Onkyo TX-NR626 home theater system. I reached for the ¼ in. cable and set forth. Once again, while not at all disappointing, I was surprised that the changes when given extra power were minimal. The soundstage became wider, but only just. Overall the sound signature was about the same regardless of how it was driven. This is definitely not a bad thing and in no way a downside. It just seemed strange from my previous experiences.
 
With regards to sound, I really enjoyed the sound from the Edition X. For me the soundstage was very wide. Sound was smooth balanced. The high end may leave a small bit to be desired but for me it allowed the dark side of my music to really shine. The Bass is prominent and well placed (Although it can be a bit loose at times). Vocals were natural sounding, with virtually any sibilance gone.
I find that the wide soundstage and great instrument separation were the crowning achievements of these headphones. Being able to have so much space between the different sounds and vocals made a lot of my music really come to life and in some cases almost sound epic.
 
For fun I listened to some opening music for a few of my favorite TV shows and was in awe of how intense the music was. The Vikings theme song (Fever Ray – If I Had a Heart) had a looming pulse with powerful lyrics that felt emotional and powerful. And finally, the Theme song from Black Sails (Bear McCreary – Black Sails) just made me feel like I needed to fire a cannon and board a ship!
 
In short, I found the sound to be very pleasing. At no point was I disappointed in the way that the sound was portrayed. While I have limited experience in the world of top of the line headphones, I can definitely see the difference.
 
CONCLUSION:
 
So how did I feel about my review time with the Hifiman Edition X? I felt conflicted. On the one hand, the sound was fantastic. It is something that I really enjoyed and would love to be able to listen to at any time. But on the other hand, I was not impressed with the build quality. While everything felt solidly built, it was still just plastic. The plastic also felt too thin and flimsy for the gimbals. For $1800.00 I feel that I should be confident in the product to survive quite a long time. While it is of course an opinion, I just wasn’t confident that the Edition X provided that.
 
It is also important to note that while the Edition X is a fantastic sounding headphone, it is well past the line of diminishing returns. Being that I have not had a lot of experience in top of the line gear, It’s hard to tell just how much better these headphones are from a $1000.00 or even $800.00 headphone.
 
If you have the money to spend on these headphones, and you live in a caring environment, these headphones would be a great compliment to any collection. If you’re having a hard time justifying an $1800.00 headphone purchase, perhaps consider going for something for a lesser cost. That is my ultimate opinion.
 
 
 

INTRODUCTION:
 
As someone who would still consider themselves as a newcomer into the world of Hi-fi equipment, It can be tough to determine what is needed, and what is not. If you are not careful, you can spend lots of money on redundant or useless equipment for your setup.
For me, I felt that I wanted a portable amp for my setup. I was getting mixed answers on whether this would be a worthy purchase. Then came the FiiO Q1. The Q1 was the perfect answer as it is a portable USB DAC/AMP with line in/out features as well meaning it was very flexible in its uses and could fill many voids in my gear. Not to mention the incredibly low cost.
 
At the time of purchase, I had only had experience with one other FiiO product, my X1.  And if I learned anything from the X1, it is possible to deliver high performance and high build quality for a low cost. Because of this I decided to make the purchase. What resulted in this purchase is what I will talk about below. Is the FiiO Q1 a worthy investment? Let’s find out.

 
 
 
SPECIFICATIONS:
 
 
More specs on the Q1 can be found on FiiO’s own specs page located here: http://www.fiio.net/en/products/44/parameters
 
PACKAGING AND IN THE BOX:
 
 
If you’ve purchased a FiiO product before, you may recognize the packaging as being very similar to that of your other device. For example, the box is nearly identical to that of the FiiO X1. The box is enough to protect the device and included accessories, not much more. I would assume that this is what allows FiiO to pass on the savings to us!
 
Speaking of included accessories, FiiO never fails to deliver a handful of useful accessories you wouldn’t otherwise think to purchase. In the box you will find the following accessories:
 

1. Rubber bands for stacking
2. USB Cable
3. 2 non-slip mats (To avoid slipping and scraping between stacked devices)
4. 3.5mm aux cable (Approximately 1.5 inches long)
5. User manual
6. Warranty Card

 
These accessories are part of something I have come to enjoy from FiiO’s packaging, as most of their products come with these extras already included. The only thing I was missing from the kit was the X1/X3 stacking kit, which cannot be blamed as not everyone uses this kit.
 
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN:
 
The Q1 has a very flask like design. The weight is by no means heavy, but instead simply feels like a solid product. The main section of the casing is black coated metal, With a metal potentiometer knob on the top. The end caps are actually made of a plastic that has been textured to look like an aluminum or metal housing. 
 
On the top you will find your headphone out port, LED indicator, Volume knob, and Bass boost switch. On the bottom, you will find your Line in (3.5mm) port, Gain switch, USB port (line in/charge) and the charge on/off switch.
 
 
Overall the build is very simplistic and feels very high quality. After months of use I have yet to even scratch the casing, meaning that it is a very solid device. My only complaints really come from the abilities to see a switch status easily, as well as the volume knob, which is hard to tell which side to read to determine/change volume.
 
The battery life on the Q1 is so good its nearly jaw dropping. When I saw the 30 hour battery life on the product specs, I was skeptical to say the least. Surely this was using the device in the most minimal of setups. Which is just not the case. Over my time I have changed between Hi gain, Lo gain, Bass boost on and off. And even listening at a loud volume with high gain and bass boost I was able to get nearly 24 hours on the device. Using this with my X1 has also improved the life of the X1 as well, meaning I get more playtime between charges on my source! Well done FiiO, Well done!
 
THE SOUND:
 
So the real question is, could I actually hear the difference. The answer is absolutely yes. As my current daily driver I have put the device through its paces. It has been connected in all manner of ways to multiple sources, with all sorts of different headphones.
Overall speaking, the Q1 has a rather neutral sound that lends itself to a warmer sound. Somewhere between the two really. The sound is clear and clean. Instrumentation is well separated and despite the warmer sound signature, it still provides a nice, small bit of sparkle on top. The highs can feel a bit extended, but never so much that it detracts from the track.
 
One thing that many other owners and users have noted is that the Bass boost does not add much more additional “bump”. Admittedly, I was even one of these people. After spending time with different configurations I have found that the Bass boost focuses more on adding quality to the Bass, rather than the quantity. On my FiiO X1 it fills out the low end that I feel the X1 was lacking. Mids also benefit from the added Bass.
 
By no means does the Bass boost make your headphones thump your head, which I am actually okay with. I find that with the level of bass and the quality is really a good match for most genres of music, making this a very easy purchase for the first time purchaser like myself.
One thing I did note was that when turning on the Q1, from 0-0.8 on the analog knob there is no audio, then the right ear kicked in only, and the left ear did not kick in until about 1.0-1.2 on the knob. Once here, the sound was very balanced left/right. This likely has to do with the potentiometer, and most people will not run into this unless pairing an easy to drive set of cans on high gain (Where this was most noticeable). Speaking of gain controls, Low gain has been enough to reasonably drive all manner of headphones I have yet to test. Even my Hifiman HE-400 will be happily driven on low. Although, they sound the best with bass boost off and high gain on.
 
CONNECTIONS:
 
Being as versatile as it is, the Q1 has many different connections that can be used, I wanted to give a brief overview on how each option works, and how it changes.
 
 
The most commonly used option for me was the standard 3.5mm line in option, as this is what allowed me to stack my X1 together and make a nice portable rig. The line out option also has the added benefit of making the product compatible with nearly any device.  This does skip the DAC (for obvious reasons), meaning that you will not be getting the most out of your new Q1, To do that you’ll really need to try one of the other connection options, such as..
 
USB line in! This will allow you to connect the device to a computer and have the device function as a DAC/AMP straight from your computer. I tested compatibility with both Windows and Mac, of which neither had any issues. In fact, the plug and play ease of it all made it a joy to use. Simply plugging it in and turning the device on changed the audio output on my computer to the Q1. This allowed me to drive things like my Hifiman HE-400’s or a fellow head-fiers Mad Dog Alphas properly from my laptop, something that normally shows dull and lifeless through the standard HO port. I did have some troubles getting Foobar to recognize the FiiO as the desired audio out, but I suspect this was Foobar’s issue, rather than FiiO. The USB Charge switch will also allow you to turn the charging off/on as desired, which will help when conserving laptop battery or cell phone battery when using in our final connection type.
 
Finally, there is a handy feature, although not officially supported by FiiO. This is the USB OTG compatibility. This allows you to use a USB OTG cable (such as the one shown in the pictures below *Sold Separately*) to utilize the DAC and amp through your compatible smartphone. I was able to test this with android phones as well as Windows phones without issue (Please note that for Windows phone you must be using a new Windows 10 mobile phone such as the Lumia 950 or 950XL, as the new software AND hardware is required. Compatibility with Android will vary depending on your phone). 
 
**UPDATE** @holden4th was nice enough to inform me that he was also able to successfully use OTG with his Iphone 6s and Ipad air. This will obviously require a slightly different version of the OTG cable (Lightning cable to OTG). However it seems to work without issue!
 
 
Some people seem upset the OTG cable was not included. However, it makes sense seeing as the feature is not officially supported. On android phones you may have issues using OTG with apps such as Tidal or Spotify, but options like Hiby and Onkyo work without issue. On my rooted Zenfone 2 I was able to make all sound process through USB out, meaning all apps functioned great through the Q1. This offered a vast improvement on the Zenfone 2 headphone out options, even using the headphone out into the 3.5mm of the Q1. The fact that the cable was only a few dollars on amazon, but provided such an improvement I highly recommend it if you have a compatible device.
 
CONCLUSION:
 
The Q1 is a great purchase for an first time amp buyer. It allows a large feature set at a very low cost. And as FiiO has always managed to do, they have provided a product that is not only low cost, but has a big sound. Overall I am very happy with my purchase as it has allowed my sound quality to improve in all areas. And having the extra power to drive more difficult headphones is an added benefit of future-proofing myself. The battery life is also large enough be able to use the device for a very long time without having to search around for a charger. In short, another fantastic product from a reliable and consistent company!
 
 
 
EQUIPMENT USED:
 
Headphones – RHA 750, Shure SE 425, Shure SE 215, Bose IEM2, Hifiman HE-400
DAP – FiiO X1, Lumia 1520, HTC One M8, Asus Zenfone 2
Songs – Kansas – Carry on my wayward son, Noah Guthrie – Death of me, David Bowie – Rebel Rebel, Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody, Ed Sheeran – Runaway

INTRODUCTION:
On any given day, I am asked what headphones someone should buy. The answer always starts the same; “Depends”. Because the answer is never the same for any one person. Some people are ready to throw their wallets at the purchase to get the best of the best. But often times this isn’t the best choice. Sometimes a great pair of headphones is hiding just under our nose, like a restaurant that only locals know about.
This is where the Ausdom M05 fills a gap for me. Is it the best pair I have ever listened to? No. But for the low cost and high versatility, it is one of the best value headphones you can buy. Bluetooth, long battery life, and a great sound signature out of the box makes the Ausdom M05 a contender for many people’s cash. Let’s take a deeper look into just what this hidden gem has to offer.
PACKAGING AND IN THE BOX:
Like many inexpensive headphones out there, the box is not particularly noteworthy. It comes in a black cardboard box. The box shows some detailed specs of the headphones on the back in several languages. On the front it clearly labels the key features which are as follows:

1. Hands-Free
2. Deep Bass
3. High Sensitivity
4. Stereo Wireless

Although there are many more features to the headphones, these do hit some key points. The headphones are set in a molded plastic tray with the accessories underneath. You will find the manual, a mesh carrying bag, the USB cable, and finally the 3.5mm aux cable used for wired connections.
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN:
The majority of the M05 body is a soft matte black plastic, however the size adjustments seem to be metal with plastic teeth to hold position. The adjustments seem very tight, and despite adjusting them quite often they still maintain the same tightness, which is pleasing. The cups also rotate and pivot to match the heads curve. Pivoting freely moves without issue, but the rotation can be a bit tough to adjust making it sometimes difficult to get a perfect seal without fidgeting with the rotation.
The padding on both the cups and the band are incredibly nice and soft. They give no particular pressure points that cause me to get sore while listening. My ears only just brush the inner walls of the cups, definitely not enough to cause a soreness. On both sides of the headphones you have symmetrical 3 button layout on the bottom of the cups. On the left you have Power, Volume down, and Volume Up. On the right, you have skip track, play/pause, and previous track. You also have the mic and 3.5mm jack on the left side and the charging port on the right under a weathercap.
After spending a few weeks putting these headphones through their paces, I only have a few complaints. The markings for left vs right side are only shown in the black plastic exterior which is not the easiest to spot. I am also not a fan of the button placement on the device as I still haven’t been able to remember all button locations by memory.
The ports of the headphones (Aux jack for 3.5mm or power port) are not the most high quality in the world. But seem sturdy enough that I’m not worried about the future of the product. Overall I am very happy with the quality of the build, especially considering the low price tag. But the important thing is, how does it sound?
THE SOUND:
While the sound is of course my opinion based on my experiences, I find that my findings seem to mirror that of others reports. I don’t pretend to be an expert, nor do I have the level of knowledge to provide or explain graphs to you. Instead, I will explain just what I have found using the headphones through various tracks and sources.
The sound in general is a V-shape, warm, with a strong bass. If you are not much for a deep bass, the standard sound may not be for you. The sound signature lends itself well to punchy rock and R&B quite well (Such as Bruno Mars’ Runaway and Gorilla).  But it did seem to hurt other genres where the bass would mud up other portions of the recording.(See Blake Shelton – Nobody but me)
Toning down the Bass and lows with a bit of EQing really brought this pair to life for me. This will fix any bleed over into other parts of the track and really make the mids come back into play. While I was happy enough with the default signature, the slight EQ really made me enjoy these headphones quite a bit.
What I do find abnormal is usually when a set of headphones have a powerful low end it seems to sacrifice the sparkle and extension of the high end. While it is not exactly perfect. The sound signature lends itself to giving that high end even with the un-EQ’d sound.
In general, I was happy with the un-EQ’d sound. But once a bit of tinkering was done, the sound had me entranced. After a bit of testing I found that unlike many Bluetooth headphones, using the 3.5mm headphone jack provides a seemingly identical sound signature, making tuning the audio very easy for both options. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the headphones, especially with the price.
OTHER THINGS:
Microphone works as advertised, nothing special here. It is a handy feature to have for calls and such. Pairing the device is very simple. Turning on the device and holding the power button will have it enter the pairing mode. During which, the headphones will speak to you (I.E. “Power On, Power Off, Entering Pairing Mode”). This makes the process of pairing the device very simple.
Bluetooth audio can sometimes have a lag between video and audio due to the compression and de-compression of the audio. However, with the M05 and the AptX technology, this does not seem to be the issue. The audio is synced perfectly to videos without issue.
Range is listed as 10 meters, which I find seems to be a very conservative number. In real life I am able to get closer to 15-20 meters. But your mileage may vary. What was particularly amazing to me was the battery life on these, reaching between 18-22 hours of real playtime before re-charging, with standby time peppered in there as well. This was fairly consistent throughout the several weeks of testing. While I did not test charge time, most report about 2.5-3 hours, Which seems very acceptable for the length of charge you get.
Isolation on the M05 is not exactly perfect, but with music playing background noise is either indistinguishable or very low at best. I even had to use these to go to the gym for some rowing/elliptical time when I forgot my IEM’s. I was surprised that in the noisy cardio room I could really only hear my music. Granted, the volume was set to a decently high level.
CONCLUSION:
So does the M05 make the cut? Ausdom has created an underdog. A high quality Bluetooth headset for very little cost that outshines brand name headphones without a second thought. Is it a perfect headset? No. There are some small gripes I have, such as the button layout, or the need to EQ them a bit to get the best sound. But overall, the sound is fantastic, the build quality is durable and still stylish. I believe Ausdom has found a way into my heart and into my inventory, as this will be my new goto Bluetooth!
Equipment used:
DAP – FiiO X1(wired connections), Lumia 1520, Asus Zenfone 2
AMP/DAC – FiiO Q1 (Wired)
Songs – Bruno Mars – Gorilla, Bruno Mars – Runaway, Blake Shelton – Nobody but me, Panic! At The Disco – Hallelujah, Noah Guthrie – Death of Me

INTRODUCTION:
While I have been an audio enthusiast for many years, I have only just recently discovered my love of planar magnetic headphones. To me, the typical sonic signature of planar’s are exactly what I am looking for in a set of headphones. I was originally looking between a set of Hifiman HE-400’s and the Oppo PM-3’s as my next set of over ear headphones a few months back. A great deal prompted me towards the HE-400’s which I love, But I always wanted to know if I made the right decision. Was the Oppo PM-3 the better choice? Finally, the opportunity to really determine if this is the case! 
 
 
SPECIFICATIONS:
 
Full Specifications can be found on Oppo’s website at the following link:
http://www.oppodigital.com/headphones-pm-3/headphones-PM-3-Features.aspx
 
IN THE BOX:
As the Oppo PM-3 kit I tested was part of a tour kit meant to allow people to test out the kit there were a few accessories included that wouldn’t normally included. For example, I received 3 cables in my box. One for Iphones, one for Android/Windows Phone, and the standard included cable.
The box that included the Oppo PM-3 was nothing special to note. Nice design, simple, and elegant. In the box you will find the Oppo PM-3 and about the coolest zip hard case ever. Seeing this case made me wish I had something similar for the Hifiman HE-400. As far as I could tell, this was a standard, included accessory. You will also find a long audio cable with a screw attached 6.3mm jack.
 
 
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN:
The Oppo PM-3 is probably one of the highest quality feeling headphones I’ve had to review in a long time. The Oppo PM-3 screams quality. I received the steel blue color, which has a minimalistic yet stylish look. Metal hinges and size adjustment are easily adjusted without being too loose. Hinges for the rotating ear-cups are sharp with hard right angles that can pinch if you’re not careful.
The cups of the headphones are simple and only have the one 3.5mm in jack on the left ear. The cups are elliptical and can be rather narrow and short. At first it seemed to me that they fit well, but after 1-2 hours of listening my ear began to be sore.
The padding on the headband itself is very comfortable and caused no discomfort. The padding on the cups however were very soft, but due to the narrow and shallow cups combined with the material used I found my ears getting very warm after extended use. This did take approximately 2.5-3 hours to get to this point however.
One thing I did notice that I wasn’t the biggest fan of is that the pads in general for comfort or warmth. But even more so, I found that the ear-pads are not user-replaceable. Instead, if you need to have the pads changed you would need to send them into Oppo. This was a pretty big drawback for me.
 
THE SOUND:
After putting the PM-3’s through their paces, I found that I was not a fan of the sound that they created. This was surprising as I was expecting a much different sound from the reviews that came in. I found that the lows lacked warmth. They were very cold and made much of my classic rock and singer/songwriter tracks feel very analytical.
I also noted a very specific lack of punch in my bass. Bass was subdued and lacked proper extension. This was noticed specifically when using the FiiO X1 and my Lumia 1520 playing music directly to the phones. When utilizing the Q1 amp the punch was brought in to what I would consider perfect levels, but this required the additional amp and the audio still lacked warmth.
Finally I noticed the treble was lacking proper extension. Treble was existent, and allowed instruments to be heard properly in this realm. However, the sparkle missing in the high end made much of my music fall flat, which was rather disappointing.
This doesn’t mean that all things were bad. Instrumentation was well separated. And while soundstage was smaller than I would have liked, it seemed rather open for a set of closed headphones. Mids played out well and had a natural sound to it. And male vocals came through with marvelous clarity.
Overall, I felt let down. Perhaps this has to do with the genre’s of music I listened to for testing. But I just couldn’t help but notice that I just couldn’t shake the idea that I’d rather be listening to my HE-400’s. Sure, they are hard to compare as one is open, vs the closed PM-3. But I just couldn’t get behind the music like I usually do.
 
CONCLUSION:
Overall, the Oppo PM-3’s just didn’t do it for me. Due to the fact that most everyone seems to like them, I fear I just may have a bad amp pairing with them, or possibly that the sound signature is not my cup of tea. The headphones are built extremely well and come with a fantastic zip case. But for me the colder low end and lack of high end sparkle just didn’t mesh with my ears.
Equipment used:
Oppo PM-3
Hifiman HE-400
DAP – FiiO X1, Lumia 1520, HTC One M8, Asus Zenfone 2, HP DV6t Quad laptop, Onkyo TX-NR626
AMP/DAC – FiiO X1

 
INTRODUCTION:
 
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had the ability to have our favorite hi res audio on the same device that allows us to find and listen to new music? A versatile device that allows the device to adapt to our needs? Enter the FiiO X7, Android based, packing some serious hardware. The X7 is designed to be a versatile all in one device for all of your music needs.
 
A device like this being released from FiiO has a lot of potential ups, but will definitely create some pretty good hurdles for FiiO and their engineers to get past to make this the device that every person wants. Thankfully, FiiO has an excellent record with listening to the customer voice and providing features and enhancements to make their devices even more desirable.
 
While the $650.00 price tag is definitely a high price, the features and functions packed into the device make the price well on point or even below, as most comparable devices are hitting well into the $1000 dollar range. The competition is also beginning to show their age. So does the FiiO X7 have what it takes to replace these behemoths in the ring?
ABOUT FIIO:
 
FiiO Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. Is a Chinese based audio company established in 2007. Rather than focusing on the information you can find on the about page, let’s focus on what they don’t say. FiiO has been making audio products that have become a staple of the head-fi and general audiophiles gear. Nearly everyone on our forums has at least had some time with one FiiO product or another. FiiO has made themselves known for inexpensive, high quality gear with a knack for customer focus. I feel this has helped FiiO become a strong contender in the few years of products they provide.  If you want to know more about FiiO, please check out their about us page located below:
http://www.fiio.net/en/about.html
 
WHATS IMPORTANT (To me…):
 
Like most people, when I look for a device, I have set of demands or requirements that I would like the device to meet. I have included my list below, this will help you identify what I will focus on in my review. If you find your requirements to be similar to mine, you will likely feel the same about the device that I do.
For me, the x7 should have the following:

1. A high build quality, something sleek and good looking, but also functional
2. A decent battery life while understanding the limitations of the device’s extra features
3. A simple, easy to use interface
4. The ability to drive my gear, if possible with enough room to grow with my gear
5. Large, expandable memory
6. Charges with standard power cables (Please, no proprietary)
7. Many power steps: since the device doesn’t use a physical volume knob, it needs to have enough volume steps to allow me to fine tune volume
8. Wifi/Bluetooth connections: Bluetooth for the occasional on the go setup, and Wifi for…
9. Streaming options! If you can use android, let us use the streaming options of our choice! Tidal, Spotify… Pick your poison.
10. Water ‘Resistant’: Can I use this without fear in mild Oregon weather.  I don’t want to fear pulling the device out in the rain.

 
These are the things that I felt were the most important to me prior to receiving the device. At the end of my review, I will cover if I felt FiiO hit these points for me.
 
SPECIFICATIONS:
 
 
More specs on the X7 can be found on FiiO’s own specs page located here: http://www.fiio.net/en/products/45/parameters
 
PACKAGING AND IN THE BOX:
 
Packaging for the device is elegant and practical. There are no wood or metal boxes or other fancy frills here. Box feels like it is of a good quality and will provide more than enough protection for the device. It also looks nice enough to draw you in. Personally I have never understood the need for a fancy box or anything. To me, this just translates into extra cost to the consumer. I’d rather keep my price low and have a better device.
 
Upon opening the device you will be presented with your aluminum beauty, as well as a decent set of extras. One thing I have always liked about FiiO is the number of included accessories. This is a small added value, but something that has probably saved my device once or twice. Included in this box kit is the following:
 

1. Coaxial Cable for Digital line out
2. T5 Screwdriver (For removing and changing amp modules)
3. Replacement T5 screws
4. USB cable
5. Warranty Card
6. 3 total screen protectors (1 pre-installed, 2 extra)

 
I did note that the X7 did not include a simple case like most FiiO products. This could be due to the nature of the pre-release box and product, or it may not be included. Remember, as this is a pre-release device, things can change.
 
 
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN:
 
The X7 is really an eye catching device. It is made out of solid 6061 aluminum and feels like a very high quality device.  It feels very solid and has a decent heft for what it is. Some may consider its size cumbersome; however I use a larger smartphone, so I don’t find this an issue. The device is technically 2 parts, the top half is the screen and the actual device, whereas the bottom (Beginning just beneath the screen) is the interchangeable amp module. While the build between the two pieces is solid, I noticed some wiggling after some usage. Tightening the screws again seemed to do the trick. (***NOTE: This has been brought up to FiiO and us testers have been informed that this has been resolved in the production model’s of the device).
 
On the bottom of the device (Technically, the amp) you will find the Micro-USB charging port and the traditional headphone port. To the left side you will find the Volume +/- and the Power button, as well as the Micro-sd card slot. The right side uses symmetrical set of buttons for track up or down, as well as the play/pause button. Finally, on the top, you will find your line out port.
 
 
I did find that I was not a huge fan of the identical buttons on each side, as it was occasionally confusing. According to FiiO this is intended as it will allow settings to be modified for left or right hand usage. During my time I was not able to find this feature, which was sad as I am a fellow left hander. I also was not a fan of some of the other design ideas. Take for example raised screen, as it seems like it would make the device much less durable.  I would have liked to see this flush mounted, even if it meant a slightly larger device.  Finally, I would have liked to see a better implementation of the micro-sd card slot, perhaps inside the device and accessed via removing the amp module. I fear that the card may be popped out or rain may get into this slot and damage the internals.
 
The buttons have a nice feel and are easy enough to identify. The Blue LED looks really nice, but it would be nice to be able to disable this light, as it is always on and will fade in and out during charging. (***NOTE: This has been discussed and us testers have been informed this is to be added with a later software update) The device can get warm when playing, especially with the aid of Wifi or Bluetooth. But it’s not anywhere near hot. Otherwise, I find the device to be very slick looking with a very durable feel.
 
 
HARDWARE:
 
As the X7 is an android based device, many of us know what to expect for minimum specs. While the X7 uses a very conservative set of hardware in terms of general phone parts. It is powered by a quad-core Cortex A9 processor (1.4GHz) and 1 GB of ram. Many of us high end users may worry about the device’s ability to keep up in a resource intensive OS like android, but due to the stripped down version of Android 4.4.4 (At the time of writing) I have no fears this will power the device. I was able to use the FiiO music app flawlessly, as well as Spotify or Tidal streaming at highest qualities. During my testing I was only able to make the device have some lag when playing both Tidal and Spotify streaming, as well as FiiO music playing at the same time, which hopefully no one plans on doing.
You may ask what you’re paying for when you drop your wallet on this device only to find the mediocre processor and ram. The bulk of your money goes to the audio equipment, as it should. The DAC is a Sabre ES9018s. The Sabre is able to play PCM at up to 32/384 and DSD up to 127, it also sports 8 output channels. As a downside, FiiO has recognized that this is a primary battery drainer.  Regardless of this, the device is still able to maintain about 9 hours of battery life. In my testing I was able to get roughly 8.5 hours of actual listening with the screen off using FiiO music. Spotify streaming yielded about 6.5 hours.
 
INTERFACE:
 
Because the FiiO X7 uses Android at its core for most of the OS, it’s worth noting that most things here are pretty common of Android. Because of this I won’t dive too much into the Android side of things. Most people these days have decided whether they like Android or not. There is a pretty good chance your at least considering the OS if your reading this review.
*Please Note: These experiences are based on the X7 version 1.0, which was the current version at the time of review*
 
Initial bootup of the device takes about 25 seconds. Once powered on the device can begin playing music in a matter of seconds. This boot time is pretty good for a smartphone based UI. By default, the device will simply boot to the Android home screen with a few basic icons on the screen. Absent from the device will be most of the common android applications, leaving just bare necessities such as the browser and calculator. But we didn’t buy this device to check our e-mail, did we?
 
 
FiiO music is located right on the main menu in the lower left by default. Clicking on the icon will open the default player. FiiO music seems to me that it is still a work in progress. Sure, it plays, and you can select music by song, artist, album, genre, or playlists. But my issue is that the app feels young. I give some leniency as the device is brand new, but as of writing the help files do not come in English, meaning we must use our intelligence and click and learn mentality to use the program.
 
After spending some time with the program, it is relatively intuitive, there is a settings menu accessible by swiping from left to right, here you will find your gain and balance settings, ect. The folder icon in the middle accesses music folders, to the left is the current playlist icon, and to the right is apparently a DLNA icon according to research, although this does not function as of writing. There is also a search icon in the upper right that will let you hone in on a song without having to surf the menus.
 
Some things about the application do bug me, for example, in the pictures you can see that the artist is shown, with an album art, and a play icon to the right. The very small play icon can be difficult to hit to play the artist, and clicking on the album art does nothing. You can go into the artist only by selecting the name. The same goes for album or genre selection. This can be a bit of a pain to use. I feel the play icon could be bigger, or at least less transparent. Maybe make clicking on the album art also take you into the next level as well.
 
 
One thing I did like is that FiiO has made this device an obviously flexible device. Originally, the X7 required an app be in the “Whitelist” to be used. After some mulling over, they have withdrawn this and can now allow any app to be installed on the device. This has a bit of a positive and negative effect. As it allows us to choose apps that may not be on the whitelist, but also means that the apps aren’t tested for compatibility or negative side effects.
 
Most common audiophile apps work without issue. Among those tested, I was able to successfully use Spotify, Tidal, Amazon music, Slacker, and Pandora using the latest APK’s (android app installer files). The issue is that there is no easy way to download these files at this time. As the X7 does not have Google play installed on the device, you cannot download the app from the play store. You must obtain the installer’s from other sources which are not always reliable.  Another thing to remember is that with the absence of the Google framework, many apps will not work. For example, YouTube, YouTube music, Google Music, and other apps that require Google framework do not work.
 
It is hard to hold these things against FiiO, as they just recently made this change and they do not test these additional apps. Perhaps with time the Google framework or even the store will be added. Some apps will conflict with each other. For example, one thing that bugged me to the point of uninstalling an app was Tidal. The app worked wonderfully, but sometimes I wanted to use Spotify or FiiO Music. When Tidal was on, even in the background, it took over the audio controls. This meant sometimes even when playing FiiO Music if I pressed track skip, FiiO Music would pause, Tidal (which was only on in the background) would skip to the next track and begin playing. This didn’t happen every time, but when it did, nothing short of a force stop would resolve this. Eventually this lead to me uninstalling the app. Once again, I can hardly blame FiiO for this, but it would be nice if FiiO can address this if it’s caused by their equipment.
 
 
Finally, it is important to note that while Wifi and Bluetooth are present (and working well) on the device, they will mark a considerable drain on the battery. Sometimes the additional apps installed and just the basic android processes could do a number on the device as well. FiiO has come up with a solution for this called “Pure Music Mode”. In Pure Music mode, the device strips down Android to the core and only runs the absolute basics to run just FiiO Music. This helps the battery considerably and makes avoiding other tasks running in the background a simple task. You can even set up the device to boot in pure Android mode as well. This setting can be changed at will with the device as well, so it can be toggled as needed. It is worth noting that Bluetooth and Wifi can still be turned on or off in pure music mode.
 
THE SOUND:
 
So, how does it sound? The FiiO X7 has so many ways to listen to music. With numerous streaming options, it’s own player, and even additional options for dedicated players. Over my 10 day period with the device I used the device primarily with FiiO Music, Spotify, and for some time Tidal. While other apps were tested, they were only to confirm working order.
 
For me, as well as several of the people on the head-fi forum, the sound that comes from the X7 is a very 3D sound. It seems as though all levels and frequencies are highlighted. Normally this would create a confused sound that will usually make me put down a device, but something about the way it played went really well together. I think it may have to do with the fact that while all frequencies were highlighted, they were still separated. Individual instruments were easy to pick out from even the most complex tracks. Voices stood out and clear. Treble was bright, but not to a point where a bass-head would be turned off, and vice versa.
 
I did find that while this sound quality was found from the several IEM’s tested. (RHA 750i, Shure Se 425 and 215, ect.) Some headphones simply did not make the cut. Attempting to use my Hifiman HE-400’s I could barely get to listening volume on Spotify or Tidal. While the volume was enough in FiiO music, I found that the sound fell flat for me. Treble was pulled back from the others, making the sound a bit more veiled and muddy. It should be noted that the only amp on hand was the IEM module, and as such I didn’t place much expectation on the sound. Perhaps a full sized headphone amp module would resolve this issue. Similar sound quality is obtained from the Mad Dog Alphas.
 
While I do not have any significantly hard to drive headphones (or IEM’s for that matter) many others have reported that even harder to drive IEM’s seem to do well with the current amp pairing. In pairing against the FiiO X7 I only had access to my smartphone collection and my FiiO X1, all of which I was able to pair with my Q1 amp. The X7 did more than well at decimating any sound quality from my smartphone. It also had the added benefit of being a separate device that didn’t interrupt my listening with badgering notifications.
 
Comparing between the FiiO X1/Q1 and the X7 the audio quality was noticeably better, however, not as much as I was initially expecting. With the X1 the Bass is nice and punchy, without being overly so. The treble is nice but not forward, and the mids make me melt. I preferred singer/songwriter genre’s out of my stack more than the x7. But with the X7, fast paced songs were more energetic. Sibilance was practically non-existent. The X7 also has the nice ability to access both my actual files and my streaming content in one device.
 
For obvious reasons, smartphones and the X7 sounded identical with Bluetooth headsets, This makes sense due to the way the Bluetooth audio is streamed. That being said, it is a nice, handy extra.
 
HOW DID IT FAIR?
 
If you’ve stuck with me this far you already know how well or not well it hit my checkboxes. But in case you wanted to skim, here is the short of it:

1. A high build quality, something sleek and good looking, but also functional

Yes, absolutely. It feels like a solid device. Some style choices were questionable, such as the raised screen. But overall, the device is great!

1. A decent battery life while understanding the limitations of the device’s extra features

9 hours is a fair deal, especially since I was very near this in actual testing. Less time came when using streaming. Would I like better battery life? Yes. But for what it is, I am pleased.

1. A simple, easy to use interface

It’s essentially Android, you may disagree, but I found it easy and intuitive. The FiiO music app could use some help here and there, but it’s still pre-production, and FiiO is constantly listening and updating.

1. The ability to drive my gear, if possible with enough room to grow with my gear

This was a tossup for me. It powered most of my gear, but left much to be desired from my HE-400 cans. A different amp module may fix this, but without being able to test this, it was a no for me. This may change however.

1. Large, expandable memory

32gb internal (something like 27gb useable) and supported 128GB additional, this is more than enough for me. Especially if the size is expanded in future updates.

1. Charges with standard power cables (Please, no proprietary)

Micro USB. Yup, were good here

1. Many power steps: since the device doesn’t use a physical volume knob, it needs to have enough volume steps to allow me to fine tune volume

120 Steps, more than enough to fine tune. Although changing faster using hard buttons would be nice

1. Wifi/Bluetooth connections: Bluetooth for the occasional on the go setup, and Wifi for…

Yes, Yes, and both work well!

1. Streaming options! If you can use android, let us use the streaming options of our choice! Tidal, Spotify… Pick your poison.

Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Slacker, and Pandora all tested and working perfectly. So yes.

1. Water ‘Resistant’: Can I use this without fear in mild Oregon weather.  I don’t want to fear pulling the device out in the rain.

Another tossup; the device feels solid and everything, but the top port for line out sometimes scares me. I’m also not a fan of the exposed micro SD card slot both due to moisture and the potential for accidental removal of the card.
 
CONCLUSION:
 
The FiiO X7 is a solid device that is capable of delivering a solid bang for the buck. Sleek and stylish, the Aluminum body has a natural heft that makes it feel sturdy without being obtrusive. The symmetrical button design can be confusing at first, but is easy enough to get past.
 
Being that the device is Android based, it is very simple to navigate and will allow several apps to customize the experience for each owner. The FiiO app is still in its infancy, meaning it has room for improvement, but FiiO is listening and very receptive. With a bit of time, the preinstalled app can become something great. In the meantime it is more than usable, and if you disagree, you can always install a different app to manage your player.
 
The sound is well hammered out and sounds fantastic. The audio is well presented and layered. Sibilance is non-existent. And the nice thing is that, if nothing else, this is one of the few things that can’t easily be changed with software updates. To know this is great out of the pre-production box is fantastic!
 
Is the device worth the $650.00 USD price tag? This is a subjective question, but I feel that while I am not ready to put this money down yet, I can see this device being something to keep my eye on, as the Price to performance and versatility is worth every penny. If some of the promised changes appear soon, I may be adding a new device to my inventory!
 
 
EQUIPMENT USED:
 
Headphones – RHA 750, Shure SE 425, Shure SE 215, Bose IEM2, Beats studio wireless, Hifiman HE-400
DAP – FiiO X1, Lumia 1520, HTC One M8, Asus Zenfone 2
AMP/DAC – FiiO X1
Songs – Pentatonix: Standing By, Fleetwood Mac: Go Your Own Way, Foo Fighters: Saint Cecilia, Muse: Supermassive Black Hole, Matthew And The Atlas: Out of the Darkness
*All songs were tested using either Spotify Premium high quality, Tidal Hifi, or Red Book lossless, usually 16/44.1*

Bluetooth connection, Unique haptic-style track and volume controls, and NFC pairing make for a very unique and oddly likeable Bluetooth headset. The Havit HV-H2555BT is all of these things at a very fair cost.
 
*Disclaimer: I received this product from Havit at no cost in exchange for an honest review of the product. While this in no way affects my review, I wanted to make this clear.
 
Unboxing:
As shown in the pictures, the packaging for these headphones make them look to be very expensive. I have never been a person who has been completely enthralled by the look of a box, but this box is extremely eye catching in a good way.
The product is nicely displayed through the front window. More details on the phones are shown on the back of the box, as well as the sides. I will list these details below for those interested. As for the contents, you will find the following included: 

1. H2555BT Headphones
2. Micro-usb cable for charging
3. 3.5mm male to male adapter
4. Quality and warranty card 

 
Specs: (from the box)
Weight: 147g
Dimensions: L-130mm W-100mm H-75mm
3.5mm cable length: 120cm
USB Cable length: 65cm
NFC Connectivity: Yes
Bluetooth Version: 3.0+EDR
Range: 8-10m (no obstacles)
Battery: 400mAH
Profiles supported: HSP/HFP/A2DP/AVRCP
Talk Time: up to 12 hours
Play time: up to 14 hours
Standby time: Up to 500 hours
Charging time: 2-2.5 hours
Voice chat: Supported
Voice prompt: Supported
Frequency range:
Sensitivity:
Impedance:
Cable length:
Microphone:
Type:
Frequency Response:
Impedence:
Sensitivity:
 
Build Quality/Comfort:
While the headphones may not cost much, the quality of the materials is not bad at all. The band is wrapped with very comfortable faux leather, which is repeated on the cans. Without tearing the headphones apart, I would assume the inner band is made of plastic, but seems to be durable enough that I would not be concerned with longevity.
The adjustments for fit are made of durable plastic as well as metal sliders that attach to the cans. A fabric covered wire extends from the band and wraps the metal to the cans. The adjustment has a built in hinge for folding as well, making these headphones very compact and portable.
The headphones accommodate a very large dimension, so having a larger head should not be much of an issue. I have worn these for a few hours without comfort issues. However, I can find them a bit fatiguing after an hour or two. My only complaint is I find the headphones very finicky to adjust to fit my head. My ears have a bit of a forward tilt, meaning that headphones that are straight on clamps do not make a solid seal all the time. I can get a seal, but I have to play with the adjustment a lot to get the fit perfect.
 
How They Sound:
 
The 2555BT have a decent sound for being a budget Bluetooth headphone. While I will detail in sections below, the general sound is bass driven with forward highs. This can lend favor to certain styles of music, but can definitely hinder more complex sounds.
 
Lows:
 
I would consider this a downside to these phones. The bass is heavy, and sometimes muddy. As a result, songs with heavy bass tend to wash out and cover up other lows, and sometimes the lower mids.
However, I have found that music with less bass influence, or even music with simple varieties of instruments tend to sound fantastic. The beat comes through and allows most instrumentation to be heard without issue. This was well displayed in the song Too Hot to Stop (pt. 1) by the Bar-Kays.
 
Mids:
 
The mids are well represented. They are controlled and clear. They can be a little forward, but not overly so. As stated in the lows section, there can be a bit of bass that bleeds in, and can mask some of the lower mids. Again, this only seems to come into play with really bass heavy tracks. Roll off can be short here as well.
 
Highs:
 
Highs are definitely forward in these headphones. Well detailed, but like the lows and mids they seems to have trouble providing detail to multiple instruments in the same range, at the same time. It was sometimes strange to hear cymbals over powering guitars when they are typically a background noise in the track recording. This was very noticeable in the track You Make Me Wanna by Thomas Rhett
 
Isolation:
 
Don’t hold your breath here, as a set of over ear cans, they do let in noise. It can be masked pretty well, but expect noise to come in. This can be problematic if you find that you have trouble getting a good seal like I did.
 
Soundstage:
 
The soundstage on these phones is a little quirky, because they are forward in the highs, the stage is very small. It can also be a bit confusing as the drums are definitely displayed in the back, but the cymbals and other highs come from right up front.
Instrument separation is not the strong point of these phones. Often times when more than two instruments are fighting in the same range, the headphones practically give up and merge them all. This happened in pretty much all ranges. Provided the music had simple instrumentation, this didn’t seem to be an issue.
 
Misc:
 
Using the headphones with the included 3.5mm wire did not really change the audio in any way, but did allow me to play around with the EQ on my phone, as well as connect it to my Fiio X1. As it didn’t change anything, it can be handy to connect through the wired connection if the phones died or if one of your devices does not have Bluetooth.
 
Controls:
 
One unique thing that caught my attention was the controls on these headphones. You have your usual power button that doubles as a tap to voice dial. You also have a set of volume control buttons. But what is really different is the haptic controls on the left ear. In short, the left ear cover is a haptic control board. Using this you can change volume, change track, or pause/play music. I found myself using these controls a lot when listening to Spotify from my phone.
My only complaint about these buttons is that the haptic controls are very sensitive, meaning I frequently paused my music when adjusting the phones fitment (which I already described as finicky). I wish there was a lock option for the haptic controls so I could avoid this issue.
 
Conclusion:
 
These headphones are COMFORTABLE. They can be hard to align with my ear correctly, but once aligned they will not need to be messed with for some time. I enjoyed using these phones for my music that had simple instrumentation, but did find that more complex tracks seem to blend. Lows can sometimes bleed if the track is bass driven, but overall a very good bang for the buck!
 
Songs Used:
MP3:
Cheating – John Newman(320kbps)
Too Hot To Stop (Part 1) – The Bar-Kays (320kbps)
You Make Me Wanna - Thomas Rhett (320kbps)
Until She Saves My Soul - The Fratellis (192kbps/320kbps)
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes (320kbps)
FLAC:
Fly Me to the Moon (Vinyl Rip) – Frank Sinatra (96/24bit)
Give Life Back to Music (Vinyl Rip) – Daft Punk (96/24bit)
Obsession – OK GO (44.1/16bit)
 
Hardware:
Fiio X1/Q1 (wired)
Asus Zenfone 2 using Spotify Premium/Tidal (Wired/Wireless)
Nokia Lumia 1520 (Spotify Premium) (Wired/Wireless)
Onkyo TX-NR626 (Flac files/Spotify Premium) (Wired)
HP ENVY DV6T quad with HD audio (Bluetooth and wired) (Wired/Wireless)

INTRODUCTION:



The Havit H91DJ is a budget over-ear headphone with a warm signature. Sound quality is very impressive considering the low cost. The value of these headphones is quite high, especially considering that it also includes a PC adapter in the box.

*Disclaimer: I received this product from Havit at no cost in exchange for an honest review of the product. While this in no way affects my review. I wanted to make this clear.

UNBOXING:


 

 
Like most retail boxes, The Havit H91DJ box comes with a windowed view to see what your buying. It includes the equipment details on the back of the box. What was somewhat strange was that front of the box seemed to be in Spanish. However, the back included the specs in several languages. As this was a review unit, you may not see the same thing. Inside, you will find the following.

1. H91DJ headphones (with cord wired mic)
2. Quality and warranty card
3. PC adapter accessory (more on this in a bit)

 
BUILD QUALITY/COMFORT:




 
It’s clear from looking at the headphones that they are not built with top shelf materials. You will not find much more than plastic and faux leather here. But, this is to be expected at this price point. Although the materials may not turn heads, the phones seem well built and durable considering price point. The plastic feels strong, meaning I do not have much concern for the hinges or other joints.

The padding on both the band and cans are both plentiful. While I did not feel any immediate pain or stress from the band, I do find that my ears become sore after listening for more than 1-2 hours. I believe this may be due to the shape of my ears.

The cans do not pinch, nor do they feel light against the ears. They seem to have the right feel on the ear, meaning a good seal for the sound. However, the faux letter can have issues with breathability. I do not have a lot of sweating issues normally, but I could definitely feel myself sweating a small bit with these, which may be an area of concern for those with humidity issues.

The phones go from a pretty small head size to GIGANTIC. I am a big man with an impressively large noggin, these reach from ear to ear with room to spare. But somehow, they still fit my wife’s much smaller head. There should not be much issue when it comes to fit.

Remaining is the cord/connector, which will not be turning any heads. Not that this should be an issue or worry. The cable is a one-sided connection on the left ear with a mic about 4 inches from the cans. Without opening the cans, I am assuming the cord is not fully secured inside, as I could spin the cable more than 360 degrees. Because of this, I would strongly recommend being careful with the cable. Eventually, with enough twisting the wires will become damaged, and eventually break. The mic has a mute button, as is common with most mics of this design.

Worth noting is an included accessory that really surprised me. I would describe it as a PC wire adapter. This will take the 3.5mm jack with L/R/Mic and split into a standard 3.5mm headphone and microphone. This allows people to use the headphones and mic on the computer properly; meaning you can use these to listen to music, or as a headset for gaming or skype. This was an unexpected accessory, and surprising for the cost. However, just that little extra accessory added even more value to me.

SPECS: (from the box)

Speaker type: Dynamic

Frequency range: 20hz – 20khz

Sensitivity: 108 dB ± 3dB

Impedance: 32 Ω

Cable length: Approx 1.5m (Mine measured closer to 1.6m)

Microphone:

Type: 6x2.7mm

Frequency Response: 30Hz to 15 kHz

Impedence: <10k

Sensitivity:-58 dB ±3 dB

HOW THEY SOUND:

I will be detailing the sound in sections below. I was, at first, concerned for the performance of the phones. They originally came appeared as very muddy, blanketed, and way too warm in general. After about 10-20 hours of burn-in these issues seemed to settle a bit, giving the phones their current sound.

Before writing this review the phones were burned-in for 20 hours. Generally speaking, these phones still have a warm tone, and fit well with punchy songs. However, because of this, it is not a great fit for all types of music. Music that features heavy brass use or beautiful mids are really disappointing through these cans. But for such an inexpensive cost, they deliver.

LOWS:

The Bass that comes from these headphones are very punchy. This can sometimes cause a bit of masking in the lower mids. As a result, the musical separation at bottom end can leave something to be desired, ultimately making a more narrow soundstage. However, this seems to be a very good fit for genres with lots of distortion.  I found this to be more noticeable on my Fiio X1 versus listening through my Zenfone 2.

MIDS:

The mids in these phones are acceptable. Musical separation is quite impressive here, but the soundstage seems really short. From the guitars to the voices, everything is quite smooth and detailed, but seems almost claustrophobic or condensed. This is where the warmth shows the most. Combining this level of warmth with the deep lows makes the phones great for rock and other harder bass driven tracks with powerful male/deep vocals. But again, will take away from less heavy tracks.

HIGHS:

While I feel that the highs are properly displayed, and provide a great roll-off, it seems as if the highs sometimes lack sparkle. Some tracks pronounce well, never harsh. Other times, it will fall short. This also attributes to the warmer sound, as highs do not shine enough to balance the overall sound profile. In short, highs are inconsistent and track dependent.

MISC:

Isolation is not the strongest suit of these phones. The pads do well enough to drown out the normal levels of volume on their own, but without any real volume you will likely be able to hear most background noises beyond a normal speaking volume. Thankfully, the pads do well at containing sound. Most audio can not be heard when sitting across from someone until you get to an uncomfortable level.

The mic on the cable is nothing too special. Just your standard headset microphone. Callers can hear me clearly without issue. Although, the microphone is susceptible to microphonics. Meaning if you are going planning on using the mic, you may want to keep the cord off of your body.

Using the Fiio Q1 in combination with the Fiio X1 has definitely shown a increase in sound quality. When using the line out to the amp, I found the sound to be much fuller. The Highs had a better sparkle than originally shown. Mids remained generally unaffected. Bass seemed more plentiful, but no real change to quality of the Bass. To be clear, it is still a warm set of cans and will not compare to a set of phones that would cost less than the combination of these with an amp.

Conclusion:

I was surprised at the sound quality that came from these considering$29.99 price tag. Honestly, I was expecting them to sound like bargain bin headphones. But, in fact, they were quite far from that. Sure, these will not compare to spending $100+ on a set of brand name cans like Sennheiser, or Audio Technica. But for the price point, these cans do not pull their punches.

My largest complaint would be the overall comfort. I could not listen for more than an hour before my ears were sore from the padding. Your mileage may vary here. Besides the discomfort, I was a little disappointed that they were more of a one trick pony. They work well with Bass heavy music like rap and rock, but just don’t do the highs justice. For this price point, these may be a good fit. They would sound good for most PC gaming and would have the added benefit of an in-line mic.

 
SONGS USED:

MP3:

First Thing’s First - Neon Trees (320kbps)
Keep Your Head Up  – Andy Grammer (320kbps)
You Make Me Wanna - Thomas Rhett (320kbps)
Until She Saves My Soul - The Fratellis (192kbps/320kbps)
Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant (320kbps)

FLAC:

Fly Me to the Moon (Vinyl Rip) – Frank Sinatra (96/24bit)
Give Life Back to Music (Vinyl Rip) – Daft Punk (96/24bit)
Play the Game – Queen (44.1/16bit)
Obsession – OK GO (44.1/16bit)
 
HARDWARE:
Fiio X1
Fiio Q1
Asus Zenfone 2 using Spotify Premium/Tidal
Onkyo TX-NR626 (Flac files/Spotify Premium)
HP ENVY DV6T quad with HD audio

Hello fellow head-fi members. This will be my first official review of a product that I have published. As such, I would appreciate any input you can provide to allow me to make my review better. Likewise, if you have any questions regarding the SE-425’s. Let me know, as these are my daily IEM’s at the moment, I can usually answer the question or at least find out. With that said, let’s begin the review!

INTRODUCTION:



The Shure SE-425 is one of Shure’s higher tier IEM products, having only the SE-535 and SE-846 above them. The 425 uses a dual balanced armature setup with passive crossover. They also sport one of my favorite features, the detachable cable. This means that the cable can be replaced if damaged, or simply upgraded if you want a better cable. Before we begin the real review, let’s take a look at the specs.

UNBOXING:



The box for the SE-425 is your standard windowed retail box. Nothing hugely fancy, but more than enough information for someone to make an educated decision on the phones and have the real specs (You know, that information Bose doesn’t include). Inside, you will find the following:

1. Warranty card
2. Instruction manual
3. Hardened fabric style carrying case
4. Ear wax picker
5. A plethora of different eartips (more on this later)
6. 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter (gold plated)
7. And of course, the headphones
   

BUILD QUALITY/COMFORT:

The Shure SE-425 is built in the same type of housing found on pretty much the entire SE line. The plastic seems hard and resilient, but is still plastic regardless. It doesn’t feel as durable as the RHA 750’s. nor is it as sexy as the JVC FX850. But it does the job. The cable feels very durable, which is ironic as one of the big selling points for me was the detachable cable in case the cable was damaged.

There are two main worry points for me on this device. The first being the nozzle or tube that the ear tips are attached to. In fact, I managed to break the nozzle on my first pair when trying to remove the originally installed ear-tips. There are a number recommendations on how to properly and safely remove the ear tips. However, I did not read these recommendations and proceeded to grip with all of my might to remove them. This resulted in a cracked nozzle and a 2 week exchange period without my new toy ☹.

Shure recommends a few methods, including putting the headphones in the freezer for a bit to break the seal from the factory tips. I found this helped remove the tips. Once the originals are removed, things are easier (but not too easy) to change. As a personal recommendation, if you know the factory tips are not going to work for you, simply cut them off with an x-acto knife. This is an easy way and allows you to avoid the headache.



My other concern is easily avoidable. This concern is with the detachable cable, or rather the connection. I love that these cables can be replaced easily. But, the type of connection leaves the male connection on the monitor. This means you have a tiny pin that can easily be bent (and not so easily put back in place). To avoid this, simply avoid detaching the cable. If you need to detach the cable, make sure you are attaching the cable completely straight. Issue avoided!

Some people report that the design of the Shure’s just simply do not fit, either not making a complete seal or they have a short length of ear, making the IEM not fit completely. For me this is not the case. If you find that the seal isn’t getting it done, try a different tip. If they simply don’t fit… They just don’t fit. There isn’t much to be done.

SPECS: (from the box)

Speaker type: Dual Hi-Def Micro Drivers (Balanced Armature)

Frequency range: 20 Hz-19kHz

Sensitivity: 109 dB SPL/mW

Impedance: 22 Ω

Noise Attenuation: (sound blocking) Up to 37dB

Cable length: ~63.75 inches (162 cm)

HOW THEY SOUND:

I’m going to split this portion into a few categories to make this a simpler read. It is worth noting that before writing this review and testing, the headphones had roughly 100 hours of burn in. If you find something missing here that you wanted to know about, please let me know and I will try to add it into the review.

LOWS:

Being that these are dual driver IEM’s, they have a dedicated woofer for each ear. Provided the fit is right (more on this later) the Bass is well placed. It is tight and concise, and usually extends well enough. On my computer the Bass is fantastic, but for some reason when using my Fiio X1 the bass is almost non-existent and needs to be EQ’d to show. Even then, the quality of the bass is not as expected. This issue, does not seem to replicate with my Zenfone 2. Perhaps this is due to issues with the Fiio X1?

MIDS:

As far as I’m concerned, Shure is god in this arena. Details are clear and crisp, making for a weird experience when you didn’t realize a specific background instrument in songs you have listened to for years. You can hear the subtle breaths in between lines, Vocals are fantastic, Guitars are all on point, to a scary level almost. Overall, practically perfect, with a forward lean on the mids.

HIGHS:

Probably the weakpoint in the phones. Not enough to complain in my opinion. But some people will want more here. Highs are theye, they sound proper, but with a lack of proper extension. The highs don’t carry (last) as long as I feel they should. To me it still seems to capture the life of the highs, just not to a degree where a song full of mainly highs will be replicated properly. This isn’t so much an issue with me, as most of my songs live in the mid with some high details.

MISC:

While the following doesn’t have to do with the product abilities to reproduce music, I feel it needs to be in this section. The first is Microphonics (noises from the cord rustling), this is practically non-existant. This is likely due to the over the ear style, but is almost not worth mentioning.

Isolation is FAN-TAS-TIC… BUT!-only if the fit is right. This is key! Not only to isolation, but for the proper sound. Perhaps this section should be at the start of the sound section, but it’s too late for that. This IEM can go from sounding superb to sounding terrible due to improper fit. Find the right size, and stick with it. I find that the Shure olive mediums are the winner for me (Ironically, the ones that come pre-installed). The grey tips didn’t seem to get as good of a seal for isolation. The yellow foam are actually great (possibly better than the pre-installed for me), but they tend to pull a lot of ear wax from me and are more difficult to clean… To me they are not worth the hassle. There is also the white triple flange that like to violate my cranium. Ultimate seal from these, giving even more bass, but I just cannot handle the cranial invasion these provide. Your mileage may vary…



Regardless of which tips you choose, make sure they are right, and that you get a proper seal. During the burn in period I had to take a four hour flight. As luck would have it, I was placed on the wing, next to the engine, with a crying two year old behind me. So I prayed and squished down the foam of the Shure olives and placed the IEM. After getting both in it was incredibly quiet. Then, after hitting play the world went mute. No crying baby, no engine. Just the soothing sounds of music and a smile across my face.  I particularly enjoyed watching the increasingly frustrated face of my neighbor as he attempted to deal with the baby with an infinity lung. It will take time to really figure out how to get the phone in properly, if this is the first of the style you have owned. But once you figure it out, it’s a simple installation for plenty of comfort and sound!

SOUNDSTAGE:

Soundstage has always been something of a difficult thing for me to understand when using IEM’s. For me, almost every IEM has a very close soundstage. This is not to say that it is non-existant, more that I cannot comprehend the stage. Musical separation is fantastic, and each can be picked out separately. Vocals from multiple people is easily distinguished. But for me, when using IEM’s I have always had issues visualizing an actual stage to them. I don’t think this is an issue for the headphones, but more an issue that I have. In the end, the things important about a soundstage are all present and fantastic. Sorry I can’t help more with this portion.

CONCLUSION:

The Shure SE-425 is a great all-round IEM. The bass is tight and concise, musical separation is superb, and the mids are solid gold. The bass can be lacking if the seal is not correct, so make sure your using the right tips. The treble may leave some things to be desired. But overall, for the price these can be obtained at (can be found regularly at about $249.99 despite the $349.99 MSRP) they are a great deal for me.

 
SONGS USED:

MP3:

Axel F – Harold Faltermeyer  (320kbps)
Believe – Mumford & Sons (320/192/128kbps)
Let the Road – Rixton (320kbps)
Space Age – Library Voices (320kbps)
The Impression That I Get – Mighty Mighty Bosstones (320kbps)

FLAC:

Believe – Mumford & Sons (96/24bit)
Crazy (Live – A Little South of Sanity Vinyl Rip) – Aerosmith (44.1/16bit)
Give Life Back to Music (Vinyl Rip) – Daft Punk (96/24bit)
New Beginnings – Noah Guthrie (44.1/16bit)
Give It Away (Blood Sugar Sex Magik Vinyl Rip) – Red Hot Chili Peppers (96/24bit)
Ashes – Embrace (44.1/16bit)
 
Hardware:
 
Fiio X1
HP Pavilion DV6T-QUAD with HD audio
ASUS Zenfone 2 (Z550AD) using Spotify premium/Tidal