Introduction This is the second headphone from Noontec I've been invited to write a review for. The previous one I reviewed was the Hammo S, which I gave a  3 1/2 stars rating. You can read the review here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/noontec-hammo-s-over-ear-headphone-audiophile-sound-stylish-looking-votrik-50mm-driver-sccb-technology-high-definition-portable-foldable-comfortable-blue/reviews/13511   Ergonomics, design, accessories Right off the bat, I was relieved to see that inside the packaging, Noontec did not continue with their crass...

Introduction I was invited by Noontec to write a honest review of their Hammo S headphone.    I tend to be very skeptical about lower-priced headphones, since the bottom tier of headphones/speakers tend to sound anywhere from abysmal to just okay, with extremely few examples of actually sounding pretty good. At around $109 USD, the Hammo S isn’t the cheapest pair of circumaural headphones you can buy, but generally speaking, headphones around the $100 mark are relatively low in the hierarchy of headphones. Typically, you’d have to spend closer to...

  WEBLOG: While staying at our temporary apartment in Sacramento, California (we’re here shopping for a new home), I badly needed a pair of small desktop speakers for my laptop. After much research online, comparing reviews and assessing the specifications, I ended up with the Audioengine A2‘s.   Here’s how they look in our current temporary apartment: In the past, I usually travel with a very old pair of Altec Lancing ACS-90‘s I scrounged from the storage room scraps, when I contracted briefly at Broderbund/Red Orb in the late 90′s as...

I have put the W4 through its paces, and after the first round of extensive testing, here are my impressions.   My main reason for getting the W4 is to hopefully replace the SE535 and W3, since I find them too colored or fatiguing/bright without EQ. Ideally, I wanted a pair of IEM's that I can listen to without any EQ. In a way, the W4 gives me that, but not in the way I had hoped.   First of all, the W4 is definitely much better than the W3, since it's obvious that Westone listened to all the complaints about W3 and tuned the W4 according to...

I don't like to buy headphones solely based on people's recommendations without auditioning them first, but the reality is, you often have to because you just don't have the opportunity to audition exactly the models you are interested in due to where you live. The Westone 3 is one such case where I had to rely on internet reviews, and I regret the purchase. The problem with trusting online opinions is that often the people who write really good prose don't necessarily have good taste in audio--many of them use flowery prose to describe what is...

When I decided to replace my crappy Creative Inspire P7800 7.1 Surround Speakers System with something a lot better, I was not after high-end surround sound for audio production or crazy audiophile home theater–I only wanted something that sounded fairly good and has a good sub-bass extension, so I can feel all the visceral power of video game action and movies. Even though I'm quite happy with my JVC/Victor SU-DH1 hardware Dolby Headphone virtual surround, no matter how good Dolby Headphone is for creating the illusion of surround sound, it’s still...

It's been about a month since I've received my Audez'e LCD-2 headphones (after being on the waiting list for almost three months). It's currently one of the most praised high-end headphones on the market, and before I jump into the review, I'll just get straight to the bottom line--it is a fine pair of headphones, but it's not without issues. Here's what the LCD-2 looks like: Cosmetics & Ergonomics First of all--the build is excellent. It looks every bit the high quality hand-made product that it is, but it has a quirky problem--one...

I have been recommended the K701/702 many times before and I finally got to hear one in person. I actually liked it a lot, as it sounded smooth, detailed, open, and articulate, but the caveat was the anemic mid-bass presence. Although the K701's sub-bass is well extended, its lighter mid-bass turns the overall presentation into something less than ideal. It's really a shame because that's the only real weakness it has, and if it had more mid-bass presence, it could very well be one of the best headphones out there.   The K701 is very comfortable...

For a portable, the ES-10 has surprisingly substantial sub-bass--very similar to the M50, with both able to almost match the D7000 all the way down to 30Hz (although the D7000 does it effortlessly, while the two AT models struggle a little bit more). In fact. The ES-10 and the M50 sounded so similar to the point where I wondered if they use the same driver. It's a pleasant and warm sound without any sibilance, but not as articulate or airy as I'd like. Being a portable on-the-ear is fine since it's actually pretty comfortable, but I still prefer to...

I finally got to test a pair of DX1000 against the Denon AH-D7000, and right off the bat, the treble just sounded odd--it's kind of distant and muffled, but still articulate--as if the treble existed in a different plane of space. The sub-bass wasn't as extended as the D7000, with 30Hz being rolled off--in fact the right driver started buzzing at 45Hz and lower (D7000's 30Hz remains just as prominent as the other bass frequencies, with no sign of roll-off, and no sign of distortion). My M50's 30Hz is also struggling a bit, with a little bit of...

I have listened to the HD800 twice, and I never really warmed up to it. And to clarify, they were not casual listening sessions--I took my time and did the listening under the following condition:   -In a controlled environment without distraction and noise -Used high-end audio source and gears in the signal chain -Had other flagship headphones there to do direct comparisons with -Had ample time to do the listening tests, and took as long as I wanted   I should also clarify that I'm an audio professional (composer, songwriter, sound designer)...

(The following is a completely rewritten review dated October 24, 2010, and replaces the previous one written back on May 30, 2010)   I’ve been hearing about electrostatic headphones for a while now, and they are usually spoken about with reverence since some of the finest and most expensive headphones ever made were elecstrostatic. Stax is currently the king of electrostatic headphones, and the SR-007mk2 is their flagship product. It’s also known as the Omega 2 mk2, or O2 mk2. The Omega name comes from the first generation of the model due to...

I always see people recommending the HD280 like it's some amazing price vs. quality gem in the headphone world or something, and when I borrowed a pair to compare to my HD555 a few years ago, I was surprised by how bad the HD280 sounded and how uncomfortable it was. The bass was anemic, the soundstage was congested, and the way it clamped on the head was uncomfortable. For sub-$100 headphones, you'll be much better off with the Equation RP-21. But if you could spend a little bit more, you'll get into a far better range of headphones like the...

I needed decent closed-back headphones for tracking, and while the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is a much better pair of headphones overall at just $50 more, the Equation RP-21 is actually not bad at all for sub-$100. The tonal balance is quite good and does not exhibit any glaring problems like bloated bass or rolled-off treble or other similar problems we often hear in budget headphones. The upper mids are a bit bright though, and while it's not nearly as bad as some other headphones, for people who really like a non-fatiguing sound, it's a bit brighter...

(Disclaimer: This review was written while considering the very low price-point of the M50, and what you can get for that amount of money. It does not mean the M50 can go up against the high-end headphones that cost several hundred to thousands of dollars. My main headphones are high-end headphones, and the M50 is only used while I'm doing tracking or traveling. I wouldn't use it as my everyday headphone since I have superior headphones for that, such as the Audez'e LCD-2.)   The ATH-M50 is one of those rare products where the quality/price ratio...

My first Sennheiser was the HD555, which was a real gem for its price bracket, and then when it broke, I replaced it with the HD600. I immediately exchanged it for the HD650 as I found the HD600 to sound so similar to the HD555 (just a little bit more treble mainly) that the price difference wasn't justified. The HD650 is very similar to the HD600, but with a bit more weight in the bass, and a slightly smoother sound overall. But in any case, these upgrades are all diminishing returns, as the HD555 really is excellent already.   The HD650's...

My Denon AH-D7000 finally arrived, and I've been putting it through its paces. My perspective on the D7000 is from a slightly different angle from most people who have reviewed it, since I have used the previous generation of Denon flagship AH-D950 headphones from mid-90's to 2005 or so. It was already falling apart around 2001, and I kept taping it back together until it could no longer be fixed and looked like crap. Here's the D950 all beat up, with electrical tape, worn out pleather earcups, snapped off housing...etc:   It's been with me...