The JVC HA-R330 is not a brand new headphone but an old one, I was looking for a closed back headphone that was affordable and didn't cost too much, since I already had my primary pair of headphones the ATH-R70X. Of course these won't be compared to them, as they don't stand a chance.

Upon looking at the HA-R330's and feeling them in my hands, you can tell that they was made cheaply, with the way the plastic feels when you hold them in your hand. It’s hard plastic but not that hard, like the kind if plastic use for cheap dollar store toys. I doubt they would survive a good hard fall, or take too many drops to the ground.

Portability is not there strong suit since they do not fold, You have one way to carry them around if you are on the go, which is wearing them on your neck. So if your looking for the easy of taking them around with you, while your on the move, then the JVC HA-R330 would be a poor choice, unless you use your neck for a headphone holder, when the R330s are not in use.

They are rated as 32ohm with 1,200mW as the max voltage capability, I don’t know how they would do being ran from a basic mp3 player, As I couldn’t find my Ipod mini for the review.

Comfit

Most headphones have some kind of padding on the headband for added comfort, Not the R330’s. While the headphones are light on your head, due to not having any padding on the top. The bare plastic headband of the headphone sits on the top of your head, while it does feel good for a couple of hours, evenly you will start to feel the headband as it gets to be a bother. Even going as far as leaving marks of the top of the headband on your head, since the headband it self has an opening in the middle of it. If you happen to move it around on your head a lot, you will have even more dents on the top of your head. Don’t worry the dents will go away. Padding would be real useful in this spot of the headphone, in fact it kinda look like you have room to place a headband pad, when you look at the spot, you can see a grove or an opening to place one there. But as it stands extended use will get uncomfortable.

Ear padding isn’t that good either as they are made out of Plastic Leather, and feels oily while not being that thick. The other problem is the cup of the ear pads is kind of small, People with medium to large ears including those ears that stick out from there head will find that the headphones doesn’t feel good on there ears. This also includes glasses wearers due to the pads being too soft and thin in the padding.
It doesn’t help that they R330 have a type of clamp on your head, which makes it feels worst. Those with small ears or ones that do not point out, wont have a problem with the ear-pads. Lucky the pads can be removed and swapped for another pair of ear-pads, as long you have the right size.


Adjustment

Now adjusting the headphone it self is easy and done well, on the side of the headphones, you will see a slider, which snaps into place for each head size. The setting stays and does not changes on it own, plus you know when you got it into the slider as it makes a sound. Here comes the down side, there is no markers on the slider, if you want to make sure you have it set right, you will have to measure or compare the sliders in size, to make sure you have it set where you want it. I find my self using the tip of my finger to measure the size of the opening for the adjuster so I can get it the way that I want it. Some times you will need to apply a little force to make it slide.

Besides the adjuster, each side has an L and R marker as well as 3 small bumps to note the Left side. The problem here is that they are hard to see due to them being pressed in, and sadly not enough since you can not see the lettering. Which means if you want to make sure you have them on correctly, you have to turn on a light just to be able to see the markers. Either making them a certain color, using a sticker or putting side ID on the cable, would have been a better idea.

Cable

The length of the cable is 8.2ft which is very long, While I have gotten lower part of the cable stuck and it didn't break, But the cable that goes into the headphones them self is thin and filmsy, and it doesn't look that durability. Just don't go pulling on the cable, as then it may snap. Which also means they are hard wired into the headphone.

Sound Isolation

Sound isolation I would say is good, but not perfect. But the main reason why I say its good, as my computer is ver loud due to the case fans and my Heat sink fans that are noisy. I still can hear the fans just not as much as the headphones does an good job of blocking out most of the sound, just an little comes through,while it did block my computer fans, other sounds will come thru, due to the headphones not being completely sealed on the top of your head.

Setup

For this part of the review, I will be using a Sound blaster AE-5 with the hp amp gain set to normal(32-149 ohm), with the JVC HARX 330’s plugged into the headphone plug directly on the card, I will be using the Direct Headphone output setting in the software suite which disables the card software suite so nothing will be effecting the overall sound. For the Media player, I will be using Jriver Media
Center.

For game’s and a movie, I will use both the Surround+VR 7.1 headphone option on the card. Also I will do gaming in pure stereo, while music will be done in Direct Headphone mode.


Music
(Direct Headphone)

In the song Flowing Tears(Reaching into the universe) Flac, Which is a drum and bass song. There is no brightness at all, its smooth in the highs, details still come thru without a problem. It just not too much and not too little.

The problem area is the bass, while it does go deep, it’s mostly one noted as I don’t hear the other bass types, as it almost sound like a sub-woofer just not too much, Doesn’t invade the other sound frequency.

I can easy tell the difference between the different instruments and synth sounds in the song. But because of the size of the sound stage, it feels like the audio is right outside my head. I can’t make out the location of the sounds as it seem as they are right next to each other over my head.

In the song The Qemists- Dirty Words Flac, which is a break-beat/DnB/ Rock n roll type song, the singers voice sound good and with the correct amount of bass behind their voices. Sadly the location of the singers voice is right upon my face. The details in the highs is a little too much. The bass is similar with the same one note type of sound. But it still the same in regards as every thing else except the deep bass hits not as hard.
I decided to try a dub-step song, called Replacer (M.G.R.X Remix), I don’t have the album name. Every thing was similar to Qemists, But the bass hits harder, With the snare of the drums coming thru with detail, a bit too much detail for my taste.

Another dub-step song Altitute – Bare which I tried which is mostly bass. The sub-woofer bass and the one note quality of it was more apparently heard. One thing that the bass doesn’t do is distort, which I expected happen but didn’t.

Gaming
(Surround+VR7.1 HP)
I been trying these out in a bunch of games since owning them, One game in question that I started playing recently named warhammer: Vermintide 2. Which is a First person game, The issue that I ran into while using the JVC HARX330’s with the game, is there are times where I can not tell the location of the Rats and other creatures in the game, due to the sound stage being very small.

I find my self looking around more so, as sounds come off as being close to me, when in reality they are not, while the sound stage is small, the sound imaging is I would say avg, as I can hear other players walking behind me to my side into the front of me. It just any thing that’s further then them is not accurate.

Bass does a really good job in games as it doesn’t come off as being muddy, it does have some power behind the bass with some sub-woofer style bass, It just not muddy, it’s quality is OK, but it really more quantity then quality.

Even after all that bass, I still was able to hear the special creatures and the other sounds since the bass did not cover up the rest of the sound. While the AE-5 gaming functions did work, the game results came from the headphones them self and not the mode. As my Primary Headphones have a totally different result.

Gaming (Stereo Direct Headphone)

Gaming in stereo with these headphones without using the AE-5 surround+VR 7.1 setting isn’t the same. When I played the same game, the sound image was good in regards to the other players as long they was close to me, Sound stage size being small was the main problem, I found my self looking all around more so since I couldn’t tell where sounds was coming from, since they was closer then what they really was. I couldn’t tell how far the creatures was. While gaming wasn’t that well. The sound quality was still good. I didn’t enjoy using pure stereo to game with the JVC’s. The smaller sound stage is the main problem when gaming. At-least With AE-5’s Surround+VR 7.1 that helped me out when I was gaming. In stereo the 330’s won’t do that good for gaming due to the sound stage being too small.

Movies

(Surround+HP7.1)

I watched a movie called 2037:winter dream on Netflix in 5.1, here the headphones fared better then it did in gaming with the mode. The bass did a very good job here, although the bass still had that sub woofer type sound, It was only a bit. While over all the results was good, you could easy hear the size of the sound stage. Every thing was close to my ears, while voices from the front of me was even closer. The only good thing about it was that the audio was outside my head.

I was able to hear the actors talking in the movie, and I really didn’t have any issues with the speech. They also came off as being in front of me, as if there talking to me in the movie, but a little more so in my face, voice’s wasn't thin at all which was actually great, voices had a good amount of bass behind them. Sound image I would say was good. Overall the headphone worked good with the AE-5 setting.



Conclusion

Some songs did good, others not so much. When It comes to music, I did like the headphones with some songs. Just not when they are dub-step, or have a lot of bass in them or bit more detail then usually.

Games and movies is what I enjoyed the JVC HARX330’s with, even though the sound stage was small. This where I enjoyed the bass, as I heard the impact of the Rifles and shotgun being fired in Warhammer Vermintide 2, as long I am using the AE-5’s Surround+Vr7.1 while gaming. With pure Stereo I did not like it at all, as I didn’t enjoy it as much.

Adjustment slider worked very well, What didn’t is the ear-pads, lucky you can swap them out, for something maybe a bit more thicker, maybe something that could improve the over all sound. But they are affordable and while they are they did alright for the price.

I decided to see how the bass would be if I plugged them into my schiit Jotunheim using low gain which uses my AE-5 as an source. The bass has improved a lot and is no longer giving off a sub-woofer boom type of sound, at the same time the bass hits harder in some songs. Over all improved expect the Sound stage was still small and the sound image improved a little.

First thing I going to say is that I receive an W800BT for my honest review, when you open the box, you will find the provided 3.5 cable and the charging cable inside it own box. Under that you will find the headphones, inside a plastic clam shell. Lets talk about the cables, most Bluetooth headphones that I have used in the past always included these cables. While the audio cable looks and feels like it decently made with gold connects. The charging cable that they included is better then the ones I seen from past BT headphones that I owned and at the same time feels like they wont break as easy such as the ones I have.



I know the 3.5 cable is meant to be used with a mp3 player or smart phone when the charge is up. But it's kinda short if you are some one who prefer to use analog over the BT function of the headphones. A second but longer cable for desktop usage would have been useful.


Durability wise the headphones is made out of plastic which feels cheap, Which looks like it could break if it took an hard drop to the floor.



Comfit



Padding on the ear’s and the head feels like p-leather, The headphone sits comfortable on the top of my head, While it doesn’t bother me on my ears, the shape of the ear pads causes it to touch the very bottom of my ear and the top. But it does not hurt. It sits on your head good enough, even with no clamping. Sound isolation isn't perfect but it did block some of my loud case noise.

Adjusting the headphones to fit a larger head is a snap, When you pull down the sides extend and locks into place with a click. Which is good because there are times where headphones that do not had this feature, would always slide out of the setting you had it, causing you to readjust it for your head. With the W800BT you won’t have this issue. But for other people with larger ears or those who wear glasses, you may have to mess with it, to get it to sit right on your head.

Power
They last quite a while when in standby mode which is 35hours, The battery size is 800MA.




Bluetooth


Before you start listening the first thing you should do is turn down the volume, as by default the volume is set to max. Lucky I had it on the table when I started to play some audio. I also tried an 4.0 Bluetooth receiver and an LG 345 Smartphone and both also paired with the W800BT,Even a comcast tv box paired without issues. Also the connection to the headphone hold and did not drop.

With the LG 345 Smartphone I was having some popping issues, it wasn't much but it was there, happen regardless if I was near it or away from it. Interesting enough I didn't have any popping issues when I paired them with my Comcast X5I box when. So it could just
been my phone, As other sources I tried didn't have the issue.




Controls




Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test the function out as the smartphone I had wasn't in service. One of the main problem that I ran into while accessing the buttons, is the location that they are in, I had a hard time changing songs due to holding down the Multi button and hitting volume, I had to put my hand in a certain way to do it and I ended up pausing the song instead of skipping to the next one. Lack of a good placement for the controls, as well lack of seperate buttons for the controls made it painful to use them.



Songs used
Tim Ismag - Bumble Bee
Egopool - Control
Kenji Kawai - Utai IV: Reawakening (Steve Aoki Remix)


Sources
CSR 4.0 BT adapter(PC)
Sound blasterX AE-5 (Direct HP) Analog
Comcast X5I Box/Ipod Mini mp3 player(Bluetooth)


Bluetooth

CSR 4.0 BT USB adapter
Right off the back hit hats,snares are not that clear,some times its an tad harsh depending on the song and other times it not clean. It also have an bit too much details and not just the tinny sound.

The bass have an sub woofer type of sound going for it, when it hit lows the bass becomes muddy, to the point that it's not clear. With Dub-step and any song that used a lot of bass, it was more apparent in the lows.

As for the sound stage, its tiny sorta sounds as the audio is inside your head and spreading out. The separation I would say is avg as some cases the instruments run into each other.

Comcast X5I Box and Ipod Mini (Bluetooth)
I paired the W800BT up with the Comcast X5i-p Box and with the Ipod mini, with the Comcast box I used the EDM music choice channel, and the sound quality was improved, the bass has improved, and it was smoother in the highs. The sound stage small and the image was outside my head. The ipod mini results mirror the results. While the bass has improved, it still has an hint of the sub-woofer style of bass. So The bass could use an bit of tweaking.



Analog(AE-5)

The first thing I notice is the highs, they are clearer and cleaner, but the down side is they are harsh and too detailed. I had the same issue with an Ipod mini and an smart phone that I tried. I had to removed the headphones off my head due to that.

Mid bass has improved, It no longer sound like an sub-woofer or sound muddy, it does have some hit to it, but its not too much. The low bass has also improved and hits hard,I don't hear the issue I heard in BT with the low bass. Drums, snares and hit hats are also heard cleanly but they do have an slight tinny sound.

Separation and sound stage has improved a lot, Instruments are no longer bunched together and I can hear there location easier, which also includes voices. As the Voices come off as being either directly in front of me or to my sides if not both. The sound is now projected outside of your head, instead of being inside, as I hear every thing outside my ears. Now the sound stage is not medium, but its not tiny, but small.



Conclusion

I found the Bluetooth quality to depends on what your pairing it with, when I paired it with the ipod mini and Comcast box and stayed away from any thing that messed with the signal. It did an very good job. I wish the bass was more refined, but that just me. The Bluetooth connection held up which was good, and I did like the long standby time which is an major plus. Which was an improvement over other bluetooth headphones I had in the past, since the headphones I had before would need to be recharge , even when I had them in standby, so the large charge time for standby is good.

The major problem for me is the location of the controls, They should be easier to get to, without having to take the headphones off, which mean if your working out or running, your going to have to fool with it til you get it an volume setting you want, or to an song you want after you take it off to switch the song. As I had to do just take, take the headphones off so i could change the song, as it was faster to just do that on the ipod.

Now the flaw with the headphone is it analog quality, While it did not pair all that great with my AE-5. When I tried to use the 3.5mm with both my LG Leon Smart phone and my Ipod Mini, both did tone down the harshness and the amount of details i had with the sound card, but it still did not help it, as the tinny sound was still there and the highs still had an some harshness to it. Which is an problem for those who rely on having the 3.5mm as an backup, when they run out of charge, as I can still see that happen.


Now if they work on the analog quality and maybe tweak the Bluetooth bass freq then they would have something good.

I wanna thank Mixcder for giving me the chance to review the Mixcder HD 601.


Upon opening up the box for the HD 601, you will see that it's sitting in a clam-shell, with the usually box of accessories in the middle. Inside the small box you will find an USB charging cable and a 3.5mm audio cable. The charging cable is for charging the headphones when there charge runs out, the 3.5mm cable will allow you to use them wired either when the charge is out, or when you are using devices that are not Bluetooth ready.


I put the headphones quickly to see how they feel, the headband padding is the same exact one used on there other HD301 model, which what I liked about it. It still feel comfortable on the top of my head. Sadly the ear-pads are not comfortable at all and right off the back they annoyed my ears due to how small they are in width, while the height of the ear-pads fits around my ears. The cup is also not deep enough as my ears touch the base of the cup, if the ear pads was a little more wider at the same time being more deeper inside the cup, it would be much more comfortable. The headphone weight is very good as I did not find it to be heavy but to be very light.


Unlike the HD301’s the HD 601’s do not fold, but there cups do still rotate flat. Which means you can still store them in suit case, carrying bags and your pocket if there wide enough. Folding would had made them easier to carry in smaller pockets, but not really a con, since you can still bring them with you on the go.


Lets talk about the connections and buttons, on the bottom of the right cup, you will find the 3.5mm jack, I didn’t have any issues at all plugging in the including cable and using the headphones. The volume buttons are a nice size, I didn’t make any mistakes at all lowering or raising the volume.


Pairing the headphones to my iPod worked without any problems. But nothing is perfect, when I went to plug in the charger cable into the mini USB port on the left cup, I had a hard time getting it in. It was like the port on the headphone was a little too small, evidently I got it in but I had to use force. I don’t seeing the connection holding up long due to the amount of force needed to plug the cable in, evidently the port will get damage from all of the force.

Pressing the power button and holding it down will enable the pairing mode, pressing it once will cause songs to stop playing, doing it again will cause them to play. Double tapping it will allow you to switch between EQ modes, one is balanced and the others Extra bass, which works instantly and without any issues as I can easily tell when you switch between the modes. The EQ mode only works with Bluetooth as I tried to see if it would work in 3.5mm mode, it doesn’t.


Moving the EQ setting to its own button or slider will make it easier to have access to, as you can mistakenly stop your song or in rare cases turn your volume down by mistake as the buttons are close to each other.


They added something new with this model in the form of NFC, which allows you to simply touch your NFC supported device to the headphones them self and connect them instantly. Unfortunately I do not have any devices with this functionally to see how well it works.

Noise isolation was OK, it was not that good as I was still able to hear my house fan, but it did block out most of the noses in my room. It wont block all of the noses if they are very loud. Just the medium to low noises.



Gear

Here how the HD 601 will be used in this review. For the Bluetooth functionally, I will be using an Ipod. While with analog, I will be using my sound BlasterX AE-5 directly using the headphone jack.




Bluetooth

In balanced EQ mode the highs didn’t stick out to me that much, other then some details heard with hit hats. But I did not have any problems with brightness as there was none. There was some tiny sound here and there but that's about it. Even the singer voices didn’t stick out to me either.



With the mids it was almost neutral aside from the bass which stuck out to me. Which was the problem on the HD601. The bass is too one noted with the way it is produced. You can not hear each bass note. It’s a single boom boom boom, even the low bass produced the same effect. Neither of them sounded good. When I tried songs with a lot of bass action, I heard the bass distort. Besides that there was times where it would overlap another instrument to the point, it was hard to even hear it. Extra bass made it even worst as it made it much worst, due to the highs being effected to the point of it becoming too smooth with some of the freq being removed. Extra bass made the lows and mid bass more in your face like then before.



Sound separation I would say it was avg as there are times where they merged into each other. While the sound imaging have a 2D type of feel to it, while at same time the sound stage is small, as it’s like the music is slightly outside my ears in width but inside my head in height if that make sense.







Analog



With my Sound blaster AE-5 there was improvements as I could hear where the instruments was in the songs, The separation is better, I now able to hear the instruments better then before. The sound image is better as well since the feeling of it being inside my head is less now. The low bass is still a problem as it distorts and is not clear and even muddy with it’s one note style bass it also still bleeds into the other channels. Highs are more neutral sounding then before with the hit hats having less of an shhh type of sound with the right amount of detail. There was no distortion in the bass or the highs so that was better.



While I did try the Ipod analog plug, the sound was too flat with the exception of the bass, as it was still one noted, and the separation was avg with the sound being inside of my head. I over all dislike it with the Ipod gen 7’s analog output.





Conclusion



While I did like the headphone, the major issues with it is the bass, if it wasn’t one noted and had more controlled to it and impact without the muddy sound it would be good. Next including the cup and ear-pad sizes will make wearing the HD601 a more enjoyable. Maybe making the Extra bass work some how while not using Bluetooth.

For a while before I heard of the AE-5, i was looking around for something that checked all of the boxes in regards of the features and support as well including usability that I was looking for to use as a source with my Jotunheim. The Dac module inside of my Jotunheim didn’t fit that bill, neither did the other external dac’s in the price range I had set. Now I not saying they was bad, they just didn’t offer what I wanted.

AE-5 uses a Sabre dac which is the ES9016K2M model. This card is a 5.1 card so those who was expecting a 7.1 card will be disappointed. While the card does have optical, it only decodes and pass the DD and DTS to your receiver.


The card it self uses WIMA for caps with some king of voltage regulars on the card, I don’t know which ones they are using. But the WIMA are some very good caps. Both the headphones and the speaker path ways are design using discrete components, which is a surprised to see them using discrete at all on the card. If your curious about the op-amps that are being used on the AE-5, creative decided to use LME4562 for all of the channels on the card. Usually sound card makers use a single good op-amp on the front channel, while placing jrcs on the rest of the channels, I glad they decided to put it on all of the channels. If you expected to be able to swap op-amps, unless your manually remove op-amps and put your own dip-8 in there place, Then it wont be possible. I don’t really see this as a downside but that's just me.

The first thing when you notice when you take the AE-5 out of it’s packaging, is the molex connector and the 4 pin plug on the top of the card. The molex connector is not used to power the sound card it self, but the RGB lighting feature of the card. The molex sends power to the 4 pin connector on the top of the card where the RGB strip goes.


Creative was nice enough to include one with the card which can be daisy chained with more strips. I do not know if any kind of 5V RGB stripes will work, as I haven’t tried. But creative does sell 3 more if you do not want to take the chance of using 3rd party strips. But they might be priced a little too much, but at around 30 dollars they give you 3 more. I haven’t taken the chance to use other rgb strips my self so I do not know what brands work or not work.

The RGB Lights when in use are very bright which means they will lite up a dark room, If you have a case like mine the Air 540, you will realize the lighting cause your case exhaust holes and fan grills to be projected onto the wall. Some may find that interesting and others not so much. Sadly you can not change the brightness of the RGB lights which is a down side as that really should be a feature.

ASIO

Now asio support, before I got the AE-5, I was trying to use my jotunheim dac’s drivers for asio, that didn’t work as planned, never worked correctly either it glitches or don’t work like it should.. With the AE-5 that problem is gone, asio works perfectly fine. No issues with it glitching, failing to play or simply not work. I even don’t have under runs in FL studio in compared to the asio support of my Jotunheim dac. This is only a minor issue that I have with the AE-5, I don’t know if it’s because of Asio 2.2, or how its is coded. But with the jotunheim dac drivers, I was able to change the bit rate settings. With the AE-5’s asio the only thing I can change is the buffer settings. Its nothing major but minor really as some programs give you the option. FL studio case it doesn’t, I hoping they add the option in a future driver.

DSD

There is not dsd support even when you use one of the direct modes to by pass the dsp to use the dac directly. The support simply may not be in the drivers, or because the way it used on the card. What you can do, is use a program like foobar 2k or another media player and simply convert your DSD to PCM. But for native DSD playback the card does not support it. Now I do not know how it would sound when you do the DSD to PCM conversion but that is the only option for now.

Software Suite/Driver

In the main dashboard, this is where the basic settings are for the BlasterX acoustic engine, scout 2.0, voice clarity, voice morph, EQ and the option to turn off the lighting. Not all of the settings are shown here. You will need to go to there own sections for the lighting, EQ, Scout and Voice Morph which I will go more into.

The audio presets are located in this section as well, they give you a wide range of options, including neutral which will turn off all of the settings. Each setting will bring up information telling what they are for to the right of them. My main issue with the presets comes from the fact, that you can not make more then one. Even though they made them for you, you should still have the option to make more then one.


The sound section is where you can really configure the EQ to your liking including the separate bass and treble bars which lowers or raise them. The other option besides the BlasterX acoustic engine settings which are also here. Is the scout options that are not listed on the dashboard, the short cut option to set the off and on to your keyboard keys and the option to connect to another device in the network, to display the scout radar on another device. There is a second way to display the radar on your mobile device, creative has released a google play app allowing you’re phone to connect automatically after giving it the permission to connect with your computer.


Here is where you have the option to morph your voice using many of the different voice presets, including being able to clean up your voice and block the background noise.



The lighting section, here is where you are able to config the RGB with it different settings, It has 8 presets which when configured is saved as your personal preset. Solo displays a single color, Aurora moves through the section of colors in the way of an actual Aurora, Wave moves the RGB in a wave, which the direction can be set to left, right and Zig zag in either of those directions. You have Pulsate which glows like a heart beat, Mood which is like solo option with the only difference being that it’s more then one color. Then Cycle which goes thru all of the colors. You can also change the speed, which ranges from 10 BPM to a super fast 240 BPM. The motion modes that included works very well, Not really an issue but I do wish you had more options to custom and more then 6 motion choices.


At the bottom of the panel, the setup section, this is where you can config your speaker configuration. You have the options for 5.1 Speakers, Stereo, Direct, Headphones 7.1 and Direct HP. When the Normal speaker modes are used, you are limited to 32bit/96khz due to the Core3D chip being used, But when you switch it to Direct mode, 32bit/384khz will be fully usable. Be warn when you use the Headphone Direct, the volume for the headphones will be loud at first, til you lower the volume bar down and up again. I don’t know if this intended or not.

Next we have the Speaker type settings, they give you the option for Desktop, bookshelf, tower and custom. The custom lets you turn on bass redirection and change the cross over frequency for 5.1 speakers option.
The mixer allows you to send stereo thru out the optical. In the same spot, you have multi-purpose recording, the drop down menu give you the option to record from Line-in, Front and rear microphone.

Last on the list the headphone gain settings, The sound card uses a Discreet headphone amp design that they are calling the X-amp which each channel amps the channels separately. The gain settings are 16ohms(IEMs), 32ohms, 150ohms,330ohms and 600ohms. I have a pair of ATH-AVC400’s which works very well with the headphone jack. There is also a problem here too, there a glitch which stops the software suite from saving the gain settings. It always resets back to the default 16ohm when you reboot the computer, in fact closing the software suite in general causes it to happen including going to sleep. It doesn’t bother me that much, But I hope that get fixed in a future driver release and not go unnoticed by creative.


The very last option settings, there nothing much here other then the language, distance units settings and the option to check for updates, starting up when windows starts and resetting to factory default.


The suite is kind of chunky due to a lot of the settings being in more then one place. If they removed duplicate settings, the panel would slim down. Right now settings exist in two places.

Blu ray Audio
Sadly there is no blu ray audio support as all the blue ray movies I tried, the audio was down-mixed to 16bit/48khz LPCM. I tried both normal DSP mode and Direct. The results was the same. I don’t see why they didn’t try to get the support. Maybe that will change in a future driver release.


Gear

For the review I will be using the AE-5 to drive both the Ath-AVC400’s and the ATH-R70x’s. The Avc400s are easier to drive then the R70Xs. I will give results based on how well the X-amp headphone design can handle my R70X’s, which are 470ohms with a high power requirement.

I will also pair the AE-5 with my jotunheim to show you how well it works as a source for an, my JBL LSR 305 will be used for this. I will be using Stereo direct when using the jotunheim and direct hp when doing the music listening with my headphones.

When I doing the game test I will do both stereo and virtual headphone 7.1 mode with SBX at 67%, with none of other settings enabled.


Songs
The songs I decided to go with in this review, they are native flac.

MPIA3 – Your Orders (Techno)
Com Truise – Sunspot (Electronic)
Freeland – Under Control
reinier baas – Squalor (Fusion/Jazz-Rock)

Music

AE-5
ATH-AVC400(Direct HP)



MPIA3 – Your Orders

The song is mostly bass and snares with some electronic songs, the bass is not boomy or muddy, it does a good job of going deep. While at the same time it comes off as being clean as you are easy able to hear the different beats. The electronic instrument is a bit too detailed, but not bright. Could just be the song.


Com Truise – Sunspot
Right off the back the song has a feeling of a spacious type of sound, the drums kit is very accurate due to the fact you can hear exactly how hard hard and soft the drums are played, including the bass. Even the hit hats comes thru very well. Nothing is overlapping each other, you don’t get that feeling that the drums or the snares trying to run each other over. Nothing like that, the bass is not in your face, it just there.

Freeland – Under Control

Song has a very good drum beat to it, similar to sunspot with the way the drum kits comes thru. You can hear the snap of the drums clearly. The voices is hard to say while being clear, it feels like the lead singer is in front of me on the stage. The backup singers are coming from the sides, with one on the far left center almost to the left of you. The sound image does sound a tad 3dish but mostly 2d, with a small to medium size sound stage. Even then the song still sound good to me. Its was hard to say how every thing sounded with these headphones.

Reinier Baas – Squalor

Almost exactly the same as freeland, only instead of voices, its instruments being projected from the front of me and the sides, with it even feeling like there's a second piano behind my right side. while a drum kit and all is behind my left side. Every thing is clear with no brightness any where with the right amount of details. With a 3dish type of sound image. Other then that, nothing sticks out at me.


AE-5 /w Jotunheim (JBL 305)

MPIA3 – Your Orders
The bass comes out very good in this song, it’s not muddy at all, even when the song is nothing but bass with some electronic instruments. Both can be heard very clearly with good detail. None of the instruments are overlapping there is no brightness any where in the song, the highs are just as clean as the rest of the song with details too. Over all the bass is tight and goes deep, ae-5 did a very good job as a source with this song.

Com Truise – Sunspot

Details and cleanness is at the for front in this song, the highs like before is not bright at all, but have a lot of details. With the drums hitting hard at the same time they are not impactful or have that slam type of bass but controlled, snares in the song tell a different story and may are very detailed as you can hear how much they are hit.

Freeland – Under Control

The vocals in this song is very good and are projected from the center of the sound stage and spreads out, the backup singers are also clearly heard coming from the sides of you and re-verbs to the center of you. Almost feels like there in the room with you, including the guitar which comes off as being the front right of you, the drums are very accurate and control as you hear them snap. The snares still have details but unlike the last two songs they are perfect, no out of control details any where in the song. Even the bass sound good in this song as it goes deep while staying clear. The sound stage and image is very well done with great separation.
Reinier Baas – Squalor


Whoa this song sound really good, I can’t put into words on how good this sound. Very similar to the results I heard from free land, but the highs has very good details while at the same time not being too detailed which came off as being smooth. The bass went deep as well but you could hear how deep it went, I don’t know how to explain it. Every thing sound like I'm there listening, there was great sound imaging and separation, even the sound stage was a very good size.


I didn’t expect the ae-5 to be a very good source for my jotunheim, results are even better then my jotunheim dac module which made every thing super bassy and 2dish and no where as clean as this, even the vocals came out better on the ae-5 with my jot. Bass is so much better on the ae-5 in compare to the jotunheim dac module.


AE-5 /w (ATH-R70X) (Direct HP)

MPIA3 – Your Orders

This song does bass really well, it doesn’t over do it on the bass, there is a force to it, but its not of impact to it but enough. There is no static distortion any where, the synthesizer has a good amount of detail in its sound, but its not overly detailed only a hair to my ears. What I like most about this song is the way the bass sounds as the notes doesn’t run into each other.

Freeland – Under Control

When I sit back and listen, I notice the main singer is in front of me, Sounds like hes on stage in front of me. The drummer is behind him as you hear him hitting on the drums, with the bass drum sounding like a bass drum with good accurately. The guitar has a deep feel, in front of me on the left center of the sound image. I can tell where the backup singers are as they sing there line behind the drummer. With a second singer to the left of me as his voice goes from my left to the right as it reverb. With electronic sounds moving around the sound stage. It doesn’t have any brightness and it’s not too detailed, but you can hear the snares without a problem. It sounds wonderful to my ears. Separation is very good too, none of the audio is merged into each other and can be heard as there own instrument and vocal.


Com Truise – Sunspot

Similar sounding to freeland but has a spacious type of sound at the start of the song, While you can hear all the detail of the hit hats maybe a tad tiny, with the accurately of the drums and the deepness of the bass drum, yes it bass is there and you can hear it, but its not impactful, I know I keep using the world accurate for the bass, but its there when the song calls for it. It doesn’t add it self to the songs. Meaning if the song has bass in it, it will be there, if it doesn’t then it wont.

Over all it has the same good separation to it as the other songs had.


Reinier Baas – Squalor

I can’t think of any thing to say other then it sound exactly the same as the other two songs, it is very enjoying to listen to. Very relaxing to sit back and listen. Nothing is out of place or wrong with the song.

AE-5
ATH-AVC400
(Stereo)
Doom 2016

The first thing I notice was the bass, even in the game it goes deep while having power behind it. it’s never too much bass to the point of it static. Which is what I was glad to hear. While I was playing the game, I was able to hear where every thing was. The gun fire from the shotgun sounded like a shotgun and not a peashooter. I heard every thing clearly including all of the sounds on the map. Nothing came off as bright. I def notice the sound stage being some what small, but that was due to the headphones.

Dying light

The results was very similar to doom, only this time I really felt I was in the game, I was actually scared running and panicking, even know I knew it was a game, the infected sound like they was really there. The sound image was really good in this game. The shotgun has power behind it sound. Ae-5 did a very good job with immersion factor.

(VR 7.1 Headphone /w SBX 67%)
Doom 2016

While I was running around the map shooting, the positional sounds was much better then they where with just stereo. I heard every thing coming from every where it was more accurate, at the same time the audio sound just as good as it did when I had it off. Nothing was messed up.

I only had sbx on and none of the other settings, I don’t know what they did, but I don’t recalling sbx working this good before. But that was 6-7 or so months ago when I had an zxr.

Dying light
The results was the same, it was just much more immersion then without it. I it was far more easier to hear where every thing was. I was even able hear a zombie walk up on me while I was picking a lock as I heard it got closer and closer til I heard it right up on me. It was more enjoyable using this function when I was gaming then without it.

AE-5 /w Jotunheim (JBL 305)

Doom 2016
when I was using my dac module, It made doom not enjoyably due to the bass being way too much causing static and other issues with the game audio. The ae-5 is another story, I didn’t have any none of that bass issue that the jotunheim dac module had. The bass had similar sound signature as the songs in regards to sounding good, it still went deep without causing issues with static, it was also controlled. The rest of the game sounds was very good, but the bass was the main reason why I did doom.

Dying light

Every thing was clear while sounding just as good as the songs did, I don’t know what else to say here. The bass was the same way too, the bass from the shotgun was well done. Again the AE-5 worked very well with the jotunheim and my jbl 305s.

AE-5 /w (ATH-R70X)


Games
(Stereo headphone) (Direct HP)
Doom 2016
Sounds really good, with good sound imaging, all of the audio was clean nothing was dirty sounding at the same time it was clear. I didn’t find the game audio to be bright at all or be too detailed. Nothing sounded tinny or too warm.

I used to have bass problems in this game with all of the other sound cards including my USB dac module in my jotunheim. This is the first time the bass doesn’t come out all distorted and clipping. I notice the bass goes deep just like it did in music. As I was shooting demons, it felt very immersion. The guns sounds like guns, you heard every thing as the sounds go off, no game audio was merged together.

Dying light

As I play the game, throwing grenades and hearing them explode without being muddy or statically. You are granted with deep bass, while every thing is so clear. I can hear every sound detail, fire arms have power behind there shots, so they sound like guns and not peashooters. It’s not too much bass or too little, it just right. Sound image is very good, I knew what was coming from me, as well when I was running with zombies behind me. There wasn’t a hint of brightness any where.

(VR 7.1 Headphone mod /w SBX %67)
Doom 2016

The sound imaging and positional audio is much better then it was in stereo, I find it to be a much more immersion experience then it was without it. Every thing still sound good, as the audio is not outta whack. It was more accurate on where all the demons was. I don’t know what going on, but I found it to work better then what I remembered. It could be the VR headphone 7.1 speaker mode being used along with SBX. I enjoyed game more then I did without it. As I was also able to hear overhead audio better too. It didn’t have some form of echo to me either.

Dying light

The results was the same as Doom while still sounding good, it worked even better in the game then it did in doom. I even heard the infected walking under me when I was standing on a light pole. Game audio still sounded good including the voices. I didn’t have any issues at all with the way it sound. It was all clear.


Conclusion


I been enjoying this card every since I got it, the performance surprised me as I didn’t know what to expect. It sounded very good with my jotunheim even paired very good too. I not gonna lie, I liked it a lot better then I did the dac module inside my jotunheim.

It even sound good with my R70X’s plugged directly into the card it self along with the AVC400. I went in thinking that I may not like the card and that it might get sent back. But none of that is gonna happen as I def keeping this card.

The X-Amp designed headphone amp perform very well with my AVC400s and surprised me when I tried my R70x with it. I don’t know the power ratings it supplies for each of the ohm settings. But it handled the R70X which I had set to 600ohms, because there wasn’t an ohm setting for 470ohm. I also had to use around 15% volume. Of course it not on the same level as my jotunheim, but I still liked how it performed on the AE-5.

Even as I tried other songs then what I mentioned in the review, and I really enjoying it.

The VR headphone 7.1 used along with SBX at 67% did a very good job in the games I tested. I haven’t tried the VR headphone 7.1 speaker mode by it self, I only assume it worked with SBX on.

There are glitches in the software but that kind of effected when something new just come out, Hoping creative fixes it, so the ohm settings will stop resetting, maybe add a 3rd headphone setting for Stereo, so one won’t have to use Direct Headphone and lower and raise the volume each time before use so they don't get blasted out there chair from the volume.

Until they fix the setting with the headphone gain, I would wait on the card if your plan is to use headphones only, unless changing the gain on reboot doesn't bother you. But if your the type that uses speakers only, or looking for a source to run into your external headphone amp. Then this issue wont be a problem. Being able to send the VR hp 7.1 to the line out is a great plus. In my view they have something even with no DSD support, All they need to do is work out the glitches in the software and what not and they be set.

Edit Aug 9th
I emailed creative about the headphone gain setting resetting and they said it was for safety reasons, for those who have more then one headphones. So they don't forget to set the gain back, when they decide to use an 32 gain headphone instead of the 600ohm gain one they was using.

So I asked them if it was possible for them to make an option to make this safety feature optional for users of single headphones I will give an update if there will be any plans for this.

EDIT Aug 24th: Creative released new drivers which now gives you the option to toggle on the safety feature. Meaning you can save your gain settings now. Also they made it easier to understand with the settings.

I wanna thank Mixcder for allowing me to review the TR008 wireless 2 in 1 wireless transmitter.


After you open the box up, you will notice how small it is. It’s really no bigger then a deck of playing cards if not a tad smaller. Due to it size, You can easy place it any where around your home or desk.

When you look at the rear of the unit, you will see the 3.5mm, Optical, USB charger port and the power button. On the side of it, you will see the TX and RX slider and the pairing button. On the top at the edge is the location of the lights.

With the transmitter devices I had in the past, you could not use it while it was charging. I glad this isn’t the case with the TR008,being able to keep it powered while in use will make it very handy. There was no static or line noise in the audio, when I tried to use it while it was charging. Charging to me is quick as it took around 2 hours for it to full charge.

They supply you with all the cables you will need in the box. Short Male RCA to 3.5 female, male 3.5 to male 3.5 adapter so the RCA 3.5 cable can be used to connect the TR008 to a Stereo Amp, TV and any other output or input device. Optical, Charger cable and finally a 3.5 male to 3.5 male cable, they also not really that long, I would say 3 or 4Ft if not close to that. The fact that they gave you cables so you don’t have to get them buy them your self is a plus.

Pairing devices is an easy set, simply turn on the transmitter, press the pair button to put it in pair mode or hold it. To pair a second device hold it down til the light turns green then press again it again to pair.

When Paired with either two speakers or headphones, both will play audio at the same exact time. Which many will find handy if there playing a game in local co-op with a friend, or sharing there favorite song or movie. Not really a major issue but while you can share the source with two people, you can not mute either one or switch between them. Not really an issue since you can just turn off the second device.

The range on the transmitter to me is very good as I was able to move around my apt, close doors and still be-able to hear audio without an issue. But I did pick up some static but I don’t think it was the transmitter that was the issue, but the Bluetooth Headphones I was using.

I don’t have any thing to try out the optical on the TR008 in regards to output, the first thing you should know is the optical does not support any thing other then PCM. If you try to use Dolby Digital or DTS, you will get no audio. So make sure you set your TV or console to PCM in its options. But other then that I didn’t have any issues at all sending audio from an Asus xonar DS sound card into the TR008 in TX mode.

The 3.5mm jack worked very well with my jotunheim, the volume was an tad bit lower then normal in compare to my other sources.The volume was still good enough as it sound good.The only issue I had was related to my smartphone causing the audio to skip since it did not support APTX like the transmitter.

Mixcder does a very good job with the TR008,unlike the transmitter in the past that I have owned. I can only think of one thing but it very minor. Being able to decode Dolby and DTS codecs would be an addition in the future.

Usually I don't normally use wireless headphones due to them usually having issues with connection issues and sound quality. Let me say this the common issues does not apply to the mixcder MS301 Bluetooth headphones that mixcder sent me, so I wanna thank them for allowing me to give these headphones a listen.



Now lets get done to business, The box of the headphone comes with information on the type of Bluetooth functionally that the headphone support and other useful information, which is good so your not left wondering what it can do.



When you remove the clam shell from the box, besides seeing the headphone, You will see a small box in the center which holds the USB charging cable and the 3.5m cables. They did include a manual which is on a small which may be hard to read but I managed to do. The 3.5m cables are on the flimsy side, do in future headphones I suggest that they include more decent quality cable, because if these break and they will, you will have to run out and get replacements.



When I remove the headphones the first thing I notice is how heavy it is, usually the other types of Bluetooth headphones that I’ve used from other companies tend to be light weight, which something you don’t want your headphones to be. The cup of the headphone all the way to the adjuster is made with metal which feels very durable. Very good quality from what I can tell which is very good better then what I was expecting.



There were times where other headphones doesn’t do a good job with letting you adjust the size of the headphones, such as not having markers or being hard to do which means you would either not know if you have both sides set at the same level or ended up doing more on one side causing you to try to get the other side even with the other, only to mess that side up. Not here, the adjustment clicks into place while also letting you know that you are changing the size, on the other size there is visible notches that you can see so you can make sure its set right.



For those who are the traveling type your not left out due to the MS301’s folding and twisting action, you can either fold them up and slide them into your pocket or back pack, or twist them so there laying flat and slide put them into your hard case or suitcase. When you ready to use them again simply move them back and snap the headphone back into place. Even though this function is handy there is times where the headphone will decide to twist flat on it’s own causing you to put it back and quickly put it on your head before it twist back around. This issue is due to the joints being very loose, even happens when its snapped back from being folded up. I suggest they tighten it up a bit more so it take a bit more effort to twist them around. That way your not spending most of your time, racing to put the headphones back on before they twist back flat.



The padding is next, the headband padding is very comfortable and soft, it doesn’t push down on my head or make a dent or even cause pain which is almost perfect, If it was a bit more thicker or a tad bigger it would be perfect but not really a con as it may work fine for another person. The ear-pads feel really good and soft as they sit on your ears. The down side because I wear glasses they press against the frames evidently causes my ears to hurt and sweat making me have to take them off. Besides being too soft as there too squishy. It would been better if they was thicker and less squishy.





Most times I the ear-pads of certain headphones tend to make my ears hurt or be uncomfortable but here they did a great job selecting the material and the shape as my ears also do not touch the inside of the headphone caps. I don’t know if the ear pads can be removed as I did not try, didn’t want to risk the chance of not being able to put it back on.



Unlike any other Bluetooth headphones I have tried in the past, the controls on this one actually work, raising and lowering the volume when you press the buttons, Usually the ones I tried only seek or change the tracks. Which is a godsend being able to raise and lower the volume without having to do it manly on the phone, making volume mistakes less likely to happen. Holding those same buttons down for around 2 secs causes the headphone to change the song.



Around those same two buttons is the 3.5mm connector which is used to connect to a sound card, receiver or some other type of source, with the USB charging plug on the other cup. Then the power button which you used to turn it on of course, but it also use to pair the headphones to other devices. I still wish the cable was on the left side which is easy to manage but it not really an issue at all.



The Bluetooth worked very well when I tried a Bluetooth 4.1 APT X transmitter that I own without giving me any problems, but I did have an issue with my LG phone but then since I didn't have issues with the BT Transmitter then chalk it down to my phone causing issues and not the headphones but evidently I got it to work on my phone.



The sound quality of Bluetooth and analog was very good out of the box but, I decided before hand to run the headphone thru it paces for a few days before I give it another listen for the review.



I did run into a problem when I gave it a quick listen out of the box in regards to using it with a sound card, make sure you check your volume because even with 5% on the Asus xonar DS i was using it was too loud, lucky I didn't have it on my ears, I had to lower it to 2% before it was usable on my computer. I didn't have this problem with my phone of course, so beware.



With the BT transmitter that I had the range of the BT was good, but I couldn’t really test the full range of it due to not having one that was BT 4.2 and supported CSR. Depending on the adapter or Transmitter your results may be different. I couldn't get my targus BT adapter to work so i couldn't see how it would had did with a normal BT USB adapter.



Source

Since most people will be using these with a smartphone or mp3 player, I will use an LG Leon smartphone for this review. Which has decent enough analog quality. I would go more into the analog quality but I don’t have any thing that would let me test it fully that's usable. I will be doing analog first and then Bluetooth next.


Analog



Dreamsystem – Moon Effect (Original mix) (FLAC)



After the 1:07 mark you are hit with bright highs that are very detailed, to the point of being too much. But you do hear the snares and with great detail. But it doesn’t sound that good due to the brightness. Even though the brightness is in your face, The drums are controlled and hit with a snap, the bass goes deep. You can hear the echo of the sound as it spreads to the channel, while the sound stage feels small but it is outside of my head. It just too overly bright and detailed to my taste.




Monstex – Anubis (Original Mix) (FLAC)


This song is not super bright or detailed like the other song. You can hear the plucking of the instrument, the tambourine comes through very clean and clear with great details. The The bass sound really good to my ears with it going deep. It’s not muddy or boomy at all, it’s not even in your face which is very good. Over all the headphones didn’t have any issues with this song as every thing sounded good.





Monty – Thinline Control (FLAC)


The bass hits very hard and the snares have a little too much detail to it giving off a tinny type of sound and the bass is a little distorted. It’s not bright it just that the details is too much which you will notice right away. It seem like the MS301 can’t handle too much bass if it goes too low. The little of the vocals in the song was good I could hear them clearly.



The Glitch Mob – Mind of A beast (FLAC)


Sounds very good there is no brightness or overly details attacking my ears, the bass is similar to the other song but there is no distortion as hey hit hard, even the drums have some kick too them. The hit hats like the rest of the song sounds good. The over all sound feels like it projected inside my head as it doesn’t sound like its projected outside, so it has a small sound stage.



Mash-D – Kill Machine (MP3 320)

You can hear the electronic type sound effect at the start of the song and thru out it, The bass hits just as hard as it did in Mid of a beast even a tad more, unfortunately the overly detailed sound has return. The separation I would say is avg as there are some sounds I can’t hear when others are played at the same time. The brightness is a little much but not way too much like the first song. The sound still feels like it is inside my head or my outer edge of my head.





Bluetooth

Dreamsystem – Moon Effect (Original mix) (FLAC)

The first thing you notice in compared to the analog results is the audio is not bright at all and it’s not that detailed which is great as it more listenable then the analog out on my phone. You can still hear the instruments very well and the bass actually hits harder while still going deep even the drums hit harder. The ambient sound in the start of the song is a tad harsh only a tad but it’s less then it was before. The sound stage comes off as being a little outside my head, it kinda hard to tell.





Monstex – Anubis (Original Mix) (FLAC)

Now with this song in compared to analog the sound does come off as being outside of my head, while still being clear and open with a hint of brightness. It’s still have it details but its not over done. The bass also goes deep while having a hard hitting sound to it. The separation is very good as I have no problem with hearing the instruments as they are played, I can hear the locations of them too as I hear the symbols coming in from the left including the drums from in front of me. Over all it sounds much better then the analog out on my phone.





Monty – Thinline Control (FLAC)

Similar results but over all better sound performance then over my phone analog as the bass is not distorted and it also hits very hard at the low end while it does hit hard it does have a bit of muddy or sub-woofer type sound to it, while you can hear the drums hitting hard. Very Good separation too. The snares are a little too detail but nothing like before as it not harsh only a hint of brightness.



The Glitch Mob – Mind of A beast (FLAC)

The Results are similar to the analog only that it sound a bit more open and the separation is better but the bass still hits hard, but the drums have less of a kick to them and is a bit more accurate. It does sound a bit more outside of my head then before.





Mash-D – Kill Machine (MP3 320)

The first thing I notice is the details are not overly done like the analog results, the bass still hits hard like a sub-woofer with the drums being more accurate then before, the snares are still detailed but not too much. Brightness is just a tad harsh to me with the details still being there it just not too much like before.



Conclusion

While the analog results was due to my phone audio performance, the analog on my sound card fair much better then my phone as it didn’t have the none of the muddy, harsh brightness and analytical. The Bluetooth on the other hand sounded better then my phone analog as some songs did better. Now if your the type of person who love this type of sound then it be perfect for you, other people not so much especially those with High Freq tinnitus your ears won’t be happy afterwards. Now I will admit that I don’t know if my phone using an older Bluetooth version had any thing to do with the results since it’s not one of the latest phone. But I know with my Asus Xonar DS sound card with a neutral op-amp the MS301 did a better job then both.



My main issue with the MS301 is the ear pads that's the problem area, they start to hurt due to the ear pads being too squishy, plus the material they used which causes your ears to get hot and sweaty, even start to itch, I had to remove them a couple of times during this review due to the itching. The cup that swirls on it own doesn’t bother me that much but the ear pads is my biggest problem with the MS301’s.


EDIT July 24th:

I decided to see if the earpads could be remove, because before It didn't look like they could. I happen to pull the earpads an little bit while rotating and they came off.

The ear-pads are glued on to the removable round plate, If one wanted to, they could remove the glue and put another pair of ear-pads on it and twist it back onto the cup. There also seem to be enough room inside the cup for some modding.

It been a while since I had an All in one Dac/amp setup, Last time I had one this was some years ago when I owned an Audio-GD NFB15.32. The Schiit Jotunheim had all of the features I wanted in an All in one.



For headphones the front of the unit has a 6.3m connection which is your standard headphone jack, most people will need to use a 3.5 to 6.3m adapter to plug their headphones. On the right side of it is the XLR 4 pin balanced connector, which is where those with headphones that need far more power then what the standard jack provide. Usually people would need to rewire there headphones to use it, unless you own headphones that are design with removable cables, which means all it would take is a cable swap to use it.





Single-Ended Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 2500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 800mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 350mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 175mW RMS per channel





Balanced Headphone Output:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 7500mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 5000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 3000mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 900mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 500mW RMS per channel



As you can see it has plenty of power for most headphones, Even IEM's will work but I suggest you check the volume, so you don't blow your ears off the side of your head, when you start up your favorite song. The last thing you need is being blasted with piano's or bass.



Both output's did not give me any issues at all, no hissing, one warning both will play sound at the same exact time, so if you happen to have another pair of headphones that are easier to drive then the other. Then it be best to remove them, before you use your hungry pair of headphones. That way you wont damage the other pair of headphones. A switch to allow you to select the headphone jack would be useful, so you wont have to unplug headphones.



On the left side of the headphone jacks, is where the volume knob, the Low & High gain and last the input connector. The upper position is for USB, the Mid is for XLR and the bottom is for RCA, the USB is only usable when the dac module is installed, while the other two is for using the Jotunheim as a headphone amp with an outside source. I had some issue with the USB input but due to the drivers, I had to add a hardware ID from an older driver, for the latest ones to install for some odd reason. But other then that, no issues from using the USB input it self.



Speaking of the input's it turns out that even if you're using RCA input, due to the amp design it will still give you true balanced sound, which I found out when I happen to see some one running the jotunheim from an modi multi bit on a forum. I didn't believe it at first til I messaged schiit, what do you know it was true. This is another bonus feature for those who can run balanced with their current non balanced Dacs. Meaning you can plug in any RCA source and still get balanced, due to the differential amp design that the Jotunheim uses.



On the rear of the device you will find the power switch, XLR/RCA Input and output, and the power connection. Like the headphone jacks, both XLR and RCA output's also play audio.



Here something that I did not know, I found out recently that the low and high gain settings don't just effect the headphone jacks, but also effect the XLR and RCA on the rear. I figured it out when I was trying to see what was causing my speakers to output at low volume even at the volume settings on the front of the unit. I gonna guess that the reason this is, is to let you control the power that is being sent to the speaker rather they are passive or active.



The jotunheim does get warm but not burning hot like amp’s or dacs that I own before, I could keep it on for days and it still warm to the touch, it has a nice weight to the unit, it also doesn’t feel or look like it was cheaply made.


Setup

I will be using the USB input of the jotunheim with the latest drivers installed on windows 10. The headphones that I will be using are, The Audio Technica Ath-AVA 400 which is unbalanced, The R70X which is also from AT in unbalanced and balanced and last my speakers the JBL 305’s that will be plugged into the rear XLR connectors.



For music playback I will be using music-bee with it set for ASIO to have bit match playback. The music are in lossless format.




Songs

Gorillaz – Let me Out


Max Cooper & Toms Hodge – Remnants


Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block


Com Truise – Du Zirconia






Headphones





Audio Technica AVA-400


Gorillaz – let me out

The voices are done really well for this headphone, with nice amount of bass behind the voices because of that they are not thin at all. The voices are also projected from the center of me and spread out to the front of me to the sides. The whispers on the sides are heard but there times where they are not, when they are heard its when there isn’t much going on. Due to the bass being too much, they end up getting hidden behind the bass. The separation is good in this song but not perfect.



Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants

Separation in this song is done really good on this headphones, You are able to hear each instrument separately due to them not being overlapped. The sound image comes off as being large with the sound spreading around the channels, sounds spacious in this song, Even with the AVA-400. The piano sound like a piano, you can hear the light and the heavy notes, along with the drum kit that is being played as if you’re standing between them. The only thing is at times when the piano is hit hard, the bass has a slight boom to it, which also includes the low end bass. While there is a bit of brightness in the highs, even tho it has nice amount of details.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



This song was selected for its amount of bass and it mid and low bass. The first thing you notice is the mid bass which has a good amount of impact to it, which doesn’t static. The low end bass comes off as hard hitting at times, other times it comes off as being too boomy.



The highs are not that good in this song due to some kind of tinny sound that I hear, and like other songs there is a slight brightness to the song.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



There is a nice airily sound to this song at the start, but right away you can hear the brightness in the highs, its very noticeable but its not super bright, it’s def not smooth, sadly the tinny sound is also still there. While the rest of the song is perfectly fine, The bass hits very hard while having a slight boom to it like a sub-woofer.



Even the snare’s share the same brightness issue and the tinny type of sound. Even through the imaging was very good with space between the sounds.





Audio Technica AT-R70x(Unbalanced)



Gorillaz – let me out



On this headphone I feel like I am sitting in a chair, with the singer in front of me on stage. The whispers almost sound like they’re being spoken into my ears. The claps are heard from the center as well, the bass does a good job going deep, accurate and not bleeding into the other freqs. I find the separation to be good even, there are times where its hard to tell something apart, but its minor.





Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants

Other then being able to hear every thing clearly and clean with good separating and imaging, nothing else sticks out to me. I guess you could say that every thing else is neutral. But it still sound good to me.





Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



The bass sound good, going deep while at the same time hitting hard, the snares and hit hats are detailed, not too much and not bright at all. I feel like the drums set is in front of me. You can hear the guitars as they being played which are not thin including the synth. The sound image is outside of my head.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



The start of the song has an open type of sound with the synth, the bass also goes deep, while still hitting with a bit of an impact. Like the other songs there is no brightness, while having some amount of detail from the snares, as it pans around the channel.



Note: While it did sound good, I feel running the headphone unbalanced is holding it back. Which I notice when I was listening to the other songs it felt off. At times it was a little hard to hear what was going on in some parts of the songs, other times it wasn't.



Audio Technica AT-R70x(Balanced)



Gorillaz – let me out



The first thing I notice is how well every thing songs in compared to the SE output, the singers locations in the song is imaged greatly. I hear each of the different people who are singing separately and cleanly with very good projection of the voices. The whispering even sound like they are besides my head whispering into my ear.



The sound stage comes off as being spacious to me, the bass goes deep with good feeling to the tone. The whole song sounds really good, better then what I ever heard before.



Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants



Every thing sound so clean, the instruments can be heard exactly the way they are being played, with very good spacing. The piano can be heard as you can hear how hard and how soft the keys are being pressed and how fast or slow he releases them. The sound stage is spacious as well, The piano is in front of me and the reverb spreads thru the sides with the drum-kits on my left and right with an overall 3Dish type of sound. Sounds really great to me then before.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



Same results as the other songs I tried, very good sound image nice and spacious with great separating. The bass goes deep as well have a nice impact to it, not too much either which is good which means no sub woofer bass any where.. The synthesizers sound great as do the drums including the snares which all have the right amount of detail to them. Even the little spoken words in the song sound just as good as it does in the rest of the songs.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



Same every thing is so clean, clear and really spacious with drums that hits really hard with good impact. Bass goes deep with the hit of the drum kits. The panning of the hit hats can be heard along with the rest of the song with very good detail, nothing is blending in to each other, so the separation is also good..



JBL LSR 305's



Gorillaz – let me out



The voices are really good coming from the center of the sound field, it’s like I sitting in the front row with the image of them singing to me. With the whispers on the side of the channels, which I can hear really well, nice and clear. The lows goes deep and hit hard without any of that muddy or sub-woofer type of bass. Even the voices are not tinny, there isn’t too much bass in the mids. There is no brightness issues any where in the song. None of the singers or the instruments are over lapping each other which is great, as they have their own room.







Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants



The sound field is very spacious in this song while having great separation and details. The drums kit comes across being clean as it heard across the sound field. You can hear how hard and soft the piano is being pressed, including the piano pedal. The imaging is really great in this song. That was the first thing I notice. There nothing wrong I can say about this song as it plays on my JBL 305’s, it sound that good to me. It’s like I am sitting in the front of the piano hitting the notes my self.



Liquid Stranger – Bomb The Block



The bass hits really hard in this song, with nice impact, the lows goes deep while the mid bass sound really good in the voices and the ambient guitars. The snares sound really clear and detailed and even then, there is no brightness, including the synth but it is a little too detailed in some parts of the song. The low end bass has very good impact to it, while not being muddy. None of the instruments invaded on each other space, each of them can be heard clearly and clean.



Com Truise – Du Zicron



This song also have that type of airily sound that I heard from Remnants including it’s separation and details. The main differences is that you can hear the snares in crazy detail in this song including how hard its being hit and how soft. Also the Bass goes very deep with force, but its not too much force to the point of it going boom or muddy up the sound. It has great amount of impact behind it.



Now there does sound like there is a little too much details in the snares and the synth, but that doesn’t really bother me as I like that amount of detail in my songs. But it might be too much for some people.



Conclusion

Schiit Jotunheim worked very good with the range of different gear that I tried with it rather it was my JBL 305’s, My Audio Technica AVA500’s or my Audio Technica ATH-R70X’s. What surprise me the most is when I connected my R70X to balanced, The amp paired great with the headphones like it was a perfect match.



Now I did have a little problem with the drivers which I fixed by editing the ini, but still after that it worked great. I do wish you could switch between the 6.3 and balanced headphone jack to stop from plugging and unplugging different headphones even going far as being able to mute the jacks, when you’re using the speakers without having to unplug stuff.



Back to the driver’s one major improvement that I can see which can be a benefit to the module, is to move away from C-media and to something else, such as Xmos or some other USB chip, because the drivers is the major downside, That’s really need to be improved.

Other then that my gear sound wonderful which causes me to really enjoy it a lot no regrets at all.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In side the box besides the headphones of course, is the 3.5m cable which allows you to plug them into wired with any source, then the USB charge cable, which is used to charge up the headphones. The cables are generic so they usually the kind that are included with a lot of these products.
 
The Ah07 is an interesting looking headphone, the one thing you notice when you first take a good look at it is, the headphone jack is on the right cup. Usually its on the left, I caught my self couple of times putting it on wrong, as I'm used to the cable being on the left side.
 

 
 
On the head band there is a thick padding which feel nice and comfortable on my head, The ear pads and cups are squared, They kinda sit on my ears, but sadly the ear-pads and cup design is not comfortable at all, after a couple of hours my ears start to hurt and i must take them off. This shape doesn’t do the headphone justice at all at the size that it is, if it was bigger then it be perfectly fine. The adjustment slider works very well, I didn’t have any problems getting the exact size I want. Lot of other headphones tend to do this poorly, but I glad this one does it right. The cup does rotate a little, when you get the headphones out the box they will be folded up, which is handy for those who travel with the headphones.
 
 
On the bottom where the 3.5 is located, the USB charge port is there, on the side there is the volume buttons to lower and raise the volume which also doubles for playing next or last track. Above it is the power /Call button, to power it on when you want to use it in Bluetooth or accept a call.

 
 
The AH07 supports Apt-X and Bluetooth CSR 4.0, so your ready to go if you have any device that will
Take advance of those features. I had a little of a problem connecting the headphones to my Bluetooth receiver, but it wasn’t the headphone fault but the receiver fault. The Bluetooth range is great, I walked all around my aptx, closed doors every thing I could to get it to disconnect nothing. No issues at all with the connection, no drop outs or any thing. Noise isolation does exist but its passive so it works at all times. It doesn’t do a very good job, as noises from my case fans, mechanical keyboard, sounds from my desk etc still come through but it does block some of their noises out.
 
 
 
Now the most important part of the review, The sound performance, I will start with Bluetooth audio first, which most likely gonna be the usage for these headphones, then analog quality. I will be using my computer on-board audio due to it being flat, and for Bluetooth I will use my Bluetooth receiver that I have plugged into my TV. Since on-board audio would most likely be used in a normal setting. Also the AH07 doesn’t need to amp-ed as they are easy to drive and will work off any source, so don’t worry about if they sound good with or without one, they will do good by their self.
 
 
 
 
Bluetooth
 
 
 
 
TV+ APTX supported Receiver
 
I listened to couple of music choice stations for this one. I know the stations won’t be good quality.
The sound is very good, the hit hats comes thru really well, and clear. The highs are smooth with no form of hashes any where. The details in the highs are good and are not lost, its not super detailed which is a very good thing and it is not thin at all.
 
The drums hits hard due to the bass, Singers voices are very good, lack of weight behind the voices. But its hard to imaging where they are located in the sound stage. All of the instruments are separated from each other, so are not blending into each other.
 
The sound image is small just outside of my ears including the depth, which also make it hard to position where they singers are. It like they are singing on your head, with the instruments on either sides of you.
 
Now the bass in general which is the major flaw of this headphone, the low bass boomy like a sub-woofer, where it’s one noted which isn’t good when you listen to songs with a lot of bass, such as dub-step, DnB or Rap, any thing that uses a lot of different bass notes, as it feels like a sub is firing off next to your skull.
 
In TV shows every thing good, but the same applies to the bass in TV audio, which takes the fun out of action movies. Where there bombs and gun shots going off, which makes it feel like your headphones are exploding and not the action on screen.
 
Analog
 
On-board Audio
 
The first thing you notice is the thunderous one note bass, it makes sure you notice it, regardless of the song. This is a major flaw in the sound performance of this headphone, It’s sounds like you are sitting between two sub woofers going at it when ever a bass note is played. The bass in the mid’s are very good, it just the low bass that isn’t. The Highs are not bright at all, but is smooth sounding, while you can hear the details good. The sound stage is small, and the separation of instruments is good.
 
Same results with LG Leon smartphone when I tried it in analog also.
 
Edit: For fun even know it's outrages and really overkill, I tried them on my Schiit Jotuheim that I own just for the heck of it as another source to see if bass would be improved. made sure to use an tiny turn of the volume knob which was enough, so I don't go flying out my chair from the volume, sure enough the sound did improved but sady the bass stayed the same.
 
Conclusion
 
While the headphones did a very good job with the sound performance, the major letdown is the low bass, the way it sounds on these headphones and the fact it’s not clean and that boom boom bass is a no no. But the other freq sounded really great to me.
 
The Bluetooth function was perfect which is a first for me, usually I don’t have that much luck with headphones that has it. The shape of the cup including the ear-pads could be better. If it wasn't for the bass and maybe a bit more sound stage, this headphone would be perfect for ^{a 3rd} pair of headphones.
 

 
 
 
 
First thing you think of when you see this is, can this really project sound in 360 degrees, When you look at it, you wouldn't think it could. But yes it does, Sound is projected from all around it in stereo. Inside the box is the USB charging cable,3.5m cable and the manual.
 
Before I get to how it sounds, Lets talk features, The Archeer A220 has speakers all around the unit, in a way that sound is projected all around, over and below it. Which it does a good job making it feel like the device is covered in speakers head and toe.
 
If you wanna raise and lower the volume, there is a ring on the top, which you turn to lower and raise the song, for a sec i thought it was touch, Then I realize that you twist it around and it make noises letting you know that you are raising or lowering the volume, which is for both Bluetooth and analog.
 
While the power button is located under the unit, While it dozen take long for it to turn on, I think a better spot for the power button is on the stand where the name is. Since the A220 is small and light which means it easy to carry around and set down, without worrying about if it will fit.
 

 
 
 
There is two ways to connect it, one is through Bluetooth, For those who planning to use their Bluetooth compatible smart phone, or any other devices that supports it. The other way is using analog with the Aux input connector which is under the cover. I didn't have any issues connecting the device to my Smartphone Bluetooth, it connected instantly. When Bluetooth is used the Light on the top is blue, when analog is used it green. While in BT mode you can use the two arrows on the top to change the tracks and short press the power button to pause.
 

 
 
To charge it you plug in the included USB cord into the device then to either your computer or an USB charge port on your power strip, I didn’t have to charge it up as it came already charged. But the manual states 4-5 hours for charge time, while the playing time is 6-7 hours
 
 
Sound Performance
 
Blue Tooth
 
LG Leon Smartphone
I played many different songs from my music over to my phone to the device, the bass do hit hard but the down side is the boomyness it had, it wasn’t just a little. While the highs had good details but there was a hint of shh type of sound other times it was tinny, when ever snares was used in the song, But could be heard well. Voices sound nice and clear.
 
 
 
TV using BT transmitter
 
Similar to how it sounded with the phone except that the highs was not tinny, when I was watching TV shows. It worked really well with my TV. The bass had force behind it, but it was still a bit boomy to my taste.
 
When I turned to a Music choice channel, the music I don’t know if it’s the channel, but the highs was thin and the bass was more boomy. But the vocals was still very good, they was clear and easy heard.
 
Analog
 
Phone
When connected to my phone the sound signature was very similar to the Bluetooth audio when it comes to bass, while it might be similar due to the boomyness, it is improved there is less of it. But I do hear improvement in the highs, the shh type of sound is no longer there and it's clearer then the other connection, but it's also bright, but that could be due to my phone. The instruments don't over lap each other which is very good.
 
 
 
Computer
 
I decided to see how it would sound ran thru my computer on-board audio which has more of a flat sound then my phone. To see how the A220 would handle being ran directly into a computer analog connection.
 
On my computer the over all sound was improved, the bass is not boomy at all. It's close to neutral bass I would say and while it does go deep, it's not perfect. Better then what it was before when I was using BT and my phone as a source. The high's are clearer and it doesn't have that tinny type of sound to it, it still have that detailed sound, I would say it's a little bright now then before. Voice's doesn't stick out but the down side is the vocal is thin which doesn't have much bass behind them.
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
The sound projection on any of the connections will not be that good due to the way the speakers are design, its a long tube shape box and is projected from one spot. The sound field won’t spread out and it will always sound like its in front of you in a single spot, no matter where you are.
 
The major thing that this speaker does so well with is mobility, I didn’t have any issues so this would work great for an outing or at the beach or a party, The blue tooth worked very well and did not loose connection, when I move the device around the apt. I have had other blue tooth headphones and speakers that have, so I’m impressed.
 
As it worked very well with my on-board audio with the 3.5 cable, so I find that using analog would give you the most sound performance with the A225, While using Bluetooth will give you the most mobility usage as your not tired down.
 
 

 
 
 
 
I been  using  the Mixcder X5 for almost an day pairing it up with my LG Leon Smart phone, Which does a very good job with the X5's. When you open the box, inside you will see the carry case, which is small, It has a loop on the end which allows you to place it on your keys or belt, While still fitting inside of your pocket. Inside of it you will find different sizes of ear hooks and ear-tips including one that goes deeper into your ears. The case in my hands felt good enough to keep your IEMs safe while not in use, doesn’t feel like it will smash down or any thing if you put weight on it.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
The cable is not remove-able but that isn't a deal breaker, But I feel that would had been useful to have to swap from the default smartphone cable to something else. Control box located on the right side is where the button for the mute/answer call and change song is. I did not have any issues with pressing the button know, But I do think it should be in a better place, such as being further down on the cable. Speaking of the cable, I fell it should be a bit more thicker, You don't want to be tough with the cable too much, what i do like is that it's not in the way when you are wearing the earphones, unlike another pair of IEMs which I do own that does. The built in mic worked very well, people didn’t have any issues hearing when I spoke thru it.
 
The X5 are a nice size and the default ear-tip that was on them already, Fit nice in my ears while staying inside, tips was comfortable, I didn’t even feel any pressure from them in my ears. The cable was not heavy either, It was like I wasn’t wearing them. I haven’t tried the ear hooks due to never being able to get them on my ears regardless of which IEM’s I’m using. The sound isolation is good, while it isn’t total isolation, its enough to block out most of the noises, but my mechanical keyboard still makes it thru, but to be fair those keyboards can be very loud.
 
Now the sound signature, as I mention before, my LG leon smartphone will be used as the source, So your results may be different then mind. The music player that I will be using on my phone is VLC player connected to my music server.
 
 
Stephen Walking – Shark City
 
This is one of my favorite songs that I tend to use in my reviews, which is good since if something is off, I will notice it right away. The first thing you notice with this song on the X5’s is that the highs are not dirty at all and can be heard clearly, the highs are also detailed, not too much, but just enough. There only a hint of brightness from what I can hear but it’s not enough to make my ears uncomfortable.
 
So you are able to hear the tribal drums being hit and all of it tones including the piano and the hit hats, Which is not thin sounding at all. It has enough force behind it, while not having too much, if that makes sense.
 
The bass is just right, which means it’s accurate and not out of control, also doesn’t add any thing to the song that is not there. But in this song it does have a little of an impact but nothing that causes it to be the main focus point of the song.
 
Every instrument is separated from each other which means the instruments are not stepping on each other toes and you can hear each one, instead of blurring into each other.
 
Over all sound really great with this song, the sound is outside of my head and not in.
 
 
Aku – the Final Blow
 
Similar to the shark city with the way it sound, the only difference is the bass and the drums are neutral, but still have some details to them as you can hear them very clear and their notes, including the piano and strings, nothing is thin sounding. The humming of the voices are projected from the center of you as if the person is in front of you. Over all every thing sound neutral while still having good separation.
 
 
Space Laces – Say it ain’t So
 
The first thing you notice is the synth, its very detailed maybe a bit too much then the bass which, hits hard with a bit of an impact, but at the same time it’s not muddy at all and does not take over the song. The hit hats even through they are hit softy, you can still hear them including the snares. Also have good separation like the other songs as nothing is hidden behind instrument’s or bleeding into the other freq.
 
SubOxyde – Artillery Shells (Oolacile remix)
 
As soon I hit play I was greeted by a good size sound stage, which I wasn’t expecting. The different sound effects are space out around the channel, You could close your eyes and pick out their location. Really good panning in this song, as you can hear the FX move around in the channel including the machine sounds. The bass hit harder in this song then the last one, still isn’t muddy. The hit hat’s and the snare are very detailed but you can easy hear them in this song.
 
Summary
 
Over all I found the X5 to work with a wide range of other songs that I tried such as Dub-step, While there was some songs that I found the highs to be a bit too detailed, others I found it to very good, Some songs did good with the sound stage and imaging others did not.
 
There was no static, distortion or any clipping issues at all, when I was playing music thru them, every thing worked very nice. While it was detailed, the highs at times was too detailed. Which causes some of the songs to not sound right.
 
EDIT 4/20/17: After burning them in and then giving them an listen, I notice the highs was brighter then before. Before it as thin sounding in the highs while being overly detailed. That what I notice so far, The rest of it have some small improvements here and there. I do have other IEM's one of them being Fiio F1 which isn't bright at all on my phone. It just isn't an good pairing with bright sources.

 
 
 
 
This review is going to be about the Fiio F1 IEM, which is my second IEM that I have used that is wired. My first being the Nuforce HEM 2. The F1's are small and does not stick out that much unlike the HEM2 and feels more comfortable in my ear because of that. As the HEM 2 is against the rear of my ear while touching the it, pictures explain it better.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Usually the IEM's have markings on them to tell you which side go into which ear. Which I realize I had it on wrong as the Right side had the control pod, The R on the casing was hard to see and can be easy missed. Either putting it on the casing brighter or putting it on the cable would had made it more easier even go as far as putting red and white colors on the bottom of it would have also helped. The cabling feels really good, the only minor thing is the cable while is good it can not be removed but that not really a deal breaker at the price these IEM's are going for.
 
Fiio packs the F1 inside a soft foam insert, with a small carrying case next to it, which also where the other size ear-tips are located. They come in Small, Medium and large, they felt very comfortable in my ears while being made from plastic. They fit really well inside my ear's including staying on the IEM when i remove the Fiio F1, which was a big problem for me on the HEM 2 where the tips ended up coming off the IEMs. Lucky the they stay on the F1's which makes me very happy.

 
 
 
 
When you connect the Fiio F1 to a smart phone the volume control box can be used to raise or lower the volume by pressing the + and – buttons which are on the outer edge's, and accept calls when you press the middle button between the volume buttons, that same button also pause and resume the songs when you press it normally. The mic is also located inside the same spot. I didn't have issues pressing the buttons with my fat fingers and I did not make a mistaking the hit buttons.

 
 
Setup
 
For the source I will be using an LG leon smart phone, The Fiio F1 and the Nuforce HEM 2 with the mobile cable will be compared to each other.
 
 

 
 
 
Fiio F1 EM
It sounds really good even from my smart phone, I did not have any issues with it. Even when I was moving around they did not come out of my ears. I find the highs to be very smooth, no brightness any where, with very good details. Lows have very nice impact that is not too much nor one noted. Voices sound as you are in the front row as they are on stage. Sounds like the audio is outside of your head with very good imaging, nice separation as I have no problems hearing the different instruments and the different singers in the songs, including the location.
 
 
Nuforce HEM 2 IEM
In comparison to the F1 the audio to be more detailed, You could hear every thing a lot more the exact way it sound including being clear. Some songs didn’t work out with it as they was too bright, while others had a bit of brightness. This wasn't an issue on the Fiio F1 at all. The voice performance was very good as the singer came off as being directly In front as if there in your face, as they are talking into your forehead or above your eyes which is creepy. Which why I like the way it sound on the F1 no creepiness added.
 
But the Bass and drums was very accurate with the bass hitting a very tinny bit hard. Over all sounded very neutral to me. The sound was also outside of my head like the F1 was. But the sound imaging was small which I found the F1 to do a better job at. The separation was just as good as the F1.
 
Conclusion
The Fiio F1 is much more comfortable to my ears over the HEM2 when using the Comfy ear tip’s, even when the plastic ones are used since they no longer stay on the HEM2 and slips off the IEMs. The ear tips on the F1 doesn’t pop out your ear like the HEM 2’s does. The isolation on the F1 is much better then it is on the HEM 2, even the comfit tips doesn’t isolate that well for me on the HEM2’s. While being uncomfortable plus after awhile the memory foam tips makes my ears hurt.
 
I still enjoyed the HEM2’s but honestly I enjoy the Fiio F1’s much more due to it’s sound signature in compared to the HEM2’s Neutral and more detailed sound signature and vocal performance which I disliked. The Fiio F1 let me sit back and enjoy my music, where the HEM2 doesn’t do that.
 
The Fiio F1’s control box was better design and gives you more options. All the mobile cable does for the HEM2 is stop and play the songs, There's no volume control or call answering which makes the cable useless for smart phone usage, might as well not even include the cable.
 
 
The low’s on the Fiio F1’s was very good to me with the impact to them, which I loved, I never used Iem’s that had this much of a bass, even my the HEM2 didn’t have this kind of a bass. Music was much more enjoyable then it was on the HEM2 as performed like it would do good in monitoring for song producing.
 
 
Over all both the F1 did a very good job in my songs, I ended up liking it more then the Nuforce HEM2’s to the point that the Nuforce’s will be sitting in my closet. With Fiio F1’s taking over the helm.

 
 
 
When I was looking for some closed back headphones use along side my Sennheiser HD 700, I stumble upon these Audio technica AVC 400. I knew about the other recently made audio technica headphones, but some how these blew past me since they are a couple years old as I only just found out about them recently. I only just found two other reviews on them which they didn't say much about, I didn't know what to expect, so I took a chance and bought them.
 
 
The first thing I notice after I remove them from the box is that they are very light headphones, While I look them over and held them. They felt durable enough to me, but I won't let them drop on the floor to find out. The ear pads are thinner than what I thought they would be. But so far I found the ear pads to be comfortable for a while, But the good thing about these headphones is that you can easy find 3rd part y ear pads that will fit, if the stock ear pads is not good enough for you. While for me the stock ear pads only work for a while when my glasses are on before the edges of my ears start to hurt, so I will be swapping the ear pads. When my glasses are off then its fine. The results might be different for some one else.
 

 
 
While they are on my head, I found them to fit really well while not being overly tight on my head. But enough where they won't fall off when  I'm looking down and they stay still when I turn my head. They isolate OK, but there not perfect, 3rd party ear pads can easy fix this, if one wants to improve the isolation.
 
The AVC400 also does not use the 3D-wing headband design, instead it uses an auto adjusting headband which I found so far to work really well with getting it to fit on the top of my head. It was very soft and comfortable, didn't have any issues with it like I normally do with other headphones.
 

 
 
 
 
The cable looks like it will last, it also a very long cable, so if your the type of person who wonders from their chair around there room, then you will be fine with the length of the cable, of course you can not wonder from your room while the headphone is on your head, as the cable is not that long. Also the cable can not be removed from the headphones as they are not detachable. A 3.5m to 6.3m adapter is included already connected to the end of the cable.
 

 
I currently using a Sound blaster ZXR and the external control box with the AV400 and the card works very well with it. Even with the op-amps I have installed in the place of the stock one's. These work very well with the card, I do not have an external headphone amp, so I can't test to see if they will be any improvement when plugged into an external headphone amp.
 
 
Setup
 
Sound blaster ZXR with Two Linear LT 1498 and Two Burr Brown OPA627AU's operator Amp's installed, Which I found to give me close to neutral type of sound. I will be using Jr Media center with Wasapi as the output. Besides playing a couple of songs, I will also play a couple of games as well. Before I get down to the results, I did burn these in after I used them for the first time.
 
 
Music
 
Anders Lundqvist – Desolation
 
The song starts off with a very good sounding ambient sound follows by a hit hat which goes into a bass note which all sound very clean which is also very clear. Nothing gets in the way of it as they do not bump into each other. The lows sound great too as they hit, its def not one note sounding. The piano is just as clean and clear as you can hear how hard or soft it is being touched. There’s very good separation and I would say the sound stage is a good size.
 
 
DreamTime – Turrican To main
 
First thing you notice besides the very clean voice is the bass, which hits hard and the other instruments which come after which sound full. There even a bit of details from the hit hats in this song. The drums are very accurate as well the bass. Separation is also good in this song as well as the sound stage.
 
 
Skrillex – The Reason
 
In this song you feel like you are sitting in the rows as the vocals are projected from the stage towards you as they spread out across the channels with very good sound imaging, While being clearly heard. Even at times like there passing by your sides, the best way I can explain it, I guess you could say spacious sounding.
 
Besides the main voice’s you can also hear the background voices really well, as they projected from the sides of the other voices with good details. The sound stage sounds like it’s bigger in this song then it was in the other songs. The bass hit’s hard while not being muddy and like the other songs, it does not sound like a sub-woofer or one noted. The separation is crazy good on this song.
 
Arkwright – Wasted Years
 
I wanted to do a song with a lot of bass in it, and these headphones handled it very well, There no muddy sounds any were and it doesn’t sound one noted at all. Bass hits very hard and you hear all of the notes, Even the details of the hit hat comes thru very clean, the ambient instrument sound full and not tinny at all.
 
16 Bit – Classical(Flat Beat/Classical)
 
At the start of the song you can hear the people talking as well glasses being touch and moved during the ambient start of the song in good detail. the orchestral instruments have very good weight behind them as they play including the bass as it hits very deep, as you hear both bass notes with the detail of the drums and snares. Like the other songs the separation is good in this one as well.
 
 
 
 
Games
With dying light I won’t be using any of the sound blaster ZXR’s SBX, it gonna be strictly stereo in headphone mode. To tell you how well the headphones worked for me in dying light.
 

 
 
Dying Light
 
I decided to try out dying light due to the ambient sounds it such as zombies busting out of locked places, which made me jump a couple of times. I was def able to hear my surroundings very well, to the point where I heard a zombie creeping up behind me when I was picking the lock of a police van. Turn around took it out before going back to picking the lock. When I was in one of the apt complex in the kitchen, I heard gun fire erupt which caught me off guard but I was able to trace it to it location real easy. I fought off the gun welding attackers and any zombies that stroll up from my surroundings. They could not sneak up on me because I clearly heard where they was creeping from.
 
The game audio came thru very clear and the bass was also very good as well, even the gun fire had a kick behind it. The sound of the melee weapons was very clean as I was slicing off the head of who ever got in my way. I could hear the sounds separated from each other with ease. The below sounds was very good to me as so the above sounds. But using SBX surround would had made the positional sound even better, but by it self the headphones done a very good job, even if it wasn’t 100% perfect when it came to the above and below sounds.
 
Conclusion
 
 When I first got the headphone’s I didn’t know what to expect, I didn't think it would do this well for the price I paid for it which was $36 as it normally is $49 dollars. I came into this headphone thinking it wouldn’t do that well. I was wrong it sound very good for the price. I have used other headphone’s such as the Mixcder Share Me 5 and the Edifier H850, but both of these doesn’t compare to these headphones as I liked the ATH-AVC 400 that much in comparison.
 
Now the ATH-AVC 400 does have flaw’s mainly in the ear pads that comes with it, I wish they was a bit more thicker since I wear glasses, After a while they start to get uncomfortable due to them being too thin, taking my glasses solve the issues, but there are times where its fine so making sure you have them on your correctly ears may stop it from happening. But the pads can be removed which is a plus, which can be very useful if the stock pads is not enough for you.
 
 
EDIT: I found out that I place the headphone in an certain way, the issues I have with comfort while wearing glasses is improved. If you don't straighten it out on your head then you may have comfort issues like i did with glasses.
 
 
Edit 2 : I had bought some cheap 2 dollar earpads for beyerdynamic headphones to see if they would fit on the AVC400 and they do.So i sure even thicker earpads will work. The earpad ring is in the shape of an oval, it didn't take much to get them on. So I didn't have to fight with the pads. I find them to work better with these pads then the stock, as the stock wasn't thick enough for me since i wear glasses.
 
 
Edit 3: Here is the AVC400 with thicker earpads on, Which are much better then the stock pads, more comfortable then before. As with the stock my ears was touching the driver and I couldn't wear it for long even with my glasses off. Now with these pads its much more enjoyable plus I can keep them on  for an long time. The earpads I used was ones meant for the beyerdynamic headphones. Wasn't hard at all getting them on, I only had to minor pull the flap over the edge ring to get it on. The only thing is the earpads moves around the cup, but it stays the same shape even if it moves around. I do not know if oval shaped earpads will work as the one I used were shaped in an circle.
 
 

 

 

Inside the box

Besides the headphone's being neatly folded inside of the box, they give you an manual and two cables.
The first cable is an USB cable which is used to charge the battery inside of the headphone. Which allows you to use the Bluetooth functionally of the headphones.

The second cable is an 3.5mm analog cable which is used for using the headphones with an analog source, such as an sound card,external dac amp or any other device with the connection.

The USB cable is an micro-USB which is very common used for charging smartphones. The cable is not very long but its good enough to do the job of charging the headphones It's an good enough thickness to not instantly break.

The analog 3.5 cable on the other hand is way too thin like an string. If you are not careful you can easy break the cable. I don't see why they couldn't include an thick 3.5mm cable like they did the micro-USB.

Lucky you can easy get an replacement if your 3.5mm cable ever breaks so that not really an issue.
 
 
 

 


Build Quality

When I look at the headphones and unfold them, it seems like the headband is made out of thin plastic,Their is metal on each side at the size adjuster, Just handing them make me feel like they could be broken real easily if your not careful with them.

Comfort

The headband it self has an thin layer of padding but It's not uncomfortable for me. On the other hand, the earpads they are not that comfortable. After a couple of hours my ears starts to hurt. Due to them being an oval shape, instead of being round.

This really ruins the enjoyment of the headphones, Couple of times I had to remove the headphones due to the pain while I was watching an move, playing music and games.

Also your ear's touch the inside of the headphone's, its not deep enough. People with small ear's shouldn't run into this issue. But if you have large ears like mine then you won't be able to stand the ear-pads as they sit on your ears an bit.

I can't tell if the ear-pads are removable, I don't wanna try and ruin the ear-pads.

Portable

Like I mentioned before, you can fold the headphone's back up and pack them away into your backpack or coat pockets. I wouldn't suggest putting them into your pants pocket as you risk the chance of breaking the headphones. When you fold them back up they snap into place and does not unfold on their own. The cable's being short and thin does let you place them in your pocket easier, but since they are small, it be easier to loose the cable if your not careful.
 

 
 

Functions

The analog 3.5 mm connector to my Nuforce U dac-5 sounded very good, I did not have any issues at all with the headphones using this cable.

The Bluetooth worked very well, I was able to pair Two ShareMe5's together without an issue, The audio over Bluetooth sounded very good on both headphones. So there was no sound issues. There is no volume control on the headphone's so you will need to do it thru your phone or media device. Instead there are buttons used to change the tracks.
 

 

Isolation

I found the headphone's to do an very good job with blocking out noise, While it doesn't give you 100% noise isolation as I could still hear my case fans roaring on max setting. But it was isolated enough to not distract me from what I was doing.

Audio Performance

Analog 3.5

With the 3.5 Analog connection connected to my uDac 5, The highs in the music sound really smooth, there is no brightness or sharp highs any where. Hit hats and snares are clean and can be heard very clear. Voices come thru very well with some weight behind them. The bass hits really powerful, the drums hit's hard as well. This would be an perfect headphone for some one who loves a lot of bass. Because this really delivers. The bass does not bleed into the other freq. So you can hear all of the music without any issues. Even the Piano sound really good with force behind it

The sound imaging is very good of course not as good as my HD700's but still good for an closed back headphone. I can hear each of the instruments separately which is very good, even with all of that bass. I really like the way these headphones sound.

Bluetooth

The hit hat's are not as clear or clean but they sound good enough. While the voice's sound neutral, they do not sound like they are hiding behind something or in your face.

The bass hit's hard but its not the same quality and performance as analog and was boomy, there was times where the bass and the drums was hard to hear apart. The separating was ok at time's and at other times it wasn't. There was instruments that was hard to hear because off the bass.

But over all it still sound better in compare to the other pair of Bluetooth earphone's that I own.
 

 


Charge Time

I would say it took 30mins to an hour to charged up all the way, but it's hard to say because I wasn't staring at the headphone as it was charging. But it felt really quick.

Overall

I found the Share Me5 to perform the best in analog mode depending on the source you are connecting it to. While i found the headphone to work good in Bluetooth mode but its no where the same as analog. But that was expected because I used an very good analog source so results can vary. I generally didn't like how the bass did while using Bluetooth it did not do that well.

The Ear-pads hurts and i feel they could either made them bigger or made the inside of the ear-pads walls thinner instead of thick. They def not good for eyeglasses user's, this is an major issue with these headphones, if you could easy replaced the ear-pads then this may not be an issue.

The fact that it has removable cable is an good plus.

Since I receive the HEM 2, I been enjoying them a lot, more then what I thought I would. These are really my first IEM that I ever used. The sound quality coming from them when I listen to them was very good. I tried an couple of the different tips,the isolation tips does a very good job at blocking out my loud house fan to the point that you barely hear it. While they do an good job at that,I found those foam ear-tips to be a little uncomfortable after a while of use. The silicon ear-tips felt more comfortable to my ears while going in with ease but at the cost of sound isolation. I don’t know if it was just me, but I found the isolation tips to add some freq to the bass over the normal ones.
 
 
The major thing that I love about the HEM 2 besides their sound is the fact that the cables are replaceable which is an plus to me. Being able to replace the cable if something goes wrong,It does come with an second cable in the case with an built in mic. That cable is useful for those who are on the go and using these with an smart phone, so they can answer calls while enjoying music. I feel the cable labeling needs to be a bit clear as the directions on the box confused me causing me to connect the cable in reverse. An carrying case comes with the HEM 2 which is handy when you need to carry the IEM’s around without doing any damage to them while having access to the other tips.
 
 
Setup
I’m using the Nuforce U-Dac 5 dac/amp as the source with music bee with it set to Asio. I am using the foam ear tips and not the silicon ones so lets get down to business.
 
 
 
Sound
I listen to an wide range of different song genres. I found the bass depending on the song to have a tad of an impact while being controlled and other's it was tight. It did not bleed into the rest of the song. Worked pretty well for songs that had a lot of bass such as dubstep and DnB.
 
The sound stage comes off as being medium, the separation between all the instrument and the voices is very good, I can tell every thing apart from each other. While the sound stage was small, I could hear the music outside my heard, I would say it was spacious while small if that make sense. The voices had the feel of being projected out in front of me like the singer was sitting on my desk singing to me personally.
 
When I listen to songs with snares in it, I can hear the snares along with the hit hats, the snap of them is so clear, Including the tap of the drums. The high end is good nice and clear with the right amount of detail while not being too much.
 
Besides song’s I watched an movie called goosebumps with the HEM2’s and the movie was wonderful, all the same qualities as the songs, The voices and the bass came out great. Felt like I was in the movie and jack black character was yelling at me. I think I will use these more when I watching movies.

During the time I spent with it, the most important thing is getting an good seal and making sure it’s is inside your ears good, other wise it won’t sound right. I found that out when my results was different then my original results.

 The Edifier G3 is a headset made for gamers while having the option to turn off the DSP to listen to music, it has a control box on the cable which you use to change the settings for the headset. First thing I notice is the control box is flipped upside down, which makes it hard to switch the settings as you have to look down and grab the control box and flip it up right so you can see the location of the buttons.
 
Issue two the text you can barely see the writing on the control box, You will have to turn on a light just to be able to see it, Even then it barely read able. The first suggestion I would make is to either make the words lit up from the lights build into the control box, or use a brighter shade of White. To make it easier to read then rotate the control box around so you can quickly change the settings.
 
Like I mention there are couple of features that the G3 has, on the control box there is a button called mega bass, which increase the bass amount it produce which makes it sound like a sub woofer.  The feature works really well in games and movies. Music on the other hand not so good. The sub woofer sounding bass messes up songs as it makes the bass the forefront and you will notice that over the rest of the music as it outdo the other sound freq I don’t recommend you use it with music, unless you are the type of person that want sub woofer type bass in your songs.  When mega bass is on the circle on the control box and the lights on the headset will blink two times and once when it is turned off.
 
There is the two switches one to turn on and off the microphone, which I did test and it worked very well. A friend didn’t have any issues at all when I spoke. He heard me loud and clear, the microphone easily rotates out the way back to the side of the headset and its long and position in a way that it will reach your mouth.
 
The other switch on the other side changes the headset mode, there are two modes, one for music and the other for gaming. When you switch modes the lights on the headset and control box changes colors, to let you know which mode it is on. The game mode which is the blue Led, the music mode is red. Both modes have different EQ settings which are optimized for the two usage. 
 
On the sides of the control box you have the Volume button’s which of course lowers or raise the volume. There is a mute button which mutes all audio.
 
Edifier went for a sci-fi look when they design the headset and I admit it does look really well, even though headphone looks isn’t important to me. The ear pads are really comfortable to me and the headset feel light on my head, neither bothers me at all when I am using the headset. The G3 seems very durable to me, but I don’t suggest you drop it too much through. 
 
The G3 uses the windows usb audio driver’s, the problem with that is that those drivers lack many different functions, which edifier could have added with drivers. Many more settings which would have been great for the headset which isn’t there due to the generic windows usb audio drivers. But that’s not a really bad thing as it makes the headset driver-less. But at the cost of having more settings.
 
 
The Testing
 
I will be doing some music and then a game that I been playing a lot of called the division. I will use music mode with music and then game mode with The Division. I won’t use the mega bass function of the G3. As it will affect the review besides adding unneeded amount of bass as well making it hard to hear the ambient sounds in the game, while turning the weapons into sub woofer cannons. With music it will mess with the way the music sounds by distracting from the songs. I sure it would make your head explode when listening to dub-step songs or other heavy bass songs.
 
 
 
 
Games (Blue LED)
 
This mode has a special EQ which gives the bass more kick, at times it can be too much. Shotguns sound like shotguns and not a peashooter. Enemy Fire buzz past my head while I hear another fire fight going on behind me. Including people yelling and running away due to the DSP that is used in this mode. The sounds is very clear the bass doesn’t get muddy, nothing goes unheard including the ambient sounds, in the game of The Division.
 
 
Music (Red LED)
 
The music mode uses straight stereo when you play back music. The DSP isn’t used in this mode. So nothing will affect the way the music sounds.
 
Lows
 
The first thing I did was try some of my dub step songs. The type of bass that was produced was sub woofer bass. The bass still went deep but it was like a sub woofer was on your head without the shaking. I tried another song which had a bass beat, the bass went deep as well but was a tad better than the last song. I tried a 3rd song that also had bass in it, the bass in this song was cleaner then the last and had a bit of an impact. 
 
 
Highs
 
I listen to a bunch of songs, in them the Highs was clean and was a tad detailed not too much. But you could hear the snares in songs real well. They was clear as well. The drum kit’s had detailed sound and was also clean as well. You could hear them really well too. It wasn’t overly detailed, Just enough. Another song the piano was clear and you could tell it was a piano.
 
 
 
Vocals
 
The vocals in many of the songs I tried to me sounded neutral. The vocals come off in some songs to be directly in front of me or somewhat inside of my head. They are not messy or anything, sound very clear, it just feels like it is inside my head a little.
 
 
Sound Stage
 
The G3 are closed back headsets but at times the sound stage can sound really good. Others not too good. I had songs that had mix results had a couple of songs that I tried that had sound stages that sound like they are outside my head. Of course not like open back headphones. The vocal is the only thing that sound like it’s inside my head almost. I find that some songs had sound stage’s that are outside my head. Some had really good sound imaging, others not so much.
 
Separation
 
There was songs where I could hear each of the instruments separated from the rest of the song. Others where they sometimes blend in making it hard to hear where one instrument start and another end. But when they do sound separated from each other. It sound really nice, when they don’t it doesn’t sound that well.
 
 
Conclusion
 
The G3 worked wonderful at anything I threw at it from the different types of songs that I played, sure some songs the bass performance wasn’t that clear, while others it was. With piano’s sounding clear and not messy. With snare’s sounding very detailed but not too much.  Games worked wonderful in the game mode, the DSP did a very good job.
 
The addition of the microphone and itself did a very good job. I didn’t except the G3 to do this well.
 
The only thing I suggest that I mention in my review is to fix the rotation of the control box and make the text clear so you don’t have to shine a light on the box just to see which button does what. Also custom drivers with more option’s then what the windows usb audio generic driver’s give you, as well improve the bass to make it cleaner.
 
If Edifier improves those, then this headset would be perfect.
 
 
I wanna thank edifier for supplying me with the edifier G3 headset.

The M710’s are portable headphone’s that are easy to take around with you. They don’t take up much room, they can twist flat which will allowed them to fit inside a laptop bag, pocket and even your jacket. The cable is short to the point that it won’t get in the way of you, when you’re walking but a good length to reach your Cellphone, Mp3 player and laptop. The M710 can be used with any type of source besides the three I mention already.
 
 
Inside the box are two Dual Male to Female 3.5 adapter’s which two sizes are, One is a cable and the other is a smaller adapter. The cable is very thin but flex able so if it a tad too long you can wrap it up to make it shorter.
 
 There’s an inline control box on the cable itself, which holds the two sliders. One slider is used to mute the microphone, the other is used to raise or lower the volume. There is a problem with this, when you are plugging the M710 into a sound card such as a sound blaster z or so, the slider doesn’t give you much when you raise it. It will go from 0% volume to 25% to 50% and last to 100% with no steps between. Because of this you can get hit with full blast by mistake if you’re not careful.
 
I sure the problem won’t happen if your using another type of source. It would had been better if the M710 had button’s to raise and lower the volume, instead of the slider, which would have allowed for better control of the volume which means you be able to accurately set the volume to your liking. The good thing about the inline is it’s in a very good spot which makes it easy to reach, without you having to look down to find it if it was lower down on the cable.
 
The ear pads are soft and comfortable, I can see myself wearing these for a long time due to the pads and the weight of the headphones. Normally on-ears bother’s my ears but these don’t.I tested the microphone function and it works very good, nice and clear. People I talked to me didn’t have any issue’s understanding what I was saying. The headphone’s look like they pretty well made for their size but I still wouldn’t suggest throwing them around. But they don’t have the feeling like they would break in your hand or anything. They do not block out outside noises, but people won't hear what you are listening to unless you turned it up load enough.
 
 
 
 
The Specs
· Frequency response: 20Hz～20kHz
· Impedance: 32Ω
· Sound pressure level: 98dB
· Cable length: 1.3m
· Weight: 0.13kg
· Connector: 3.5mm
· Inline control: Included
 
The setup
I will be using the Sound blaster Z which is a sound card which has a transparent type of sound. The M710’s will be plugged thru the headphone jack on the card. I will be listening to a couple of song’s as well trying out a few games. I won’t be using any of the Sound blaster Z’s DSP, straight stereo when I test games.
 
Music
Noisy-Blue Eyes On you – Mp3
The first thing you notice with the M710 is how clear the piano is and how much weight it has behind it. You can hear how much force the player is using when they press the notes on the piano. The Ambient sounds are heard and are clear. The separation is good and the Sound stage is alright.
 
 
Max Cooper & Tom Hodge – Remnants - Flac
The piano notes sound really good in this song as well but not as clear as they were in the first song. But the drums and snare are very clear and you can hear them separated from each other. While the bass goes deep but have some force behind it. But it’s not clean in this song.
 
 
 
12^Th Planet & Antiserum – Bass Salt-Mp3
In this song the bass goes very deep, while having some impact. It’s not muddy at all. The drums kits are good as well just as clean and clear as they was in the last song. The sound stage does sound a kind of small, like it just on the edge of my head but not inside my head.
 
Games
I tried out a game called the Division with the M710 and it did very well, it had very good sound imaging, the sound stage was good for being closed back. I heard the location of the AI easy, the rest of the sounds I could easily place thru out the game. I heard everything very clear. The bass was not muddy at all, Very impactful bass, it was clean. This was all with the Sound blaster Z DSP disabled straight stereo.
The shotgun had kick the bass from it was powerful which made the shotgun sound like a shotgun, so did the magnums and Snipers.
 
 
Conclusion
The Edifier M710 are very good headphone’s and their size comes in handy when you’re on the go. The sound from them is very nice. The only issue I had with these headphones was the volume slider, the idea is good but the way they did it isn’t perfect. Instead of a slider either a couple of buttons or a volume wheel, would give more of a control.
 
I think Edifier has something if that volume control slider was improved.

 
 I owned the JBL LSR 305 studio monitors for some time now, they have quite a few useful features. The speaker drivers are design in an interesting way.  The wide guide designed supposed to let the center sound image come out clear and heard no matter where you are sitting at in the room, without effecting the rest of the sound so it can be produce accurately. I find this to be very true, no matter where I sat in the room or how close, far off to the sides, the center image was great, the rest of the sound still sounded really good. The lows on the studio monitor sound really good to my ears, It has enough bass for all my needs, Which I found to be very clean and clear. The sound really fill up the room as well the apt from a 3.5 volume setting which I use.
 
 
 

 
The studio monitors have many functions on the rear of the monitors. Two Input’s, power switch, volume knob, trim switches and the input sensitivity switch. The monitor’s has a TRS 1/4 and XLR connector both of them are balanced, I use the XLR connection myself. The trim switches let you control the high and low frequencies with +/- 2dB EQ for each. I will be using the default trim setting which is 0dB. The input sensitivity switch let you config the studio monitor’s for consumer level -10dB signals and professional +4 dB signals, such as sound cards, phones/tablets, external dac’s and pro audio devices. I use the +4 dB setting myself for my Gustard X12 Dac.
 
 
 Now the one flaw about the studio monitor’s is the placement of the Power and volume controls, it would been much better if they was on the front of the JBL 305’s instead of the rear. The only work around is using an external volume control box such as the emotive control freak passive volume box, which is used by plugging it between the studio monitor’s and the dac by XLR or a Pre-amp with XLR,TRS 1/4. If you’re using them unbalanced using a XLR to RCA cable’s then a pre-amp with RCA connections.
 
One thing you should know before you get these are, they are very source depended, if you have a poor source they will let you know. I don’t suggest you plugging these into your onboard audio unless you’re on broad audio happen to be the few of the good ones that out, even then I don’t suggest it. At least you can do is use a recording pro box, external dac or a decent or good sound card.
 
The Setup
For the review I will be using the Gustard X12 external dac, connected to the JBL 305’s thru XLR connections. The dac will be using the usb connections. I will use Music bee media center with it set to use Asio. The os I will be using is Windows 10 pro 64bit.
 
Games
Besides listening to music I am also a gamer, Games sound really good on the JBL 305’s, the game audio was very clear you heard everything that was going on in the game very cleanly. Because of the wave guide the mids was great, no matter where I was as I played games like Dragon ball XV, Borderlands TPS and Interstellar marines, the voices came out very nice and clean and in the center. When there was a character walking to the sides of me talking, I heard them moving to the location. The center image was very good.
The bass was powerful when I was firing a sniper rifle in borderlands while not out doing the rest of the game audio, which is great when coming from these studio monitor’s. I do not have a subwoofer at all. I fell I won’t need one and I happy with the performance that I am getting from the JBL 305’s. The sound field was very big, the sound of me punching goku in the face in dragon ball XV the force of the punches came thru, other npcs flying around the match was produced really well.
 
Music
When it came to listening to music, I had the same results, depending on the songs either it was like they was on stage singing to you or their voices spreading thru the room or singing directly to you.
The sound was very airly and spacious with the sound stage being big, I could hear each separated instrument playing clearly, and none of them was over lapping each other, my room was filled up with sound as it expanded throughout the room. The highs are detailed and are also clear, I didn’t have any problems at all hearing the high notes and they did not bother my left ear.
The JBL305’s was very accurate with the way it produced the different bass notes, I had songs that had bass that went very deep that was still clear and clean, others such as dub step that had hard hitting bass that didn’t skip a beat, Another song that had a soft bass note and another that was a mixture of different bass notes, that all came out perfectly. The drum and the snares was clean and very detailed, you could hear the way they was done in the recording.
These JBL305 let out a lot of volume, while playing music I went to another part of the apt and I still heard them nice and clear from a volume setting of 3.5, even on 3.0 I still heard them. I tend to use 3.0-3.5 anything higher than that, I would have the police called on me or worst.
 
 
 
Conclusion
Honestly these are some really good studio monitor’s that can be used for many types of audio, from music, games, movies and TV, with wide range of different devices as long you have the type of cables you need. These was the first good pair of monitor’s that I have owned, I have no regrets getting these. I can see myself using these for a very long time. I highly recommend theses.
 

 
 
                                               
 
 The Sennheiser HD 700 is the little brother of the HD 800, the design looks like it stolen from an art museum in the future, Or a futurist earmuff. The cups are in the shape of your ear, the ear pads can be removed by unsnapping them from the headphone’s themselves, and sadly I haven’t seen any 3rd party ear pads as Sennheiser HD 700 ear pads cost around 80-99 dollars. Maybe in the future (no pun intended) they will create different ear pads that are thicker for those whose ears touches the drivers or that stick out further from their heads.
 
The each ear has a plug for the headphone cable’s which are Dual mono, Also besides each cup has a connector on them, it makes it easier down the line to swap to balanced cables to use with a balanced Amp.
 
The headphone’s easily adjust to the size you need, You have to make sure you get both sides the right amount for your head, having visual numbers would have made it easier to do, cups moves forward and back, but they do not twist.
 
The HD 700’s are very light headphone’s other than my ear touching the driver a bit, the ear pads them self are very comfortable as so the headband pads. I just wish the ear pads was thicker.
 
Unlike my last pair of headphone’s the HE-500’s, the HD700 are easier to drive, they work great on both my Gustard H10 and my Burson Lycan the only thing that I have that they don’t work with on is the Fiio E7 which can’t drive them correctly, The HD700’s are 500mW @ 150ohms.
 
 
The Setup
 
For the review, I will be using my Gustard X12 Dac paired with my Burson Lycan amp which will have the Burson V5-OPA-D Op-amp installed.
 

 
 
The Results
 
Shazzka – Showtime
 
The first thing you notice in this song is how hard the bass hits while going deep, Its clean and not messy, It does not leak into the other freq’s either. The Snare’s and the drum’s sound really good, the snares have a type of snap to them.
 
The highs are detailed while clean, not too bright, Sound really nice to me. They have a good image as I can hear the location of the different instruments.
 
The Vocals are in the center, they have weight behind them, some of the vocal’s pan out towards the left and right, while still sounding nice. The sound stage to me is big and sounds like it’s 3Dish to me, the sound isn’t close to my head but surrounds it.
CloZee – Koto
 
The instrument and the snares in the first part of the song is spread out thru the sound stage, it’s very clean and heard. The sound imaging is really good in this song. The bass also hits hard but not as hard like the other song, but it still goes deep as well.
 
The vocals are in the center like the singer is in front of you on the stage in the back ground. While another sounds like is in the front of that one.  The 3^rd is at the left of the center, All 3 of them are heard clearly and does not overlap each other.
 
 
Arkaik – Moving on (Original mix)
 
The song has a very airly feel to it, the drum kit is in the center directly in front of you, clearly heard and detailed. The location of the bass is in the left channel which is very deep. Both the drum kit and the bass is heard separately.
 
 The 2^nd bass note feels like it surrounds you before it goes into an error, when it just the drums kit and the bass note playing. The sound stage feels like it very open. I enjoying this song.
 
 
Ben Soundscape, Superior Selectionz – Abbey (Original mix)
 
Like the last song, this one also have a airly feel to it, The drum kit and the snare is in the center of you in a such a way like the drummer is hitting the drums just for you. The Snare and the bass is separated from the drumming. The drums hit very deep and there some weight behind each fast hit.
 
The vocals are soft and the position of the singer is in front of the drummer, they don’t drown each other out.
 
The sound stage is also 3D while being large and it surrounds you like the other song, each person and instrument is easy heard all thru the sound stage as their separate thing.
 
 
Conclusion
 
Over all I enjoyed the way most of the songs sounded on the headphones, it worked really well with what I paired with them for this review. Prior I had the HE-500, Honestly I glad I move on to the HD700 as I prefer the way that these headphones sound over them. While the HE-500 did sound good, I just like the HD700 more so, since they like I said very light and you don’t feel them on your head unlike the HE-500.

The E7 uses a wolfson Wm8740 for its Digital-To-Analog convertor (dac), The Amp section uses the AD8692 and TPA6130A as Pre- and power amps. The dac does supports higher bit rates, but it due to the usb receiver chip only supports up to16 bit/48kHz. The device gets its power from the usb port or the dock port if it is docked into the E9. The charge last 80 hours when you’re not using it with any power sources.
 
The Amp section headphone Impedance Range is 16ohm-300, the output power is 150mW @ 16ohms and 16mW at 300@, the E7 amp section works very well with my DT770 pro-80s.
The Fiio E7 is one of the older line ups that been replaced by the newer models. It has Two Headphone jack’s which is useful if you’re sharing music with a second person, or using Two Headphones side by side. With a reset hole in the middle of the two which you can use to reset the device.
On the bottom of the device theirs an usb input, which it uses the PCM2706 for the usb receiver. Next to it is the dock connection, with that dock connection the E7 can be connected to the Fiio E9 and use with it as an all in one Dac solution, adapters exist with different functions for that plug. The Aux input is used to plug any other source into the E7, to use the E7 as a standalone amp.
One the side of the E7 are the Volume buttons which are hybrid bottoms which raise or lower the volume, or flip thru the menus. The menu button which on a single press takes you to the settings and select options within the menu. The Power button which turns off the E7 or exit the current setting option in the menu. On the front the E7 has an Oled screen.
There are 3 different bass settings with in the EQ setting which changes the sound of the Fiio E7, Eq0 which is the default, EQ1-3 which changes the bass and the rest of the sound.
 

 

 

 
 
The Setup
I will be using MusicBee set to use Wasapi, for headphones I will be using the DT770 pro-80, The Fiio E7 will be set to EQ 0.
 
The Songs
Chris Bekker – Heimat B (Original mix)
The first thing you hear when you listen to the song is the bass, it hits hard with impact. While the snares are clean and heard. But the drums are a tad hard to hear. The rest of the song sounds nice, with that highs being a tad detailed, it does bother my left ear but not that much. Since that’s where I have HF Tinnitus.
The sound stage I would say is close to you, the sound image is ok to me. But over all sounds good.
 
CloZee – Koto
In this song the first part is really clear including the snares. The bass in this song also have an impactful sound. The vocals sound good as so the clapping in the part where the bass drops. When the bass starts back up it takes the fore front making you notice it.
 
Noisy Blue – Eyes on You
The Song is mainly piano, which in the song sounds really good it has weight behind each note that is played and how heard it being strike. It’s a little bit not clean, But Violins are heard in the background. The sound imaging is ok to me but not perfect. The sound stage is close to my head with this song as well.
 
Slakker – Sailor and the Box
Similar to the type of song as Noisy blue, instead of pianos. It’s Drums, bass, vocals and an electronica note. The bass and the drums hit hard, the snare like the other songs are clearly heard. The vocals are center, some of the voices pans from left to the right ear. Like noisy blue the music is close to your head.
 
 
Over all while with a lot of these songs it did really good job, the bass at times wasn’t clear. But I enjoy using my DT770 pro-80 with it as my primary setup for them. Due to the bass and the portability for my laptop/tablet.
 
 
Updated: The Fiio E7 I had, decided to die on me, no longer charging or any thing.Such a shame but then I just found out that it common for this model, What makes matter worst that you gotta go thru a work around just to change the battery. I don't know what Fiio was thinking  putting the battery directly to the PCB , instead of using a 2pin plug. Since I bought it used can't do a thing about it, but switch to something else for my portable needs.

                                                              HAVIT HV-H2158U Headset Review
I receive this headset for free to write an honest review. The Havit HV-H2158U is a Gaming headset, it has a comfortable headband with adjustable sides which changes the size of the headset to let it fit on all types of head sizes. The ear pads are Pleather, but the cups are open, it doesn’t get hot on your ears after long usage. Each sides of the cup has a LED where the holes are, that changes on their own at random.  The headset was light on my head and I didn’t have any issues with the headset itself.
The headset has a mic which is small but close enough to your mouth, which works very well.  The Headset is not analog, but USB connection the cable is braded, but at times it doesn’t want to get straight and keeps twisting into loops. The headset has the option of being used without drivers for stereo and with drivers as a virtual 7.1 headset, besides having access to the software.
 
The Software
The HV-H2158 build in dac is based off C-media’s usb chip, I can’t find which one it is. But the software it uses for the drivers is the same one that the Asus U7 usb uses. It has all types of settings and config. I have not tried the settings in games. One thing is the drivers supposed to install the headset as 7.1 to allow for Xear surround max to work correctly. Maybe in a future driver it will be fixed to work like it intended to with the drivers.
 
Results
In fps the headset had a very good sound image, I was able to hear the location of the targets easy, the weapon fire as clearly heard. Over all the headset did a good job in the different number of fps games I played, Such as Zombie Army Trilogy and dying light.
 
I tried a couple of side scrolled games, the audio performance was really good, the audio sound really good to me in Guacamelee gold edition as well 20XX.In 20xx I was hearing a part of the music and I keep turning around thinking I was hearing something in my room because of the way the song was done. But it was the game itself.
 
I tried a few songs and the HV-H2158U did a pretty good job in them, I didn’t primary used music for the review as I normally do as most people will be using these for gaming and may not use them with music any way. But they will do a good job for music, as long you have not used anything better of course.
 
Over all besides the flaws with the drivers and the cable issues, Havit did a very good job with the H2158U, a very good headset.