Peddler
1000+ Head-Fier
I have been an enthusiastic headphone user for many years now. I used to have a really nice British based hi fi system but unfortunately that had to go once the kids started happening. Ever since then I have used headphones for most of my listening as I feel it’s the only way I can get the resolution and scale I used to achieve with my original system.
Over the years I have had an impressive range of headphones and portable media players - starting with Discman players, moving through Mini Disc and now MP3 players and mobile phones.
At the moment I use the following items on a regular basis:-
Playback
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (custom ROM running Google Play Music and the excellent Neutron).
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (standard ROM running the same as above).
Vintage Apple iMac - running iTunes of course
IMP MP3 Player - excellent for driving headphones to a higher level than most phones can achieve.
Topping NX-2 Headphone Amp/DAC
Headphones
Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 - it doesn’t get any better than these - you should consider these narcotics for the ears.
Audio Technica ATH-M50X - excellent full sized headphones that offer a non-fatiguing and yet lively sound. Not easy to drive with a mobile phone though.
Packaging
Even though these are inexpensive headphones when compared to others in my collection, I have to say that the packaging they come supplied with is absolutely first class. This quality of packaging puts companies like Sony and JVC to shame. The outer box clearly shows the features, facilities and specifications of the headphones and, on opening, shows the phones behind a clear plastic hard covering. The additional accessories (USB cable and headphone cable for passive non-wireless listening) come in a separate back cardboard box along with the instruction manual (which no-one ever reads - me included). This product would certainly not be out of place being displayed in a high street consumer electronics shop and the packaging would certainly help sell the product.
Build Quality and Comfort
The Bluedio T3 is surprisingly heavy for such an inexpensive headphone. The frame is all metal and appears to be really tough. They remind me of products like Beats or perhaps some of the more rugged headphones sold in the seventies. Unfortunately the earcups are made of plastic and they rattle against the metal parts and sound like really cheap plastic. All in all though you get a real sense of rugged build quality with them and I definitely feel they would last a long time and survive some serious abuse.
The pads are quite soft and comfortable although the phones do clamp fairly tightly to your head but I have worn them for quite some time whilst playing games on my xbox but occasionally you have to take them off for a couple of minutes to give your ears a bit of a breather.
The hardware buttons are very clunky and this is perhaps the only real giveaway that they are not a premium set of phones (apart from the sound the plastic makes when rattling against the metal frames). One good point though is that you would rarely accidentally press the controls whilst adjusting them - I suspect you can't say the same for those premium headphones which feature touch controls like the Parrot Zik and Samsung.
One thing I did notice is that when you're pressing the buttons there is so much positive pressure that the drivers flex and you actually cut out the sound on one side for a second whilst the pressure is applied. Hopefully this won't cause damage to the drivers in the long term.
Features and Facilities
The headset features all the controls on the right hand earcup and, like most bluetooth headsets, the controls offer different functions depending on short pressing or long pressing. The middle button is used to power on the unit, activate Google Now or Siri and enter pairing mode. The bottom button is used for Play/Pause and the left and right buttons are used for track skipping and volume. There is a microphone fitted which works OK but it’s fair to say that a proper dedicated bluetooth phone headset will beat it hands down.
Pairing up your phone happens nice and quickly and, again like many inexpensive headsets on the market now, can be actively paired to more than one device at a time. A Chinese sounding female voice through the headphones tells you when you’re connected, pairing and powering off - actually useful function. Like all other bluetooth headphones on the market there is a bright flashing blue light to tell you that they are powered on, in pairing mode and playing music. Given the amount of sound that leaks from these phones, it’s not going to disturb your sleeping partner any more than they’re already being disturbed anyway.
Sound Quality
Unfortunately out of the box with no eq applied, these headphones are absolute bass monsters. So much bass that all the other frequencies are repressed and they actually start to rattle. They do go loud. Far louder than anyone would be comfortable with which is nice because I'm betting fed up with consumer electronics not having enough volume - I'm a child of the 60’s and need to rock out LOUD sometimes. They are extremely efficient and can be driven easily by any media player when used in wired mode. The drivers are 57mm - definitely larger than those found on most other headphones. Whilst this does perhaps contribute to the bass, I personally would have liked a more balanced sound without having to resort to using eq.
As mentioned earlier the seal on these phones is tight enough to actually press the drivers in when you first put them on due to positive air pressure. This tight seal and pressure helps with passive noise cancellation but strangely the sound does leak out of them quite a lot so they are not ideal for wearing in bed if your partner wants to get some sleep. I would stick with something like the Apple EarPods for sleeping in.
Using the phones with my trusty Samsung Galaxy Note 2 running Neutron and Viper for Android I can use the eq to greatly reduce the bass and boost up some of the higher frequencies to get a more balanced sound and to an extent they start to shine. Although Neutron has the better eq controls, the effects only apply when using Neutron to play music. By using Viper the eq settings are automatically applied whenever the bluetooth headset is connected and its effects are applied to all music software on the device. One of the reasons why I don’t like to use eq though is because you have to remember to switch the effects off when using conventional headphones like the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10’s which definitely don’t require eq.
I think it's important to remember that these are inexpensive headphones and it's perhaps a little unfair to compare them to something like the Audio Technica ATH M50x headphones. Even with eq applied the bass can still dominate the sound - especially when listening at higher volumes. At lower volumes though the phones really sound surprisingly nice - taking into account the price. Certain frequencies in the vocal range appear to have some edgy distortion which I’m hoping will go when they are burnt in properly.
I have briefly tried the headphones in wired mode using my Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (with aggressive eq applied of course) and they sound really nice. Basically with the eq set to reduce the bass frequencies almost off and the treble frequencies boosted almost to the max, the sound is quite full, not distorted and very listenable. Strangely though I am listening to a Dido album with the volume set almost to full - perhaps there’s an impedance differential with the tablet which limits the output somewhat but the sound is nice and mellow and enjoyable. Also, so far, I haven’t experienced the distortion in the female vocal range in this configuration.
All in all I actually like these headphones. When their price is taken into account they have the potential to be really nice - with a considerable amount of eq applied. Their excessive bass works quite nicely when using them with my xbox but for music it’s a different matter. Their build quality is really remarkable for the price. They do have a somewhat retro look which does look a little strange when wearing them to walk the dog but then again I really don't give a monkey’s. I would cautiously recommend them to anyone looking for inexpensive headphones who have a player with eq controls to tame the bass.
I was kindly sent a sample of the T3’s free of charge for an unbiased review. I advised them that my reviews tend to focus on sound quality as the primary reason for purchase.
Bluedio Amazon Shop
http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/A1VFP8YF5XT3U8
Bluedio T3 Product Page
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019DUFVT2
Over the years I have had an impressive range of headphones and portable media players - starting with Discman players, moving through Mini Disc and now MP3 players and mobile phones.
At the moment I use the following items on a regular basis:-
Playback
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (custom ROM running Google Play Music and the excellent Neutron).
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (standard ROM running the same as above).
Vintage Apple iMac - running iTunes of course
IMP MP3 Player - excellent for driving headphones to a higher level than most phones can achieve.
Topping NX-2 Headphone Amp/DAC
Headphones
Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 - it doesn’t get any better than these - you should consider these narcotics for the ears.
Audio Technica ATH-M50X - excellent full sized headphones that offer a non-fatiguing and yet lively sound. Not easy to drive with a mobile phone though.
Packaging
Even though these are inexpensive headphones when compared to others in my collection, I have to say that the packaging they come supplied with is absolutely first class. This quality of packaging puts companies like Sony and JVC to shame. The outer box clearly shows the features, facilities and specifications of the headphones and, on opening, shows the phones behind a clear plastic hard covering. The additional accessories (USB cable and headphone cable for passive non-wireless listening) come in a separate back cardboard box along with the instruction manual (which no-one ever reads - me included). This product would certainly not be out of place being displayed in a high street consumer electronics shop and the packaging would certainly help sell the product.
Build Quality and Comfort
The Bluedio T3 is surprisingly heavy for such an inexpensive headphone. The frame is all metal and appears to be really tough. They remind me of products like Beats or perhaps some of the more rugged headphones sold in the seventies. Unfortunately the earcups are made of plastic and they rattle against the metal parts and sound like really cheap plastic. All in all though you get a real sense of rugged build quality with them and I definitely feel they would last a long time and survive some serious abuse.
The pads are quite soft and comfortable although the phones do clamp fairly tightly to your head but I have worn them for quite some time whilst playing games on my xbox but occasionally you have to take them off for a couple of minutes to give your ears a bit of a breather.
The hardware buttons are very clunky and this is perhaps the only real giveaway that they are not a premium set of phones (apart from the sound the plastic makes when rattling against the metal frames). One good point though is that you would rarely accidentally press the controls whilst adjusting them - I suspect you can't say the same for those premium headphones which feature touch controls like the Parrot Zik and Samsung.
One thing I did notice is that when you're pressing the buttons there is so much positive pressure that the drivers flex and you actually cut out the sound on one side for a second whilst the pressure is applied. Hopefully this won't cause damage to the drivers in the long term.
Features and Facilities
The headset features all the controls on the right hand earcup and, like most bluetooth headsets, the controls offer different functions depending on short pressing or long pressing. The middle button is used to power on the unit, activate Google Now or Siri and enter pairing mode. The bottom button is used for Play/Pause and the left and right buttons are used for track skipping and volume. There is a microphone fitted which works OK but it’s fair to say that a proper dedicated bluetooth phone headset will beat it hands down.
Pairing up your phone happens nice and quickly and, again like many inexpensive headsets on the market now, can be actively paired to more than one device at a time. A Chinese sounding female voice through the headphones tells you when you’re connected, pairing and powering off - actually useful function. Like all other bluetooth headphones on the market there is a bright flashing blue light to tell you that they are powered on, in pairing mode and playing music. Given the amount of sound that leaks from these phones, it’s not going to disturb your sleeping partner any more than they’re already being disturbed anyway.
Sound Quality
Unfortunately out of the box with no eq applied, these headphones are absolute bass monsters. So much bass that all the other frequencies are repressed and they actually start to rattle. They do go loud. Far louder than anyone would be comfortable with which is nice because I'm betting fed up with consumer electronics not having enough volume - I'm a child of the 60’s and need to rock out LOUD sometimes. They are extremely efficient and can be driven easily by any media player when used in wired mode. The drivers are 57mm - definitely larger than those found on most other headphones. Whilst this does perhaps contribute to the bass, I personally would have liked a more balanced sound without having to resort to using eq.
As mentioned earlier the seal on these phones is tight enough to actually press the drivers in when you first put them on due to positive air pressure. This tight seal and pressure helps with passive noise cancellation but strangely the sound does leak out of them quite a lot so they are not ideal for wearing in bed if your partner wants to get some sleep. I would stick with something like the Apple EarPods for sleeping in.
Using the phones with my trusty Samsung Galaxy Note 2 running Neutron and Viper for Android I can use the eq to greatly reduce the bass and boost up some of the higher frequencies to get a more balanced sound and to an extent they start to shine. Although Neutron has the better eq controls, the effects only apply when using Neutron to play music. By using Viper the eq settings are automatically applied whenever the bluetooth headset is connected and its effects are applied to all music software on the device. One of the reasons why I don’t like to use eq though is because you have to remember to switch the effects off when using conventional headphones like the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10’s which definitely don’t require eq.
I think it's important to remember that these are inexpensive headphones and it's perhaps a little unfair to compare them to something like the Audio Technica ATH M50x headphones. Even with eq applied the bass can still dominate the sound - especially when listening at higher volumes. At lower volumes though the phones really sound surprisingly nice - taking into account the price. Certain frequencies in the vocal range appear to have some edgy distortion which I’m hoping will go when they are burnt in properly.
I have briefly tried the headphones in wired mode using my Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (with aggressive eq applied of course) and they sound really nice. Basically with the eq set to reduce the bass frequencies almost off and the treble frequencies boosted almost to the max, the sound is quite full, not distorted and very listenable. Strangely though I am listening to a Dido album with the volume set almost to full - perhaps there’s an impedance differential with the tablet which limits the output somewhat but the sound is nice and mellow and enjoyable. Also, so far, I haven’t experienced the distortion in the female vocal range in this configuration.
All in all I actually like these headphones. When their price is taken into account they have the potential to be really nice - with a considerable amount of eq applied. Their excessive bass works quite nicely when using them with my xbox but for music it’s a different matter. Their build quality is really remarkable for the price. They do have a somewhat retro look which does look a little strange when wearing them to walk the dog but then again I really don't give a monkey’s. I would cautiously recommend them to anyone looking for inexpensive headphones who have a player with eq controls to tame the bass.
I was kindly sent a sample of the T3’s free of charge for an unbiased review. I advised them that my reviews tend to focus on sound quality as the primary reason for purchase.
Bluedio Amazon Shop
http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/A1VFP8YF5XT3U8
Bluedio T3 Product Page
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019DUFVT2
