Company Xiaomi recently released new in-ears headphones Piston Youth with built into their volume control module microphone and smartphone remote control buttons. They can reproduce sounds with frequencies in 20 Hz – 20 kHz range, have 32 Ohms impedance, 98 dB sensitivity and 5 mW input power. To both cups 1.25 m cable is connected, reinforced with kevlar and with 1/8″ mini-jack connector with nickel-plated contacts. Headphones mass is 15 g. Package contains : Xiaomi Piston Youth headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, headphones are good and their price is adequate : around 12 USD, however, there is ability to find in-ears headphones with similar characteristics for smaller price.
Among headphones manufacturers there are also honest companies : Sven is one of them, releasing new model AP-350M with 8 – 9 USD price, which is simply great for such device. Headphones are of over ears type, with 40 mm drivers ( with ferrite or neodymium magnets : manufacturer does not clarify which ones are used ), 20 Hz – 20 kHz reproducible frequencies range, 105 dB sensitivity and 32 Ohms impedance. With all of this, they also have built-in microphone with 30 Hz – 16 kHz perceivable frequencies range ( this is very good value, amplitude frequency characteristic, probably, is not quite flat, but microphone is good anyway ) and -58 dB sensitivity. To one of cups 1.2 m detachable cable is connected with 4 pins nickel-plated 1/8″ mini-jack connector. Headphones mass is 135 g. Package contains : Sven AP-350M headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones have very good characteristics and with their price they have no competitors at all in value/price ratio respect; so, if there is need in good headphones with optimal price, then these ones are candidate number 1 for purchasing.
Panasonic continues to rejoice with good headphones for optimal price, releasing RP-HXS220E model. They are of over ears type and can be folded for more compact carrying and storage; 30 mm drivers are built into them, moved by neodymium magnets. Headphones support 10 Hz — 25 kHz sounds playback, 1000 mW maximal power input and have 24 Ohms impedance. To both cups 1.2 m cable with 1/8″ mini-jack gold-plated connector is mounted; their mass without accounting for cable is 138 g. Package contains : Panasonic RP-HXS220E headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones are great, costing around 20 USD and having great sound characteristics, to which many much more priced models do not come even close.
Lets review new monitor wired headphones PROEL HFC16 with interesting design and adequate for their technical characteristics price. 40 mm drivers are built into them ( manufacturer does not tell which magnets are used, but the most probably neodymium magnets ), reproducible frequencies range is 20 – 20000 Hz, sensitivity is 106 dB, impedance is 32 Ohms, THD is 0.1 % and maximal power input is 200 mW. To one of cups 2 m cable is connected with 1/8″ mini-jack connector. Headphones mass is 178 g, they can be folded for convenient carrying. Package contains : PROEL HFC16 headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, these are good headphones : frequencies range is sufficient ( in most cases people do not hear sounds outside 20 Hz – 20 kHz range ), all other characteristics are on high enough level and they cost around 25 USD, which is quite adequate price for their technical abilities.
Lets devote today’s audio part to new monitor headphones Panasonic RP-HD5, which are able to reproduce sounds in 4 Hz – 40 kHz frequencies range. 40 mm drivers, moved by neodymium magnets, are built into them with 44 Ohms impedance; sensitivity is 99 dB/mW, maximal input power is 1000 mW. Cable length is 1.2 m, it has 1/8″ mini-jack gold-plated connector; headphones mass, without accounting cable, is 228 g. Package contains : Panasonic RP-HD5 headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones have great characteristics and cost around 80 – 90 USD, for device of such level of quality it is acceptable, at least it is 2 – 3 or more times smaller, than prices of some overly branded and overly marketed devices, which do not have even half of audio capabilities of these ones.
Lets review new wireless monitor headphones Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ with active noise-canceling. Manufacturer tells almost nothing about their audio technical specifications, there is no information about : used magnets, reproduceable sounds frequencies range, impedance, signal/noise ratio and maximal power input – this already rises suspicion. 40 mm drivers are built into them ( this is relatively small diameter for high-quality basses reproduction ), Bluetooth connection has 100 m range ( there is ability to use 3.5 mm mini-jack connector and USB connection for battery recharging ), one charge of battery is enough for 24 hours of work and there are buttons for phone, playback and volume control. Active noise-canceling can be disabled, if needed, to hear what’s going on around; price, that manufacturer asks for this device, is 300 USD ( for such money there is ability to buy semiprofessional photo camera kit with bundled lens, is there something in these headphones, that is equal to such high-tech device? ). Package contains : Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ headphones themselves, wireless receiver-transmitter, 3.5 mm mini-jack cable, USB cable for battery recharging and user’s guide. Overall, manufacturer tells almost nothing about about their sound technical characteristics and asks very high price for them; there is ability to buy more than 3 times cheaper professional studio monitor headphones with known very good technical details, which this model does not have; and there is ability to buy much cheaper consumer-grade wireless active noise canceling headphones with known very good technical audio details of other manufacturers. So, this model Plantronics BackBeat PRO+ is not recommended for purchasing and it is better to look on other devices.
Lets review new in-ear headphones Skullcandy S2PGGY, manufacturer again does not tell anything about their technical details. Judging by their view, 8 or 10 mm drivers are built into them; information about their sound frequencies range, sensitivity, impedance, signal to noise ratio and maximal power input Skullcandy does not provide. Volume control module with microphone is built into their cable; price of device is 30 USD. Price of Skullcandy S2PGGY is not overly high, if they have very good specifications, but, accounting the fact, that manufacturer does not tell anything about them, it is better to buy high-quality in-ear headphones of Sony, Philips and other manufacturers with very good technical characteristics, which manufacturers openly name, and which has the same or even smaller price and quality design.
Lets review new monitor headphones Skullcandy S5AVGM, which, as manufacturer says, are designed specially for women. And begin with the fact, that manufacturer does not tell anything about their technical specifications ( sound “specially for women” – is not a technical detail ); judging by their view, 40 mm drivers are built into them – this all, that can be said about their technical data. Information about their reproduceable sounds frequencies range, impedance, sensitivity, signal to noise ratio and maximal power input is not provided by Skullcandy. Their cable is detachable; in its volume control unit microphone and phones remote control buttons are built in. They are supplied in 3 color variants : orange, blue and black. With total lack of technical information, their price 100 USD is too big : for smaller sum there is ability to buy professional studio monitor headphones ( which are far superior, than this device ) and for 2 times smaller sum there is ability to buy very good monitor headphones of Sony, Philips and other manufacturers with very good technical details, which their manufacturers openly disclose. Wherein such devices have nice design and will fit both men and women, they can be decorated, if so needed. So, these headphones Skullcandy S5AVGM are not recommended for purchase and it is better to chose device of other manufacturers, which publish their real technical details.
Lets continue reviews of headphones of KEF and look on new M400 monitor model; manufacturer stays true to itself and from real technical characteristics names only following facts : 40 mm drivers are built into them ( they would have been set larger drivers for Hi-Fi basses reproduction ) and they are moved by neodymium magnets. And keeps silence about their : reproduceable sounds frequencies range, sensitivity, impedance, signal to noise ratio and maximal power input. Also it tells fairy-tales about “unique” “technologies”, that are built into them, which technical sense ( its existence is under big doubt ) is known only to manufacturer itself, and asks 250 USD for this device. This is a classical example of marketing money pumping from customers with use of Placebo effect. So, these headphones are not recommended for purchase and it is better to buy more than 2 times cheaper professional studio monitor headphones, which will surpass this device in all respects, or 5 – 7 times cheaper high-quality consumer monitor headphones of Sony, Philips and other manufacturers with known technical characteristics, which the most likely also surpass ones of this model.
Lets review new in-ear headphones KEF M100. And begin with the fact, that manufacturer among technical details names only facts, that they have 10 mm drivers, that are moved by neodymium magnets, and does not tell information about sounds frequencies range, that they can reproduce, impedance, sensitivity, signal/noise ratio and maximal power input. In the same time manufacturer names lots of “unique” “technologies”, which have little to no technical sense. Price, that manufacturer asks for this device, is 150 USD at the end of Autumn 2015, for 5 – 7 times smaller sum there is ability to buy in-ear headphones with known technical details ( with very good technical details there is need to note, which given model does not have ). So, these headphones KEF M100 and all other devices of this manufacturer are not recommended for purchase, because they are marketing money-pumping from customers for devices, which does not worth them and which has now technical advantages, that are adequate to their price. So, they are not recommended for purchase and it is better to buy in-ear headphones of other manufacturers, which name all technical details of their devices and do not overprice them.
