This brings something new to the table from the company, over-ear Bluetooth headphones. Historically Bluetooth hasn’t had the best audio quality which didn’t meet Klipsch’s standards for audio quality, but as we’re forging into the future there has been incredible increases in the quality and speed of wireless transmission.

From reviewing the Klipsch Reference Over-Ear previously and listening extensively to the Klipsch Reference Over-Ear Bluetooth I have deemed them sonically identical. From combing through the build specs the only official differences I can find is the additional weight to the Klipsch BT, which is to be expected.

Klipsch Reference Over-Ear Bluetooth Review

Design

The Klipsch Reference has a very simple and streamlined build to it. The headphone is very comfortable and pretty lightweight. The headband is made of a very soft foam and black leather wrap. It is also collapsible and easily stored in the hard shell case that come with the headphones. The earcups are deep and not too wide so medium and smaller ears fit well, while larger ears might have to bend around the inside of the cups. The earpads are a removable soft leather memory foam which should stand up pretty well over time. The headphone also comes with a removable 2.5mm cable in case your device runs out of battery.

On the right earcup you will find the Bluetooth hands-free controls. The usual controls for power, volume, play/pause and charging port are all located on the right earcup. You will get short messages spoken to you by the device, such as battery low, connected, and tones for when it turns on and when max volume has been reached. The battery life is around 20 hours which is pretty average for an over-ear Bluetooth headphone.

Sound Quality

The Klipsch Reference Over-Ear has it’s sonic identity called out from the beginning. Klipsch has been working on making this a reference sound quality headphone. It’s a difficult build to make closed-back reference Bluetooth headphones. In this price range different models have had varying amounts of success while most tend to become warmer sounding and focus on bass.

Low End

The Klipsch Reference errs on the side of caution with their representation of bass content. While Klipsch has never been a bass heavy brand the Reference Over-Ear has deep extension but the headphone keeps it’s power under strict control. This gives tracks a tighter more detailed approach to their response. The headphone is fully capable of recreating low sub-bass content, but with the bass controlled in the way it is it can be overlooked when listening. The headphone comes off a little anemic, i.e. cold, the bass lives behind the mix and loses a little bit of presence because of this.

Mid Range

With no bleed from the low end transitions smoothly into the mid range. The mid range comes off full and forward because of the lack of low end energy. The lower mid range has a good amount of presence with a revealing nature to it. This trend continues into the upper mid-range. Vocal content comes through unabridged and in full detail, without coloration altering the quality. The upper mid-range gets a little hotter than the rest of the mids in response. This causes some snares and pitched drums to come off a little sharp and aggressive.

High End

The high end is pretty well tuned and comes off forward because of the energy transferring over from the upper mid-range. The high end has a good extension into upper end content and comes off with the right amount of airiness while not proceeding to become too sharp or brittle. The sonic signature ends up being more bright than neutral. Higher register strings and brass sound full and well shaped. Reverb has a large amount of room to take shape and breath.

Soundstage

The soundstage is one of the weaker points of the headphone. The quality of the soundstage is a little below average. The soundstage is in a smaller more intimate setting with some decent imaging and separation, but there is a narrow depth of field. One thing that hurts the soundstage is the lack of low end energy that makes a lot of sound sources lose their presence in a mix.

Overall Impressions

The Klipsch Reference is a pretty great headphone all around. The design and comfort are top notch, in addition to the wireless design, folding headband, and replaceable earpads all add life-time into the headphone. The sound quality is fair in it’s neutral design, but in the end it winds up having a more brighter sound signature. A headphone like this sounds wonderful when listening to classical, piano, and jazz but translates well into most genres because of the more or less balanced signature.

Recommendations

For over-ear Bluetooth headphones the Klipsch Reference is really in a class of it’s own. Most Bluetooth headphones tend to be a little more colored in their response, causing bass and mids to be for focused on while the high end suffers. While this might be a sound signature that most people dislike it’s good that there is one out that is built like this. For those who want a warmer Bluetooth headphone you can try out the Sennheiser Momentum or B&O H7.

The post Klipsch Reference Over-Ear Bluetooth Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

Beyerdynamic A2 Headphone Amplifier Review

Design

The A2 by Beyerdynamic is setup pretty similar to their other amps. With most buttons, knobs, and inputs in the same locations. They do take a slight step outside of their rigid conformity. The top of the casing is made of a transparency with the Beyerdynamic logo cut into the panel which showcases a nice line of capacitors, resistors, and other components of the circuit board. When the amp is turned on a row of orange LEDs illuminate the inside of the case adding a little bit of flair. The rest of the body is the familiar bushed metal frame. Per circuit board design reasons there are a couple of switches located on the bottom of the amp controlling output impedance and volume settings. Also located on the bottom of the amp is the setting for the headphone stand.

Sound Quality

Before the signal is output there a couple switches the user can manipulate on the bottom of the amp to give the user a little more control over the final signal being sent to the outputs. The first one is a switch to select the output impedance of either 0 Ω or 100 Ω. And another switch for output volume, -4dB, 0dB, or +6dB.

The amp is very transparent in it’s signal processing leaving headphones to sound natural and full. This was happening with any headphone or IEM I threw at it, for example the HD800S, HD650, LCD-2, and Shure SE 846. In the end I was left with a transparent listening experience that added depth and brilliance into whatever I was listening to. Usually companies descriptions of their products are a little exaggerated and misleading, especially with headphones and other subjective material. Beyerdynamic really nailed it this time with their engineering team. The amp also widens up the soundstage of headphones, which helps add depth and space into cluttered and dense mixes. These characteristics are really exemplified when listening to headphones like the Sennheiser HD800S which are known for their wide and deep soundstage. Together they pair up wonderfully with the transparency of the amp mixed with the wide soundstage to create a wonderful sounding product.

Operation

The amp itself has an above average wattage at 15W while in use at a higher output. The heat dissipation is well taken care of leaving a low running temperature, partially inherent to being a solid-state amplifier and using LEDs. The amp has two separate RCA inputs and one RCA output if you’re trying to use it inline in a system, which it’s power output is a little low for. The A2 boasts two headphone jacks so you can switch between two pairs of cans easily while the amp is in operation, but with all parallel outputs try make sure you match the impedances of both headphones, or you will wind up loading the signal and cause some discrepancies with the output.

Tech Specs

Final Impressions

The A2 from Beyerdynamic gives premium quality at a premium price. While there is no getting around the $1399 price tag, for those who are in the market for a top of the line amp the A2 is one to keep in mind. This piece is one of the more elegant things Beyerdynamic has crafted, and that concept of design manifests itself all the way into the hand picked components that go into the circuitry. Sound quality and build aside I am definitely a sucker for the integrated headphone stand and orange LEDs. If you’re chasing after a transparent and natural sounding source then the A2 is one of the better headphone amps to check out if you’re looking to upgrade your components soon.

The post Beyerdynamic A2 Headphone Amplifier Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

This isn’t Klipsch’s first foray into the realm of over-ear headphones, but most older models have been discontinued, aside from the R6, and swept to the side by the company. This latest series seems to be one very true to the Klipsch name in sound quality and design. Most likely this will be the series that Klipsch will stick with long into the future.

Klipsch Reference Over-Ear Review

Design

The Klipsch Reference has a very simple and streamlined build to it. The headphone is very comfortable and pretty lightweight. The headband is made of a very soft foam and black leather wrap. It is also collapsible and easily stored in the hard shell case that come with the headphones. The earcups are deep and not too wide so medium and smaller ears fit well, while larger ears might have to bend around the inside of the cups. The earpads are a removable soft leather memory foam which should stand up pretty well over time. The headphone features a removable 2.5mm cable with microphone and iOS controls capitalizing on the portability aspect. And no surprise the headphones come in black and white.

Sound Quality

The Klipsch Reference Over-Ear has it’s sonic identity called out from the beginning. Klipsch has been working on making this a reference sound quality headphone. It’s a difficult build to make closed-back reference headphones made run off your phone. In this price range different models have had differing amounts of success at honing down a neutral frequency response.

Low End

The Klipsch Reference errs on the side of caution with their representation of bass content. While Klipsch has never been a bass heavy brand the Reference Over-Ear has deep extension but the headphone keeps it’s power under strict control. This gives tracks a tighter more detailed approach to their response. The headphone is fully capable of recreating low sub-bass content, but with the bass controlled in the way it is it can be overlooked when listening. The headphone comes off a little anemic, i.e. cold, the bass lives behind the mix and loses a little bit of presence because of this.

Mid Range

With no bleed from the low end transitions smoothly into the mid range. The mid range comes off full and forward because of the lack of low end energy. The lower mid range has a good amount of presence with a revealing nature to it. This trend continues into the upper mid-range. Vocal content comes through unabridged and in full detail, without coloration altering the quality. The upper mid-range gets a little hotter than the rest of the mids in response. This causes some snares and pitched drums to come off a little sharp and aggressive.

High End

The high end is pretty well tuned and comes off forward because of the energy transferring over from the upper mid-range. The high end has a good extension into upper end content and comes off with the right amount of airiness while not proceeding to become too sharp or brittle. The sonic signature ends up being more bright than neutral. Higher register strings and brass sound full and well shaped. Reverb has a large amount of room to take shape and breath.

Soundstage

The soundstage is one of the weaker points of the headphone. The quality of the soundstage is a little below average. The soundstage is in a smaller more intimate setting with some decent imaging and separation, but there is a narrow depth of field. One thing that hurts the soundstage is the lack of low end energy that makes a lot of sound sources lose their presence in a mix.

Overall Impressions

The Klipsch Reference is a pretty great headphone all around. The design and comfort are top notch, in addition the removable cables, folding design, and replaceable earpads all add life-time into the headphone. The sound quality is fair in it’s neutral design, but in the end it winds up having a more brighter sound signature. A headphone like this sounds wonderful when listening to classical, piano, and jazz but translates well into all genres because of the more or less balanced signature.

Recommendations

The Klipsch Reference does a good job standing out among many other headphones in this price range that claim to be of reference quality. The sonic balance reminds me of the Listen by Focal because both headphones have a brighter frequency response, also they are priced the same.

For a more musical sounding headphone that has stronger bass and more energy in the low end you could check out Sennheiser’s Momemtum Over-Ear or Audio-Technica’s MSR7 around the same price range.

You can find these headphones for the best price here:

Audio 46 (Use our promo code, “majorhifi” to get 10% off)

The post Klipsch Reference Over-Ear Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

Audio-Technica ATH-ES770H Review

Design

Following the Earsuit mantra to heart the ES770H’s design is sleek and attractive. The ES770H features a stainless steel housings with a blue mirrored finish. The ear cups are a medium size for an on-ear headphone, so they end up sitting on the rim of your ear. The ear pads could offer a little more cushioning or comfort and the clamping force is on the tighter side adding some pressure and started to feel a little uncomfortable after a couple hours, also to be noted I ware glasses. A plus side to the clamping force is that the headphone sits firmly on your head and don’t wiggle around. Another huge plus in my book is that the headphone uses two removable coax connectors for the left and right channels.

Sound Quality

The headphones have an above average sound quality for an on-ear headphone. They fall into being a warmer headphones having a boosted low end. The headphone follows a more consumer based sound response making it good to listen to things like pop, electronic, and rap.

Low End

There is a good amount of energy in bass content which gives the headphones a warmer sound characteristic. With the headphones’s emphasis on bass content it loses some clarity which makes it come off a little muddy. Low end driven music still has enough kick from the headphone’s sub-bass content to make up for it.

Mid Range

Mid Range content has a good amount of presence to it, coming off forward. The lower mid range comes off a little softer than the rest of the mid range. This makes male vocals sound a little thin. This also causes some of the upper mid range to come off a little sharp by comparison.

High End

Upper end frequency is extended pretty far but it doesn’t have a solid base. This makes cymbals and some higher register strings come off a little brittle and airy. Some sibilance is exaggerated by this in female vocals. Reverb and other effects have room to breath and fully extend their sound.

Soundstage

The soundstage in the headphones is more of an intimate soundstage than expansive. It has a moderate amount of precision in sound imaging. While keeping more things within an intimate sphere it offers an average amount of separation for additional detail.

Overall Impressions

For an on-ear headphone the ES770H does offer an above average sound quality, while offering a pleasing aesthetic. While it could be a little more on the comfy end it makes up for it with it’s sound response. While I’m not too keen about on-ear headphones because I ware glasses it does work better for me than most other on-ears. And again the removeable coax connectors are a great addition to the headphone.

Recommendations

For some people comfort is more important than sound quality so some other great sounding on ears with more comfort are the u-JAYS and the T 51 from Beyerdynamic, all gravitating around the same price point.

If interested, grab Audio Technica ATH-ES770H

The post Audio-Technica ATH-ES770H Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

Westone AM Pro 20 Review

Design

Westone has made the environmental awareness possible from the addition of their proprietary SLED Technology and TRU Audio Filter. Aside from the special tech added to the IEM, it is a standard build using Balanced Armature drivers and MMCX connectors. Like their other Pro model the UM series the cables are reinforced at the connector.

Sound Quality

With the additional Balanced Armature driver the AM series really takes off with the AM Pro 20s. Because of the market audience for the IEM it needs to have an articulate and balanced frequency response. When you have multiple drivers in an IEM one is dedicated to reproducing bass frequency content and the other is for mid range to high end treble content. The end result makes the IEM’s frequency response much more full/detailed and run more efficiently.

Low End

The low end in pro IEMs can tend to come off as a little flat or lackluster because of it’s tamed response. The AM Pro 20 finds good balance between power and detail coming off slightly less full than it could to give proper bass response. Things like bass and kick drums come though transparent and naturally.

Mid Range

Probably the most critical range that this IEM has to conquer. Vocal content, guitar, drums, and pretty much everything has to come through unabridged and detailed. The Pro 20 has a very clear and articulate mid range from the low mids to the upper mid range. The lower mid range comes through slightly warmer than it could, but this is just me being hyper critical. There is good separation of content when this frequency bracket gets cluttered.

High End

While having a limited response of up to 18kHz the AM Pro 20 does a good job of keeping the higher end content in control. While not coming off too brilliant or sharp the high end has a good full presence that helps strings and horns come through the mix well. Reverb and effects have plenty of room to breathe and decay.

Soundstage

The soundstage for many in ears is pretty narrow and it’s something we expect, but the AM Pro 20 has a pretty decent soundstage for an IEM. There is a good sense of depth and placement within the sound field that enables room for additional definition and clarity.

Overall Impressions

Even though I’m not completely sold on the concept of ambient IEMs, that isn’t to say they don’t have their place for use. Places like houses of warship where the musicians are held back by certain technical capacities, or musicians wanting to be able to hear themselves in practice without sacrificing quality can find solace in the design.

Recommendations

If you are needing an ambient IEM then you cannot go wrong with the AM Pro 20s. But if you need more isolation and still want reference sound quality then the UM Pro 20s by Westone are a great substitute. I would not recommend using them in a professional stage environment that has a loud stage volume because of how the addition ambiance would throw off my monitor mixes.

You can find these buds for the best price here:

Audio 46 (Use our promo code, “majorhifi” to get 10% off)

Amazon

The post Westone AM Pro 20 Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

JBL Everest Elite 100 Review

Design

At first I was a little thrown off by the large neck band that the earbuds are attached to, but after putting it on and wearing it for a while I actually forgot I was wearing it. The neckband has a very ergonomic design and good counterbalance to ensure it can be worn for hours on end without causing issues. A feature I overlooked at first was the remote controls on the neckband, which are well placed and easy to look over. The headset controls are pretty standard: volume, play/pause, and JBL’s ambient awareness.

The battery life is around 6 hours which isn’t amazing seeing how it is a newer release, but the headphone is pulling a lot of weight behind being Bluetooth, noise-cancelling, and having JBL’s ambient awareness. The earbuds come with ear fins attached to the units which helps them stay in your ear while not adding much additional pressure to your ear.

Noise Cancelling

For being an In-Ear noise-cancelling headphone the Everest Elite 100 does a pretty good job of cancellation. It takes care of most low-end background noise that can be going on around you, and like every other active noise-cancelling headphone high frequency content is pretty difficult to take care of and will bleed through. But when listening to music at a reasonable level the headphone isolates you pretty well from most noise.

JBL Smartphone App

Being an Elite model the headphone has access to JBL’s My Headphone app for more control over the headphone. The only features you can’t use without the app is the Medium Ambient Awareness setting and the ability to turn off noise cancelling. The UI is pretty basic and all of the information is available on one page. So you can easily monitor battery life, ambient awareness, and noise-cancelling. And what app would be complete without EQ settings, coming packed with standard EQ presets like Jazz, Vocal, and Bass. The App gives you the ability to create your own preset with a very generous 10-Band EQ to sculpt your preferred response.

Sound Quality

Common trend running in the Everest series is a lack of treble content to which the headphone follows a warmer sonic quality. Another thing is that noise-cancelling tends to narrow out the sound stage, which can be annoying but when you’re trying to focus on noise cancelling some sonic discrepancies are alright.

Low End

Like I mentioned the Everest series all have a warmer sound quality to their headphones which makes sense because a lot of consumers are used to this type of sound. The low end is pretty powerful which gives bass and kick drums a nice added punch to them. There is a decent amount of detail in the headphones which gives them a forward leaning low end.

Mid Range

There is some additional coloration in the mid range which is to be expected. This causes vocals, acoustic, and rock music to come out pretty well when listening to music. There is plenty of clarity in the mid range when listening with and without noise-cancelling.

High End

The sonic weakness of so many wireless headphones is in the high end. There is a lack of extension into the high end which takes away the brightness and airiness in recordings. Which in turn makes a things like brass and strings come off a little dull and unengaging. While you can make up for some of this with EQ it doesn’t fully bring it back from the dead.

Soundstage

With being an in-ear and noise-cancelling the soundstage is crushed pretty thin. While you can turn the noise-cancelling off to regain some of the width there isn’t much else to help. This is just a natural side effect of the technology and is something that will be difficult to overcome.

Overall Impressions

This sounds like a JBL Everest headphone, they all have similar sonic footprints. For being an in-ear active noise-cancelling headphone JBL has engineered a pretty decent piece of technology. With the market also being pretty slim in this area I wouldn’t be surprised to see this being one of the better selling models out there in time. Especially at a time where companies seem to be abandoning headphone jacks. The main thing going against this headphone is the battery life of 6 hours, if it was around 8 hours a lot more could be going for it.

Recommendations

While working fine for shorter domestic flights this might be a problem for international fliers who might want to stick to long lasting over the ear noise cancelling headphones. But, this headphone would work great in a noisy open office environment. Another good Bluetooth in-ear active noise-cancelling headphone is the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC40BT coming in at around the same price range.

If interested in grabbing JBL Everest Elite 100 it’s available for the lowest price on Audio 46 using discount code “majorhifi” for a percentage off during checkout. It is also available at a competitive price on Amazon from authorized retailers.

The post JBL Everest Elite 100 Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

AKG N40 Review

Out of the Box

With premium releases comes the expectation of a solid unboxing experience. While a lot of IEMs are pretty hit or miss, more oft miss, AKG designed a pretty good casing for their new IEM. With the earbuds being shown off in a cutout on the back of the box, I’m not sure why not the front to fully showcase the earbuds. Slightly hidden is the MMXC cable with the remote wound right behind them. With the rest of the contents being shown to you. Multiple sizes of silicon tips, a cleaning too, carrying case, different filters for the earbuds to change the frequency response, additional MMCX cable, and to my surprise a multi mono converter.

Design

The N40 is a pretty standard IEM, the connectors are MMCX cables which makes them compatible with a plethora of name brand accessories, such as Westone’s Bluetooth cable which is pretty amazing. The design of the cable is worth mentioning. Instead of being fully nylon or plastic the cable is nylon from the 3.5mm jack to the splitting of the cable, and after is plastic to the connectors. I like this design because while nylon has a longer life than plastic, cable noise is easily picked up and can be pretty annoying to live with. The cable with a remote has a switch to toggle between iOS and Android compatibility so no need to worry about phone compatibility. The grill of the earbuds is removable and comes with two additional filters to give a more customized listening experience. One being a bass heavier option while the other enhances the amount of treble response. They are easily unscrewed from the earpiece and have a small container in the box to keep track of them. I found the medium silicon tips to be a little bit uncomfortable, tried switching to the smaller tips but it didn’t really help for comfort.

Sound Quality

With the balanced filters on the earbuds the sound quality comes off with a warm tonality. There is a good size of fullness and presence that a lot of IEMs can lose while focusing more on a detailed tonality. The N40s have a great amount of musicality to them which is coupled by a great frequency response.

Low End

The N40 has a great handle on the low end with the Reference Filters on. There is a good extension into sub-bass content that retains it’s detail and punch. The low end’s presence is pretty forward which causes the IEM to have a warmer sound quality to it. While not causing a loss of detail in most content, it can come off a little strong in some tracks.

Mid Range

The mid range is kind of left alone in the headphone. It comes through fine and has plenty of clarity to it, it just gets a little overshadowed by the low end. The mid range comes off a little darker because of the boosted harmonic content spilling over from the low end, which causes the higher mid range to come off a little softer. Vocals come through clear and well-bodied.

High End

The high end comes off pretty clean and starts to come back to life in the earbud after the upper mid range. There is good extension into upper end content and a good amount of brightness that doesn’t come off as brittle or harsh. With the reference filters on the high end feels a little out of place because it doesn’t have the presence that the mid range has. I cannot switch the filters in the model I have available to demo but I can imagine that switching to the treble filters will help the presence of the high and balance out the signal.

Soundstage

The N40 has a pretty good soundstage for an IEM. The presence of the lower end content has a nice way of adding depth into the earphone. Reverb doesn’t have a lot of room to decay because of the focus on the low end which eats up a bit of the soundstage. There is a wider amount of separation in the earbuds for in-ears than I am used to which is a nice change of pace.

Overall Impressions

The N40 creates a rich listening experience which carries over into multiple genres. The balanced filters have a little more bass in them than I expected them to have, but the option to switch them out is an appealing factor for a lot of people. I prefer switching out filters than having to go straight to an EQ to fix a signal, when possible. While expecting more of a reference style IEM the N40 surprised me with a more musical approach stylistically.

Recommendations

While the N40 is a great hybrid driver IEM if you are looking for a full balanced armature IEM the Westone W30s are a good more neutral sounding in-ear. Also for a brighter sounding IEM the Audio-Technica E70 is a good choice, but neither have the presence that the AKG N40 has. While not coming stock with foam tips I would recommend looking into grabbing some Comply tips for their comfort, I believe the N40 is a Comply TS-500 size, silicon tips start to bother me during longer listening sessions. This IEM brings some musicality back into the IEM market that often time gets pushed out by different types of technology or sound design, and because of that I give this one a silver star.

Grab the AKG N40 at the lowest price from these retailers:

Audio46 (use code “majorhifi” to get 10% off)

Amazon.

The post AKG N40 Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

Beyerdynamic Byron BT Review

While it isn’t always easy being the middle child the Byron BT has it’s own identity in the Byron series. By being the entry level wireless model from Beyerdynamic it gets a lot of attention for its attractive price of $100. By being a non-sport earphone their engineers have been able to pack more tech into the earphone than similarly priced models. With the release of the iPhone 7 people have been frantically looking for good wireless earphones and with Beyerdynamic you can’t go wrong.

Design

The earphone shell is a plastic mold that has been finished in a metallic silver. The ends of the earbuds are magnetic which makes keeping track of them around your neck easier and more efficient. Unlike other magnetic wireless earphones by clipping them together from the magnets it has no effect on their power state, looking at you Bang & Olufsen. Unlike the BTA the BT uses a micro-USB cable to charge the earphone.

Battery Life

There is no battery life difference between the BT and BTA with both coming in around 7.5 hours of playback. Were getting to a point where more wireless earbuds are coming with around an 8 hour battery life there are still plenty of high end models that have less battery life than the 7.5 hour BT. The earphone charges completely in 2 hours which is pretty quick as far as recharging goes.

Sound Quality

While I have praised the BTA in being the lone pillar shouldering the future hopes and dreams of wireless earbud technology, maybe I slightly exaggerated, the audio quality the BT has left me pleasantly surprised. While not having quite the deep extension or upper reach of the BTA the BT is still showing the whole picture. A strong feature of the Byron BT is that it experiences very little shutterning when listening to music. Of note is that Beyerdynamic is serious about their chose the correct ear tip size note left on the earbuds.

Low End

While still having a strong and present low end which extends lower than most earbuds dare to go, there is a good amount of detail and power to the low end. The ear phone has a warmer sound quality because of the low end power that extends into the mid range.

Mid Range

There is a good amount of presence in the earbuds which makes it sound a little more even than in the BTAs because of the toned down bass. Strings have a good rich sounding mid range that extends into the high end. Vocals and guitars come off full-bodied and strong.

High End

The high end is a little more sharp than in the BTAs which gives some vocals extra silibance and can make some cymbals sound a little brittle. There is a good amount of extension in the upper end but it isn’t as taimed in this model than the other. Some recordings show it more than others but it isn’t as bad as other high end models.

Soundstage

Coming off a little flattened and shallow because they are earbuds and Bluetooth. There’s a large sense of being “in your head” with most of the stereo material. There is good separation between instruments frequency wise but the spacing isn’t anything special.

Tech Specs

Overall Impressions

The Byron BT is a great sounding wireless earbud that has a lot to offer at it’s price range. While most of the in-ear wireless market as been taken over by sport models is nice to see companies making more traditional earbuds, especially with some companies like Apple removing their 3.5mm headphone jacks. It works well in many genres while shining more in bass driven music than others.

Recommendations

If you’re not in the market for a sport-ware earphone then the Byron BT is a really good one to keep in mind. There are a lot of wireless headphones in this price range that have some great features and sound quality, but I feel like Beyerdynamic’s wireless models stand at the top in their respective price ranges. If you want more models to explore around this price range the Mee Audio X7 Plus and Audio-Technica CKS55XBT are two other models to keep in mind.

They are available at Amazon Byron BT Bluetooth, wireless in-ear, Black (718386)

The post Beyerdynamic Byron BT Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

Audio-Technica ATH-PDG1 Review

The PDG1 comes as a mid-range addition to their gaming headset lineup, along side the closed back model version the PG1. I found the headphone to be more situated for console use than PC, mostly because of the lack of USB audio which is pretty important for PC headsets arriving around this price point.

Design

The PDG1 is a super lightweight headset that offers a good amount of comfort in the headband and earpads. While most of the construction is plastic, there is some metal finish around the earcups. This model is the open-back version which helps with sound imaging which really comes in handy when trying to pinpoint enemy fire or footsteps. The main point of attraction I see design wise is the removable cables. Coming equipped with 3 different cables: one 1.2m with a microphone, mute switch, and volume controller, a 1.2m smartphone cable with mic, volume control, and one button controller, and finally a 2m PC expansion cable with mic and headset outputs. A weird thing I noticed about the headphone is that it slightly press against my ears, while thinking this was a fault of the build I had a couple other people try it on and their ears were not affected by it, so news to me.

Microphone

If a microphone cannot swivel than having it removable is the next best thing. It helps prolong the microphone’s life and if you want to ware the headset out of the house it’s useful. The microphone is of good quality and pretty transparent on your voice, so you wont end up sounding like a 12-year old, unless you know.. The cable is a high quality Gooseneck cable that forms to any angle you want it placed. The pickup pattern is omni-directional which means that it will pick up sound all around the capsule, so it will pickup some things in the background or room besides your voice. I noticed when using the mic on PS4 when muted the microphone would randomly ghost a signal which wasn’t really an issue, I probably need to pickup a new controller more than the headphone being at fault.

Sound Quality

The PDG1 has a pretty standard sound quality for a gaming headset. Gaming headsets have to have a certain tonal balance to them which can often time not translate well over to music, seeing as there are different means to an end. The PDG1 has the usual boosted low end, a more forward mid range, and a wide soundstage, and the overall sound quality does translate decently over to listening to music. This is where the cable swapping comes in handy.

Low End

Gaming headsets have gotten a bad rep for being way to bassy and having little control over the low end. While there is more power than detail in the low end, the PDG1 does well for a gaming hedaset by finding a good balance between the two. The low end gives explosions, shotgun blasts, and low end sound design that extra depth that gamers usually look for. While carrying over more power than detail the PDG1 has enough control so it can transfer over fine into listening to music.

Mid Range

Gaming headsets must have a forward mid range that has clarity and detail. Vocals come through the headset well and highly important effects like footsteps and gunfire are highlighted. There is plenty of room for voices and audio content to come through without blurring together. When listening to music the mid range comes off a little strong but it isn’t overbearing it just makes vocals and guitar more forward in a mix than it would normally.

High End

The high end isn’t really highlighted in this headset, it takes a backseat because of the colored low end and mid range, but there is detail and some extension into the high end. The high end doesn’t come off sharp when listening to music, it as a more natural quality to it.

Soundstage

The soundstage in the PDG1 is pretty wide, I was surprised by the range of the imaging and placement of objects in the stereo field. When in game I could clearly distinguish where and what was coming my way. This really helps you keep your positional awareness and

Tech Specs

Overall Impressions

I found it more suited for console use than PC because of the lack of USB audio and Surround Sound which is something I prefer to have at this point in PC gaming. Another thing I’d prefer to see is a cardiod pickup pattern for the microphone to help with reject background noise. I do give it credit as a good console headset with the featherweight design, wide/deep soundstage, and good microphone id enough for a top of the line console headset. As always throw caution to the open-back design, if you live in a very loud area, have noisy roommates, or prefer isolation maybe go for the PD1 closed back version if you’re sold on the headset. Also the portability and multi-use functionality increases heavily with the closed-back version.

Recommendations

While originally marked at $200, Audio-Technica has officially dropped the price to $129.99. Around this price range it’s a really good deal that conscientious gamers should look into it. Other good gaming headsets around this price range are the Siberia 350 from SteelSeries or the ManO’War from Razor.

You can get the Audio Technica PDG-1 at the lowest price on Amazon.

The post Audio-Technica ATH-PDG1 Review appeared first on Major HiFi.

JBL Everest Elite 700 Review

Design

Having a pretty streamlined and simplistic design the Everest Elite 700 comes off pretty sleek. The headband padding is a little firm and can become a little uncomfortable if not properly adjusted, but the earpads sit just right and have a good amount of cushion to them. The headphone has a lot of control functions on the earcups for volume, noise cancelling, and skip/play/pause for a lot of phone free control which is a really great feature that all Bluetooth headphones should have. The battery life in the headphones is pretty solid at 15 hours which gives days of listening when combined with the auto turn-off feature that I accidentally end up using every time I put down the headphones and walk away, whoops.

Noise Cancelling

The Everest Elite Series offers a controllable amount of noise cancelling called Ambient Awareness. Featuring 4 settings OFF which is complete noise cancelling , LOW which offers slightly less noise cancelling, MED which is a more open environment, and HIGH which is a very transparent setting. With the App you can control the amount of Ambient Awareness by ear and even completely turn off the Active Noise-Cancelling. While the features are nice the Noise Cancelling itself is not that strong and is only average while it should be stronger for a top of the line model.

Smartphone App

Like most companies JBL has designed a smartphone app for additional control over their headphones. I usually don’t mind smartphone apps but if they hide features from the user then I start to get a little miffed. While this isn’t entirely the case the TruNote feature is only available from the app, which tunes the headphones response based off your ear structure. Also only available from the app is the Medium Ambient Awareness setting. The UI is pretty basic and all of the information is available on one page. So you can easily monitor battery life, ambient awareness, and noise-cancelling. And what app would be complete without EQ settings, coming packed with standard EQ presets like Jazz, Vocal, and Bass. The App gives you the ability to create your own preset with a very generous 10-Band EQ to sculpt your preferred response.

Sound Quality

For an Active Noise-Cancelling Bluetooth Headphone the Everest Elite 700 offers a pretty good sound quality. Tonally the headphone have a warmer sound characteristic that bass lovers will enjoy. I feel like Active Noise Cancelling has a way of flattening out the sound quality so I try and avoid them for my listening sessions if possible. While the Everest Elite’s Noise Canceling can be turned off it doesn’t have too much of an affect on the overall sound quality just a slight volume increase.

Low End

Being more of a bassy headphone the Everest Elite 700 offers a good extension into the sub-bass territory, and gives things more of a punch than a detailed quality. The bass content can come off a little sluggish because of the additional coloration in the low end. There is more low end present in the Everest than the Momentum or QC 35.

Mid Range

The mids come through clearly while not overly detailed. There isn’t a revealing nature to the headphone so your getting a pretty standard experience in the mid range. Vocals come though powerfully and clear. All in all the mid range is present and full-bodied giving a slightly colored listening experience.

High End

The high end comes off a little darker which makes the upper end lose some detail and crispness. There isn’t as much extension into the high end as there is in the low end which makes the headphones lose the upper air and spacial depth of a refined high end. That being said the high end isn’t bad sounding at all, since the headphone is more focused on the low end and mid range, so it has a very conventional sound that a lot of listeners are accustomed to.

Overall Impressions

Offering a really good headphone for the price JBL has a product that most name brand competitors start offering at a $100 price increase. Through the conventional sound signature and long battery life the headphones are a good investment. JBL has packed a lot of additional technology & features into the headphones which are great, but in my opinion they could have worked a little more on the sound response of them. With that in mind it’s more of a fact that the sound signature isn’t my preferred type.

Recommendations

Definitely not a bad investment in a Bluetooth Active Noise-Cancelling headphone. Strangely enough one my favorite features is the ability to turn off the Active Noise-Cancelling. When not needed I dislike it’s affect on the sound quality and my ears, and when needed it can easily be switched on. The custom 10-Band EQ can help tune the sound to anyone’s liking and offer more precise control over the frequency response.

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