audiosplitz: October 2015

Beats Pill+ Bluetooth speaker - First Look

October 31, 2015

Master & Dynamic MH30 On Ear - Designed with Class

October 26, 2015

Master & Dynamic are the new kids on the block in the high end headphone segment. The NYC-based company, headed by Jonathan Levine, brand themselves as a 'premium audio company obsessed with sound and creativity'. With this declaration of intent in mind, we take a detailed look at the MH30 (SGD 549 / USD 329), Master & Dynamic's first offering in the on-ears category.

Design

As usual, before looking at the product, we look at the unboxing process.

The MH30 is packaged in one massive (and I mean massive) 227 x 250 x 95 mm box, the kind normally associated with huge-ass over-ears headphones. We likely received the US / Canadian SKU given the ample English and French text on the back of the box.

A flap on the right allows the pulling out of a black box casing. Smack in the center is Master & Dynamic's (M&D) embossed logo.

Opening the lid reveals a card that explains M&D's philosophy behind its products - a nice precursor that builds some expectation to unveiling the on-ears.

And lo, under the card lie the headphones. They are laid out with a circular box, containing the relevant audio cables, right in the middle.

Removing the foam layer reveals a slip of paper displaying some usage tips, a carrying pouch tucked on the left side and a cardboard box on the right.

Opening the box produces a neatly designed user manual.

On spilling out the packaging contents, the full breakdown is revealed:
- MH30 On Ear headphones
- Audio cable with in-line remote and mic of 1.25m length (3.5mm to 3.5mm)
- Audio cable of 2.00m length (3.5mm to 3.5mm)
- 3.5mm / 6.3mm adapter
- Canvas carrying pouch
- Leather cable box

And now to the MH30 proper. There are 3 color variants to choose from - Silver Metal / Brown Leather, Black Metal / Black Leather and Gunmetal / Black Leather. I was provided the 3rd option.

These headphones weigh a hefty 260g, heavier than two of its peers in the on-ears category (and they are wireless too) - the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H8 (255g) and the Beats Solo 2 Wireless (215g).

However, let's consider the build and the materials used to make this unit. The earcup frame is built from solid aluminum and for compact storage, the headphones have really solid stainless steel hinges that fold inwards. The headband is made from premium cowhide. Ear cups? We'll get to that in a bit. All in all, these give an air of luxury to the Master & Dynamic headphones.

Great attention to detail has been taken in many aspects. One is 'M&D' being deliberately inscribed onto different steel components that serve to reinforce its branding. 'Designed & Developed New York, New York' lies emblazoned as a badge of identity under the left ear cup.

On trying them on, one issue that I had was the extent to which the headphones can be fitted over the head. I stretched the aluminum rivets to the max and even then, the headband only just fitted around my head snug but bordering on tight.

When adjusted on your ears, the ear cups sometimes make a creaking sound, but nothing to be overly concerned about once they are fitted nicely in place.

Features
There is a 3.5mm socket under both the left and right ear cups. This allows for both a normal audio connection to your source device and an additional connection via a 2m audio cable (daisy-chain style) to another pair of headphones. This is convenient if two persons are listening to the same source.

The second audio cable comes with an in-line remote lining the cable. Interestingly, the microphone unit is aligned close to your mouth while the remote with the playback buttons is lower down the cord so you can visually see what you are pressing. For practical purposes, the separation of the two units is a welcome implementation.

The ear cups are replaceable and are magnetically held in place, a very nice touch. The 40mm Neodymium drivers are fully revealed once the lambskin cups are taken out.

The carrying pouch is well designed for practical purposes - it comes with a magnetic clasp lining the outer rim that firmly seals its contents. There's a handy additional pouch within to hold any cables you may want to store.

Performance
Placing the MH 30 on your ears, you initially appreciate the comfort afforded by the cups, made of lambskin that envelops the underlying memory foam. However due to its on-ears nature, after an hour's usage, they can get a little warm so you may need to adjust the headphones.

When relaxing with Coralie Clement's bossa nova-inspired L'Ombre et la Lumière, the bass and instrumentation overlap with one another to produce a generally warm sound for listening. Daft Punk's instrumental Solar Sailer gives a hint of MH30's capability - generally a natural sound with what I felt was a (very minor) tinge of inclination to bass.

The MH30 produces a rather wide soundstage, a pleasant surprise taking into consideration that these are a pair of on-ear headphones. I'd usually associate this trait with the over-ears category.

Noise isolation is decent enough. Placing them over your ears will shut off minor ambient sounds such as air con white noise. On a bus, the engine noise will still reach your ears with ease.

Overall
Master & Dynamic's MH30 is a visual beauty to behold and is crafted with much attention to detail. The price and weight of the on-ears is undoubtedly on the high side but its classy design forged by luxury materials combined with a warm sound will most definitely make this a coveted item on quite a few Christmas lists.

The MH30 is available in Singapore at Tangs, Orchard and Apple Store SG.

Audio Sources
Solar Sailer (TRON: Legacy OST) - Daft Punk (Spotify 160kbps MP3) on iPad Air
L'Ombre et la Lumière - Coralie Clément (Tidal 1411kbps FLAC) on Samsung Galaxy S4

Credit to Master & Dynamic and StarWorks Group for a review unit.

You may be interested in:

B&O BeoPlay H8

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless

Bluetooth

Skullcandy XTfree - First Look

October 18, 2015

aptX

Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS - Club Sound on the Move

October 14, 2015

Sennheiser announced a flurry of headphones at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015. One of the new products was the URBANITE XL Wireless (SGD 419), an extension of its URBANITE product line which had wired and on-ears variants previously.

Design
Before checking out the actual product, let's see the unboxing.

The box is massive. But on the other hand, for a relatively bulky pair of headphones, you need a box of size to match.

The Sennheiser is packaged in a no frills manner. Taking out the cover gives you direct access to the folded over-ears with the other contents tucked in a hole on the bottom right.

On laying everything out nicely, we see that the full package contents include:
- Headphones
- USB charging cable
- Audio cable (3.5mm to 2.5mm with in-line remote)
- Carrying pouch
- Quick start and safety guides

And now for the headphones. The URBANITE XL WIRELESS weighs a hefty 300g, quite on par with several over-ears like the Parrot Zik 3 (270g) and Sony MDR-1ABT (300g) but way heavier than the Bose SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II (198g).

The headband, made from stitched canvas on the top side and lined with white-coated rubber on the underside, looks and feels great. The ear cups actually follow the circular design of its on-ear sibling instead of going for the more traditional elliptical shape for an over-ears. When fitted on the head, they are undeniably comfortable though not to the level of a snug fit as they tended to tilt when I shifted my neck from side to side.

Sennheiser put in some nice touches too - when adjusting the cups up and down for head/ear fit, the flat cable delivering the audio extends and retracts cleanly. The cans have an inward folding mechanism for easier storage, but we've gotta say it's still bulky nonetheless. Try storing it in the carrying pouch and you'll get the picture.

When connecting the audio cable for a wired connection, I just had to plug the 2.5mm jack and align the protrusion, into the right ear cup and twist clockwise to secure it in place.

Features
The Sennheiser crams all the latest textbook features of what a pair of Bluetooth headphones should include. There's aptX codec usage, allowing CD quality transmission of audio over Bluetooth.

There's near field communication (NFC) that allows a quick connection with your NFC-enabled player to the Sennheisers. These over-ears meet the Bluetooth 4.0 standard, which promises lower power consumption, and also allow convenient connection to two devices simultaneously.

To pair the URBANITE XL WIRELESS, just flick and hold the power switch to the Bluetooth logo and the LED will flicker blue and red. Activate Bluetooth on your source, select the headphones to pair and you're good to go.

The touch panel lies on the right side. It allows playing of music / taking calls (single touch) and volume adjustment (slide the finger up / down). However, it can get a little sensitive and I ended up canceling some calls that were accidentally initiated when adjusting the fit of the headphones.

The sticker says it all

The in-line remote is designed to function when the audio cable is plugged in which in turn deactivate Bluetooth and the touch panel. The multifunction button plays tracks and takes calls with a single touch and skips tracks with a double / triple press. The volume control is a slider is great 'cos it allows compatibility for both iOS and Android.

The ear pads are easily removable and replaceable. We are currently checking on the cost of the pads.

Update (16 Oct 2015)
In Singapore, the ear pads cost SGD 48.15 (inc. GST) and are available at the Sennheiser Service Centre at 438B Alexandra Technopark.

The voice and sound prompts were certainly useful. Let's take two examples. When increasing the volume to the max, two beep alerts will sound. When finalizing the Bluetooth pairing, the voice prompt 'Connected' will confirm that there's a handshake.

Performance
Sennheiser put in their press release that the URBANITE series is geared for 'an emotional, powerful club sound on the move'. We put this claim to the test.

We tried Skrillex and Diplo's electronic dance-themed Where Are Ü Now which delivered a controlled performance with a good balance between the infusion of beats and the vastly contrasting dolphin like wails (of Justin Bieber's pitched voice methinks?).

Nothing beats David Guetta's Sexy Bitch when it comes to thumping basslines punctuating the 'emotive' outbursts from Akon about finding the right words to describe a girl.

The result from the URBANITE XL 'phones for both tracks is an engaging performance where the bass delivery is top notch. Unlike other bass-enhanced headphones, it doesn't overwhelm and it complements the treble which comes across as sufficiently clear.

On to noise isolation. This was tested during a bus commute and the result was unexpectedly poor, especially for an over-ears, as ambient sounds could easily heard through the music playback.

For the battery power, Sennheiser claims an excellent playback / talk time of up to 25 hours with a 2 hour charge of the built-in Lithium Polymer battery. This is remarkable given its performance of its Bluetooth over-ears peers like the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless (12 hours) and comparable to the Sony MDR-1ABT (28 hours).

Overall
The Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS is a well built and fashionable pair of over-ears. Though the touch controls come somewhat short, these headphones sparkle with excellent audio reproduction and a diverse feature set, inclusive of a 2 year international warranty.

Audio Sources
Where Are Ü Now - Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo) with Justin Bieber (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on iPad Air
Sexy Bitch - David Guetta feat. Akon (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on Samsung Galaxy S4

Credit to Sennheiser and Ketchum for a review unit.