audiosplitz

B&O BeoPlay H8 - Stylish and Feature Packed

September 10, 2015

The Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H8 headphones, announced in early 2015, promised much with its wireless design combined with a fashion sense to match. Priced at SGD 699, this is one of the priciest on-ears available though one of the few to sport active noise-canceling.

Design
Let's check out the unboxing.
The box is very sturdy and gives the immediate impression it could pass drop tests in a heartbeat.

Opening the top cover unveils the Gray Hazel B&O unit in all its glory.

The removable labeled sticker gives a good idea how the touch controls are used.

Removing the foam layer by the side tabs reveals 3 boxes of accessories bearing a unique icon to identify its contents. I could only guess what one box contained - the one on the top right. The one with a droplet icon, believe it or not, actually stores the carrying pouch (go figure).

Top left - Carrying pouch ; Top right - Cables
Bottom - User Guides

Now to the BeoPlay H8 proper - it looks and feels great. The Jakob Wagner designed cans have a seemingly durable cow leather-made headband supported with a solid anodized aluminum frame.

The flipside is at 255g, this is one of the heftier on-ears headphones when you consider the 215g Beats Solo 2 Wireless or the 150g Jabra Move Wireless. The additional weight could be put to the noise canceling function (which the other 2 do not have) and a solidly built aluminum headband.

The cups can be rotated 90 degrees for easy storage.

The ear cushions are made with lambskin clad memory foam which are marketed to give comfort. My personal experience was quite the opposite, especially with prolonged usage, so I do encourage you to try them on for yourself 'cos you may have a different take.

The ear cushions are easily replaceable with a counter-clockwise swivel.

Features
The touch controls are very well thought out and they function in wireless mode. For playback, you can skip tracks with a single finger gesture to the right (forward) or left (back). Activating play / pause or taking calls can be done with a single touch and adjusting the volume is by swiveling your finger clockwise (increase).

Noise canceling is actuated with a vertical flick of the finger, with a satisfying click to confirm the action. My error rate of triggering an action was not too high. On occasion, I mistakenly did a double tap which gave some folks a few miscalls (my bad if any recipients are reading this :).

On first pairing, just hold the power slider to the Bluetooth icon for 2 seconds which triggers a flashing blue LED. Once you connect your player, two click sounds will confirm the pairing.

Now the H8 is a Bluetooth 4.0 unit. Is this a big deal? Yes and no. The major difference with previous versions is its low energy capability which by right, should translate to a longer battery life. If your source player is using an older Bluetooth version, no problem - the music plays.

The BeoPlay H8 supports aptX, allowing for CD-quality sound over Bluetooth. While enabled by default for the Samsung Galaxy S4, the iPad Air I tested is not a compatible product. It is nonetheless not a showstopper unless you need the very best in sound (read 'audiophile').

The Lithium-Ion battery that powers the Bluetooth and noise cancelling is user replaceable. It is stashed away in the left side and is opened with a slider switch. A big thumbs up to this as this is not seen in on-ears like the Beats Solo 2 Wireless or the Bose SoundLink on-ear Bluetooth.

Performance

There are many ways to enjoy music with the B&O BeoPlay H8. Let's take you through the experience of each.

1. Bluetooth Wireless:
During testing, there was intermittent interference as the music got disrupted when walking with my source device (the Galaxy S4) in my pocket. This interference was removed once I held my phone in my hand. In active noise canceling (ANC) mode, the battery lasts for 14 hours and 16 without.

2. Wired
The B&O headphones include the 3.5mm stereo cable for a wired connection. As this was missed out in my test unit, I linked this with the Beats Solo 2 Wireless cable which fitted and was functionally fine. The audio quality manages to hold up well on its own when compared with wireless mode. The touch sensor is disabled, meaning that you have to interact with the playback functions on your source player directly. ANC can still be enjoyed for 35 hours when the power switch is turned on. When switched off, music can be enjoyed for as long as needed.

3. Active Noise Canceling (ANC)
Ambient sounds are quite effectively blocked out when traveling on the train. The flipside is that the audio sounds somewhat squeezed. Once the ANC is off, I personally found this to be ideal for listening purposes as the soundstage widens significantly. A travel adapter is provided for usage on the plane. Unfortunately, we couldn't test this out but if it's anything like the train experience, it's not too bad at all.

The Argilla Bright variant

Let's now look at the audio quality. Depending on the music genre, your music experience can be quite different. Keane's Russian Farmer's Song is somewhat infused with a good dose of bass. Tom Chaplin's vocals and piano riff are, at times, drowned out by the enhanced low frequencies. Dubstep is a great genre to try on the BeoPlay H8. Flux Pavilion's Lines in Wax addictive basslines are very engaging and make for enjoyable listening.

Amazingly, it appears that walking was missed out during the testing of the unit. During brisk walking, there is a knocking sound that resonates with each footstep.

The clamping around the ears is rather strong, resulting in some discomfort after prolonged usage. This is not unexpected as this helps in improving the noise isolation of the on-ears headphones.

Charging just takes 3 hours. The LED will flash yellow and displays green when done. When charging via the micro-USB, you are still able to listen via wireless or wired mode - a great feature if you want to keep the music going.

Overall
The BeoPlay H8 is a premium looking pair of noise canceling on-ears. While the headphones are on the higher end of the price spectrum, they are loaded with features. Its 3 year limited warranty, durable build, battery and ear cushion replaceability all give the impression that it is a generally well thought out product that is built to last.

Where To Buy
If you like this product, feel free to support me by buying via this Amazon affiliate link. Pricing is from USD 439.

B&O BeoPlay H8
(Gray Hazel)

USD 439

Audio Sources
Russian Farmer's Song - Keane (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on Samsung Galaxy S4
Lines In Wax - Flux Pavilion feat. Foreign Beggars (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on iPad Air

The unit was provided by Bang & Olufsen for an evaluation.

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In-Ears

RHA T10i In-Ear - Adjustable Sound

September 07, 2015

The T10i features adjustable ear filters that allow for the customization of sound. The British company aka Reid and Heath Acoustics, claims to combine 'high quality materials, precision engineering and a fundamental commitment to design'. That said, the RHA T10i, priced at SGD 309, is a testament to this ideal. We take a closer look at how these in-ears fare.

Design
We dive straight into the product itself as we were provided just the barebones - the T10i unit, some additional ear tips and the 3 customizable ear filters.

The 41g RHA is quite a heavy pair of in-ears due to an incredibly sturdy stainless steel housing made from a metal-injection moulding process. They have mouldable hooks that aim to provide a good fit over your ears and certainly add to the style of the product. The flipside is that you need to take time to shape them everytime you remove and place them back.

The rest of the 1.35m cable comes punctuated with a remote that rests just under the right ear. The stainless steel at the joint at the neck of the Y-cord and the vertical 3.5mm plug contain scriblings such as 'Design by Reid Heath' which add a nice touch to the design. The cord-side of the 3.5mm jack includes a practical spring mechanism to mitigate the risk of cord fray.

Features
The unique feature about the T10i are the changeable tuning filters that allow you to have 3 types of sound quality - Bass, Treble and Reference. You replace these by first removing the ear tips and then unscrewing the ear filter.

The unit comes supplied with a whopping 10 pairs of ear tips - 6 pairs of silicon tips (2 x S/M/L), 2 pairs of double flange tips (1 x S/L) and 2 pairs of memory foam tips (universal fit). I couldn't test the flange tips as this was not provided but it's certainly welcome to have as many options available for personalization.

Photo credit: RHA website

The RHA in-line remote is solidly built and the playback controls lie on a rubberized portion where buttons are easily identifiable due to the depression in the center for Play / Call.

Performance
These are a comfortable pair of in-ears. Once they are hooked on your ears, you won't feel much strain when lying on pillow. However, the in-line remote may tug on your shirt collar so you will need to pull up the cable cinch to suit your needs.

The silicon tips are easy to fit and remove from your ears. The memory foam tips, on the other hand, are harder to insert into the ear even when pinched. The flipside is they provide excellent noise isolation and are recommended when commuting on the train.

Bass is the one word to summarize the RHA T10i. That was the immediate impression I had when first tested. I was contemplating doing a breakdown by each ear filter but I thought it would make much better sense to do an assessment based on each music type instead.

Photo credit: RHA website

The Brand New Heavies' acid jazz-infused Sometimes had the right level of bass in different modes but the enunciation of the 'S' in 'sometimes' came through as a piercing hiss using Treble and even in Reference. Interestingly, the Bass ear filter appeared to fit this song best.

For classical, we tested Sarah Brightman's Who Wants To Live Forever. Using the Treble and Reference filters, the build up of the orchestration was warm but the vocals were shrill at times when the letter 'S' rolled off the tongue.

We used the Reference filter on Air's electronica-themed Modulor Mix. At 7:28, the cymbals were not as clear as intended and the bass sounded darker than punchy. The Bass filter performed in a similar manner while the Treble filter just made the detail a little cleaner.

If you like clear detail in your music, we can plainly state that these are not the pair of earphones for you. Bass is the name of the game for the T10i so your music type would be likely be in the acid-jazz, trance or dub step range in order to truly appreciate these.

Overall
The RHA T10i is engineered with a high degree of personalization for a pair of in-ears. While the earphones are very inclined to bass-laden tracks, RHA's attention to detail in the design is very welcome and they are certainly a stylish pair to be spotted with.

Audio Sources
Sometimes - Brand New Heavies (Spotify 320kbps) on iPad Air
Who Wants To Live Forever - Sarah Brightman (Spotify 320kbps) on iPad Air
Modulor Mix (Stein House Remix) - Air (Spotify 320kbps) on Samsung Galaxy S4

Credit to Eng Siang International for a review unit.

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aptX

IFA 2015 - Sony's New Audio Lineup

September 05, 2015

IFA Berlin is always a great place to find breaking news on the latest in consumer electronics. This year didn't disappoint. On 2 Sep, Sony launched a whole slew of portable audio products.

What's So Special?
Sony introduced a whopping 6 new products in its portable audio range - 2 players, 2 headphones and 2 in-ears.
We check out the unique features of each.

Players -
1. NW-ZX100 Walkman

i. Flagship Range - This ZX unit continues Sony's top-of-the-line hi-res players which support LDAC / aptX codecs, delivering CD-quality music over Bluetooth.

ii. Storage - From the NW-ZX2, the 128GB internal and microSD expansion slot remains.

iii. Battery Life - Upped to 45h (hi-res) from 33h of the NW-ZX2. The weight is now a more reasonable 145g, more in line with the NWZ-ZX1 (139g). One reason for the better power consumption could be the reduction of the screen from 4- to 3-inches.

2. NW-A26HN Walkman

One big plus is that noise-canceling earphones (MDR-NW750N) come packaged with this 66g Walkman. Even this tier comes with LDAC / aptX support. They come in 6 colors and they include funky names like Lime Yellow and Cinnabar Red.

Headphones -
3. h.ear on (aka MDR-100AAP)

Sony names its new range 'h.ear' and looks like it will try to reach out to the fashionistas with a very colorful set of headphones and earphones. First up are these 220g headphones, foldable at the side hinges.

In-Ears (Noise Canceling) -
4. h.ear in NC (aka MDR-EX750NA)

Second are these 27g noise-canceling earphones which Sony touts as the 'world's first Digital Noise Canceling High-Resolution Audio compatible in-ear'. They can last in this mode for 16h.

Update (4 Jan 2016)
Check out the review of the Sony h.ear in NC!

In-Ears -
5. h.ear in (aka MDR-EX750AP)

Third up are these basic in-ears that come in a variety of 5 colors.

6. XBA-300AP

Last but certainly not least, these look like really solid pair of earphones. With a triple balanced armature (full + woofer + tweeter), this promises to deliver studio quality music in an in-ears. It comes with a double layered housing which basically provides clear sound while removing vibration in the housing and 'attenuates ambient sound and sound leakage'.

Availability
They will all be slated to be available in Singapore in mid-October 2015.

Pricing
We are told that the Singapore pricing will be released closer to the launch date.

Update (8 Oct 2015)
On 7 Oct, Sony held the Singapore launch of its new audio products. The NW-A25 and NW-A26HN Walkman share the same specs except that the A25 excludes the noise-canceling MDR-NW750N in-ears.

A thing to note is the Lime Yellow variants of the headphones and Walkman are exclusive to Sony Stores and Sony Centres.

The pricing is as follows:

Product	Retail Price
NW-ZX100 Walkman	SGD 699
NW-A25 Walkman	SGD 299
NW-A26HN Walkman (includes MDR-NW750N)	SGD 399
MDR-NW750N in-ear	SGD 149
MDR-100AAP “h.ear on” headphones	SGD 249
MDR-EX750NA “h.ear in NC” Noise Canceling in-ear	SGD 199
MDR-EX750AP “h.ear in” in-ear	SGD 139
XBA-300AP Balanced Armature in-ear	SGD 399