audiosplitz: Headphones

CES 2016 - Portable Music Summary

January 10, 2016

The start of the year always heralds a packed week in Las Vegas where the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) hits full swing. The 2016 edition is no different. We summarize all the latest in the portable music scene.

Sports
Jaybird - The Freedom Wireless and X3 Wireless earphones. What is new is that these 2 units will be app driven. Check out our coverage on these sports in-ears.

JBL - The UA Headphones Wireless Heart Rate is a partnership with Under Armour. Apart from checking your heart rate at the touch of a button, there's a sweat-proof IPX5 rating and it comes with a 12-month MapMyFitness subscription. These Bluetooth clip-ons have a 5h battery life, go for USD 250 and will be available in Spring 2016.

The Sony WS414 Walkman promises a design that is salt-water proof and dust-proof. The 32g unit has an 8GB config, comes in black / ivory / blue / lime green and is available from March.

Totally Wireless Earphones
Although announced a while back, Bragi, Earin and Kanoa all proudly displayed their totally wireless earbuds. The Bragi Dash fitness-oriented device has 4GB storage and touch controls to track your jogging performance.

Bragi Dash

Earin's super light 3.5 gram unit have a simple design that comes with a nifty charging capsule. This SGD 349 (USD 250 - 300) unit is already in production and we're currently reviewing this unit. Stay tuned!

Earin

The Kanoa offers water-resistance, a 6h battery life and hits the shops in May. USD 300 for these.

Neckband Headphones (Around-The-Neck Phones)
JBL - The Everest Elite 100 Bluetooth earphones rest around your neck and come with active noise canceling (ANC). They come with a 6h battery life and come in black / white variants. The Elite 100 will cost a fair USD 199 and will hit the shops in March.

LG - The successful Tone series continues its legacy with the launch of the Tone Infinim (HBS-910) and Tone HBS-810 Ultra. They appear to have a better battery life than its predecessors and will be available in black / silver / rose gold from February in Asia.

Sony - The h.ear in Wireless is a Bluetooth neckband headphone, which is powered by a 9mm driver unit. Interestingly, there is a regular minijack for a connection to your source device when the battery runs out. Available in May.

Audiophile
Audeze - The SINE On-Ear Headphone, designed by BMW DesignWorksUSA, are supposedly the world's first on-ear planar-magnetic headphones. This translates to the promise of the sound of a larger model despite its lightweight leather-clad 230g frame. These wired cans go for USD 500 and are already available. Oh, and the Lightning cable is an option.

Technics - The EAH-T700 is one solidly (think aluminum) engineered pair of over-ears. The 470g weight put us in a fix as this is a unit likely meant for the home rather than to be used on the road. Powered by a 50mm dynamic driver and 14mm 'super tweeter', they promise a more than decent level of sound quality. The price is also more than decent at a heart-stopping USD 1,200.

Noise-Canceling
Sony - h.ear on Wireless NC is as it says. Despite being a pair of digital noise canceling Bluetooth headphones, it still offers an impressive 20h of battery life. They are available in the same colors as its wired brethren released last year. Available in May.

Beats

2015 Holiday Gift Guide - Portable Audio

December 20, 2015

As Christmas beckons and 2015 comes to an end, let's take a look at some great portable audio gear you can gift for your loved ones. Not sure what to get? Fret not! We break down a few choices for each persona.

Merry X'mas folks!

Fashionistas
1. Beats Solo 2 Wireless (SGD 490)
This model is a head turner with the variants like the Active Collection (for sports lovers), and Luxe Editions (for a more premium look) being recently released.

2. Sennheiser MOMENTUM On Ear (M2) (SGD 319)
The MOMENTUM series is helluva looker and why change a proven formula? And they haven't, given its design has been around since 2013.

3. Master & Dynamic MH30 (SGD 549)
This New York company is certainly going places with its premium design. Want something novel? It ain't seen very much in Singapore (yet).

No Cables Please (Wireless)
1. Bose SoundLink on-ear Bluetooth (SGD 379)
The OE SoundLink is one of the best in the wireless on-ears category for sound delivery. The price is very decent too.

2. Sennheiser URBANITE XL Wireless (SGD 419)
They are great headphones for street wear and high quality sound over Bluetooth makes for good icing on the cake.

3. Sony MDR-1ABT (SGD 499)
A good choice for a multitude of reasons - It's comfortable, it supports aptX and LDAC codecs and it's a Sony.

Sports Lovers
1. Jaybird X2 Wireless (SGD 259)
These rank right up there for sports earbuds. They are highly customizable and the Comply foam tips offer great noise isolation and fit.

2. LG Tone Active (SGD 189)
The space-age looking TONE series has been a killer product for LG. What better way to improve it than to make a sports variant?

3. Jabra Sport Coach (SGD 248)
It's pretty hard to find an effective product that gives an integrated software and hardware fitness solution.

Users On-The-Go (Noise Canceling)
1. Bose QuietComfort 25 (SGD 529)
The QC25 blocks off sound to the extent that you feel you're in a world of your own.

2. Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H8 (SGD 699)
This is a premium looking pair to be seen with. Oh, and it's great to use on an airplane where the engine hum is just taken away.

3. Sony h.ear in NC (MDR-EX750NA)
This really light pair of in-ears works wonders on the train. Once you flick the switch on, the train grinding sounds are magically reduced.

Audiophiles
1. Klipsch Reference X20i (SGD 999)
These are certainly pricey but the sound delivery will certainly appeal to purists.

2. Grado SR60e
The SR60e is their entry level headphones and despite that, the quality of the music is simply amazing for its price.

Apple

iPhone 7 - Impact of Ditching the Audio Port

December 14, 2015

The iPhone 7, the next version of Apple's overwhelmingly popular phone, to be unveiled in 2016 is rumored to have a design overhaul. The big news from the audio perspective is the universal 3.5mm audio port may actually be removed (gasp!) to accomodate the thinner industrial design.

Philips Fidelio NC1L

This should shake the living daylights of the major headphone manufacturers out there. Granted that many have migrated to sell wireless Bluetooth units but quite a few have clearly not done so. Let's take a look at the impact.

What are the Implications?

1. Increase in Wireless Headphones

A no brainer. Many audio manufacturers have wired and wireless offerings. If the removal of the audio jack comes to fruition, those that don't already have wireless earphones will have to ramp up their efforts to get a Bluetooth offering before the iPhone 7 launch. There are actually quite a few folks such as RHA and Grado that may need to put in some R&D effort straight away.

2. What About the Top Brands?

Among the top brands by revenue in 2014 according to The NPDGroup, most of them have wireless offerings in the over-ears, on-ears and sports categories. While Bose and Sennheiser have wireless over-ears and on-ears offerings, both these brands are conspicuously absent in the sports wireless segment. You can expect these big players to upgrade their sports arsenal of products very soon.

3. Rise of Lightning Earphones?

While you may scoff at the idea of earphones with a Lightning jack, let's take a step back to reflect. If you remember, in 1998, on Steve Jobs' second coming, he removed the floppy drive from the iMac. Many baulked at this insane move but as you know, the rest is history. In 2009, the major handphone manufacturers were persuaded by the European Union to move to the near universal micro-USB standard for charging. Only Apple chose to use something else - their Lightning connector.

Only a company like Apple would have the balls to do something different from the other manufacturers out there. As such, Lightning earphones may very well take off. Philips and JBL have already launched such products for close to a year with benefits such as a direct digital connection and a lighter profile for noise-canceling (no battery needed) as power is drawn from the iPhone. Just last week, Audeze released the EL-8 Titanium headphones (USD 799.95) with (*drum roll*) a Lightning connector. Expect quite a few more to follow.

Bluetooth

Bose AE2 SoundLink - Listen in Comfort

December 08, 2015

Bose sprung its first wireless headphones back in 2013, nicknamed the AE2w. They were easily distinguished by a control module that stuck out like a sore thumb. Two years on, they have unveiled a new over-ears offering that looks thankfully more streamlined. Called the Bose SoundLink around-ears wireless headphones II (SGD 399), it is a highly descriptive (quite a mouthful) and understandable name that summarizes the product. We prefer to call it by its acronym - the AE2 SoundLink.

Design
And we start with the unboxing.
Here's the box front with the shrink wrap still on.

Tearing away the wrap and sliding out the outer box reveals a blue cardboard layer with nothing but the company name smack at the bottom third.

The underside of the blue layer shows an intuitive quick guide on how to connect through Bluetooth / NFC and button usage. Strip the thin layer of black foam to reveal the carrying pouch that stores the product proper.

On taking the loot out, the packaging contents include:
- Bose AE2 SoundLink headphones
- Carrying pouch
- USB charging cable
- Audio cable (3.5mm to 2.5mm)

There are 2 color variants - white and black. However, the white version (our review model) thankfully removes the blue accents seen previously on the Bose OE SoundLink, making for a more classic look.

The materials used make the AE2 SoundLink very comfortable to wear - the padded foam on the underside of the headband and the ear pads' leather feel plush. Even weight-wise, at 198g, this is one of the lightest in class for a wireless over-ears model. The Sony MDR-1ABT, the Sennheiser URBANITE XL WIRELESS (both at 300g) and the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless (292g) all weigh almost a 100g more.

The earcups swivel flat for safekeeping in the pouch but unfortunately do not fold inward for even more compact storage like its on-ears sibling, the OE SoundLink. There are giant 'L' and 'R' markings on the inner earcup that guarantee you won't be scratching your head on how to put on the headphones.

All that said, this is one visually appealing pair of headphones to be seen with. Punctuated with the distinctive Bose logo printed on the matte earcup, this could very well turn a few heads.

The carrying case is sturdy and practical enough. There's an inner pouch to store the cables and a flap to separate the two ear cups from abrasion.

Features
Connecting to your music device is a piece of cake. To link via NFC, you need to activate the NFC and Bluetooth on your device, flick the power switch on and press the middle of the outer (right) earcup to the NFC touchpoint of your music player.

For Bluetooth pairing, you just need to flip the power switch up to initiate. Once the Bluetooth indicator flashes blue, just select 'Bose AE2 SoundLink' from your device to complete the pairing and the status light will glow a solid white. The unit can connect to up to two devices (phone and tablet perhaps?) at the same time. You just need to halt playback on one to start music on the second unit.

The voice prompts make the user experience intuitive. Whenever you turn the power on, a voice will inform of the battery charge level. The pairing process is complemented with prompts such as 'Ready to pair' and 'Connected'. With an 11 language selector, Bose has clearly thought of the global reach of its headphones.

Interestingly, Bose is conspicuously absent from the list of aptX-compatible headphones. aptX supposedly delivers a "near CD quality" experience but as we've mentioned before, it ain't a showstopper.

The provided white audio cable doesn't include an in-line remote. What this means is that using the over-ears in wired mode, you will need to control playback through your device. It plugs to the Bose AE2 SoundLink through a 2.5mm port and to your device by the conventional 3.5mm jack.

The earcups are user replaceable, a welcome feature should they degrade through usual wear and tear.

Performance
We tested the sound quality and there is no bass emphasis. The neutral sound is actually emphasized in the press release where it states that 'What you hear is as close as possible to what was recorded, rather than re-created or altered'. This may work for some folks, depending on their usage.

For commuters, the flatness in delivery may not be a good option if you need a certain measure of bass to take it one step above the ambient traffic sounds. The low frequencies are not as strong as other bass-inclined headphones like the Klipsch Reference R6i On-Ear. That said, Sarah Cracknell's vocal clarity on In The Dark is clean but not overly crisp. If used in a controlled environment such as the office or home, the sound comes across as pleasantly well balanced.

Wireless and wired performance is almost on par which is an impressive achievement. However, the wired option still gives the edge in providing slightly better clarity. Do note that wireless mode will give a very (very) negligible hum in the background.

We mentioned this earlier but there's absolutely no harm reinforcing the notion - it's so darn comfortable! Passive noise isolation is a plus point as what can be expected from an over-ears model. The ear pads envelop your ears completely to seal off a certain level of ambient sound.

The battery lasts a rather average 15 hours on a 3 hour charge given the what the Sony MDR-1ABT (30h) and the B&O BeoPlay H7 (20h) promise. On a 15 minute quick charge, you can get 2 hours of juice. A thing to note is Bluetooth will deactivate once the USB cord is plugged to the headphones. Oh, and the battery ain't user-replaceable.

Overall
The Bose SoundLink around-ears wireless headphones II is one of the most comfortable pair of headphones in its category. The minimal bass emphasis may be a turn off for commuters but the balanced sound coupled with a stylish design to boot could very well appeal to the fashionistas.

The Bose AE2 SoundLink is available at selected stores in Singapore such as the Atlas Experience Showrooms.

Audio Sources
Around the World - Daft Punk (Tidal 1411kbps FLAC) on Samsung Galaxy S4
In The Dark - Sarah Cracknell (960kbps FLAC) on Sony NW-ZX100 Walkman

Credit to Atlas and Affluence PR for a review unit.