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Were it not for the fact that I'm about to tell you so, there's nothing that would clue you in: The Beyerdynamic DTX 350 m ($59) looks about like any cheap plastic headphone you might run across at WalMart...but beauty runs deep with this one. Check it out.

The DTX 350 m is as unassuming as it gets. This low-cost, mostly plastic headphone is an on-ear sealed can with folding features that allow ear capsules to rotate 90 degrees and swing inward toward the headband so you can more easily stuff it into the included cloth bag…

Raw frequency response plots show clear difficulty getting a good seal to retain bass response. The ears of my dummy head are harder than real ears, and getting a seal on on-ear headphones can be quite challenging. On my ears they seemed to seal much more reliably. Still, be aware that getting a good seal can mean the difference between solid bass response and something less with reduced tightness of bass. Above around 200Hz, frequency response seems quite stable with headphone movement.

Run-up to 3.…

"Value packed" is not a word I typically use to describe a headphone. I really thought the Beyerdynamic DTX 350 m was great for the money; definitely a good value...but not packed with value. Sennheiser's HD 600 is an extraordinary value...but no carry case; doesn't have a mic/remote; isn't useful portably. Still a great headphone and an extraordinary value, but packed with value? Okay, maybe. HD 800 S? Great headphone, but no friggen way anything over $700 is "value packed." The Quiet Comfort 35, on the other hand? Oh yeah, this…

Quality of Noise Cancelation
Historically, noise cancelers have been among the worst sound quality headphones. Briefly, a signal is generated in the headphones that is a mirror image of the acoustic signal from surrounding noise. That inverted signal is added to the electrical signal from you player. Ideally, it cancels out the surrounding noise so you only hear the music. Sounds easy, right?

Well, not so fast: The actual acoustic signal you want to cancel is not the external noise itself, but rather that part of it that manages to get into the earcup. So noise cancelers have…

Raw frequency response plots for the active wired mode show a remarkably flat and subtly tuned response from 10Hz to around 800Hz. Bass response shows a very gentle rise starting at about 400Hz to its shelf level at 60Hz around 5-6dB over baseline. It would be very hard to get this shape through purely acoustic means, and I found it particularly pleasing. This is why active DSP headphones in the future may begin to sonically outperform passive headphones. Bass was wicked tight and extended for any headphone…

I'm disoriented.

For some time now, there has been a drive in the headphone world to escalate the price of high-end headphones. Wood display cases, leather headbands, esoteric cable conductors, and numerous other characteristics shout out, "I'm glorious! Empty your wallet before my greatness!"

Unfortunately, while the sound quality has improved relative to their less-expensive brethren, high-end headphones to date have not delivered any where near the improvements in sound quality that their price tag promises.…

Sound Quality
In the fewest words: shockingly good! They're so stunningly dynamic I had—and still have—a hard time setting the volume. Turn it up too loud and a piano strike will punch out one of your eyeballs; get it set right and everything just pops!

I suppose similar things have happened before, I've fallen to the new toy syndrom and thought a headphone was really good at first...then got poke in the ear with the annoying fault. But my first listening experiences with the Elear seemed different. So much was so right that any remaining tonal imbalance was not very…

Raw frequency response plots show the Elear is quite insensitive to changes in response with movement on the ear. Raw response is almost flat from 60Hz to 600Hz, exhibiting a mild, broad hump of about 2dB between the two frequencies. Fall in response below 60Hz is slow and only down about 2dB from the midrange baseline at 20Hz.

A mild rise from 600Hz to 1kHz is followed by a faster rise to 3.5kHz about 10dB above midrange baseline. This is on the low side of normal for the target curve. Coupled with…

Über-expensive headphones are the bane of my existence. They should sound damned good, but historically they all to often have fatal flaws that degrade perceived performance to the point that they really aren't all that much better than some headphones of a much lower price. Sure, they're usually excellent in some ways, but for me a flagship headphone should have a strong balance of performance across the board in addition to areas of outstanding sonic character.

As much as it grates on headphone enthusiasts with normal-…

Sound Quality
Great googly-moogly these headphones sound GREAT!!!

Dianna Krall's "Popsicle Toes" just happens to be at the top of my reference tracks playlist. I punch play. The tasty intro is captivatingly clear. The stand-up bass is rich with the harmonics of its wooden girth; my sonic sense sees its big body clearly. The drum kit bits populate a space across the left inside of my head. The image isn't deep, but it's shockingly stable and precise. I can virtually see the drums and cymbals as the sticks are moved around the…