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Those Massdrop guys are pretty damned smart; they've essentially created a business model that monetizes a group buy. But more than that...they lurk in the shadows of headphone enthusiast forums and read looking for good products to make small improvements on. They cherry pick a good product, go to the manufacturer and ask for a few changes based on what they've heard themselves and on-line, and place a big bulk order to drive the price down. And then they sell a boatload of them because they're terrifically priced and they're…

The newly released Beats Solo3 Wireless ($299) shares much in common with the Beats Solo2 I so positively reviewed previously. Build quality and materials are very good; the look is stylish yet understated. The sound is nearly identical; bass boost moderately intrudes on the midrange, and it has a relaxed mid- and upper-treble. Though the Solo3 has an overall warm nature, there's certainly enough balance to portray all of the music without distracting flaws. This is a solid headphone.

The Solo3 is the first headphones to…

Measurements Wired Passive

Measurements Wireless

The Beats Solo3 headphone response is near identical to that of the preceding Beats Solo2, as is the sound character. Raw frequency response plots show a bass emphasis of about 7dB that falls to bassline at about 400Hz. This emphasis is slightly higher than the roughly 5dB emphasis of the Harman target, but extends upward into the midrange beyond the recommended 150Hz, making the bass sound…

Hello everyone! I’m sure some of you have noticed my absence from this column. I will try to be here more often, but I’ve been very busy, mastering some great music! I’m also designing a new mastering product that will be manufactured by a major pro audio manufacturer, which has been taking up my non-copious free time. I also do a bit of Facebook-based audio education and sharing as some of you may have noticed.

Recently I upgraded my loudspeakers. These new loudspeakers truly up the game. You might ask, “Why is Bob talking…

About a year and a half ago, Mr. Speakers made the bold move of transitioning from a company that modified and remanufactured Fostex T50RP headphones, to a full-fledged manufacturer making headphones from start to finish. Central to the development was a new planar magnetic driver designed with Bruce Thigpin of Eminent-Technology featuring a knurled diaphragm claimed to deliver pistonic movement over a larger surface area than traditional designs. Check out my Ether review for a detailed explanation. I found it an excellent…

In my recent MrSpeakers Ether C Flow review, I found it was a very neutral headphone, but was somewhat uneven and had a bright spot in the 6-7kHz area that bothered me. In the end, it was that bright spot that had me feeling the previous Ether C was the better headphone. It too is somewhat bright and less neutral, but I feel it's more refined sound made it a better headphone once EQed to have a bit more bass. I continue to feel this way.

As many of you know, I have a policy with manufacturers that if a headphone makes the "Wall of…

It must have been around 1992 while manning the phone in the early years at HeadRoom that I got an excited call:

"Dude, I just got off an airplane with this guy who had these cool insert headphones. He's a location sound recordist for movies and uses them for their isolation and good sound. I gave them a try...I need a pair badly! Do you know where I can get some Etymotic ER4 earphones?"

It was the first I'd heard of such a thing...or most anybody for that matter. With Etymotic's 1991 release of the ER4S and ER4B,…

Yesssssss!

I've kvetched quite a bit about the need for some killer headphones in the $500-$1000 price range. Seems like headphone makers just jumped by that price category in an ever more intense race to the top...of your willingness to break your wallet. Looks like we're going to get some relief from MrSpeakers.

The newly announced AEON is a sealed, over-ear, planar magnetic headphone that will be sold for $799. I've only had a couple of days to listen and measure, but I'm impressed. The AEON will definitely get a…

Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wireless ($399)
Oh boy, I love it when a headphone ticks all the boxes and doesn't have a fatal flaw shiv strapped to its ankle ready to strike at an inopportune moment. Yep, the Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wireless is a dandy daily driver for all your mobile headphone needs.

Build Quality and Styling
Ever lust for an ambling bimble through the countryside on a bluebird day with perforated lambskin driving gloves grasping the wood and chrome steering wheel of a vintage English sports car? If you even…

Sound Quality
The B&W P7 has a gentle, tasty "V" shaped response with a slightly emphasized mid-bass and mid-treble. To my ears the only thing that rises to the level of a flaw is the bass boost is a bit mid-bass centric, and bleeds just slightly into the midrange. This is a very minor flaw and easily accommodated in listening.

Other deviations from neutral are minor and don't rise to the level of "flaw" but rather add to the character of the headphone. Me, I'm a "give me neutral with a slight roll-off in the upper treble and a 5dB bass boost below 150Hz" kind of guy, so…