Saw these at CES with their official "Hi-Res Audio" sticker. My mind's first thought? "Yeah right, like "Digital Ready" meant anything either."
Turns out the label is pretty darned accurate.
Just imagine yourself knee-to-knee with the lead sax player in a 21 piece jazz orchestra.
The MH40 is sorta like that.
Something has to go really right, really soon, or Koss may go the way of Blockbuster, Kodak, or Sears. Change, get relevant, or die. At this point I think Koss really needs to focus on what they have always done well: Make good performing, low-cost headphones.
The good news is that with the new SP330, they've done just that.
Please don't consider this a comprehensive overview of the best wireless Bluetooth headphones out there...it isn't. Manufacturers and PR people keep offering to send BT headphones to me, I keep being interested in the category, but it wasn't until a had some significant experience with BT headphones that I began to feel like I could comment on the relative performance of BT headphones I had heard. Well, with a dozen or so on hand and mounting experience, and the shopping season upon us, I figured it was time to do something.
It must be going on 5 or 6 years now that I've been recommending the Bose Quiet Comfort 15 as the best noise canceling headphone. Time after time when comparing the QC15 with newcomers to the field, they either slayed the competition with their ability to isolate from outside noise, or with their competent sound...usually both.
Then last year at about this time, Bose introduced their Quiet Comfort 20, a shallow insertion in-ear noise canceling model. I thought it was awesome. The shallow fit is remarkably comfortablesimilar to just gently putting your finger against your ear canaland their ability to isolate astonishing. When recently I heard that Bose was about to introduce a new over-ear model to replace the QC15 I emailed my contact at Bose immediatelywhen it comes to noise canceling headphones, Bose is the maker to keep an ear on. They did not disappoint.
While the X2 shares a lot in common with the X1 at first glance, deeper investigation reveals significant changes and real improvements with this new release. The X2 is an excellent headphone...yes, even for audiophiles...maybe especially for audiophiles. For the first time, in a long time, I think we've got a headphone to rival the Sennheiser HD 600 in the mid-priced open headphone category. Yes, I think it's that good.
The Oppo PM-2 was released not long after the Oppo PM-1 as a lower cost alternative. The PM-2 forgoes the fancy presentation box, extra ear-pads, and balanced cable, leaving the denim clam-shell case, short mobile cable, and longe unbalanced cable (OFC instead of OCC) as the included accessories. On the headphones themselves, ear-pads and headband pad coverings switch from lamb-skin to synthetic leather, and a couple of the trim pieces on the ear capsule are now plastic instead of metal. All told, I think these were excellent choices in creating a lower cost version of the PM-1.
Sennheiser takes aim at the Millenials with its newest on-ear headphone, the Urbanite, and pretty much nails it. This is a great headphone for youthful music listeners.
Lots of chatter abut the Oppo ear-pads on Head-Fi.org. I figured I better do some measurements to get another view.
Did some listening too, and found a favorite pad.
Yes, I've been very vocal about my disappointment with Beats product, especially the original Solo.
Well, it's time to change my tune, and I'll be vocal about that too.