by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 10/05/2017 at 11:25
by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 10/05/2017 at 11:25
No Tags
STARS: 4
I’m not an audiophile, but I appreciate above-average sound quality. I have several headphones, but I wanted a new pair of cheap-but-good wired earbuds for watching tv in bed with my tablet. Enter, the vast world of cheap-but-good Chinese headphones.
My headphones are, ranked from best to worst overall sound quality:
Sony MDR-ZX600 cans
Sony MDR-NC13
noise-canceling earbuds
Sony MDR-G82
“Street Style” behind-the-neck cans from the year 2000 that I thought were super cool when I was a freshman in college and have somehow managed to hold on to through many moves since then
(Yes I brought them to work to take this picture. Don’t judge me.)
PowerBeats 2 bluetooth gym headphones that I didn’t want to spend this much on, but my ear sweat had already killed a few other pairs of supposedly-sweatproof bluetooth gym headphones, and the PowerBeats have lasted over a year now woohoo!
None of these are super high-end, but they all have what I’d say is above-average sound quality. All of them are wired, except my PowerBeats. And you know what? In the course of writing this post, I screwed around comparing my headphones, and I realized that even the sorta crappy MDR-G82 sound better than the PowerBeats 2, which are supposedly one of the better-sounding bluetooth gym headphones, and mine have a fresh set of Comply foam tips on them. Maybe they’d be better if they supported some kind of higher-quality bluetooth protocol like aptX. The headphonejackpocalypse doesn’t look so good, but that’s a nerdrant for another post.
Anyway!
My wife is an early bird, and I’m a night owl. Between this and my gym schedule, most of my weekday tv watching is with headphones. Either with the shitty-sounding headphone jack on my Roku remote, or through my tablet.
With the Roku, when I’m sitting on the couch, I tend to use the MDR-G82. Sure, when listening to music they’re the least good of my wired headphones, but somehow they work the best with the shitty output quality from the Roku remote, and they’re comfortable.
Except when I want to lie down on the couch, or in bed with my tablet, I don’t want a neckband between my head and the pillow. That’s not comfy. The MDR-ZX600 cans sound the best, but are also not super comfortable to lie down with.
That’s where earbuds come in. The MDR-NC13 can be used with the noise canceling off, and sound pretty dang decent. But they’re not perfect either. Their cord is overly fiddly. Instead of a simple Y-shaped split into individual cords for each bud, there’s a main cord that goes to the left bud, and then the cord for the right bud splits off almost at the end of it and loops under your chin.
As you can see here, the cord for the right bud hates to fully un-coil itself. It often pops up under my chin and I have to take out the right bud, twist the little under-chin cord around, and hope I’ve gotten it to lay a little flatter. It’s annoying.
Also, there’s a heavy box in the middle of the cord that holds the noise canceling circuitry (the mics are on the earbuds) and battery. This box has a little clip on it, but if I get up to walk around and I’ve forgotten to clip it to my shirt, the weight of the box pulls the left earbud out of my ear.
I realize that not liking any of the three pairs of totally nice and fine wired headphones I already own, for this one specific use case of lying in bed with a tablet, is the epitome of a first-world problem, so I decided that while I’d
like
some earbuds that have a regular Y-shaped cord, I shouldn’t spend a bunch of money on them.
Somewhere along the way, I stumbled onto a website called AudioBudget , where this dude reviews cheap random-ass Chinese headphones. He goes into exhaustive detail and provides links to buy them through AliExpress. A select few of his top-ranked options are also on Amazon. And since I’m spoiled by Amazon Prime shipping, I figured I’d try to pick from the options available there.
The AudioBudget dude’s current top 2 headphones, the MEMT X5 and ROCK Zircon , were both available on Amazon. But a bunch of the reviews say while they sound great, their cords often break. I know they’re cheap but I wanted something that at least isn’t likely to break.
Another highly-rated-by-AudioBudget pair, the VJJB K4S , didn’t come up when searching on Amazon, but these things tend to get rebranded a million different ways, so I decided to get clever and search for just any wood earbuds. I found a product on Amazon called the APIE Premium Genuine Wood Corded In-ear Headphones Earbuds Heavy Bass Noise Cancelling Earphones with Microphone , where the pictures looked very similar to the ones on the AliExpress page for the VJJB K4S . This guy posted an unboxing calling them the APIE K4 so that seemed to confirm they’re the same.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
The APIEs arrived a couple days ago, thanks to that sweet, sweet Prime shipping. Sure enough, they say VJJB on the plug, and K4S on the little splitter deedlybopper that separates the cord for each bud. Just like in this picture from an actual VJJB K4S product listing:
When I first tried them with the Roku, they didn’t sound great, but the Roku remote sounds like shit anyway. I played around with some of the different tips that came with them, and listened to actual music on my phone (because SOME COMPANIES still put headphone jacks on phones, thankyouverymuch) and settled on the memory foam tips included in the box.
Last night, I decided to break out all of my headphones and swap between them for different types of music to see how the K4S compare. I’m not an audiophile, so I’ll spare you hyperbolic descriptions of the detailed intricacies of these headphones and the aren’t-I-so-cultured songs used to test them.
The MDR-ZX600 are by far the most detailed and accurate-sounding ones. For songs with lots of real, not-electronic instruments, they’re the most life-like by far. Their bass response is ok, but not very pronounced. The MDR-NC13 are pretty good, but lack the same level of detail and clarity. They do have a bit punchier bass. The MDR-G82 don’t really hold up in comparison, but on their own, they sound good. Their bass is kinda...crunchy? It’s not as precise as the others. But they still sound way better than the PowerBeats 2.
How do the K4S compare? Surprisingly well. Of all my headphones, they’re the loudest at a given volume setting on my phone. They also produce the most bass, although it’s not super thumpy skull rattling bass. Overall I’d rank them slightly better than the MDR-NC13, and back to back the extra bass is noticeable enough. While they still lack the clarity & detail of the MDR-ZX600, on bass-heavy electronic stuff like modern reggae, they might actually be my favorite.
They also look pretty cool with wood & metal build, and translucent cord. They even have a microphone for making calls, and the skinny plug is the only one of all my headphones that fits through my slightly bulky phone case and into my phone’s headphone jack with no fuss.
For 17 bucks, maybe you should pick a pair up too! Unless of course you’ve been robbed of a headphone jack. You have my condolences.
UPDATE: Upon further listening, I realized the one and only pair of memory foam tips that came with these are a little too big for my ears. I stepped town to a smaller pair of rubber tips that get a better seal in my ears. I’m actually a little more impressed with the headphones now. The sound on my Roku remote still sucks though.
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
10/05/2017 at 11:34, STARS: 0
I maintain that the best budget in-ear headphones are the JVC Marshmallows. Incredible sound quality for around $20.
"My bird IS the word" (mybirdistheword)
10/05/2017 at 11:39, STARS: 0
See I just want headphones like these because the wood looks awesome
"notsomethingstructural" (notsomethingstructural)
10/05/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 0
I have (had?) a set of Panasonic Ergofit’s w/ mic/remote and they’re also great.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 0
They can be yours for the low low price of only 17 bucks!
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
10/05/2017 at 11:42, STARS: 0
I concur with your anti blue tooth audio nerdrant. They keep saying they’ve made it better and it keeps sounding like crap if piped through decent speakers/ headphones in a quiet room.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 11:43, STARS: 0
I saw that those and the Panasonic ErgoFit are the go-to cheap name-brand headphones. I felt like maybe there could be some gems among the rando Chinese brands above and beyond what you get from the name-brand stuff. Plus the wood is nifty.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
10/05/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0
I’ve bought plenty of cheap stuff from eBay that has been of surprisingly exceptional quality for the price. HOWEVER... this week at work we have a car with electrical issues that were all traced down after 2 hours of warranty diagnosis to radio frequency interference being generated by a cheap phone charger. If unplugged the issues disappear on his new car. Then the customer argues with us, he doesn’t want to buy an expensive OE charger. I hate work on days like this. So I figure he values his $5 charger over his $30k car. Some people just need to look at the big picture.
"notsomethingstructural" (notsomethingstructural)
10/05/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 0
I’m not a true hifi head but I also appreciate good sound. There’s been more and more hubbabaloo over DAC’s (digital analog converters) the last half-decade, and it sounds ridiculous to suggest but on a lot of throughputs it’s actually the weakest link - even more than headphones. On apple devices the onboard DAC is pretty good so it’s the headphones up to about $100-150... after that it’s the device. For my work laptop an external DAC made as big or a bigger difference than the cans. If you’re looking to spend money, may I suggest that as your next purchase. Especially for a work computer. Try to find a used Schiit stack (which is an amp and a dac as separate devices) really, really great for the money.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
10/05/2017 at 11:54, STARS: 1
Anyone who calls themselves an audiophile is telling you they’re an insufferable snob.
I got these TT1005 wireless earbuds by TIFL Tech through Amazon a few years back. They’re alright for $25. The sound wasn’t as good as the Apple buds that came with my iPhone. So, I wrote feedback to that effect. TIFL Tech wrote to me saying they wanted to send me another pair to see if they were better, no need to return the first pair. I said yes, and they were the same. So, now I have two pair of these, and I don’t often use them. I find that the major problem with earbuds is that you don’t get the full range and depth of sound unless you really shove them deep in your ear. Problem is, 1) that hurts in my ear, and 2) they won’t stay that way for long. As cumbersome as they may be, cans give me better sound and comfort.
I got these one the ear bluetooth phones from Photive (again, on Amazon) for $50, and the sound is phenomenal.
"TorqueToYield" (torquetoyield)
10/05/2017 at 11:56, STARS: 0
If everything supports aptX (both transmit/receive) bluetooth music sounds pretty dang good. Not as good as a wire, but much much better than normal BT.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 12:09, STARS: 0
The higher-quality bluetooth protocols go a long way towards making it much less crappy.
I have some cheap Creative speakers that were like 30 bucks and support aptX, and while their bass is nothing special, the overall sound quality with bluetooth is actually pretty good. I think some of that is because the source quality is higher.
My receiver for my main stereo is a Yamaha RX-V381 and it doesn’t have aptX but it at least has a compressed music enhancer feature that helps clean up the bluetooth sound.
Above regular aptX, there’s aptX HD, Sony LDAC and Samsung UHQ-BT that all give higher bitrates, but they’re not very well supported. Qualcomm makes aptX, so with how common Qualcomm chips are in phones, many phones include at least regular aptX. But there are plenty of somewhat-expensive bluetooth headphones and other receiving devices that still don’t have it. Oh, and Apple doesn’t support any of these codecs.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 12:15, STARS: 1
I find that the memory foam tips go a long way toward improving the sound of earbuds. I have them on both my PowerBeats and my K4S. On their own at the gym, the PowerBeats don’t sound bad. I still find myself enjoying their sound. But back to back with all of my wired headphones, it was a huge difference.
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
10/05/2017 at 12:18, STARS: 0
I’m somewhat of an audiophile. I find your collection pretty weird. Haha.
You should pick up a pair of Grado SR80e headphones as your next over-ear. They leak sound (other people will hear your music) but they are a fantastic upgrade if you’re in the “I’m not audiophile but love a rich sound” area.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
10/05/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 0
Know what I keep wondering about? Bone induction headphones. I will never wear headphones or earbuds on my bike rides because safety. But those I potentially could I’m waiting for the tech to mature and come down in price.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 0
Funny thing about DACs: I remember back in the 90s, the type of DACs in CD players were often selling points. That was true of portable ones, car stereos, home stereos, etc. I had a Kenwood portable CD player that I was like, “this is the best one because it has quad 32 bit Burr-Brown DACs!”
I don’t do much listening to music at work. I think because I always listen to music at the gym and I’m there so much, I tend not to listen to music at other times. More often than not I keep the stereo off when I’m driving, for example.
My Galaxy S7 Edge has this gimmick called UHQ Upscaler that does a nice job of increasing the sound quality of streaming audio. But it only works through the headphone jack, or with Samsung UHQ-BT devices.
I briefly owned an LG V20 which had a fancy onboard DAC but there were too many other things about that phone that bugged me.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 12:27, STARS: 1
All of my Sony headphones were somewhat impulse purchases.
MDR-G82, it’s been a long time, but I think I got them because I was browsing around Best Buy, they were on sale, and I thought they were cool. They were my main headphones in college when I was listening to a couple different not-iPod MP3 players.
MDR-NC13, I was getting on a plane, and I really wanted some noise canceling headphones, so I was like, “what relatively cheap noise canceling headphones can I Buy right now today on my way to the airport?”
MDR-ZX600 were a random pickup browsing the electronics section at Target. At the time I had just started a job where I had my own office where nobody would bug me so I was like, “these seem like some relatively fancy cans for cheap and this would be cool to use in my hipster tech company office.”
The only time I’ve put significant thought into headphone purchases has been bluetooth gym ones, and the priorities with them have always been something that is minimally annoying to use while moving around the gym, and sweat resistance. Honestly the cable on the PowerBeats is too long, and the little plastic bead that you use to shorten the cable makes it stick too closely to my head, and I’m waiting for them to die so I can have an excuse to buy something truly wireless.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 0
Funny you mention the bone conduction dealies. I just so happened to see these recently, and a lot of the positive reviews are from people using them for biking.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
10/05/2017 at 12:32, STARS: 0
Cool. Although that’s a little pricey to try just for an experiment. What I’d want to do is try them out, but I never see any display models at stores to do that. I’d buy something sight unseen online based on reviews for $25, but not for $100.
"random001" (random001)
10/05/2017 at 12:53, STARS: 0
Ooooooooh man, this post IS my jam! We should dish headphones!
So my current carry all earbuds are these weird ass ones, Havi B3 Pros, dual driver phones. They are awesome! I’m interested in trying Monoprices dual and triple driver buds, but they just releases a set of planar magnetic EARBUDS! I was all like “WHAAAAAA?!”....
Phew, I got excited...
"diplodicus" (diplodicus)
10/05/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 0
IDK man I think those street style headphones are pretty sweet looking.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 13:17, STARS: 0
I enjoy them in a nostalgic way, and they’re really comfy. Without comparing them back to back with my other headphones, they still sound good.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 1
The Best Buy site says they’re in stock at the stores near me. Not sure if they would let you try them in store though. That’s what returns are for.
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
10/05/2017 at 13:29, STARS: 0
Gotcha. I’ve had some interesting headphones over the years. Everything kind of started with the Sony MDRV’s that I got at the end of highschool. After that, it was a slippery slope into some Sony noise cancelling, then Grado SR80i’s, then into my current desk headphones - the lovely AKG K702. Those AKG’s require a good amp though.
At my work desk, I have a small SMSL headphone amp and I rotate between Hifiman RE-400 (current $49 on Amazon which is the bargain of the century - you may want to jump on that) and some FOSTEX TE-05. I discovered that there is a company called COMPLY that makes foam tips for those in-ear buds that’s made out of noise isolating memory foam. Honestly, it’s better than even noise cancelling on airplanes.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
10/05/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
Yep, might have to check them out.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 13:49, STARS: 1
You know I kinda forgot about Monoprice in this context. I took a quick look at them and it appears their MP30 earbuds are the same as the highly-rated-on-Audiobudget HZSOUND M001 . Except they’re out of stock.
If multiple drivers intrigue you, there’s the 1MORE triple driver earbuds. They’re pretty standard looking but supposed to be good. They’re also 80 bucks and that’s more than I was wanting to spend here. I was just trying to opportunistically get something cheap and quickly.
I actually thought the K4S was the best choice for me of the 5-star rated options on AudioBudget. So it’s cool they were on Amazon. It’s not like, “OMG these are mind blowing headphones,” but they do sound pretty solid. Combine that with the build quality and they’re more than worth the 17 bucks.
"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
10/05/2017 at 13:51, STARS: 0
I’ve ordered this to use with my phone, better DAC and amp combo than stock. https://www.bluewaveaudio.ca/product/get-wireless-hifi-headphone-amplifier-bluetooth-headphones/?v=7516fd43adaa
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 1
I use Comply tips on my PowerBeats, to help drown out the frequently awful music that plays on the speakers at my gym. I also frequently ask whoever’s at the front desk to turn the music down when something particularly terrible comes on.
I’ve been thinking about putting them on my MDR-NC13 but they take a different size, so I’d have to buy more of them. Probably will whenever I have to get on a plane again. Watching a movie on my tablet with the noise canceling makes a flight so much more tolerable.
The K4S came with a bunch of different silicone tips and 1 set of generic memory foam tips. Those are what sounded the best.
I don’t listen to much music at work, or in the car around town. I’m at the gym about 18 hours a week and I listen to music there. And...it’s with my worst-sounding headphones, of course. They don’t sound bad, but back to back with all the wired ones it was no contest.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/05/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 0
Yeah, things like that are cool, and that one specifically supports aptX HD. I’d still prefer phones have headphone jacks though. There are soooooooo many good wired headphones out there. That little receiver dealie, yeah it’s wireless, and has a good DAC and supports the better bluetooth protocols. But instead of just plugging quality headphones into your phone, it’s $100 and yet another gadget to carry around. I like bluetooth headphones so I can move around the gym, but otherwise wired headphones really don’t bother me. But the phone companies are like, “nope, you don’t need a headphone jack.” Argh.
My Galaxy S7 Edge is no audio powerhouse, but it manages to be slim, light and water resistant while still having a headphone jack. The UHQ Upscaler software makes a noticeable improvement on digital music through the headphone jack. I wish more companies copied LG and the DACs in the V-series phones. Before I ended up with my S7E, I tried an LG V20, but hated several things about it outside the DAC. Oh well.
"Spoon II" (Spoon_II)
10/06/2017 at 00:07, STARS: 0
Yes! Also, if you want cheap but good gaming headphones with a mic, check the Kotion Each G2000 (crazy name, but surprisingly good sound and quality).
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/09/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 1
I happened to find myself at Best Buy over the weekend and saw these. They were in a package on the rack of headphones but there was no display to play with them.
A quick search on Amazon shows assorted random-brand options in the $40-50 range but the AfterShokz have the best reviews.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
10/09/2017 at 11:24, STARS: 0
Very cool. Yeah, they seem to be reviewed well. I’m gonna have to find a store that will let me try them or else use my amazon prime to give them a go.