Oh the 'losers', the disappointments, the stay at home headphones. Whether the price to performance ratio was off or the sound quality just wasn't there, these headphones just didn't stack up to the fierce competition for the top, regardless, it's important to talk about them so here we go.
At the bottom of the scrap barrel are the Audio Technica ANC7b headphones. At $130ish with admirable noise cancelling, these headphones fit into an interesting niche in the low end noise cancelling headphones department. While their noise cancelling is admirable, outperforming both the Audio Technica ANC70s and the Beats Studio Wireless, I just couldn't enjoy their sound quality in comparison to the other headphones in the group. As I stated before in my ANC70 vs ANC7b post, the ANC7bs suffer pretty greatly from the tin can syndrome. They have overly strong bass, that isn't even good, which paired with an already small sound stage makes things almost claustrophobic. While it's true that with noise cancelling on they sound significantly better, they still don't really get up to par with some of the other headphones in the group so they get the lowest ranking.
Moving on are the VModa Crossfade LPs. Note that these are the first incarnation of them and that there is a new version. That said I just couldn't get behind the sound. When I first reviewed them back at the tail end of 2013, I gave them quite a high rating. That said, I have listened to a great deal more headphones and honestly I don't think they sound that good. Maybe it's because I tend to favor mid and treble heavy headphones over bassy ones but I found that the Crossfade LPs just lacked on so many levels. The bass was overly strong and not crisp, just kind of boomy. The mids were weak and the stage was overly small. I wouldn't say they're particularly bad headphones, just not really all that good either.
Next up are the NuForce HP-800s. I kind of just got these on a whim for $50 one day. The first thing to realize is that they're quite uncomfortable. The headband is this weird rubber-y material that feels like it gets stuck to hair and is quite odd overall. Soundwise, they're quite similar to the previous two, bass overly strong and small stage with weak mids and highs.
Coming in at a whopping 16th place are the forever mocked Beats brand headphones, in this particular case the Beats Studio Wireless. Oh the things I can say about these. Honestly they're not that bad, as I stated before. The main reason they rank so low is because they're just not worth the $340+ price. All the things said before, they did surprise me when I put them through the Aune T1 MK2. I wholeheartedly expected them to go off the deep end in regards to bass but they didn't. In fact, the bass lightened up quite a bit while the mids and treble tightened up and became quite a bit better. I'd be willing to put them as high as maybe 13th on this list if that was what they sounded like in my normal set up but as it stands, they're still too expensive for their quality.
Moving on are the California Headphones Co Silverados. These headphones performed similarly in the under $50 post, snagging a ranking in the lower half of the standings. There isn't really too much to say about them, they sound ok with an emphasis on bass. The pads push on your ears which can cause some annoying pressure and overall they're just kind of boring headphones to listen to.
To round out this post I'm going to talk about three more headphones, the Scarlett HP60s, the Audio Technica ANC70s, and the AKG K7XXs. The Scarlett HP60s are a bit interesting in that I didn't buy them by themselves but as a part of a bundle with a Scarlett 2i2 and a mic stand. That said, they feel like $60ish headphones and that's how I rated them. The HP60s don't sound bad at all, but I just didn't think they did as well as the 'winners'. They have a very dry sound that's almost like a mixture between the Audio Technica ATH-M50s and the Sony MDR-V6/MDR7506. That said, I just felt like they were lacking overall in comparison to those two so they ended up down in 12th place.
The Audio Technica ANC70s are probably the most fence worthy headphones on this list. Sound wise they definitely lack bass, both with and without noise cancelling on. To get a bit more on their sound you can refer to the post I referenced when talking about the ANC7bs.
To round out the 'losers' let's talk about the surprising 'loser', the AKG K7XX headphones. A Massdrop limited edition run, the K7XX headphones are supposed to sound similar to the K702s with a slight bass bump to compensate for what has been said to be a lack in bass. While they do have impressive bass, they also have a really bland and weak presentation when unamped. This heavily disappointed me when I got them. However, running them through the Aune T1 MK2 shores up almost all the issues I had with them, bringing out the mids and highs and filling in the kind of empty sounding stage. This disconnect between amped and unamped really interests me as I don't think they're bad headphones, but if they need to be amped to really be enjoyed, I'm not completely certain they're worth it when other headphones perform better in both respects. They do sound quite nice when run through the Aune T1 MK2 though so that's a thing to think about.
Next up are the 'winners' and it'll be another long post. With that, until next time.
--CsMiREK
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