Crispy
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Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
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Post by Crispy on Jan 13, 2019 20:23:03 GMT
I wanted a cheap pair of noise isolating headphones for travelling abroad and got my wife to buy me these for Christmas. Cheap enough at £40. They come with a nice carrying case, a good quality wired lead that is non microphonic they fold flat and are wireless through bluetooth. There is a review at Rtings.com: - www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/bohm/b-66I have only had a very quick listen through my phone wirelessly and they do not seem to go loud enough on some tracks?
I then had another quick listen through my Kameleon with a flat response filter module via the supplied wire, this was much better where I could get the volume I wanted on quieter tracks.
The clamping force made them a little uncomfortable - which I am hoping will go with usage or I may have to try streching the headband a little? The build quality seems pretty good although I have read some people have had problems with the headband snapping? Sounds like they may have stood on them?
The noise isolation I was hoping for does not seem that good - but only a flight on an airplane will answer that question? They are not the best sounding phones but they are not bad either and wondered if any simple mods may make them sound a bit better? (any Ideas Frans?) I have posted the frequency responses from Rtings below as they mean nothing to me
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solderdude
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measureutternutter
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Post by solderdude on Jan 14, 2019 6:16:50 GMT
The ANC doesn't seem to do much indeed. There is just some reduction between 40 and 200Hz. Most NC work up to almost 1k Ohm and rely on passive attenuation above that. Recently I tried the NC part of a Sony 1000 WH1000, (quite expensive) and this attenuated outside noises incredibly well. Did not have any music on it alas.
Based on the plots I would think they sound decent in the lows, are a bit too forward sounding (peak at 2kHz) similarish in effect to K701 and some Grado's and are lacking in finer details and air. The roll-off in the top is audible I reckon.
Fixing the 2kHz issue may not be easy. Have no hints or tips alas. There isn't much room inside anyway. One side has batteries and the other one the electronics.
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Crispy
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Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
Posts: 776
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Post by Crispy on Jan 15, 2019 20:52:53 GMT
The ANC doesn't seem to do much indeed. There is just some reduction between 40 and 200Hz. Most NC work up to almost 1k Ohm and rely on passive attenuation above that. Recently I tried the NC part of a Sony 1000 WH1000, (quite expensive) and this attenuated outside noises incredibly well. Did not have any music on it alas. Based on the plots I would think they sound decent in the lows, are a bit too forward sounding (peak at 2kHz) similarish in effect to K701 and some Grado's and are lacking in finer details and air. The roll-off in the top is audible I reckon. Fixing the 2kHz issue may not be easy. Have no hints or tips alas. There isn't much room inside anyway. One side has batteries and the other one the electronics. Thanks for the advice Frans, it was about what I was expecting. When I bought them the description said "over ear" headphones and they are clearly "on ear" phones, I think this is why isolation is not great and why they can get uncomfortable to wear after a while? Yeh the cups are only 60mm in diameter and like you say will be full of batteries & electonics so no room for any tweaking? I will just have to give them a go when I go on holiday in June and then make my mind up whether to keep them or try something else. Probably in ears with something like Sugru to get a good seal and possibly good isolation?
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Crispy
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Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
Posts: 776
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Post by Crispy on Jul 19, 2019 14:49:57 GMT
I have just come back from my holiday in Kefalonia and I thought I would give you my impressions of these cheap headphones in a real life situation. I started off listening on the plane through my portable Kameleon 2 with a flat response filter module using the supplied lead, but the battery in the Kameleon died after about 1 hour (I thought I had fully charged it?) Initially I was not impressed as I am pretty sure I was getting interference from the Bluetooth even though it was not enabled? The isolation was pretty good but the sound was rubbish - the mids being the worse, really recessed. So after the Kameleon died I plugged the headphones straight into my phone and things improved. I could get a decent volume for most tracks and the isolation again was pretty good with the sound slightly better. At the resort I re-read the instructions and made sure the Bluetooth was switched off. Back at the room I had a few more listens and they sounded not bad. The flight back was when things got better. The isolation from the aircraft engines and the cabin noise was actually very good but rubbish at isolating messages made over the PA system. Considering they are on ears with a tight clamping force I was very surprised at how comfortable they were - 3 hours listening was not a problem. It was nice to hear some bass for a change, a bit flabby but OK, the mids was very good with the top end not so good a bit rolled off - but acceptable. I never used the phones on Bluetooth nor did I wear them on the beach. I only bought them for flying and their noise cancelling of the aircraft noise. SUMMARY OUT OF 5: ISOLATION FROM ENGINE NOISE 4.5 ISOLATION FROM CABIN NOISE 4.5 ISOLATION FROM PA SYSTEM 0 BASS 4 MIDS 4 TREBLE 3.5 Not the most flattering of photos For a cheap headphone they did the job that I bought them for. I did not want a true HI FI sound or spend hundreds of pounds to wear them once or twice a year. I just wanted an acceptable sound that cut down the aircraft engines noise and was better than my phone's in ears. This is what I got - so I am happy.
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