For the love of music
I love music, and everywhere I go I have music playing on my portable iPod or Mobile Device. Although I’d had a decent pair of headphones for a few years for home use, I’d only used good quality in-the-ear headphones for travelling. A time came when I needed over-the-ear headphones that would match my needs. The boxes that had to be ticked were first and foremost good sound, with a punchy bass, and clear mid and top ranges, plus good looks and a price that was affordable.
So over a few weeks, I spent much time doing numerous side-by-side sound test’s of different headphones. Thankfully, the local HMV has a gangway of 20 pairs of headphones all lined up, and with 3.5mm connections to attach your listening device (in my case this was a Samsung S3 with MP3 files ripped at 320kbps, and a wide variety of headphones from the very cheap (£15 Sony’s and Skullcandy’s) to the very expensive (£350 Beat’s Audio).
I listened to a variety of styles of music, from pop to rock, and even a bit of classical. I also listened at different volumes, and with my graphic equaliser on and off at various settings. My ideal headphones though would have sounded perfect with the equaliser turned off, giving off the qualities I wanted.
Specifications & Quality
There was one pair of headphones I kept coming back to, the Sony ZX600’s. With their 40mm neodymium drivers and 6Hz-25kHz frequency range, along with their stylishly good looks, these headphones sounded simply stunning with everything I threw at them.
The cheaper headphones, and even some of the more expensive models sometimes had not enough bass and way too much treble, while some of the more expensive headphones (and I’m pointing at you Dr Dre!) had way too much bass and an average mid and top end. The £60 Sony ZX600’s stood out because they had excellent sound at all range’s no matter what they played.
As can be seen in the photograph, the ZX600’s are good looking headphones, they are not too heavy, but have a good weight, while the ear-pads fit over the ears perfectly. The cable is of a thin and flat type, meaning that it does not get tangled when stored. The headphones themselves do not fold, although the ear-pieces can be turned to make the headphones fairly flat.
Overall
The Sony ZX600 headphones were put through some strict tests before buying, competing with headphones from all manufacturers, and all costs. Each time I kept going back to them, because on a price-per-performance level they outshone every other pair of headphones that I tried. Without telling a few people who I looked around the store with, I asked them to try the headphones, and they came up with the same conclusion.
Listening to the headphones in the home environment, especially when the room is dark, the headphones shine like no other headphones I’ve tried. They have great stereo-separation with the music literally filling your brain, and the bass is thumpy without giving you a headache. As for the mid and high ends, you can hear every cymbal splash, every cow-bell and every guitar note plucked clean and crisp. Even on the go, they sound amazing, and when played at high volume, they do not let any sound escape, so you don’t annoy anyone around you.
Overall they’re an amazing buy, and are available from time to time on special offer, which ,ake them even better value!
