Tag Archives: audio

Review of the SoundMAGIC E80 Earphones – An incremental upgrade over the E10

Pros: Looks, comfort, package contents, overall sound quality
Cons: Cable cinch

Packaging & Accessories: 8.5/10
Build Quality: 8.5/10
Design & Look: 9/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 9/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 9/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Value: 8/10
My final Rating: 8.5/10

Review Date: August 2015
Review Price: £65

SoundMAGIC E80 - Design

First of all I would like to thank Mark from KS Distribution for sending me out the SoundMAGIC E80 for review.
After having reviewed the SoundMAGIC E10 I was intrigued to hear what the E80 had to offer and more so, what the extra £30 would grant me.

The E80 can be bought on AmazonUK for around £65. I wasn’t able to find it on AmazonUSA, but if with time that changes I shall update it here.

More information on the SoundMAGIC E80 can be found on their website.

Here’s my video review of the earphones:

 

Let’s get on with the written review!

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Review of the SoundMAGIC E10 – A fantastic budget earphone

Pros: Price, overall sound quality in relation to price, looks, comfort, lightweight design
Cons: Straight 3.5mm jack, cable cinch

Packaging & Accessories: 8/10
Build Quality: 8.5/10
Design & Look: 9/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 9/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 9.5/10
Sound Quality: 7.5/10
Value: 10/10
My final Rating: 10/10

Review Date: June 2015
Review Price: £35

SoundMAGIC E10 - Looks

First of all I would like to thank Mark from KS Distribution for sending me out the SoundMAGIC E10 for review.
After the E10 being out for quite some time and receiving a lot of hype on the internet I was curious to hear for myself what the E10s could offer.

The E10 can be bought on AmazonUK for around £35 and on AmazonUSA for around $35.
Yet again there’s a variance in prices between UK and US (around £13 difference). As I live in the UK, I will be reviewing this at the £35 price tag.

More information on the SoundMAGIC E10 can be found on their website.

Here’s my video review of the earphones:

 

Let’s get on with the written review!

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Review of the Audiofly AF120 Earphones – Disappointing sound for the price

Pros: No cable noise, packaging and accessories
Cons: Overall sound quality, looks, comfort for smaller ears

Packaging & Accessories: 9/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Design & Look: 8/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 10/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 8/10
Sound Quality: 6/10
Value: 5/10
My final Rating: 5/10

Review Date: June 2015
Review Price: £165

Audiofly AF120 - Design

First of all I would like to thank Mark from KS Distribution for sending me out the AudioFly AF120 for trial review.
After having previously reviewed the Audiofly AF45 back in 2012, I was interested what their latest addition the AF120 could prove. The AF45 was a bassy earphone that lacked in mids, but for its price of only £40 did a decent job. The AF120 on the other hand come in at around £165 on AmazonUK and around $150 on AmazonUSA. The price difference are quite substantial, where there’s a difference of around £70 between the UK and US.
As I live in the UK, I will be reviewing it at the £165 price tag, which comes in at a very competitive price, with a lot of earphones in the under £200 price tag being able to compete with the earphones.

More info about the earphones and their specifications can be found on Audiofly’s website.

Here’s my video review on the AF120s:

Now let’s get on with this written review!

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SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Review – A flawed headset that had great potential

Pros: Sound quality for a headset, build quality, comfort, software, looks and design
Cons: Recording problems, physical size, price

Build quality: 10/10
Comfort: 10/10
Overall sound quality for a headset: 9/10
Isolation: 8.5/10
Microphone quality: 2/10
Software: 10/10
Review price: £180
Value: 7.5/10 (at £180 price tag)
Overall rating: 5/10

First of all I would like to thank SteelSeries for sending me their headset for review. After having previously reviewed the Siberia Elite, I was interested to see how the newer version would compare, both in terms of sound and overall value.

I however had a problem with the recording quality of the headset, where the microphone would pick up a sort of “clipping” sound. I complained to SteelSeries and they sent me two additional pairs, one of which was from a newer non-pre sample batch. Unfortunately the issue persisted throughout my test.
After looking on Google, it was funny to see that several months ago SteelSeries also identified the issue as a known problem on Reddit.
SteelSeries explained the issue on Reddit: “The issue is 100% the soundcard and we have implemented a fix that has been in production for some time now.”
Despite their best efforts and my patience of 3 months (as I held out publishing the review, until I was sent a newer revision of the headset) – the issue is still present.

SteelSeries might have fix it after this review goes live, however for the time being all I can say is that I was sent a brand-new headset, after having 2 sets that had the problem, which came from a brand-new batch.
If my headset comes from a brand-new batch, I can’t being to think what batches resellers across the world have. Of course you can always return the headset after purchasing it, but I’m sure that’s not what you would have in mind for a gift or a headset you wish to buy – so let this introduction to the headset serve as a warning.

In terms of purchasing information, it can be bought from AmazonUK for around £180 and on AmazonUSA for around $200 (prices do fluctuate, but those are the unit prices that I had back in February and will be basing my review on).
As there’s a lot of similarities with the original Siberia Elite, there might be a few sections that are identical to the previous review.

SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism - Colours

 

For more information about the headset and its specifications can be found on SteelSeries’ website.

Here’s my video review:

Now let’s get into the written review!

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Review of the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Headphones – A decent sounding headphone with poor design choices

Pros: Mids, portable design, looks, removable mic cable
Cons: Build/design choices, lows, price

Packaging & Accessories: 10/10
Build Quality: 7/10
Design & Look: 10/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 8/10
Audio Quality: 8/10
Value: 7/10
My final Rating: 8/10

Purchase Date: April 2015
Purchase Price: £250

First of all I would like to thank Sennheiser for sending me out the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 – unfortunately due to not having contacts with Sennheiser in the past, I’m unable to compare it to the first gen model, however as I own the AKG K545, it provides me a good platform to compare these two headphones, which both sit at a similar price range at launch (the K545 has drastically dropped in price, from £230 to £150 since I reviewed it back in June 2013).
The sennehsier Momentum 2.0 can be found on:
AmazonUK for £250
AmazonUSA for $350

Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 - Design and looks

Before getting into the review, here’s a video review of the headphones:

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