List Price: $149.99
Sale Price: $61.99
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If you want a condensed summary of my review, skip to the end
if you want a more in depth review continue reading
I wouldn't consider myself a audiophile by any means, but i would say i am a bit more attuned than the general public with headphones.
First off,
Looks
Yes, these headphones bite off the Beats by Dre Solos. If your afraid of people asking you if they're knockoffs, then these are probably not the headphones for you. They have glossy piano varnish on them, so they are fingerprint prone. I got the white, so i don't notice the fingerprints as much. If you get the blacks you will see fingerprints, red not so much but the least prone would probably be white. If your willing to overlook these questions, you'll be rewarded with sound quality that the Beats can't compare. but more on that later
Overall: 10/10 ( note this is because i have the white ones)
Comfort
These are on-ear headphones, so they suffer the drawbacks all on ears suffer from. Since they do sit on your ear, your ears will get pressed against your head, over time (depending on the user) you will have to take them off because your ears will hurt). Personally i did not find them hurting much at all. They make up for this by having a comfortable clamp on your head, not too tight, yet not loose enough that they will fall off if you do some exercise. (note if you jog vigorously, or head-bang vigorously, these will fall off!). The earpads on these headphone are very comfortable, they use a some sort of protein leatherette material that not heat up your ears during extended listening sessions, and allow your ears to breathe(if you do listen past 3 hours your ears will heat up anyway.)Note i have not use these when exercising so i can't say how breathable the earpads when exercising.
The headband is decently padded, and i had not noticed any discomfort on my scalp. The solos have some some sort of rubberized surface to help grip onto your scalp. These don't have that, which is why you can't headbang your head as much, or engage in vigorous exercise.
It is also a very light pair of headphones, i think its 150gs or so. To me this a plus, i previously wore the beats pros, those are heavy about 1 lb on my head, so no neck fatigue from the noontecs!
Overall: 8/10
Isolation
As stated above the clamp is not overly tight, i wouldn't even consider it tight at all. Its comfortable to wear. But unfortunately, the isolation suffers because the seal on your ears is not ideal. Also because the earpad breathe, they do not help in isolation either i would rate them as mediocre in isolation. i used these for commuting with my iphone 3gs, on the subway and bus. I usually hover around 30-40%, on the bus. I would hover about 10-20% at home.( they don't need to be turned up to be loud on portable players, and on my mac i just use 1 click on the volume and i even reduce the volume on itunes to about 40% or 50% on youtube. (they're plenty loud) however How high you have to turn it will depend on the user, make sure your ears are ringing by the end of using it( I had previous experience with the monoprice 8323s, those isolate better than the noontecs (even if they are over the ear) but they don't sound nearly as good.
Note: i found a way to make the headphone have a tighter fit on your head, i added a piece of cardboard inside the earpad about 0.7cm in height. This makes the earpad firmer and adds extra depth to your earpad
Overall: 6/10but if you WANT TO BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS THESE ARE FANTASTICS! isolate some but not all noises-so you hear the car come down the road!--> also note, never turn up these headphones on your device past 50% to block out noise.. these headphones are "low impedence" this means you don't need to turn up the volume for it to get loud.--> you can easily wreck your hearing permanently!! i think at 50% its about 93 db (longer than 20-30 minutes leads to permanent damage to your hearing
Special features &accesories
These headphone fold up, and collapse, making them really travel friendly, and the headband is adjustable. They also come with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm red flat tangle resistant cable. (no control talk or button for call/answer) edited almost 1 year and their still holding strong, the cable needed to be replaced but as long as you take care of em, and reduce the # of times you collapse them you'll be fine ( i folded them maybe 20 times TOTAL) and like the beats, the hinges do get loose over time, but UNLIKE THE BEATS the noontecs have a plastic ridge that prevents it from collapsing on its own.
also note when i'm not listening to them i just leave on around my neck and not collapse them.--> just collapse them if i really have no space in my backpack or im wearing a scarf(its cold up here in canada)
Finally Sound!
This where the headphone shines! These are the most neutral pair of headphones i have ever heard.
highs/ trebles sound fantastic, no listening fatigue, they are carefully rolled off treble to prevent that. no siblance or strident highs, cymbal crashes don't hurt your ear. theres enough sparkle up top to make dance and electronic interesting!
Mids are very prominent, forward but not to the point of being aggressive, drums, guitar, sound fantastic. great for synths and beats, listening to vocals on these are a dream,-->edit-the transition from higher mids to treble has a very very slight muffling, i only detected this from listening to headphones with good transition between mids and treble (these are iems but look up hifi man re 400s) female vocals are predominately in this category, and they don't suck on the noontecs (their quite good) but not as full or impactful as with the re400s (their iems so i don't think its a fair comparison, but regardless, there is a ever so slight muffle) most people wouldn't notice if you don't compare with higher end headphones
Bassthumping, completely different from beats by dre, slightly elevated above perfectly neutral. Not a drowning one note, bloated or wooly bass at all, you can detect the subtle change bass, not muddy at all, does not drown out the mids and highs. It will not make your heart pound no, but its a tight bass, something that is a fantastic change from todays headphones (ie beats by dre)---> very enjoyable tight, controlled bass
the changes between treble to mid and bass is very smooth, there does not appear to be any blending or bleeding into each. for example the beats solo the bass bleeds into the mids a lot and even a bit into the treble a bit ;-not good at all, whether its for dubstep or hiphop --those headphones are purely for aesthetic means
instrument separation is great, not amazing. Soundstage is minimal ( their on ears, its to be expected). so they are closed feeling and they are not the most precise in imaging ( instruments and etc) but their intented for pop, electronic, dance music, so i can't really fault them on that regard. but they sound great with other genres too.
Clarityvery hard for me to explain but the small nuances you probably missed with your ipod earbuds or your sub $50 skull candies, you hear it here, very clearly --however when using these for commuting you might miss these nuances, but at home or somewhere quiet you'll be amazed at what you hear.
note that these are by no means audiophile headphones, i'm not even gonna lie to you saying they are. They are very neutral (warm with slightly elevated bass) but very good sounding consumer headphones for the general public, and for the price its a fantastic deal!
edit-----i might have been overly critical with the headphones since i last wrote this but thats saying a lot for a pair of $100 dollar headphones, otherwise this review would've been shorter!!
for a $100 you'll be hard pressed to find something sound better, these compete with many of the best $100-150 headphones (on or over ear, closed back) soo its a steal in that regard.
they can also compete easily with many of the headphones most people have on the streets now ( ie beats solo, studios, skull candy mix masters, house of marley, sony xb300 etc).
Overall: 9.7/10 (i know the math doesn't add up but the pros outweighs the cons for me)
In conclusion,
Pros
Stylish
Tangle resistant cable
Portable/ collapsable
Detachable cable
Adjustable headband
Breathable earpad
Comfortable headband
minimal listen fatigue
Sound is fantastic, neutral, no elevation in highs, mids or bass, its a very forward set of headphones, fast paced, no sense of congested sound (perfect for modern music)
these headphones are good for pop, rock, hip, hop, rap, dubstep, electronic, trance almost all genres however *continue reading"
Cons
build quality (hinges are steel reinforced but are plastic, headband will not withstand headband test
cable is flimsy
no control talk on cable
isolation is average at best
Pouch will not protect the headphones much ( only scatches)
i feel that classical, jazz music or folk music or any music that use string instruments (violins, harp, or traditional asian music) i feel that it makes it seem artificial, or lack the airyness from open headphones and not as detailed in that aspect, still sound good, but there are better headphones for that genre --> but these headphones are geared towards today's modern music soo not really a con if you don't listen to classical or jazz---> however these are a fantastic all purpose headphones for anyone listening bits of different music genres
narrow sound stage--> but thats to be expected for seal onear headphones
depth or body of the music is okay, expected of closed on ears.
Overall,
They look as good as they sound! What more can you want portable, stylish, superbly neutral sound, all under $100 (mines was $97 with shipping) Get the noontecs!
also to note the cable shorted out on me after 2 months of use, its has been caught on doorknobs and handles and pulled out, the headphones are perfectly fine but the cables finished! i bought a vmoda replacement cable (3 buttons for iphone) off vmoda (they provide a 1 button for androids or a plain one for audio purists) and a fake monster cable (questionable at first but works fine (1 button remote works great, mic was shoddy though)
i love these headphones and if your on a student or someone on a budget like me its a no brainer! but it will be hard to find something "better sounding" unless your willing to spend quite a bit more
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Let me start off by saying....I LOVE THESE HEADPHONES! But, I have a buyers-be-aware story. I was so anxious to get some of the most efficient/sensitive headphones that can be easily pushed by my Nokia Lumia 920. I ignorantly bought my original pair from an eBay seller. After receiving these headphones & using them for nearly a day, the right side plastic hinge broke! I have never, ever in my life had a product break in a day! I folded the headphones at least 3 times before the hinges cracked & the right plastic hinge broke off. BS!! I contacted the seller and was eventually told I have to return them for review/repair/replacement. I was not comfortable going through this eBay seller again so I decided to contact noontecusa directly. Per my conversation with noontecusa, I was informed that the eBay seller was not an authorized-dealer and had sold me an 'over-seas' early version of the Noontec Zoros. The old UPC# starts with a 6 while the newest build starts with an 8. Noontecusa contacted the manufacturer on my behalf to explain my situation. I was very thankful for all their efforts which helped resolve my dilemma into a happy ending.Basically, Noontec is a new company in the headphone game. The very first designs of the Noontec Zoro had a very weak plastic hinge. The company has since reinforced the hinge design. In fact, the current design has 'zoro' inscribed on the inside of each metal brace while the old design doesn't. Noontecusa was outstanding in my quest to get a replacement pair of headphones even though I had not bought them from an authorized dealer.
Sound: These headphones are some of the most balanced on-ear headphones! Period! No burn-in period is required either. The lows are quick & base is nice and punchy too. Mids are clear & smooth. Highs are clean & non-sibilant. Everything you'd want in a balanced headphone!
I also like that these look like the Beats By Dre Solo/Solo HDs too but, with much better sound & efficiency, which was perfectly awesome for me!
So, if you need stylish, on-ear, super-efficient (16 ohms, 110db 115db) with 15hz-22,000hz frequency range, then these are the headphones for you.
Buy Noontec ME3114-B ZORO Professional Steel Reinforced SCCB Sound Technology Headphones, Blue Now
Really great headphones. I've had Beats, which broke within a month and sounded awful since I don't listen exclusively to rap music. No matter what I'm listening to the sound quality is incredible with these. Some people have said that the cord is crap and that other ones sound better, but for the average listener I've been really happy with this purchase. And they look bad ass, so there's that as well.First off I heard about these headphones from an article by the resident audiophile from Cnet. The two main reasons I got these headphones is because they had accurate sounds and they look great. Obviously these headphones look like the Beats Solos but with very slight changes in the design. I don't mind this though, I like how both sets of headphones look. I prefer these over the Beats Solos because this is about half the price for more accurate audio. I do like my bass but I don't want my other frequencies to suffer. These headphones are a chance for me to have light portable headphones that look appealing for a fraction of the price.Pros:
-Very Accurate Audio
-Lightweight
-Ear Cushions don't Squeeze to Hard
-Removable 3.5mm M/M 3ft cable that Resists Knotting
Cons:
-TBA
Bottom Line: The headphones sound amazing for the price and if you are looking for lightweight headphones!
Any questions about the Noontec Zoro headphones regarding everyday use (not specs) feel free to comment!i just recieved my zoro headphones and was pleasantly surprised.i own the bose quiet comfort 15 and i have other high end earphones.i borrowed a pair of dre beats from a co worker of mine....all bass and no clarity,these headphones are a good investment..do yourself and check them out you might like them
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