Audio Quality and Comfort

When it comes to any type of audio headset comfort is normally most important. It doesn’t matter how good the sound quality is on a particular pair of headphones or earbuds, if they aren’t comfortable to wear then you likely won’t wear them. The H11 Earphones certainly meet that requirement, in fact while using them at my desk rather than my usual earphones, I forgot that I had the earbuds in, and instead of pinching my fingers to pull out each of the ears, I cupped my hands as to separate and remove a pair of over the head earphones. I found the bigger set of cushions to be more comfortable, but this is mainly because of how they fit in my ear. The bigger set made them fit more snugly and I wasn’t adjusting them at all, but with the smaller pair it felt like they were going to fall out constantly. This is undoubtedly due to ear size and personal preference and both sets were still rather comfortable. A minor issue I had was removing the earbuds from whatever device I was using. The rubber coating is somewhat slippery and can make it difficult to remove the audio plug. I would have liked to see some sort of texture on the rubber coating to make gripping it a bit easier.

To test the sound I used a number of different methods to get a good idea of what the earbuds would be good for.

Television – Fringe – This is my current television addiction. I like to watch show seasons at a time rather than wait week to week for a new episode I will wait for it to go off the air and watch the entire life of the show over a month or two. There are action scenes as well as the usual dialogue and the H11’s handled both very well. One thing that surprised me is that the ear phones still give a good directional sound. There are scenes in warehouses or big open buildings where the echo is still noticeable and sound coming from the right or left actually come from that direction.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Für Elise – This is a simple and light track with lots of highs and lows. The H11’s did an excellent job with the clarity of the highs throughout, but the lows felt a bit flat. I was actually rather pleased with how the song sounded through the earbuds compared to my usual pair of headphones.

Nat King Cole & Natalie – Unforgettable – This is a classic song with a great range of instrumentals and vocals. The difference between the highs and lows in Nat King Cole’s voice and Natalie’s are very noticeable and clear with the earbuds. There are a couple of times throughout, especially in Nat’s vocals that during the lows and in particular the S sound that the earbuds give sort of a scraping sound. I played the part again a few times to make sure it wasn’t a fluke and sure enough it was there again. It was only in this particular song, but it was bad enough that I didn’t want to listen to it again. Again the bass seemed a bit flat throughout this song.

Eric Clapton - Rush (Soundtrack) - 10 - Tears In Heaven- This song has a great display of bass and highs to test a headset. This song showed a tremendous improvement in the base department. It comes through quite strong and pairs nicely with the highs from the vocals and instruments.

Bone Thugs N’ Harmony - Tha Crossroads- This was by far the shining star for the H11’s. The bass hits hard and heavy throughout and comes through clean and crisp in the earbuds. On top of that it pairs well with the highs and lows of the vocals of the different choruses and verses. I don’t feel like anything was lost in the mix with this song and it really demonstrated what the headphones were capable of doing.

In game – Heroes of Newerth – Right away the earbuds are disappointing because of how it handles the games bass. The bass and lows all sound distant compared to what I am used to in game. In fact almost everything in the game sounds to be coming from a distance down a hallway. It all has sort of an echo and faintness to it that is unsettling. Overall it was a poor performance for in game, but it isn’t too surprising seeing ass these earbuds aren’t really made for gaming.

There are a few things worth noting about the design of the headphones. The first is that they are aluminum rather than plastic. This gives the earbuds a much better sound quality than similar plastic models. Along with this is the fact that in the back of the earbuds there are tiny holes which is said to help with the clarity of the bass the headphones provide.

The second design feature, which is often overlooked, is that the left and right earbud are labeled. This is pretty important if you use them for a movie or television show that has any sort of directional sound.

The final thing worth noting is that the earphones split down to a certain point, and there is a little stopper that keeps the two wires held together, but they cannot be split past a certain point. The only reason this is worth noting is because I sometimes like to run the two earbuds through different parts of a coat or jacket and this design won’t allow that.