Second time's the charm, it seems. Atomic Floyd's AirJax earphones didn't blow us away last November, but we've spent the last couple of weeks with a beautifully designed new model -- the HiDefDrum sound-isolating earphones -- and these finally prove Atomic Floyd's hyperbole-rich marketing is far from unjustified.
Unlike the AirJax model, this £85 pair of steel earphones deliver incredible clarity and deep, velvet-smooth bass. From the word go it was clear these 'phones are perfect for dance music, pounding pop and electronic anthems.
Assisted by a rear-mounted bass reflex port and comfortable sound-isolating tips, the bass on these earphones is not only powerful, but incredibly low on distortion. The Black Eyed Peas track Anxiety sounded as good through these as through a pair twice the price, as a result of their punch, depth and clarity.
And don't get us started on how good Pendulum's In Silico record sounded. Drum 'n' bass rarely sounds this good in a pair of £85 earphones -- Denon's AH-C551s are the closest competitor, and will have their work cut out for them from the Atomic Floyd n00bs.
Female vocals sound smashing, too. A smidge of Vanessa Carlton -- clean, piano-driven rock -- let the HiDefDrums show off their clarity and crisp treble.
But they're not a 'warm' pair of earphones. Compared to models from Sennheiser or Shure, they don't deliver a live-like sound, a sound that makes acoustic music and instruments sound perfectly natural. This just furthers our feelings that they're perfect for any kind of electronic tunes, pop hits and dance anthems. Just don't rush out if you're solely into the warm sound of a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar.
It seems as well, say colleagues, that they leak quite a bit. Rory cranked them up to his normal epic volume and we could hear them across the office. So keep the volume down on the bus, okay?
You can order now direct from AtomicFloyd, with next-day delivery in Europe. But before you do, check through our gallery of hands-on photos and close-ups over the next few pages.
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Comments 2
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Anonymous 14 December, 2010 23:58
I've been nothing but satisfied with the sublime build quality & top drawer acoustics provided by atomic floyd products. I felt compelled to leave this message after such a negative review from the person below, who seems to have a heavily biased vendetta. It would be a shame if he clouded your judgement on what has been my best earphone purchase yet, especially as I myself was so cautious to risk spending this sort of money on a company I'd never dealt with.
On a side note, I was really let down with my last shure headphones which these replaced. The build quality was not was I expected from shure (having used their studio equipment for years), and the whole product was bordering on tacky (perhaps excluding the rugged, although haphazardly designed; carry case).
anonymous 13 February, 2012 16:09
I have used these headphones for about 3 weeks now. I have been more than satisfied by the sound quality of this, the bass in particular is amazing, however there is clarity in songs with guitars etc. I felt that these headphones are extremely understated due to the fact that they are from a company which isn't known by everyone. These do sound better than some of the beats range I have tried. I have previously had a pair of bose headphones and the Beats by dre ibeats but these are my favourite so far. They do leak sound a bit but it doesn't mind me. I previously tried out the Bowers and Wilkins C5 which I exchanged for these and these were by far the superior.