This is a pair of very new pair of earphones by Beyerdynamic – indeed they just announced it earlier this year. In this product line, Beyerdynamic aims to create a series of premium earphones with even further division of subcategories, as the DX 120 iE falls into their budget-premium range. Here on my desk I have the Beyerdynamic DX 120 iE all to myself, and here’s the full review of it.
You do get a fairly fancy-ish packaging from Beyerdynamic on this line of earphones.
It does look fairy simply and large, but opening the front flap you’ll get to see what you’re about to receive.
At the back of the box, you get some specifications and also all the other accessories that are included in the packaging itself. The specs of the earphones are as listed below :
- Frequency range : 12 – 23,000Hz
- Impedance : 47 Ohm
- Sensitivity : 107dB
- Cable length : 1.2 meters (0.3 meters without extension)
Before you start to rumble with the packaging to get this message from Beyerdynamic. It’s certainly a clever utilization of the space given that the flap is pretty much useless other than locking the position of the closing lid.
[nextpage title=”In the package”]
Beyerdynamic certainly included a whole lot of accessories in here. Sadly though the cable clip isn’t in the image above, but all the other thing are in there. As pictured above, you get a soft carrying pouch, a detachable extension cable, 7 different silicone eartips, and also a adapter to split the audio input into two separate outputs.
The eartips was a rather extreme one, given that they also included a double-flanged and triple-flanged eartip. Double-flanged ones fit pretty okay, though it does cause some discomfort due to its size, but the triple-flanged one plunges in too deeply into the ear canal and as certainly too large to be used.
The soft carrying pouch is something that I’d really like to point out is the size of it when the earphones are inside – alongside with all the eartips and also the audio splitter jack. Beside the pouch is a 67 milimeter diameter lens cap, and the pouch isn’t that much bigger in comparison, and its thickness is definitely not even double of the lens cap.
The audio splitter. It’s designed in a way that you’re going to share your music to your buddy with the wires hanging in a weird inverted Y shape, with your phone at one side of the bottom.
[nextpage title=”Sound test”]First things first – the DX 120 iE is very light. I’ve walked around the entire Midvalley Megamall and The Gardens with the DX 120 iE and the weight of the earphones plus the wires and extension just wouldn’t cause any discomfort. Gravity didn’t pull the earphones out of any of my ears, and the width of the flat cables are very slim.
As compared to the Beyerdynamix XP series, they cause some random sound to the earphones when the wire brushed across my shirt, but that never happens with the DX 120 iE. Excellent job with the new pair of earphones!
My biggest issue when I’m about to test it? This.
Surely you can do better than just putting the L and R at such a position – and it’s all in black. Shadows cast from the eartips can totally mask off the embossed writing. The XP series had coloured anodized metal to different between left and right and the earphones are designed so that the left earbud wouldn’t fit on your right here at all. On the DX 120 iE however, both the earbuds look entirely the same, and there’s no way of differentiating it other than shining a flashlight onto it to see if it’s the L or R side.
Onto the song testing, again we’re testing this on a variety of devices – but this time with an addition. We take the average from my LG Nexus 4, my Lenovo Y580 laptop, the Edifier C3’s amplifier, and now even on an iPad 4, all with a flat equalizer.
Adventure Time – Rogue (Monster 010 – Conquest) [FLAC]
- Lows : Excellent lows, tight, punchy bass
- Mids : Very crisp
- Highs : Sounds muffled
Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper (Bioshock Infinite Soundtrack) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Very clearly heard
- Mids : Vocals are great
- Highs : High pitched singing is mesmerizing
Orpheus Of The Underworld – Adya (Adya Classic 2) [215 kbps MP3]
- Lows : Each stroke of note is crisp
- Mids : Stunning clarity
- Highs : Sounds a little muffled
An Accent Beyond – Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory (Portal 2: Songs to Test By) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : The bass sends stunning vibrations
- Mids : Distinctively clear
- Highs : Couldn’t get as high
Rosen aus dem Suden, op. 388 – Orchestra Of The Viennese Volksoper (Great Strauss Waltz, Polkas & Marches) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Great vibrations
- Mids : Able to bring up some hidden drum sounds in the background
- Highs : Sounds great
Salome – The Johann Strauss Orchestra & Andre Rieu (Andre Rieu In Wonderland) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : The gong sounds surreal
- Mids : Distinctive between lows and highs
- Highs : Flute sounds muffles
The Entertainer – Scott Joplin (The Entertainer – The Very Best of Scott Joplin) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Tuba’s bass is amazingly played back
- Mids : Clarinet sounds great
- Highs : Flute sounds crisp
Skyliner – The BBC Big Band (The Age Of Swing, Volume 1) [FLAC]
- Lows : Bass strings are heard very clearly
- Mids : The instruments sound clear and crisp
- Highs : Trumpets sound absolutely tight
When going through the wide range of genres of music on the Beyerdynamic DX 120 iE, I found out a few things. Firstly, it has a great frequency response. Secondly, vocal, classical, or orchestral songs sound absolutely stunning on this pair of earphones, electro music isn’t that great since it can go unrealistically low and high. Thirdly, the bass is also stunning.
I’m sorry to say however, the frequency range makes the DX 120 iE sound a little lacking in the highs. I’m saying this because the sound produce is a little too much biased to the low frequency side, causing some major imbalance in the sound production. I do hope that Beyerdynamic did balance out the frequency response, given the cost of course.
If you’re a bass lover however, you’ll be amazed the bass produced by this pair of earphones. The vibrations, the punches – everything that has to do with low frequency sounds great. Vibrations are coming in to really shake your eardrums for sure.
During my entire test, I just used the smallest eartips and plunged them into my eyes. I walked around for an a long period of time, sat around Starbucks for some hours and I couldn’t really feel that they were there. Noise isolation isn’t perfect, but it works pretty well. Fantastically lightweight, slim, thin, flat cables. Just pure comfort.
One thing I’m not so keen on is the weird angle of the audio jack. It’s slightly tilted at about 45º, which I have no idea why Beyerdynamic did it this way. I find it rather disturbing as the angle made the cable push against my pocket when the DX 120 iE is plugged in. Maybe it’s better off not designing such fancy angles and just have it as a straight connector instead. Maybe they designed this angle with the audio splitter in mind, I don’t know.
[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]
The DX 120 iE is fantastic but not perfect – that’s no doubt. It’s a great all-rounder earphones, but don’t expect the best sound to come out from it. It is however biased to low frequencies after all.
The total of 7 different eartip sizes is generous, but I really wonder who will use the triple-flanged one. With a bunch of different sizes you really don’t have to worry about the eartips not fitting on your ears. Also, these silicone eartips are not easily removable like the problem I am constantly haunted by the XP series – which can easily fall off even by just a smooth, slow brush of a finger.
If you’re using it for your laptop, the extension is pretty much unnecessary since it’s already 30 centimeters long without the extension. For phones however, I found that the extension is a little too long. So… retractable extension, please?
As for the price, it comes with a price tag of RM369. Surely it’s Beyerdynamic’s premium earphones – but this is the budget one in their premium range. Is this worth it? Well, for me to judge, I’d say yes.
The XP series costs RM199 – fixed (now RM210 with GST). They all have the same problems, which I have reviewed the XP2 and also the XP3. I thought that Beyerdynamic would have taken feedback and addressed the issues that were present on the XP series – and I was wrong.
Rating
I couldn’t help but to give the DX 120 iE a 8/10. Sure it has its minor problems like not being able to tell which is left or right without doing some of the most annoying alphabet-hunting, but after that you get to enjoy the exquisite bass alongside with decent mids and highs with the lightweight cables under great comfort.
For the price of RM369, sure it’s nearly double the price of the XP series, but you really do get what you pay for.
Now after reviewing this pair of sexy earphones, I might even get one myself.
Thanks to Jaben Malaysia for letting us review the Beyerdynamic DX 120 iE!
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