To start off, I’m very sure that most people don’t know what the magic NAD is to begin with. NAD is a company that has over 40 years of experience in creating magical HiFi systems for your ears, and PSB is their sister company, so expect some shared technology between these two. Now, they are using those knowledge that they gave gathered into creating their first ever pair of earphones, the VISO HP20.
Technically with the background of what NAD does, it means that the VISO HP20 is like an entire HiFi system compressed into a pair of earphones, right?
Well, that might just be it.
The box alone gave me some mysterious feel, and it definitely gave some vibes about its premium feel as well.
Opening up the flap, there’s a window to see what you’re going to get, and also a brief history of NAD, written in English and au French. Simple design, I like it.
At the back of the box there is more information and there you can see some of the basic information of how the in-line buttons work on Apple devices, and also a brief introduction on the product itself alongside with the spec sheet. There’s also a small printing in red that says this product is
Again, pretty simple.
[nextpage title=”In the package”]
Here’s where the magic begins.
You get the pair of earphones themselves, a cushioned circular case, a total of 5 different eartip sizes, a special clip, and some manual.
Inside the box however, you can find some other accessories such as the airplane audio jack and also a 6.35mm(1/4 inch) audio jack to suit some of the niche needs.
NAD definitely included some no-nonsense accessories as compared to many other brands, that either include something sub-par or just plain useless as compared to what NAD does.
The eartips are of great quality and it’s not made with only one material throughout, as there is a separation between the grey and black coloured part. Obviously, these served another purpose, and that will be discussed later.
Clips are pretty must essential if you have in-line buttons or with a wider, flat cable. NAD knows, and they designed the clip where the cable slot can rotate. Definitely, definitely a very nice addition as for some clothes, I would like to clip it at the collar whereas some I would clip it near my neck. Changing directs means just rotating the clip. Another simple, yet effective design by NAD.
[nextpage title=”Listening test”]First things first. I have to admit that I’ve been spoiled by Beyerdynamic earphones for a very long time. A little too much to the point that I even refused to use Apple’s EarPods even when I’m using Apple devices. Even with the given convenience and the decent sound it produces, it’s just not comfortable enough to be worn and it falls out like gravity was amplified.
You might realize that the VISO HP20 has a common technology as its PSB earphone siblings, that is the RoomFeel. A brief description on the box about RoomFeel is what they claim “expands the soundstage“, which sounds like a bold claim, yet I can assure you it’s not.
Let’s just jump right into song testing and hear how impressive this pair of earphones is.
Adventure Time – Rogue (Monster 010 – Conquest) [FLAC]
- Lows : Bass is punchy
- Mids : Clear and crisp, drums are realistic
- Highs : Bells can be heard distinctively
Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper (Bioshock Infinite Soundtrack) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Bass strings is heard plucking on the left side of my head
- Mids : Vocal is distinct
- Highs : Synthesizer is heard to be played on the right side of my head
Orpheus Of The Underworld – Adya (Adya Classic 2) [215 kbps MP3]
- Lows : Reverberating bass at the beginning is stunning
- Mids : Background instrument is heard exceptionally well during chorus
- Highs : Violin highs are excellent
An Accent Beyond – Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory (Portal 2: Songs to Test By) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Reverb is great
- Mids : Distinctive from the bass
- Highs : High points are again, great
Rosen aus dem Suden, op. 388 – Orchestra Of The Viennese Volksoper (Great Strauss Waltz, Polkas & Marches) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Subtle instruments are definitely heard
- Mids : All instruments are heard even during the finale
- Highs : Very pleasant highs
Salome – The Johann Strauss Orchestra & Andre Rieu (Andre Rieu In Wonderland) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Each note played by the tuba, a subtle bass is heard
- Mids : Enjoyably clear and crisp
- Highs : Very great flute sound reproduction, the sudden trombone is not painful
The Entertainer – Scott Joplin (The Entertainer – The Very Best of Scott Joplin) [320kbps MP3]
- Lows : Brass can be heard is on my right side, each instrument of the brass can be heard
- Mids : Excellent piano sound, heard that is in front of me
- Highs : Woodwind can be heard is on my left side, the sharp flute does not feel like it’s attacking
Skyliner – The BBC Big Band (The Age Of Swing, Volume 1) [FLAC]
- Lows : Small changes in the bass strings are heard
- Mids : During the saxophone solo, all the other subtle background instruments are heard
- Highs : Trumpets sound excellent, as if they’re performing in a stage in front of you
The Ballad Of Mr Steak – Kishi Bashi (Lighght) [FLAC]
- Lows : Drum hits are heard to be distinctively clear
- Mids : Violin reverb is heard to be a wider range compared to other products
- Highs : Instrument highs are pleasantly played back
In The Mood – The BBC Big Band (The Age Of Swing, Volume 1) [FLAC]
- Lows : Subtle drums hits are heard clearly
- Mids : Clear separation between notes and instrument transition
- Highs : Did not distort, excellent and not too high
Let me let this straight. If I am plainly comparing the lows, mids and highs, the VISO HP20 would not be a very outstanding pair of earphones as it doesn’t even touch on the strength of what it can do.
The bass is never going to be as punchy as other earphones for sure. That said however, the VISO HP20 has just the right amount of bass and punch for it to be pleasant, not like some others that will just blast an excruciating amount of bass to the point that it just hurts the ears. Same goes to the highs, as the some other products about the same price range can have an uncontrolled amount of highs that made my ears hurt.
While testing some orchestral songs, I can hear where the mic was placed during the song’s recording session. For instance, The Entertainer had placed the microphone in the middle while segregating its woodwind section to the left and have its brass section to the right, with the piano right in the middle. This is what sound stage is all about – able to tell where the instruments are played, even without a surround sound system.
It’s things like this that made me go curious and explore other songs in my library.
On a bonus note, while listening to Haywy’re Back And Forth, there was some mumbling near the end of the song which I never knew existed at all. Good to know that he included some subliminal message into the song.
The true strength of the NAD VISO HP20 comes from what they call RoomFeel. I don’t know what magic PSB and NAD put in while creating their audio products, but this pair of earphones stood out from the rest by having the ability to clearly hear the directions of the instruments played. Not only that, the VISO HP20 a very low impedance value of only 16Ω.
What this means is simple. NAD focuses directly on mobile audio alone – particularly on Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod. This pair of earphones will play same song and sound excellent and powerful on your phone, but will vary if you’re using something else, let’s say your amplifier or your laptop for instance.
The VISO HP20 has its own in-line buttons that are Apple-compatible, hence the Made for iPod, iPhone, iPad right at the front, and it works exactly the same as the EarPods. The layout, the looks, the tactile feel of the inline buttons seem like they’re directly copied from the EarPods too, with some slight modification to the middle button only. I’m not complaining, NAD did a great job here in not fixing what is not broken (hint : Windows 8’s start menu). A definite plus for feature.
The left and right labels are unnecessary, since their design is where the right earbud will have the in-line controls attached. The font might seem a little too big, but once you get it into your ear, the ear pinna – that is the “cup”, will block the font.
As for comfort wise, the VISO HP20 is excellent. The clip made it feel as if I’m not wearing anything on my ears, and I actually had this earphone in my ears for more than 5 hours straight and still not complaining about anything at all. Walking around with it in my ears is also not a problem, as it’s just to difficult to fall out with this design.
The cable always brush on my shirt and amazingly there is very little interference produced through by said brushing, compared to all of the Beyerdynamic products.
Even when I’m not listening to music, by plugging in this pair of earphones it isolated most of the noise already. By pressing play, all other noise just vanishes.
The casing however could be a little better. Yes it has compartments to store all the accessories, but the opening could be a little bigger for ease of putting the earphones inside. It did take some getting used to to really get a hang out of this case. And oh, it’s cushioned too. Knocks and bumps are no issues for sure. Also, it’s a little larger than 67mm in diameter as compared to my lens cap.
[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]
Again I have to stress that this is a pair of earphones that isn’t going to give you the punchiest bass or some unrealistic highs. This is a pair of very well balanced audio reproduction and it’s made for mobile products – specifically for Apple only.
The NAD VISO HP20 is a pair of earphones that made me appreciate music – how musicians created their music, and why it is important to hear the way it is made, because all the subtle instruments contributed to the music that we loved and shared, but not heard the way it is supposed to be due to limitations.
The price however, is a little heft and goes for RM599.
Rating : 10/10
It’s a pair of earphones even for the price, I would pay for. The Beyerdynamic costs RM499, but the NAD VISO HP20 is at an entirely different and better league for just RM100 more. Yet you get in-line controls too.
While walking around campus with this pair of magic in my ears it feels like an orchestra is moving, alongside with me in the middle. That’s what RoomFeel is about.
What say you? Go get one now!
I really wish I can keep this pair of earphones for myself though.
Thanks to Jaben Malaysia for letting us review the NAD VISO HP20!
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I would like to ask….would it work with non-apple products? As far as i know….products made specifically for apple can be used on non-apple products, it’s just that u can’t use the volume controls. Is it the same with this earphones?
Yupe, exactly what you just said.
I used it with my Nexus 4, and I just can’t control the volume.
The middle button is still usable, and if you have PowerAMP music player then you can set it up to react to the button presses.