It’s quite rare to see people wearing these type of small-sized travel headphones. They are supposed to be the best of two worlds – the headphone type of quality and comfort, but having the portability like an earphone. Does the DTX501p hold up to this test?
Box is relatively thin, and opening up reveals another enclosure – this time a carrying case.
The DTX501p comes with a hard carrying case with minimum flex, and has some extra space to fit in some accessories like an airplane jack, which is also included.
Few of the things that I like about this headphone is how small the case is. I left it in my backpack and totally forget about it – light and compact.
[nextpage title=”Design”]The DTX501p is no doubt a very simple headphone. It has all the necessary builds and features, while keeping the entire design subtle enough yet sturdy.
Beyerdynamic included some bonus build features like a considerably better notched plastic to determine left from right, although again the cable is hardwired to the left earcup.
That being said, the headband is really thin, and has the best feature ever on the size adjustment – labelled sizes.
It’s such a simple thing for manufacturers to include, and I find myself wondering why they did not? As for portability is concerned, I had to count the notches each time I take other headphones out – just take the recently reviewed Beyerdynamic T 70 p for example. Each time you’ll have to calibrate the size again.
Enough of the physical tour for now – it’s small, sturdy, and functional. So let’s head on to the sound tests.
[nextpage title=”Performance”]Straight up I can say that this headphone though is a closed-back design, the noise isolation isn’t just as good as a full-sized headphone, because of the foam. The foam is the only thing that interfaces the ears with the earcups, and all of us know that the ears are not perfect in shape, and thus leaks sound in and out.
Suffice to say the DTX501p is a worthy headphone as the sound it produces are actually quite nice. Tested first with In The Mood by BBC Big Band, it’s instantly noted that the highs are adequate, but a little underwhelming than what the song really brings. Onwards with Shoot Him Down! by Alice Francis, the thumping bass is quite extreme – so much that it’s a little overwhelming and covered her voice at some parts.
Knowing that again, bass is thumping on this headphone, I tuned on to Adventure Time by Rogue. The bass seems is tight and punchy, with each strike creating a satisfying shake, though it’s generally just bass throughout the entire song and engulfed all the mids and highs.
Battle Medley 2012 [Final Fantasy I~XIV] by the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague played quite well, though the soundstage wasn’t really that great. But nonetheless, clarity in highs and mids are amazing, as this is a piece that doesn’t have constant thumping bass to consume all other sounds.
Comfort on the other hand is amazing, as this headphone just feels weightless on the head, though it has a mass of 120 grams. The headband is slim enough to not cause a catastrophic hairstyle after hours of usage. The earcups can grip on to the ear nicely, without applying too much pressure on the ear and cause discomfort, while still being to play music right into the ear canal. Brilliant design by Beyerdynamic right here!
However when it comes to the portability part, things get a little wonky.
The earcups do rotate, but I think they’re in the wrong direction. The earcups can sit flat on the table if you inverse left and right side, but only rotates a good 45º angle off the ear.
I do agree with the smaller degree of rotation because of the ear pinna angles, but then again the direction to get the flat level is just….. plain inversed. You can still have the headphone sit on your shoulders perfectly – just that you have to invert left and right.
[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]
Here’s the deal. Beyerdynamic nailed the materials used, weight, and simple design. It’s comfortable, sound is good albeit a little too heavy on the bass side, yet soundstage is okay though limited.
They advertised this as a pair of portable headphones, to which I say – yes, they’re very portable, and has a low nominal impedance of 32 Ohms only, suitable for laptops and certain smartphones and tablets. I do wish however that they would just invert the rotation angles. Really. Turn to the flat surface facing the user’s shoulders please.
I do like this piece of earphone, and definitely recommend this for those who want a small and simple piece of fashion accessory that makes great sound, yet hangs around your neck comfortably.
Then the price tag comes. Jaben is selling the Beyerdynamic DTX501p for a whopping RM369. Though Jaben isn’t offering it as an individual item for now, they’re selling the DTX501p bundled alongside with a Hippo Biscuit Plus MP3 music player and another TDK EC40 earphones for only RM399. Check this deal out right here!
Thanks Jaben Malaysia for giving this chance to review the Beyerdynamic DTX 501 p!
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