Review of Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating In-Ear Headphones

Hi Geektimes!

We continue to acquaint you with the line of the American company Monoprice, the distributors of which are our company SOUND4YOU . Today, finally, I will introduce you to the legendary Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating plug-in headphones with amplified bass with 14 mm drivers. Actually, for many, acquaintance with the Monoprice brand began precisely with these headphones, and I am no exception. A couple of years ago I read a review on an American theme forum about headphones that were positioned as the cheapest Hi-Fi headphones. After a year of active use, I noticed that no one had brought them to Russia. And at that moment our team just left one project about which wrote on Habréat one time, the post is still one of the readable.

In the US market, headphones are one of the best-selling ones, the reason is the low price and very decent sound, which in turn is achieved by huge (for plugs) drivers. Accordingly, the latter parameter also affected the case size and design. In this review, I will talk in detail about the Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating themselves, and about the class of in-ear headphones in general. Recently, we have sold a lot of these headphones, I often call customers to get feedback and I will not hide the fact that some buyers expected to get more from this model of headphones. How I was able to establish that the fault was not high expectations, but simply a misunderstanding and use of gags. In general, let's understand.

Packaging and equipment: The
headphones come in three colors (black, silver and white), each color is good in its own way, as it seems to me. Black color is more suitable for conservative listeners, silver and white are usually bought by "fashionistas". By the way, many users attribute the number 8320 to Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating, this is nothing more than the manufacturer's article for silver, i.e. Each color has its own article, which, as a rule, is not used in the name.



The Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Noise Isolating Headphones come in a small retail package measuring 10 x 15 x 3 s. On the front panel of the box there is a transparent plastic window, so the headphones immediately show themselves.
Inside, apart from two additional pairs of silicone earbuds and the headphones themselves, nothing expects us. The instruction with the main parameters is located on the back wall of the box.


Appearance and materials: The
developers faced an incredibly difficult task: to push huge 14 mm drivers into the headphone-plugs. I will explain for some: in nature there are in-ear earphones (popularly called “goggles”), ear pads that are inserted directly into the ear canal and earbuds that do not have ear pads as such and are placed by placing the case in the lower part of the auricle.
It can be cautiously said that the developers essentially connected both types of headphones in this model: a large body is placed in the auricle, and a silicone ear cushion is inserted into the ear canal. This combination allows you to get unique headphones with very high-quality sound, but more on that later.
The body of the headphones is completely plastic, the nozzle (air duct), on which the ear cushion is molded with the body and is covered with a protective grill.
Each earphone is labeled L and R, as in this case it is very important.


The picture below shows how the headphones should fit. The main rule is that the wire should go through the top behind the ear.


Cable and plug:
The cable has a standard length of 120 cm. For black and silver, the cable is black and covered with a fabric braid. For white headphones, the cable is made of soft plastic, due to practical reasons. Of course, a tactile fabric cord is more pleasant, but I can’t imagine how it would look after a month of active use.
The cable is thin, but durable and rounded in shape, which clearly does not add extra points to them. After all, it has long been known that round wires tend to get confused, it is not clear why many manufacturers ignore this point.

The separator and plug are made in the general style of the headphones. The plug is straight, it’s very convenient to pull a phone or smartphone out of your pocket. It has a gold plating, which significantly increases corrosion resistance.


Sound:
And finally, let's deal with the sound. So, I wrote above that the developers took huge drivers with a diameter of 14 mm, which is a lot for in-ear headphones (the usual size is 6-8 mm) and placed them in a case that logically cannot be smaller. The body itself is mounted in the auricle, as in the earbuds.
As you know, the plugs and earbuds have a completely different sound, since the plugs are tightly inside the ear canal, which creates a well-isolated space, which enhances the bass feel. When walking, and even being in one place, after a while the ear pads come out a little, the volume is disturbed, so the sound ceases to be voluminous. On the in-ear headphones, where the speakers are closer, the sound is more stable. But as you can guess, with an increased volume level, in-ear headphones are much more likely to lead to hearing impairment, for this reason the earbuds are considered safer.
Due to its enlarged body, the Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Noise Isolating headphones simply will not allow you to immerse the ear cushions as deep as you would with ordinary earplugs (a couple of millimeters plays the role). In other words, the developers used an oversized speaker to compensate for not ideal density.

The main technical parameters of Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating Headphone:

• Driver Size: 14.2 mm
• Frequency range: 20Hz-20kHz
• Sound pressure (sensitivity): 96 ± 3dB
• Impedance: 32 ohms

The manufacturer set the resistance to 32 Ohms, if you do not go into radio technology, then we can say the following: the lower the resistance, the less powerful the source is for the headphones and the greater the influence of the source on the sound. In other words, a small resistance indicates that the developers made headphones specifically for smartphones, which, as a rule, have a resistance in the range of 16-32 Ohms.
In fact, it’s quite difficult to describe the sound of such inexpensive headphones that sound like expensive. To write honestly and only good is to create doubts among readers. But I still try. The headphones are uniquely loud, around 100 dB. The developers have expanded the low frequencies, so the sound is very bright and juicy. The low frequency range is very much boosted, but it does not clog either medium or high. At the same time, by the standards of the class, one can even talk about such things as control and detail. The bass is deep and very captivating with its softness. Low frequencies sound very nice, there is always a desire to shake your head to the beat of the music!
Midrange is the weakest side of low-cost headphones, as a rule. But Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating was pleasantly surprised here too. The sounds sound deep and natural, which you can’t expect from headphones for such a price. Although sometimes the middle frequencies sound somewhat detached, especially against the background of rhythmic bass and bright high frequencies. Honestly, even such a result can be considered outstanding within the price range.

In general, the sound quality of these headphones is up to par, which is achieved by unusually large drivers. Especially for you, I took apart my first headphones, I myself was very curious how this speaker looks.


Keep in mind that the housing is basically non-separable, very well glued, I can assume that there will be nothing to the headphones if there is accidental water (rain).

The whole body is occupied by a tremendous speaker.




Price and warranty period:
You can always find out on the availability and buy Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Noise Isolating headphones on our website at the SOUND4YOU Mobile Sound Store or at our partners on Yandex.Market .
For all Monoprice models, we provide a 12-month manufacturer's warranty.

Conclusions:
I love this Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating model for their sound. You should not expect that they will give you the same bass as conventional in-ear headphones. But I can assure you that they have no competitors in the midrange. The big plus of these headphones is that the ears do not really get tired, like those of the usual in-ear ones, since the main fastening is not due to their tight pushing into the ear canal. The Monoprice Enhanced Bass Hi-Noise Isolating earphones hold well in the auricle thanks to its body design and donning method.
There is only one drawback in these headphones - a round wire, which you have to unravel periodically, but on the other hand, it will be possible to stretch your fingers.