Author Topic: E-kit Headphones Review  (Read 1308 times)

Offline Mr.J.

E-kit Headphones Review
« on: November 05, 2016, 01:04:50 PM »
Hi all
I have been a taker from this amazing place and now I want to contribute.

The following is a review of a new set of headphones I got for both practicing and playing along with music on my DM10 kit.

A little back ground. This is my third set I have gotten my hands on since I picked up playing drums in May of 2016. My first set was an el cheapo setup. All part of the learning curve.  They obviously didn’t cut it so I went with a very popular set of Sennheiser. I am not going to list the model because this isn’t about putting down another set of headphones, but these Sennheiser headphones were very highly over rated and just too loud to be enjoyable. By too loud I mean the song I am trying to learn has keyboards kick in and when they did the keyboards drowned out all of the other music. They were fine just playing the kit but were dreadful for listening to or trying to play along with music.

The set I am going to review are PSB M4U2 Noise Cancelling Headphones.



My review will focus on using these headphones on the DM10 kit.

Yes they are bulky but not uncomfortable. They are built with metal hinges instead of cheap plastic and really are very close to being comfortable. What’s really nice is the audio can plugged into either the left or right side ear pieces which I find helpful with keeping the audio cord out of the way. I plug them into my right ear which keeps the cord across my back instead of dangling at my left arm and being a bit of a distraction. These come with both 1/8 and 1/4 inch plugs.

These headphones sound absolutely amazing.

To start the first thing noticed is that the DM10 doesn’t have to have the volume turned up as much as previous headphones to get the same volume. With my Sennheiser the volume would be close to half way. With these headphones I get the same volume with the DM10 volume knob closer to the 1/3 mark. These headphones do have a built in amplifier that runs off of 2 AAA batteries. If the amplifier is on then the volume button is only needed to go to the 5-10% range for the same amount of volume. I don’t use this feature, at least not yet, but it does seem that it can be used for very fine tuning between your listening source and the drum set.

With these headphones when I listened to the song I am trying to learn I was able to hear all of the instruments clearly over the keyboards and was able to hear details that I didn’t hear before on my other set. This also made it evident that when you pipe your music thru the DM10 brain so that you can hear both the source music and your drumming that the DM10 unit does degrade the sound quality of your source. Not by a lot but with these headphones you can easily hear the difference. That’s a shame.

These headphones will make your kit come to life. The clarity is pristine. Your snare/toms will jump out. But above and beyond that will be how much your cymbals will come alive. It’s almost as if you have a brand new or different kit. For me it was the hi-hat that really blew me away. I can’t believe how much more I like my DM10 kit with these headphones. You have to hear it to believe it. And now while playing my source music and this kit at the same time is so enjoyable. I can hear both with no effort. Almost sounds like playing in/with a band.

A key feature for E-kit players is external noise. These do have active noise cancellation which does work for some background noise. Today my wife was vacuuming in another room and this feature really helped. This feature does not work when it comes to the thud of rubber cymbals. When I am practicing I do not hear the thud from crash/ride cymbals but I do pick up on the stick sounds from the hi-hat hits. However when I do play my source music and DM10 together I can go without hearing the hi-hat wood on rubber hits.

If you are in the market for new headphones do yourself a favor and give these a listen. You’ll both thank me and hate me. Why hate? LOL because you’ll find yourself once again playing with the settings of your kit because you’ll be able to pick up on the finer settings that just no longer sound right anymore.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 01:08:32 PM by Mr.J. »

Offline JimmyB

Re: E-kit Headphones Review
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2016, 07:27:18 PM »
How do those finer settings translate when plugged into an amp or DI box?
JimmyB

Offline Mr.J.

Re: E-kit Headphones Review
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2016, 12:22:09 PM »
Jimmy

Do you mean when the headphones are plugged into an amp?

As of right now I only use them straight into the unit so I have no feedback on your question.

I have almost eliminated the whack from the high-hats. I turned up the sensitivity and strike with a lighter force. Duh!