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Written by Aenn Seidhe Priest
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 01:53 |
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So, the last two sets to make their way here are Roland RH-50 and WeSC Oboe Tangerine. Quite a curious combination. Both cost roughly $50 (less) online. Both are supra-aural. Both have the same impedance - 32-ohm. Both have a fairly high efficiency, above 100 dB/mW, and should be easily driveable by a portable player. So what are the differences?
The RH-50 are Roland's second in price after RH-25. RH-25 are the cheapest model, with a suggested retail price of $25 ($50 for RH-50). RH-50 are fairly-priced basic closed monitor headphones. They really are semi-open, but there's so little of "open" in the design that "slightly ventilated closed" is a more precise description. Vents on an enclosure lead to a single hole covered with acoustic damping material. The hole acts as a "pressure valve", releasing extra tension from air within the enclosures. So there's no air escape route, though there is a weak sound emitter of sorts. For the purpose of sound leaking though it's as if they were fully closed - isolation's pretty good for inexpensive closed headphones.
Roland RH-50.
Sonically RH-50 are typical monitor headphones, designed to highlight detail by elevating midrange, especially high midrange. The RH-50 are quad-driver (!), with additional tweeters mounted atop the fullrange diaphragms. 40 mm. for the main diaphragms, and 10 or 12 mm. diameter for tweeters. The efficiency is 102 dB/1 mW, but this is not very noticeable because of the EQ - "anti-loudness", elevated midrange (the "loudness" EQ, AKA "smile", elevates bass and treble).
Loudness, AKA "smile" EQ.
Unless the RH-50 get a good helping of current, they won't shout. The RH-50 can play at low perceived loudness with an excellent clarity, which is a serious advantage, especially when unamplified straight of a portable player.
Elevated midrange.
They're not of the bass-exaggeration kind, bass is there, but it's polite and focused, contoured, not boomy. With a powerful amp, like the Minibox-D, the RH-50 can get even a bit too bassy. But even then they're very unlike the boombox that AKG's K-81 (K-518) are.
The RH-50 are a bit slow when it comes to dynamics, and they're a tad veiled still, missing some of the clarity in details which more expensive headphones (like the K-240) have. A recable ought to fix that, but, in summary, the RH-50 are fairly inexpensive headphones that can show detail which other headphones will leave in the background. Contrast between notes is excellent even with something as monotonous as a synth bassline. The cost is a somewhat unnatural elevation of midrange that can remind of itself, though after a couple of minutes the "direct transmission of music" effect compensates for that. Oh, and a slightly small soundstage, though that's a problem with all but circumaural headphones. RH-50 are large-ish supra-aural, and very comfortable for supra-aural headphones - 2 hours is the usual amount of time before they have to be taken off ears. Very light pressure on ears. The AKG K-81 are real juicesqueezers by comparison.
WeSC Oboe... First of all, WeSC is not an audio electronic manufacturer. WeSC - "We Are the Superlative Conspiracy" - is a Swedish fashion clothing company. Of course the Oboe are not made in Sweden, they're manufactured in China (as most everything nowadays). Oboe are smallish supra-aural closed headphones. The silverish plastic grilles are a decoy - Oboe aren't ventilated. Styling is similar to Grado headphones - a classic metal arc/vinyl headband. Diaphragms are 30 mm. diameter. Efficiency is stated as 130 dB/1 mW, and it sure sounds like it. The Oboe can shout out of any source, even the weakest-powered player.
WeSC Oboe Tangerine.
The Oboe aren't very comfortable. They press somewhat too hard on ears, and the earpads get hot pretty quickly, though not "sweaty". Sonically the Oboe are, like girlfriend said, akin to a "rave setup". Boomy and kicking bass, lots of empty space in the high midrange and space range. They've a bit more resolution and clarity than the RH-50, both in dynamics and very high frequencies. The Oboe can show a bit more microdetail, trouble is, how they show it. Tonally they're aggressive and kicking. Causing sonic fatigue. They're exactly like a rave warehouse with boomy-bassy speakers. OK, better definition, but still. There's a bit of resonant "poison" in the high midrange and very high frequencies, making high portions of baritones, female vocals and reverberations ring. The treble's artificial. Overall the tonality's artificial.
In summary, the RH-50 are slightly artificial tonally (elevated midrange/high midrange), but they manage to transmit music very well. They're a very musical set of headphones, which is unsurprising, as those are monitor headphones designed for musicians, by a company famous for its musical instruments. The WeSC Oboe are somewhat more microdetailed, somewhat more dynamic, but they manage to mangle everything with their "rave warehouse" EQ. So even though the Oboe are a more recent design based around more dynamic diaphragms, their acoustic setup ruins them. The Oboe could be better headphones with some more natural acoustic tuning. As it comes "out of the box" though, the RH-50 are a better value. Unless it's showoff that's desired, in which case the Oboe "fit right in". But even then, yes they'd spend some time showing off, but how about listening to music? The RH-50 are the clear winner here.
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