The SoundMAGIC HP-100 Review

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Background

I honestly don’t know much about this headphone. It’s not for a lack of trying. Going to their website http://www.soundmagic.com.cn/en you’ll probably find little to no information on either the headphone or where they’re sold (without google). What I do know about SoundMAGIC is that they’ve made nothing but in-ear monitors up until last year and that they are based in China. There are a number of excellent headphone makers in China who take their work very seriously, even if the western brands they sell OEM versions to just want “MOAR BASS” and ruin their designs. Yuin comes to mind. The first line of their news article from last year detailing the release of their first ever full sized headphones, the HP 100 and 200, starts off with the terribly translated sentence “Classical as Sennheiser, Audio-technica and AKG, SoundMAGIC, our own Brand, definitely deserve our support.” I guess they mean “In an aim to achieve the classic status of brands like AKG, Audio-Technica, and Sennheiser, we are releasing headphones we think will win your over”. Well, I’ll take that as a challenge, although I bought these headphones mostly to test out massdrop’s nifty group-buy service (and I think I’ve complained about it on the forums here enough to make my point). I’ll forget that experience entirely and give a new brand a shot to make an impression.

Design and Comfort

Considering everything it comes with there is a lot to talk about here. It comes in one of those hard “exoskeleton” cases the for which the Beats by Dre are famous, and as you’ll notice despite only having one detachable cable, the accessories list is almost exactly like a pair of beats. Inside is a cleaning cloth, a single coiled detachable cable, a ¼” screw-on adapter, and an airplane adapter. It’s interesting to see this headphone come with both a travel case and a coiled cable. Did they intend this to be a travel headphone or a DJ headphone? I think it’s supposed to be designed like a DJ headphone, given the checkered mirror design on the closed earcups and the swiveling ear cups.

About swiveling earcups, I’m just not sure I get the point. I was always taught to move an earcup off and behind my ear if I wanted to hear what was around me. Not only does the swivel take the earcup off your head and make the headphone unbalanced, it makes the swiveled cup leak sound all over the room since it’s no long pressed against your head. I DO, however, like it for another way to adjust the way the headband so that it rests on your head if your head is sort of sloped in the center like mine. However, this headphone has swiveling earcups AND hinges like the ATH-M50s, which means it can twist in even more ways that make little sense, but the earcups have very little ability to swivel around horizontally. I find it clunky and uncomfortable overall. The pleather earpads are very soft, but they are unbreathable and uncomfortable over time like the ATH-M50s. I don’t see how DJs would use headphones like these for long periods of time. Since I have to adjust this headphone’s headband to about the 4^th or 5^th line, it may better fit people with smaller heads than me.

The headphones overall feel very durable, everything clicks into place and feels very solid, but just like with the ATH-M50s I believe that the whole DJ headphone design is fundamentally flawed in the sense that there is a tiny wire worming through a headphone with multiple ways of bending. Also the whole case smells like formaldehyde. Yuck.

Sound Quality

So, does this headphone deliver at the $200 price point?

It’s somewhat muddy on the low frequencies, and there’s definitely a major bass compliment. It’s actually somewhat tinny on the high frequencies, and not just strong like the AKG K702 I own. The high frequencies in particular make this headphone hard to listen to for a long period of time (it's very fatiguing). Detail is excellent, but there’s no real feeling of depth. You can’t use the fact that it’s closed as an excuse because I’ve listened to plenty of headphones that are closed or semi-open and have very wide soundstages. The midrange frequencies are pretty weak, but they sound quite good. Either way this does not sound like a $200 headphone, and I’ve got a couple sub $100 headphones that sound pretty close, or better. Is this what the Ultrasone Edition 10 sounds like?

Conclusion

Okay, that’s a low blow, but between the lack of comfort and the pretty mediocre sound quality, I’m not impressed. One thing I’d stress when going out to purchase a new headphone is to try to stick to tried and true designs and only go out on a limb with brand new designs if you’re nutty like me. In one word:

MEH

[megadarkwood]

More pictures?

[helping]

Sound Quality

 

So, does this headphone deliver at the $200 price point?

 Scrolled down after here, was not disappoint.

 

Good review, we should have more like these and cataloged.

there's a huge list of all the audio reviews in the end of the first post in the faq over in the audio section

Didn't notice, should get that stickied.

[t0wer]

 

Good review, we should have more like these and cataloged. 

 

there's a huge list of all the audio reviews in the end of the first post in the faq over in the audio section

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More pictures?

 

 

I'm sorry, I can't show you any of the others since the reflection kept ruining the shots and I, of course, suck at teh cameras.

[brownninja97]

I guess ill stick with the in ear head phones by soundmagic. I use these, even for gaming as i dont have anything else and my 2.1 is now 2.0 as i blew my bass. http://www.amazon.co.uk/SoundMAGIC-E10-Earphones-Silver-Black/dp/B005HP3OB0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381169823&sr=8-2&keywords=soundmagic

They are nice and i got them for £10 at the time.