Is it possible to get premium quality sound from a budget price pair of headphones?
Status Audio seem to think so – their philosophy being “No logos. No celebrities. Just sound.”
This is, of course, a dig at a certain ‘fashionable’ brand of headphones that are popular with celebrities and misguided audiophiles right now – Beats by Dre.
You may think this is a rash move by a new company looking to gain traction in their market by causing a little controversy, but their ‘entry level’ set of cans actually out performs Beats models four times their price!
Seriously – check out this excellent comparison video by Raymond Strazdas:
Despite the modest price tag, the HD Ones have a premium look to them, with a rubberized matte finish that doesn’t show fingerprints or reflect light.
You also get a lot of extra stuff in the box, with a choice of two detachable cables, one of which comes with an in-line mic. There’s a handy pouch to store your headphones in too. The inclusion of a ‘thank you for purchasing’ card is the thoughtful cherry on the cake here.
So, the Status HD Ones can hold their own against the ‘big boys’, but how do they fare as a set of studio monitor headphones?
Boom Shake Shake Shake The Room
The simple answer is not very well.
The Status HD One headphones are designed to have an extremely bass-y output, which means that getting a balanced mix with them is pretty much impossible.
It’s maybe not very fair to look at them in the context of studio headphones, especially as Status also have a range of reasonably priced flat-frequency monitor headphones on offer.
Personally, I’ve found them really useful as reference headphones. When finalizing a project’s mix, I try to listen back through as many different things as possible.This includes things like the car stereo, TVs and earbuds. I found using the HD Ones as an additional point of reference helpful.
The Status HD Ones DO serve as an ‘everyday’ pair of headphones exceptionally well. If you’re into the whole ‘Hyped’ sound signature (Significantly accentuated bass and high-end frequencies with recessed midrange) then you’ll love how your EDM, Hip Hop or Rock/Metal tracks sound through them.
I’ve been using them on a daily basis for the last few weeks – sometimes for hours at a time – and at no point did they feel uncomfortable. They’re light as a feather too (only 6.5 oz) and the faux leather stuff Status have used on the HD One’s ear pads feels fantastic.
The Verdict
