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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Atomic Floyd HiDefDrum
| Caractéristiques | |||
| Headphone Type | Semi in-ear | ||
| Frequency Response | 5 Hz - 25 kHz | ||
| Speaker | Dynamic transducer | ||
| Impedance | 16 | ||
| Sensitivity | 100 dB SPL/mW | ||
 Show all specifications
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| Cable Length | 1.2 m |
| Weight | 59 |
 Hide specifications | |
Tristan François
Translator: Catherine Barraclough
Test date: August 25, 2010
Translator: Catherine Barraclough
Test date: August 25, 2010
Why pay £100 for a pair of earphones?
We hear this kind of question all the time, as many people can't see the point in spending loads of money on a pair of headphones or earphones.
However, like all the finer things in life, first-class audio quality comes at a price.
It's really as simple as that. Although you can pick up plenty of decent pairs of headphones at a reasonable price, top quality comes at top dollar, and that's why it's worth investing a little more cash if you're serious about sound. Around £100 will buy you some excellent earphones but the highest-end models will set you back four or five times as much.
You may think it's not worth using your mini MP3 player or mobile phone with high-quality headphones, but these days, the majority of portable devices offer decent audio outputs that sound even better with a pair of good-quality headphones.
Hearing the difference
The vast majority of people are more sensitive to sound quality than they realise. Unfortunately people usually tend to place more importance on image quality than sound quality. However, we bet that if you spent a few days using a good-quality pair of headphones then switched back to your regular pair, you'd get a very nasty surprise.
However, like all the finer things in life, first-class audio quality comes at a price.
It's really as simple as that. Although you can pick up plenty of decent pairs of headphones at a reasonable price, top quality comes at top dollar, and that's why it's worth investing a little more cash if you're serious about sound. Around £100 will buy you some excellent earphones but the highest-end models will set you back four or five times as much.
You may think it's not worth using your mini MP3 player or mobile phone with high-quality headphones, but these days, the majority of portable devices offer decent audio outputs that sound even better with a pair of good-quality headphones.
Hearing the difference
The vast majority of people are more sensitive to sound quality than they realise. Unfortunately people usually tend to place more importance on image quality than sound quality. However, we bet that if you spent a few days using a good-quality pair of headphones then switched back to your regular pair, you'd get a very nasty surprise.
Atomic Floyd seems to have sprung out of nowhere with three pairs of in-ear earphones with a seriously stylish design and seductive packaging to match. The HiDefDrum are the most basic model in the range, even if they're launching at a price of around £100.
Design: full metal jacketSound quality aside, a quick glance at the HiDefDrum is enough to confirm that these earphones are out to impress. In fact, you can't not be impressed by the entirely metal casing and high-quality finish. They seem pretty sturdy too, notably thanks to the woven nylon cable casing that's tough and durable (even if it can be a pain for bearded users). Similarly, the call pick-up button looks sturdy enough to stand the test of time.
The accessories bundle is a little meagre, containing just three different sets of rubber earbuds, a mini-jack to 6.35 mm adapter, a flight adapter and a slim case. We would have liked to see some sponge earbud covers, as well as an extension cable or some of the other handy bits and pieces certain manufacturers supply.
The HiDefDrum fit into your ears perfectly well with no real discomfort. After a few hours' use though, it's a different story, and you can really start to feel just how hard all that metal is.
Audio Quality: bass, bass and more bassThe HiDefDrum promised to be big on bass and these earphones certainly deliver on that front. In fact, they're perhaps slightly too bass-heavy and will quickly turn your music into a bouncy marshmallow-based concoction. Thankfully though, the heavy bass doesn't crush the rest of the spectrum entirely.
Medium frequencies are a little thin on the ground and are very flat, even if sounds can be perfectly distinguished. Unfortunately, the high frequencies aren't on hand to save the day either, as in spite of certain ferociousness they're no match for the power of the bass.
Finally, the soundstage isn't particularly wide and accuracy leaves something to be desired.
The HiDefDrum are certainly a very stylish pair of earphones, it's just a shame they offer the bare minimum in both the sound quality and the included accessories.
Pluses
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Robust, excellent finish
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Interesting, original design
Minuses
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Too much bass, not handled effectively
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Flat sound, tight soundstage
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Not many accessories
We can't say we were particularly impressed with the HiDefDrum earphones. The audio quality is decent enough but given the price we would have hoped for something more show-stopping!
