Brainwavz HM2 Quick Review

Brainwavz HM2 Quick Review

Thanks to Brainwavz for the sample.

Brief:  Big bass, great looks, tiny price.

Price : US$50 or abouts £34

Specifications:  Drivers: Dynamic, 40 mm, Rated Impedance: 32 Ohm, Frequency Range: 10 Hz ~ 20 kHz, Sensitivity: 104 dB at 1 mW, Maximum Input Power: 100 mW, Plug: 3.5 mm, Gold Plated, Detachable Cables: 1.2 m Flat Cable & 1.2 m Cable with In-Line Microphone

Accessories:  Headphone Hardcase, 1.2 m Flat Cable, 1.2 m Cable with In-Line Microphone,    Instruction Manual & Warranty Card (24 month warranty)

Build Quality:  It may be all plastic and cheap but it’s nicely put together.  It’s all pretty seamless and the plastic feels nice in the hand.  It has a soft touch coating and the joints are reinforced with metal.  Time is the only true way to say how well things survive but I would expect it to live a long life.  It is much nicer than you would expect of such a cheap product.

Isolation:  It is so so.  Sure it’s an on ear so it’ll depend wildly on how well it matches your ears but I found it passable.  It’s fine for typical out and about, on a bus stuff.  However I’d be hesitant to go wild with the volume dial on a bus and it wouldn’t be my first choice for a flight or on the Tube.  It would be better than nothing but it’s around the level of slightly open dynamic IEM’s so it’s not an isolation master.  Better than nothing and probably fine for most people wanting something on ears.

Comfort/Fit:  Well for me it was good.  It got a little tiring after several hours, like around 4 or 5 hours but mostly it was fine.  It’ll be dependent on your ears but for me it was fine, a great balance of clamping tight enough to feel secure but not to be ear squishing.

Aesthetics:  I am huge on the monochromatic thing and these slot right into that.  Mostly matte black construction with a matte grey offset, grey ear pads.  I’m not sure I’m wild about the little hint of flare in the polished metal band highlighting but as overall visuals go, I am a big fan.  One of if not the best looking, or best suited visually to me, headphones I’ve stumbled across.

Sound:  If you have read my HM9 review, that. 

“Thick, warm, smooth, gooey, squishy loveliness.  The bass is grand and warm.  The mids are thick and smooth.  The highs are soft and gently glistening.  If you want neutral, all of detail, dry crystal clarity then you will be epically disappointed in these.  They are all about creating a cosy and enveloping aural environment.  The bass is expansive and weighty, I can see very many likening it a lot.  It’s not particularly agile or skilled but it’s not in the least trying to be, it’s about having a good time.  Poppy bouncy stuff goes grandly together with it.  Mids, well they are a bit over thick low down and faint subtleties are lost but again, its calling is poppy bouncy stuff where vocals are only ever so so at best anyway.  The highs continue the theme, genteel and gently glistening away which does obfuscate the fine detail.  So what?  Most pop is shoddily mastered and dynamically compressed within an inch of its life so you’re hardly losing a lot there.  The HM9 is all about the warmth and entertainment, at that it succeeds.  Big warm bass and is incredibly non fatiguing while doing it.”

The only difference is the 2 is at a vastly cheaper price point and thus is accordingly not quite as skilled as it big brother.

Value:  Excellent, as is pretty much a given from Brainwavz.

Pro’s:  I love its looks.  Solid construction.  Thick and weighty, rich sound.

Con’s:  Very flavoured sound.  So so detail retrieval.