If you’re to define your perfect portable headphone, you would be looking for portability, good noise isolation, perhaps good looks and of course good sound quality. Beyerdynamic DT1350, just like some of the few portable headphones, have those qualities which obviously makes it a good headphone.
Overview
Beyerdynamic DT1350 is an on-ear small type of headphone which means it rests on your ears as oppose to going over it. This headphone retails for $399 (around 16,000php) but you can find it on Amazon for around the $200-$250 price range.
This headphone also has the ‘Tesla Technology’ which is Beyer’s trademark driver that they claim to make their headphones good sounding. Here’s how the headphones look like
Build Quality
If it’s not obvious in the pictures yet, DT1350 is made mostly of metal and there are very few plastic in its construction. It still feels light and the overall feel to the headphone is very solid. The earcups are made of hard plastic and the pads are very very squishy to the ears
The headband splits and as a result you get a very secure seal on your head although it should be secure enough for most heads even when the headband is not split. It’s worth mentioning too that the earpieces can be rotated 90 degrees on both sides and that can be useful for DJ’s or anyone wanting to listen on one ear.
The cord is single-sided and is attached to the left earcups. It is definitely not thin especially for a portable headphone and the straight plug is very very thick.
Comfort
On-ear headphones tend to be uncomfortable due to its design and DT1350 is no different. Personally I find the comfort above average but it all boils down to your preference as this type of headphone usually squeezes your ears harder than with full size headphones. And the clamping force is a bit tight I would say.
Isolation
The headphone’s seal and clamping force reward you with a superb outside noise isolation. Prior to having this, I am using mostly my IEMs and the Sennheiser PX 210. I thought the isolation the PX210 has is very good during the time I wrote the review but since having DT1350, it’s simply no match. Simply put, it isolates like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
Sound Quality
On to the most important part, the sound. The DT1350 is a fairly neutral sounding headphone as a whole. The bass is tight and extends very well. I’m not the heavy bass type of guy but listening to DT1350 allowed me to hear lower frequencies I have not heard before. It’s not accentuated but is punchy and really reveals impact when the music calls for it. The amazing thing with its bass is there’s a good quantity and depth yet the overall tonality doesn’t sound dark at all.
The mids are clear. The transition from bass to mids is exceptional and there’s very good clarity here. The warmth is minimal and if you’re used to listening to headphones where the voice excels truly then you may find the mids of DT1350 a bit shallow. I actually thought the mids were shallow when I first listened to it but it’s not, there’s just no emphasis to it.
Treble is amazingly good. This is easily my best portable headphone in terms of enunciating the high frequencies. There’s plenty of treble but it’s not peaky compared to Superluxes cans. It’s a tiny bit bright but this is more due to the exceptional extension on the treble region. The treble doesn’t make the headphone thin-sounding at all. Again, the overall signature is very neutral, not lean but at the same time it’s free of bloat. Perfect for rock, classical, jazz, even the modern RNB and hiphop music. I should’ve just said everything!
The overall space of the presentation is not very big which is expected for a small sealed headphones. Instrument separation is good and it compensates well for the lack of soundstage. The decay is quick and while it doesn’t sound lean, it’s not soft sounding (like ESW9) at all either.
Conclusion
Beyerdynamic DT1350 is one of the top headphones for the whole on-ear category and it just deserves so. Along with Sennheiser HD25-1 II and Vmoda M80, DT1350 even competes on the entire sealed headphone category because it really is a good headphone.
The only minor (major for some) cons is it’s on-ear which easily ties it to various comfort issues. I heard other people also have difficulties getting a good seal since it’s small and as a result, they lose some bass response and find it to be bass light. I did not experience this at all even when playing around with different positions on my head.
Other than that, I don’t see how one would pass for it even at its price point. Good sounding? Check! Good looking? Check! Small enough to be portable plus super noise isolation? Check! Get your Beyerdynamic DT1350 now!
