iFrogz Earpollution Headphones
Reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher
BLASTmedia
11313 USA Parkway
Suite
B-302
Fishers, IN 46037
P 317.806.1900 x 115
F 317.806.1422
ifrogz
$20 USD
Strengths: They come in a variety of colors. Great
prices. Extremely fashionable. Stylish and good looking. High fidelity sound
at a ood price. Over the ear models are very light and comfortable. Earbuds and other styles
as well.
Weaknesses: Not as clear on the vocalization part (based
on my iTune setting) but pretty good though.
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Introduction
I have had all types of earphones over the years. While I don’t own an iPod, I’ve used earphones
extensively with my iMac computer and iTunes, on my laptop and on jets.I am
not an “earbud person” but prefer the” on the ear fit because for me, these
feel more comfortable. When I look for a good earphone, I look for ones that
are comfortable, light weight, have good fidelity and are good the price. Well
I am happy to say that all these factors are in the excellent category.
I heard about these new iFrogz Earpollution line of earphones which launched in November 2008 bBefore then,
iFrogz only offered the D-33 earbuds, but no other earbuds/headphones). Based in Logan, Utah, BLASTmedia is a leading developer of accessories for
iPod™ and other consumer electronics with the expressed intent to individualize the look of music lovers
iPods and additional music related devices. EarPollution is the name for the new features which include
three different types of headphones: eardbuds, on-the-ear and DJ-style. These
are currently available online and in retail stores and there are different
types to choose from to meet your needs. These affordable earphones come in a
variety of fashionable colors (silver, gold etc).
Each type of headphones in the new EarPollution line features
three or more different styles that vary in function as well as look. All of
the new headphone styles give crisp, clean stereo sound.
Providing unique styles have
been a trade mark of this company’s designs of accessories. There are three
types of Earbuds:
- D33 – Noise isolating with a snug, secure fit and rich,
deep sound. Each package includes three ear fits and a convenient travel case;
- Plugz – Noise isolating headphones that provide a crisp sound and the
comfort of direct-to-ear delivery. Each pair includes three ear fit pieces;
- Metal Drumz – Noise isolation with a sleek metal direct-to-ear delivery.
Each set features clean stereo 20 sound and dynamic bass. I am not an earbud
fan and so I let my wife test those out. (She liked the fit).
There are several
option/characteristics for the earphones that make them highly desirable for
use with iPods, MP3 players, for music, listening and other activities.
Earbud style earphones includes the following:
-
D33 ($19.95) are noise isolating
with a comfortable, secure fit and give a rich, deep sound. Each package includes three ear fits and a convenient
travel case.
-
Plugz ($14.95) are noise isolating headphones that provide a crisp
sound and the comfort of direct-to-ear delivery. Each pair includes three ear
fit pieces.
-
Metal Drumz include noise
isolation within a sleek metal direct-to-ear delivery. Each set features clean
stereo sound and dynamic bass. The speaker is wrapped with a chrome accent and each 3.5mm jack is encased in a
stylish metal sleeve. On-the-ear has these features.
-
Toxix ($19.99) – Stereo
headphones offering a stylish and comfortable fit. I particularly like the way
they are adjustable to fit your
ears and the way I wanted them to fit around the padded phones. I liked the
simple grey fashion color.
-
ThrowBax ($29.95) – Offer
a little more options and are stylish, retro design and comfortable with a fit
which yield a deep bass and smooth stereo. Metallic coated speaker cups easily
adjust for a perfect fit along the metal side rails. Each pair also features
padded ear cups for extra comfort and noise isolation.
-
Nerve Pipes – Feature
chrome multihued accents and contrasting color. Comfort cushion ear cups, a
foldable headband and rotational hinges adjust for the perfect fit. Each pair
offers deep rich bass and smooth stereo sound.
-
Fallout – A traditional
fit offering smooth tones and dynamic bass. Each pair features comfortable
cushion ear cups for extra noise isolation, chrome accents and contrasting
color.
![AppleMark](EarPollutionheadphoneREV_files/image013.jpg)
I don’t have the expensive top of the line Bose acoustic ear
canceling headphones, which is supposed to be (one of ) the best so I
can’t provide a direct comparisons. However I did a lot of research and bought
the popular Sony noise canceling headphones MDR-NC6 (which at that time were a
little more then 2 times the price of these). These have a slight thin padding
over the ear cups while the earpollution ones don’t have a pad over the top.
I
would compare these to the Toxix earphones with the nice inner reservoir which
contrasted with the Sony’s fit of a padding over the reservoir. The Sony also
uses a battery that can turn off/on the noise canceling. This is on the right
side of the headphone while t he ear jack connects to the left side. The Toxix
also has this configuration with the ear jack on the left (seeing which one is
left/right is a little more difficult to see but is evident after l looked more
closely.
![AppleMark](EarPollutionheadphoneREV_files/image015.jpg)
I am not a musician by any
means. I only can do a little dabbling with piano and that’s it. My children are much more musically
inclined and know more then I do about music. They know and hear the subtle
parts of music, instruments and harmony when they play their instruments and
listen to their music on their iPods. I enjoy music and the musical scores that
are my favorites. So I have to go with my what I hear. I also have to admit
that I wear hearing aids because I have lost some of the” high end noise”
capabilities. I use hearing aids mostly when working with students in the
classrooms and in public. When I listen to music, it is 90% of the time with
headphones on my Imac. I can hear the subtle sounds and basically am focusing
on the music now and what pleases my ears and the sounds I expect to hear when
I listen to my music. I don’t use the hearing aids when I listen to the music
with the earphones. I am hearing what comes to me through the headphones.
I had to set up a way to test
the earphones while playing my music on my iMac and my iTunes. I chose 19 of my
songs and put them on a playlist and then whittled the list down to one song to
compare for this review. That one that I selected for the final decision was
Arrowsmith ’s Armegedon because of the musical score, voice accentuation and the
full range of instruments employed.
Basically to test the fidelity,
I made the following settings on my iTunes by first setting my iTunes to the following:
iTunes > Windows (setting) > Equalizer > Acoustics.
I put the earphones to the test by listening to my favorite
(no snickers please) music that I enjoy and felt would highlight the different
instruments, music and voices to compare and contrast. I listened to a range of
ones that I liked for this testing playlisting. I then compared these to my other earphones.
I finally narrowed it down to one song to test Arrowsmith’s
Armegedon. This song has the drumming in the background and with the music
flashing back and forth between the different sides of the headphones. Full
range of orchestra instruments to listen to and “zone in on”. I wanted to see
whether the earphones would transmit certain sounds that I expect to t hear.
The tingling of the triangle instrument in the background near the end, the vocalization, the violins and more.
Then I rated the song by
listening through the earphones
alternating each pair and then trying to decipher and write down the
differences if any. I did this 10 times for each headphone for this Armegedon
song.
Comparisons - Toxix and Sony
This was tough as they are both
good models. I basically was evaluating the earphones on three characteristics
that I selected, as I felt these are what and most people look for when they
order/buy headphones.
(1) Style and comfort: Toxix 10/10 (exceptional) with Sony 9/10 (good).
For style, the iFrogz are more
stylish and have more colors.These headphones are light, smart looking and are
versatile. The ear buds have different parts to them which create even more
comfort. Each pair also features comfort cushion ear cups. They both were
adjustable although the Sony ’s were a little easier to adjust as the track was
not as “sticky”. Comparing I give the Topix 10/10 to the Sony functional not splashy but nice 8/10. The Toxix
are little lighter but I really like the padding with the Sony. While that makes
them slightly heavier they are very comfortable and I love them too. Hard to
decide but the edge goes to Topix.
(2) Fidelity: Toxix 9/10
(exceptional) with Sony 10/10 (good).
Sony I could hear that the piano was a little cleaner. I
noticed with the drums blending in really clearly. With the Sony, I could hear
the subtle low piano sounds in the
background in the beginning and then followed later with the drums over it with
the choral instruments. There is a tingling instrumental in the background as
the words flow along. I could hear the tingling trailing off in the end.The
violin with a little clearer. More music was coming out of the left ear. Lots
of the tingling in the background which was very clear and distinct. Not as
much base. I felt that the sound resonating from the reservoir made it more
melodic. There seemed to be less bass sound and much more of the subtle
instruments in the background and I could hear the bugle like instruments
clearly. The tingling triangle was there at times throughout. There was a lot
of resonance back and forth with the two sides of my headphone. The violins
were really melodic and stretched and you could hear the violins going all the
way until they lowered and died out. It took many trials but I noticed that the
vocalization was very clean. It melded with the symphonic sounds well.
I felt that the Toxix had more
base sounds in the beginning. The piano was really evident in the beginning and
was a little cleaner with the drums and the violin in the beginning. Some of the
sounds were a little shrill. There was a lot of blending of the
instruments. Horns were in the
background. I could hear the
tingling and could hear the
violins in the background. The piano sounds were clear. I seem to notice the
bugle type instruments better. I could hear the "tingling triangle
sounds" but it was a little muted. Had a little more base throughout. I
liked the stereophonic blending between and back and forth both sides. The
instruments in the background were not as evident. In the end the music trailed
off with the triangle blending. I finally targeted that the vocalization was
definitely not as clean.
This was really tough. The
headphones are both tremendous and sounded great. It took 10 trials to find out
which had a edge. The edge in fidelity goes to Sony because the vocalization
was much cleaner. The lead singer had a much clearer tone even when it seemed
like he was “screaming”. It sounded less “hoarse”.
(3) Price (for performance):
Toxix 10/10 (exceptional) with Sony 8/10 (good).
So the final tally is Toxix
(29/30) to Sony (27/30). But your tally might depend on your musical needs and
more.
Conclusions
There are many reasons to buy
one headphone over another. I chose my three top preferences. What I like is
that both these earphones provide
the music that is very engaged and easy for listening. They are both
comfortable with little differences between the two. With the Toxix, being
lighter, I almost forget I am wearing them.
In fact, if they have a model
someday that is not tethered to the device, these might be ideal. The Sony is a little cleaner sounding
with the vocalization. If I would fly on a jet as I will do soon, I will take
the Sony because of the noise cancellation capabilities to test those and
possibly compare to these at that time. But that’s in the future.
Lastly, both earphones are great
sounding but the edge may go with you if you prefer different colors and
styles. Check out the Toxix earphones are great buy for the price, acoustics
and their styles. They would go
well with any music device, many iPod/ MP3 player colors. If I were you, I would run out, find them, try them
out and/or buy them. I think you will be as glad as I am. Plus I did not have
to “break my bank” to hear some cool, soothing music!