Tuesday, February 9, 2016

GO Groove AudiOHM HDX Review

Headphones come in all different shapes and sizes. Some have some fairly unique designs. At CES I came across GO Groove AudiOHM HDX. When at their booth, they showed me one such pair. Their AudiOHM HDX. So given the opportunity to review it, I jumped on it.

Features and specs

Cable Length:   48 inches
Housing Material:   plastic
Included Accessories:   3 sizes or ear tips, and carry case
Earphone Style:   Angled in-ear
Audio Microphone:   Yes
Speaker Power:   3mW
Driver:   8mm Full-range
Impedence:   16 Ohms
Sensitivity:   93 +/-3db
Frequency Response:   20Hz - 20kHz
Weight:   .70 oz


The AudiOHM HDX came in a standard color printed box with photos of the earbuds and their specs. They were protected by a clear molded plastic holder. Included along with it was a nice semi-hard zippered case, and a couple extra tips. Construction was mostly plastic. The quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, was good. It was about as to be expected with its $20 MSRP price point. Although the semi-hard case was a pleasant surprise for its price point.

The unique design of the HDX was in the cable. And it actually is a pretty cool idea. It’s to protect the cable from getting a short. The bottom of the ear bud housing has a little plastic loop. The cable feeds through this loop, which is part of the housing. And it is there to keep pressure off of the actual connector at the back. It is a cool design, but how do they actually sound.


Given it’s low $20 MSRP, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of performance. But the HDX actually sounded a bit better than expected for their price point. These are not the typical headphones that we review in our annual Headphone Shootout that costs anywhere from 5-50 times the price.  The highs were tinnie and edgy sounding, but they did provide crisp highs as well.  And I was able to hear some detail in cymbals. The mids had some smoothness and vocals sounded fairly natural. While the bass did not play with a lot of authority, they did have some decent low end extension.  Bottom line, there is a good difference in sound quality between them and a $100 pair of IEM's.  But they did sound better than expected for their ultra low $20 price.  I typically look at a $20 pair of earbuds as throw aways, as they almost always don't last long.  But the AudiOHM HDX actually looks like they would last awhile with their design and materials used. And they come with a 3 year warranty.  For more info, check out their website at www.gogroove.com. 

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