March 2016

Edifier H840 Headphones
What can you expect from a set of headphones for only $60?
Review By Steven R. Rochlin

  As readers know I tell it like it is. Every week there are e-mails that arrive within my in-box requesting me to review their latest and greatest. Color me very humbled and honored and so more than my share gets assigned to our esteemed Enjoy the Music.com reviewers. If you've not been keeping track, all home audio has been going to them as I've been having a blast playing with killer portable goodies. So when the Edifier guys tagged me about their H840 $60 headphones you'd probably think I'd punt it on price alone. Obviously I live for finding great stuff on the cheap and so before ya know it the Edifier H840 headphones arrived for review. Ok, I don't promise a review, as generally say give them a listen and decide. As an example, the Acoustic Research M2 portable media player came and went this month without a review after 200 hours of burn-in, as it needs more refinement before prime-time imho. Their M20 is coming in April (2016) and that could be a winner.

So Who Is Edifier?
They specialize in premium audio solutions that showcase technological innovation and design elegance says their site. When visiting their website you'll see the typical consumer-oriented speakers, headphone, IEM, Bluetooth, etc. Nothing that screams ultra-fi audiophile, frankly, yet good quality at a reasonable price. Edifier's award-winning designers obviously have a passion for sound. Some of their product designs are bold and beautiful that would be appropriate with far higher priced offerings by other companies. It is nice to know that Edifier prides itself in being a responsible business and thus helps children with hearing impairment discover the magic of music. Edifier also supports young talents with scholarships and they find innovative ways to protect the environment too.

Build Quality
Edifier's H840 headphones here for review are of the build quality you'd expect from a $60 setup. Some plastic surrounding a metal headband and leather-like bits here and there where appropriate for comfort. Comfy, as they delivered multi-hour listening sheshs with my ears nicely fully covered in support yet never a feeling of head-vice or ear sweat. They are an over-the-ear design, obviously. The H840 are lightweight at 200 grams and have a good durable chord with 3.5mm (1/8") gold-plated stereo jack. Build quality is good and should last a good while during normal use. Like most people, did have a few times where the generous length two meter long cord got tangled up and thus was pulled upon without any negative circumstances. Yes, a two meter (6.65 feet) long chord and so you may want to wrap it up a bit, or my fave thing to do is in running the cord behind my head and inside the back of my t-shirt to avoid it getting in the way or yanked on things. Edifier's H840 chord is permanently attached to the ear cups and there is no built-in mic or control bit to change/mute/pause the music. We're talking $60 headphones that have been designed to deliver the best sound possible and so superfluous things are thrown to the wayside.

Listening To The Edifier H840 Headphones
Right out of the box they sounded quite good, with perhaps a bit of unrefined sound if you're the ultra-picky reviewer type and so they were set to sail on my special 200 hour burn-in tracks. After 200 hours it was time to give the Edifier H840 headphones a proper listen. To my delight, I immediately knew something special was going on here and, instead of punting them, it was time to take the time for a close listen. My music choices are wide and varied and so everything from EDM, rock, classical and jazz, plus chillaxing and liquid-flux get their turn. My hopes were to have the Edifier H840 headphone review completed for last month's Enjoy the Music.com Review Magazine, yet with the FiiO X7 / K5 combo review taking precedence they got the review spot.

Overall, at around 1 kHz to 2.5 kHz there is approximately 0.6dB of frequency depression. Even my wife hard this and while not overly distracting, simply EQ it up and bity and you're all set. Highs at about 14kHz seem a bit rolled off by about 0.7dB so I EQ'ed that up a touch. There is excellent deep bass! Very tight and tuneful plus if you're a basshead then feel free to EQ up the bass to your liking as it can handle it. As a reviewer we also do crazy things such as insane-in-the-membrane head vibration stuff just for grins-n-giggles and the Edifier H840 headphones delivered. During my IASCA test tracks that are very bass heavy, the lowermost frequencies were clean and evenly resolved as the music dropped that bass down low.

Overall, there is a very enjoyable and involving sound. Edifier's H840 have very good sensitivity for 40mm drivers (32 Ohms if you're the spec type) and even the low-output Sony NW-ZX2 portable media player can drive them to normal listening levels. Not much louder than that, yet the Sony is not known to have a powerful headphone amplifier section. Thus being able to use the H840 with the Sony is a nice bonus. Questyle's QP-1r works well, Astell&Kern AK240 is wonderful and the best being the FiiO X7/K5 combo if you want to crank the tunes. Obviously you bassheads know you need a high-powered head-amp for the best results with EDM and pop music.

Stereo separation is very good and there is a nice soundscape width as the sound seems to be placed firmly between your ears. If you have an iFi Audio headphone amplifier that offers 3D effects they work great with the Edifier! Time and again I go back to my beloved iFi Audio iDAC2 and Micro iDSD because the sound quality and ability to drive headphones is a Gold Standard. All the awards iFi Audio has racked up over the years tells the tale.

With the FiiO X7 media player mated with the K5 headphone amplifier there was an abundance of synergy! This mating was incredible and gave perhaps the best sound driving the Edifier H840. As I wrote within last month's review of the X7/K5 combo, this is without a great combo and can drive a wide variety of CIEMs and headphones. You could also use your computer or cell phone/PMP with one of the iFi Audio headphone amplifier and achieve truly epic results. Yes epic as am wholly impressed with Edifier's H840 headphones at the $60 price range. Really, only $60 you say? Yup!

Reaching back for the Astell&Kern AK240 shows the refinement of this great PMP as the sound is clean, musical instruments properly delineated and presented as one expects from such a great Astell&Kern unit. Frankly, the sound coming from these $60 headphones was far better than expected with all devices I tried, with the nod going (in order) to the tie to FiiO X7/K5 combo and iFi Audio headamps, then the AK240 and finally Sony's NW-ZX2. The little FiiO combo brings excellent dynamics both with the big stuff and a taste of those subtle hints audiophiles live for. Ok, perhaps not the very last word in delivering, well, the very last word in dynamic shading yet at $60 for a set of headphones this is far and away more than one might rightly ask for.

If you're looking for a reasonably-priced set of cans around your ears for daily (ab)use the Edifier H840 is an excellent choice. This straightforward design focuses on sound quality above all else and delivers far higher sound quality than I expected at this price level. At $59.99 it brings a huge smile to my face to have the honor to review these great value-priced headphones. Usually reviewer guys such as myself want to get our hands on those ultra-epic $1000+ products, yet luckily I'm seeking to find the best bang-for-the-buck designs and the Edifier H840 headphones deliver! Look forward to having you give these great value-priced headphones a try. And before someone asks, I would have been suspicious in getting a specially tweaked 'reviewer set', yet these cans came directly from Amazon so no worries there. If you're in the market for a set of killa headphones for a few hundred dollars, give the Edifier H840 a listen and then ask yourself why spend more. Edifier's H-840 over-the-ear lightweight headphones are that impressive for those on a tight budget.

As always, in the end what really matters is that you...

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

Specifications
Type: Over the ear stereo headphones
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz
Driver Diameter: 40mm
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Connector: 3.5mm (1/8") gold-plated male stereo headphone jack
Cable Length: Two meters
Weight: 200 grams
Color: Black or Blue
Price: $59.99

Company Information
Edifier USA
428 Hemphill Street
Fort Worth, TX 76104

E-mail: service@edifier.ca 
Website: www.edifier.com