ubsound - `The Dreamer` headphone review - expatinjapan




ubsound - `The Dreamer` headphone review
-expatinjapan




Build
The ubsound The Dreamer is a fairly robust set of headphones, but as I have only had them for a short while I have no way of knowing what long term everyday use might do to them.
I did do a bit of twisting here and there for stress reactions, they seemed to hold up well.

The plastic parts fit rather seamlessly into each other.

In the close up photos you can see the care that has gone into the stitching of the headband, and also the cups.


ubsound The Dreamer also has a one button microphone for handsfree call answering, also works to play and pause music.


Packaging
The box is beautiful and certainly catches ones eye.
Inside is the headphones themselves and also a nice carry pouch to protect and carry The Dreamer whilst moving about your day.
The Dreamer comes also wrapped in a  plastic bubble protective bag.







Sound
Straight out of the box I was not particularly moved by The Dreamer, I should have taken notes at the time but I was knee deep in another review of a more pricey item so a snubbed it like a snob and put it into burn in mode for over 50 hours. I suck.


After a burn time of over 50 recommended hours by ubsound the Headphones did seem well, improved. I am sitting here listening to them now with the Centrance Hifi-Skyn using FLAC player and am rather surprised at the change.
Now I am no evangelist or advocator of burn in, I just follow a 50 hour rule to keep everyone happy, it does seem to have a bit of an effect on headphones, looses them up a bit. Smooths some of the rough edges.

I quite enjoyed it with the Centrance Skyn, it seemed to keep pace well, I put it on Gain 2 and it responded positively to the extra power.


I next changed to the ipod touch 6G, 128GB using Flacplayer app by Dan Leehr, my thinking being that most users of the ubsound The Dreamer would probably be the ipod or mobile phone crowd.

The sound is simple, music is reproduced faithfully, drums can be deep and strong, good lower bass, deep but not crisp and fast either, vocals are fairly creamy and smooth.
The music and vocals are of a similar volume - I don't enjoy an earphone with forward vocals though it seems to be a crowd favorite these days. 
The Dreamer plays best at low to mid volumes for control and clarity within its limitations.
The ubsound The Dreamer has a V shape to it and could be described as warm, it doesn`t have the dynamism that can sometimes be expected of V shaped headphones, but comes across as flat at times.
In short I am aware of the various limitations, but I still find them a pleasant pair headphones to listen to.

Compared to my ATH-ESW9, the ESW9s have more space and width, better details, slightly faster in response, the sound stage and instrument separation is superior. The ESW9 are meant to be mid centric but appear lighter and have more clarity in sound to The Dreamer. 
But of course this comparison is unfair and skewed due the different price points, it just helps me and the reader to clarify some of the sound signature differences and particulars.


Fit
They fit my thin head fairly well, the cups are tight enough to prevent any leakage it seems, but not tight enough to cause me discomfort, those with a head like a pumpkin may prefer to try a pair on first - although do note I am using them with the head band at the smallest fit (is my head so hobbit like?), loosing the headband appropriately gives much more space for a comfortable fit for those with larger heads.

Isolation is good, clicking my fingers by the cups I cannot hear anything, clapping my hands only slightly can I hear it.



Value
The ubsound The Dreamer is priced on amazon.com at US$70, is it a good deal. I would say so, sound wise they fit into around that price bracket.
Build and look is great, even the trendy Beats crowd might find these fashionable enough to wear.
Sound is enjoyable enough for the asking price.




Overall
Well in the end I quite enjoyed reviewing these headphones, at first I thought it was going to be tough as I have many TOTL and mid-fi price point products to review.
Do keep in mind the asking price of US$70 for these headphones from this new company, that is one of the many points that is scaled into a review. Are they worth $70, yes. Could they ask a little more, perhaps.
The sound is well acceptable within the $50 - $150 range, on some tracks I thought they did rather well.
Build is unknown as I haven`t trashed them on a daily basis, but on my time with them the construction seems well thought out.
I think for the casual user and beginner into portable audio they would be satisfied with this headphone.



A short note from ubsound:

HP: Any plans to produce mid or high end products?

Hi Damon,
Yes, this is the aim of our company, but step by step as we are still a small Italian company based in Italy and we need to grow on a daily basis. 
Indeed, as of today, the engineers of our Ubsound Research & Development department work very hard mostly on the acoustic project and the sound signature, choosing the best drivers available in terms of value for money in order to contain the costs for the end users. 
All the acoustic projects/designs are based on the spaciousness (in squared cm) we have inside the pads, as most of the parts are public molds. So we work hard on the quality of the main components like drivers, tangle-free cable, microphone and the rubber-foam inside the leather of the pads and the headband. Also the double-painting of the plastic + protective transparent paint.
Basically the sound segment is projected/designed in Italy, then the production is based in China and the packaging process is made by hand here in Italy (including the pack cardboard, user guide and the velvet bag).
The upcoming projects are focused on our own designs and even a deeper quality of the acoustic components (with a related increase of the consumers price of course). But as of today, we have to work in line with a street-price of only 69$ for the headphones which, considering the bad value from Euro to USD and the high "distribution margin" requested by the Retailers and the E-tailers, is very tough as you can imagine.
So yes, the high-end world is our main aim, but step by step and always thinking to give great products with an affordable price for the people.
Thanks for your precious support.
Take care, Marzio 



3 Comments

  1. Thanks for reviewing. As a side question, since you have ATH-ESW9, would you advice any portable model as an upgrade to it? Have you heard Momentum 2 or Oppo PM-3?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry, I missed this. ATH-ESW11 is an upgrade to the ATH-ESW9. I have both.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! That is hard to find now.

    ReplyDelete

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