Review: Stylish, easy-on-the-ear, a bit thin in the bass range
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2013
These are very nice earphones, but I have to confess that my objectivity has been tainted by Moshi's only very slightly more expensive productMoshi Vortex Premium In-Ear Headphones for Kindle Fire HD. The latter are perhaps the best earphones that I have ever had for the price. The detail in the treble and the power of the bass can't be matched for any earphones that I know of in the price range, and many that cost a great deal more. Nonetheless, these are very fine earphones. I must confess that I had not previously bee acquainted with Moshi earphones, but they could well be my brand of choice in the future.Let me say next that these, like the other Moshi product, are not normally what are meant when people talk about "headphones." Most people mean by headphones larger units that have speakers that sit on top of the ear or around the ear, but not in the ear. The advantage of headphones is much better sound for the cost. If you get a very good pair of $100 headphones and a very good pair of $100 earphones, the sound quality of the former will be dramatically better. There are, however, some very good reasons to use earphones. One is that they are lighter and smaller. The other - and as a daily commuter on the Chicago EL - is that earphones are extremely effective at "isolating," that is, they block out all the sounds of the surrounding world. I have some light Sennheiser headphones that I use as a backup to my earphones, and while they sound better than even the Moshi earphones I recommend at the top, they do not block out all the people talking loudly on their cell phones or self-appointed evangelists incoherently proclaiming some form of religion. Earphones do. With a good pair of earphones you might not hear a bomb going off a block away.So if you decide to to with earphones instead of headphones, here are some of the differences between these two Moshi earphones, the Vortex and the Dulcia.The Vortex, my favorite of the two, are extremely powerful for earphones, with enormous clarity at all ranges. Some I have talked to find the base too powerful. Most earphones cannot compete with headphones in the base range, but the Vortex earphones can. They are astonishing rock and roll earphones - I tested all my various earphones with the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and none could come close to the Vortex earphones. But they are also very good with other kinds of music. I am, for instance, listening to the Takacs Quartest play Beethoven's Grosse Fuge as I write this review, and I couldn't be happier with the sound quality.The Vortex earphones do, however, have a couple of aspects that some might consider negatives. The earpieces are very, very heavy. In fact, it is hard to believe that there are earphones with earpieces this heavy. Some friends and I were experimenting and we decided that a single Vortex earpiece was about the same weight as seven quarters. Another potential negative is that that the cords, which are encased in a cloth mesh, have a tendency to tangle. The Dulcia do not have that problem at all. Their flat plastic cords in fact do a better than average job of staying disentangled. The final potential flaw - though really this is just a matter of taste - is that some people might not like the powerful bass of the Vortex earphones.The Dulcia are, nonetheless, very good earphones. They have a lot of clarity at all ranges, though after listening to the Vortex they might sound a bit thin. They fit very comfortably in the ear. In fact, this might be a big selling point for some. The Vortex fit most comfortably over the top of the ear; the Dulcia fit directly into the ear without going over the top. Some people might prefer the lighter sound of the Dulcia. They definitely have a lot of detail and clarity; they merely lack the "oomph" of the Vortex.I was able to acquire both white and black Dulcia earphones, with the intent of giving one of them to my daughter. She chose the white, but both colors are quite attractive.One little comment about both kinds of earphones and their being sold in the Kindle Fire store. There is nothing whatsoever about either earphone that would keep them from being used with any other product in the world with a mini phono plug. I use my Vortex (the Dulcias have been relegated to back up earphones) on nearly everything. I'm listening to my iPod Classic as I type this review, but used it earlier on my laptop. One neat thing about both the Vortex and Dulcias is that they have the extra band that enables them to be used with phones or on laptops to Skype. So they can be used with iPhones or laptops or just about anything. I cannot emphasize strongly enough what a great bargain either pair of earphone - though especially the Vortex - is for the buck. But I do recommend spending the extra $15 and getting the Vortex instead of the Dulcia. Unless the thought of extremely heavy earphones is off putting. But if you value sound quality over weight, go with the Vortex.