[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a review of Just Mobile Headphone stand. http://usa.just-mobile.com/iphone/headstand.html#.VU_ng2d0z3g , available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Mobile-HeadStand-Heaphones-HS-100/dp/B00A3CMAYY/

I love when technology and art blends together, and that’s exactly what Just Mobile is all about! They create tasteful accessories, mostly focused on iDevices, to compliment a design of Apple’s brushed aluminum look. One of such accessories I recently had a chance to review was designed for universal use with popular full size headphones, which as you all know I review a lot of. But it wasn’t just a material selection or a unique design, but the actual functionality of this stand that impressed me very much. Here is what I found.

Unlike small in-ear headphones that we try to keep in a case out of sight when not in use to avoid tangled wires, a lot of people with a collection of full size headphones want to keep them on a display. Today so many popular consumer headphones are breaking a mold of “traditional” looks where you want to keep your B&W, V-Moda, Master & Dynamic, B&O, and many others up on a display to share with everybody. Even a traditional classic design of Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, AKG, and others went through a refresh, all thanks to Beats that made full size headphones popular among consumers. People wear their headphones outside and keep them around the neck like a fashion accessory, and they also want to do the same with headphones on their desk.

You don’t expect a high quality packaging when talking about headphone stand, but that’s what you get with JM Headstand – a very slim and colorful packaging box with a lot of images with and without headphones. The box even has a magnetic flip cover to reveal more pictures inside and a round aluminum base in the cutout display. Packaging like this would really catch your attention if you would see it on the shelf of the store while walking down the aisle.

Inside you have a precise foam cutout for all the pieces, separated so that aluminum parts don’t rub together. The base of the stand was separate from two aluminum rods already attached to a hanger part. The base is weighted down to make sure assembled headphone stand doesn’t tip over under the weight of headphones. The bottom of the base had a non-slip rubber material to prevent it from sliding and also to make sure aluminum part doesn’t scratch the surface. Included were 2 screws to assemble base to the stand part.

Packaging and Unboxing.

Assembly takes less than a minute, and once you tighten the screws - the construction feels very solid and sturdy. The idea of using 2 metal rods keeps the hanger attached with a pair of screws which prevents it from twisting or turning. So it’s not just a cool design element, but also a very practical solution. And speaking of another practical solution, I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with a problem of headphone cable being all over the place. Even with a number of today’s headphones that have detachable cables, it’s not practical to constantly disconnect and connect back your cables. JM came up with a great solution of base having 2 parallel disks assembled into a spool where you can wrap you cable around to keep it neatly organized. Just keep in mind that it does take a little bit of time to wind and unwind the cable, thus it’s probably best to use this spool when you are all done using headphones for a day.

Another part of the design which I found to be very practical is the wide flat nature of the headphone hanger with a raised hook edge. I have a few other headphone stands where the hanger part is round and textured, thus enabling headphones to swing and leave imprints on the leather band, and another headphone stand where there is no raised edge which enables headphones to slide out. In case of JM Headphone stand – none of these issues exist, which makes it a perfect stand not just for storage but also when I take pictures for my reviews.

As you can see, I find this to be a nearly perfect stand, but there is one area of improvement I would suggest to Just Mobile. Most of the popular consumer models should be able to fit its 9 3/4” height, but a lot of large audiophile headphones, including those with large protruding earcup cable connectors, won’t be able to fit this stand. A solution is very simple – include a pair of aluminum pieces to extend headphone stand height. This way, you can just remove the top two screws holding the hanger hook, extend the rods with two extension pieces, and screw the hanger back down. This way you can have a flexibility to accommodate different headphone models.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this headphone stand. It’s not just for good looks or being a paper weight accessory on your desk. This is actually a very practical headphone stand to hold securely your pair of pressures headphones and to store the cable in the base. Considering quality of the solid aluminum material and its very unique design, I think this headphone stand is priced very reasonably, but keep your eyes on MassDrop where recently it was selling discounted at $35.