Posted on March 19, 2014 by David Berkowitz, Editor in Chief.

Tech Review: Bell’O Digital Headphones BDH-821

Overview:

The BDH-821 are over-the-ear headphones that can be used with Android and iOS devices. They include in-line volume controls and a 24k gold-plated plug. The name is not fancy but the headphones are quite nice. I ran into Bello Digital at CES 2014, and was intrigued by their products. We now had the opportunity to test their over the ear headphones. We are looking forward to testing and reviewing other products in the future as well.

Summary of the Devices:

From my perception, I found that BDH-821 are nice quality, are well designed, solidly constructed and have a moderate price. The BDH-821 appear to offer nice construction with attractive black and chrome accented parts as well ( they also are available in white & chrome). The headphones can be folded and they come with a nice microfiber travel bag. The bad seems capable of being used as a cleaning cloth for ones’ phones, and tablets. I had one of my teen age sons test them out for durability and he commented on the nice fiber wrapped cord, which is tangle resistant and of suitable length to make their use convenient.

Here are a few images of the headphones to allow you the reader to take a look at their impressive styling, design, and overall appearance too. As it has been said, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In term of the audio quality I found that they sounded good for most type of music. In terms of the bass response they sounded nice to me. In terms of offering the best quality and bass response on the market, I would say that they are very good for the price point.

Though they are well made, I think that the connectors between the part that goes over ones head and the headphones could get damaged especially for the teen age crowd or someone who would use them quite often.

My opinion:

Bello is know for making very nice home theater furniture, and are not really the first name that comes to mind for headphones. Despite the fact that they are new to making headphones, I am impressed by their first foray into the market. They sound good, look nice, and easy to take, throw in your bag and use at your leisure.

I really like the over the ear type headphones like these to the in the ear type, though the in-ear type are sometimes easier to take on the road.

The headphones are well designed and look good, but are not overly pricey or fancy either so that you ought not to get mugged on the bus or at the airport or walking up the street like some of the big name player’s products like Beats Audio.

I tested the head phones, as did other members of our team as well. Overall we were impressed by them and would definitely recommend them to anyone for listening to most type of music, watching movies, or doing conference calls since they can be used for conversations as well since they offer a decent built in microphone. It would seem that they can be used for pc gaming as well since they sound good and allow players to communicate while gaming. My teen age son also tested them and he really likes them for his dub-step music.

About Bell’O Digital

Bell’O Digital is a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics products including stereo headphones, audio/video cables, TV wall mounts, surge protectors, electronics cleaning products, and much more. Bell’O Digital is a division of Bell’O International Corp, an award-winning manufacturer of A/V furniture and consumer electronic accessories for over 25 years. Bell’O products are sold in leading retailers throughout the United States and worldwide. Continuing in this tradition, Bell’O Digital designs and manufactures award-winning, premium quality accessories with an unparalleled commitment to details, aesthetics, and performance. From the soft, supple and lightweight ear cups of our stereo headphones, to the high speed reliability of our HDMI cables, to the high capacity security of our power surge protectors, our engineers take exceptional pride in developing products with the consumer in mind.

Bell’O Digital products extend well beyond looks and performance, bringing you exceptional value as well. Compare the features and prices of Bell’O Digital audio/video accessories to any other brand, and we believe we’ll not only exceed your expectations, but deliver a new standard in electronic accessories excellence.

Posted on February 2, 2014 by David Berkowitz, Editor in Chief.

Urban Ears Zinken Review

Zinken by Urban Ears Box

While at CES 2014, I spoke with the folks from Urbanears. I had the opportunity to take a look at and listen to their Zinken Headphones. I now had the opportunity to test and review the set they sent us in the mail. We received the Orange/Red aka Tomato colored ones. As you can see from the image above the packaging is the same color as the headsets that you receive.

Here is an example of another color option–> Urbanears-Urbanears-Zinken-cover-05

I would definitely state that they are appealing to the fashion conscious crowd.

In terms of their design and fitness for purpose:

Here is an image of the items that arrived with them in the box.

The contents of the box, included the headphones, a unique connector cord, a sticker which went to my daughter, seemed appropriate for a 12 year old girl or anyone who likes heart stickers.

The aforementioned cord is interesting is that it can be plugged into the headsets in 1 direction whereby you can use the plus in a device like an Ipad with a 1/8th inch plug or plug it in the other direction in the other port on the headphones and use the 1/4″ plug. The second option would be great for musicians and DJ’s who need a quarter inch plug. This adds a great deal of value to the headphones.

According to Urban ears–>

These brightly colored orange on-ear headphones were developed with the professional DJ in mind. Zinken delivers deep bass, crisp mids and highs and efficiently reduces noise from the outside world. Packed with features, Zinken comes with the ingenious TurnCable for an adapter-free life and the ZoundPlug for instant music sharing. We’ve also thought a lot about comfort, and designed Zinken with swivel earcaps, an adjustable headband and specially selected materials that are easy to keep fresh and clean.

I would agree with them that the headphones are made in a decent manner, are flexible to fit most head and ear sizes, and fit nicely over the ears even for people like me with larger than average ears. What is also nice is that they are not huge and obtrusive either and are easy to wear in public.

Though the headphones are not as fancy as the expensive guys like Beats or Monster, they are a superb value for the money and have a high level of usefulness and utility.

I found that since the headphones were intended for DJ’s they lived up to my expectation that they would have good bass and nice sound quality. I was impressed by them overall.

To get a real world view, I let one of my 17 year old sons to try them out with his DubStep music, and he was impressed and now wants to keep them for himself.

The Design of the Urbanears Zinken Pro DJ headphones are simple, but in a cool way. Some of the competition is over the top in design and price, where these are not they are affordable and work well. They have a no-nonsense look to them where everything has a specific purpose within the design. They come in ten different colors and they all have a “Flat” type paint style to them. This way they can be as tame or as wild as your personal preference suggests. Around the outsides of the headband and the outsides of the ear cups, the Flat paint also has a rubberized texture to them. The part that extends out of the headband for more length is a hard plastic. The cable is very unique and intuitive. It is completely detachable. One end is a mini 1/8-inch connector while the other end has a ¼-inch connector. The right earcup has an 1/8-inch output, while the left earcup has a ¼-inch output. This way you will never need a ¼-inch or 1/8-inch adapter because you will always have either one or the other at your disposal. This cable is known by Urbanears as the Turncable. Each earvcup can also output the sound to another set of headphones so others can see what you are listening to if you wish. The cable is about 3ft but it is also coiled and can extend up to about 9ft when pulled to the max. The Turncable also has an in-line microphone and one-touch button for receiving or making calls on a compatible smartphone. I would probably not use them all of the time for making phone calls but when I am at home and on a conference call I expect them to perform well.

Overall:

I liked:

–>The design and variety of colors
–>The sound quality
–>The option of either using the 1/4″ or 1/8″ cord with the nice kevlar cord, which for those who were in the army, and am familiar with kevlar it is a good thing implying that they will last for a while
–>The well made, durable metal reinforced hinges
–>The way the headphones fold for stashing them in your bag
–>The fact that they are comfortable

What could be added value
–>A carry bag would be cool
–>A cool logo on the side of the headphones.

Overall I would recommend these to anyone that needs nice headphone for DJ’ing, up and coming musicians or audio technicians, or those that want nice headphones to listen to music, especially the young bass loving folks. One other point is that the headphones would appeal to guys and gals especially for those like my daughter who loves pink or purple or to football or sports fans who could get them in the team’s colors.

For more information or to get a pair or two for your self go to–>

Urbanears!!

More images–>