The company Monoprice is one of those producers who earned the first million on various small things. Starting with penny accessories such as cases, cables and chargers, they quickly captured many segments of the accessories market. There was no exception to their entering the market of headphones. Acceptable quality at an incredibly low price became an unofficial motto of the company, and model 9927 was a real hit, despite some problems. Taking into account the shortcomings of previous models, Monoprice made a new one - 12236.
The main drawback of the 9927 was a very pronounced peak on the high frequency (more precisely, even two), so all attempts at modifying the headphones boiled down to trying to overcome this peak. In the development of the new model, they decided to go from the reverse and, to be sure, get rid of the unpleasant brightness of the high-frequency, made headphones with a sufficiently dark sound, oriented to the bass. Fortunately, Monoprice managed not to overdo it and turn their headphones into another Beats. To improve the sound in this model we used a simple trick: the speaker was turned in the opposite direction from the ear, so the sound you hear is only reflected from the case. Looking ahead, I can say that it sounded good.
Also in this model we added a flat wire - "noodles" and a headset, which allows you to use 12236 with phones and smartphones. The plug for greater structural reliability was replaced by angled.
Despite the changes, the price tag has remained quite humane, for example, in they can be bought at a price of about $ 25.
Specifications
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 KHz
- Impedance: 16Ω ± 15%
- Sensitivity: 100 ± 3 dB
- Cable: 1.2 m, balanced
- Maximum power: 3 mW
- Rated Power: 1mW
Packing and design
Despite the total budget, Monoprice tried to make the packaging more interesting than in previous models. Now it is an elongated box made of transparent plastic, in which the headphones and two pairs of spare attachments are cleverly folded - big and small (the middle ones are immediately put on 12236).
Appearance is very suitable for this price category, metal headphones, round two-tone body is well assembled and looks more expensive than its price. On the outside of it there is a hole for tuning the sound. The headphones are in several colors, I saw them in a white version with black accents and in black with inserts of some bronze-pink hue, both options look good.
The cable is an ordinary flat noodle reinforced inside, so the wire is almost not confused, it does not harden very hard in the cold, and the microphone effect is weakly expressed. Wearing headphones can be both cable down and BTE. The cable has a one-button remote control, compatible with most modern phones. In general, the quality of the cable does not cause fears that the headphones will fall apart during a week of use.
Comfort of wearing and soundproofing are typical for this form factor.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening:
- Yulong DA8 as a DAC and amplifier
- Resonessence Labs Concero HP as a DAC and Amplifier
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Fidelia as a player
- Fiio X5 and QLS QA360 as portable players
- VSonic Gr01 and HiFiMan Re600 as headphones for comparison
- High Definition Records in Lossless-formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc and others)
Before listening to the headphones were warmed for 48 hours.
In general, the sound of headphones can be characterized as dark, with emphasis on low frequencies and soft music flow. They do not have a high resolution, and the speed of playing through difficult passages leaves much to be desired, but we are talking about earphones of the very beginning segment, so they play quite well for this price.
The bass is elastic, with a blow and even some kind of depth. It is quite energetic, tolerantly controlled and does not climb very much at medium frequencies.
The middle does not have enough permission, because of this, the details are lost and partly emotional, but Monoprice 12236 is not in the league where the headphones are trying to play it. It's good that the middle is not severely drowned out by the bass, and the instruments do not merge into a common heap, so the total domination of the bass is absent.
The upper frequencies are also set aside, except for the rise in the 3-6 KHz region, which slightly balances the bassy bass of this model.
In general, in comparison with expensive models, these Monoprice sounds worse, but after a small "adjustment of the brain" to their sound - they can be listened to, especially against the background of what most headphones give out the initial price range.
Compatibility
Naturally, headphones can and should be used with phones, tablets and smartphones, they are designed for this, and more, in fact, they do not need.
Genre headphones, of course, gravitate toward mass genres such as simple electron, pop, rap. Here they will show themselves from the best side - bass drops and a kachovy bit are their main virtue. More complex music in them, of course, is not so good, but in general, simple metal, jazz and classical rock can be listened to. Technical genres and complex classics are completely beyond their teeth.
Of course, headphones are not very critical to recordings, but very bad material completely kills their sound, so it's better to select mp3 records with bitrates no worse than 256.
The quality of the built-in headset is average, during the conversation it is better to bring it closer to the mouth.
conclusions
In the budget segment there are not so many normal headphones for bassheads, as usually in low-cost models make a sound oriented to one bass, while forgetting about everything else. The given model Monoprice favorably differs good for the price working out of other part of a sound spectrum, therefore they well will approach for those who wants filing with an accent on LF, but thus wishes to hear and other sounds. A sufficiently high-quality assembly and the availability of a headset also favorably distinguish 12236 against the background of competitors.
The article is based on materials .
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