ThroneGold
Latest
i-mego's Throne headphones are fashionable and loud
Can you have attractive, functional headphones? You can, for a price. i-mego's Throne Gold Headphones are the high end of its fashionable audio devices. Known for fashionable earbuds and a few fashion headphones, the Throne series are i-mego's top-shelf offering, and for US$140 you get a decent deal. Design i-mego's Throne headphones are not subtle by any means. The review unit I tested wasn't quite gold, but a striking copper color that looks like an old announcer's ribbon microphone. It certainly draws attention. There's a Poison version with a silver housing and red accents available as well. The black padded ear sections are narrower than most over the ear headphones, and are more rectangular in shape. If you have big ears, this is a problem. I have pretty average ears, but found people with smaller ears will really enjoy the fit. They are soft and luxurious and felt fine after quite a bit of continuous use, and are possibly more comfortable than my Sony MDR's because the i-mego phones are lighter. The headphones are marked left and right using a red tag on the soft ear pads plus inscriptions on the inside of the headband portion. The red tag is sewn so that you'll see it as you put them on correctly -- a nice touch. There's a standard 4-foot cord hanging down from the headphones, with one button and a microphone for calls and controlling music. Four feet is an optimal length for consumer use cases, like having your iPhone in your pocket while you walk around with headphones on. Functionality In terms of sound, the Throne headphones are quite good. To be so light, they have good response and bass, although the mids can sound a little mushy at times, particularly when the phones are pushed hard. Still, they had more punch than my Sony MDR-7506's, which is great if you want to jam out and nuke your eardrums. Just don't go looking for the kind of clarity you'll find in a set of real studio headphones. The microphone used for iPhone calls seemed to work fine, and I noticed nothing special about the audio quality. Today's cellular calls are so compressed the mic only makes a difference when isolating your voice, and testing during a round of washing dishes confirms the Throne mic has good pickup and isolation. The singular button around the mic is used to answer/hang up and control (pause/play) your music. It works as advertised, of course, but is limited to play/pause to ensure compatibility with phones besides the iPhone. Conclusion If you're in the market for high-end headphones, consider your use case. The Throne series are great, but they are not studio headphones -- neither clarity or length of cord are up to that task. They are, however, high-end consumer headphones with a built-in mic and control so you can use them with your iPhone "every day." I wouldn't recommend wearing them on the subway due to their cost (depending upon how safe you feel), but they are leagues better in sound quality than Apple's EarPods, in no small part because they cover your ears and drive much more bass. Still, $140 is a lot to pay for headphones. If you must have fashionable ear goggles to go with your jams, the i-mego Throne series is a good bet. If you need serious music production headphones and don't require a built-in mic, keep on looking.
