Full disclosure: we have been privileged over the past few months to be one of a select group of behind-the-scenes beta testers for a new line of over-the-ear headphones from Zildjian, designed from the ground up for casual music listening, critical audiophile usage, studio monitoring, pairing with their brand-new e-kit, and for noise-cancelling applications. Whew!
That’s a tall order, made even more impressive by the fact that while other brands in the industry (especially those not already entrenched in the world of pro audio) could have taken the easy way out and simply re-badged an existing product coming from China with the Zildjian logo, the talented folks in Norwell, Mass decided to design and engineer their new headphones from scratch, with each element (no pun intended) of the product tailored to the end user experience.
So, how did they fare? In a word: brilliantly. The new ALCHEM-E headphones are a stunning achievement, both in terms of sound quality and comfort (not to mention style and features).
Now that our review embargo has been lifted and we’re no longer sworn to secrecy, we can’t wait to share our thoughts.
Let’s dive in below. Buckle up, it’s gonna be long…
OUT OF THE BOX EXPERIENCE
When you first get your headphones, you’ll notice that the unboxing experience is almost like opening a luxury handbag from Saks – the care taken with each aspect of the box design, even the interior branded tissue paper and the headphone’s neoprene-like case is meticulous.
Our pair came in a stunning midnight blue finish, with the entire package’s color scheme suited to match the hue. Other options available at launch are classic black and an ultra-cool Sandstorm with gold accents (full disclosure, we’ve seen all three models in person beginning way back with the pre-production runs and each one is awesome to look at).
Inside the box you’ll find the aforementioned custom-molded carrying case complete with handle, a custom designed graphic pattern inside the case (think Louis Vitton-inspired but with Zildjian’s famous alchemy symbols –not cymbals, get it? — for that luxury aesthetic) and a snug pouch to hold your included charging cable, aux cables and accessories. The headphones themselves feature an incredibly comfortable adjustable band, large swiveling over-ear cups that fit snug but don’t cause any discomfort even with long studio sessions, and a handy central jog wheel and main push-button that emulates the look of Zildjian’s classic gold cymbals. As these can be used wirelessly or wired, there’s a discreetly hidden mic on one of the cups that can handle any phone calls or Siri queries with ease.
You’ll also find a handy light strip on the ear cup that acts as a visual indicator of charging status, along with an on/off button and the USB charging port. One nice thing is that each button and setting has an associated auditory cue — for example toggling through ANS settings will chime/ding an appropriate amount of times to let you know how much canceling you have engaged. Also, there’s a different fun cymbal sound when powering on, connecting and disconnecting. A nice customized touch that again, shows the level of detail and care that went into the entire design philosophy.
HOW DO THEY FEEL?
Comfort is king for us. In our testing, we put the new ALCHEM-E models through the ringer in sound tests and physical field tests.
For starters, we used them for weeks at a time during work hours for casual listening as well as demo’ing mixes and video edits in Logic, Studio One and Final Cut. Even after four to six hours at a clip in the studio, it felt like you weren’t even wearing them after a while; they’re simply that comfy.
Out of the office, we hit the local trails and hiked with them using Bluetooth mode for up to two hours daily over the course of about a month and a half, and even took them on vacation trails on Cape Cod. After all that trail (and trial) usage, they still remained plush and remained some of the easiest wearers (is that a word? If not we’re making it one) we’ve ever demo’d.
HOW DO THEY SOUND?
At this price point, you’re starting to leave behind the world of entry-level and pro-sumer cans like the venerable ATH-M50x’s, and you begin venturing into the world of real audiophile products, so we’re happy to report that fidelity is incredible on all fronts.
Our studio demo mixes typically consist of scratch tracks and stems we’ve recorded that feature deep Moog sub-bass from a Sub Phatty analog synth as well as an Arp Odyssey hardware synth, paired with sampled drums in Studio One along with classic 808 patterns from a Roland boutique TR-08. No matter what we threw at the ALCHEM-E’s they sounded stunning, reproducing airy highs and tight, punchy lows with ease (and no flub in the bass registers!)
For casual listening, we untethered from our audio interface’s headphone amp and hit the hiking trails with some difficult tracks that sometimes show the limitations of poor Bluetooth implementation as well as lazy design and construction in the drivers. Again, we were floored with how well the ALCHEM-E headphones handled demanding 2000’s era hip-hop, especially our go-to track “Ice Cream Paint Job,” which can often trip up lesser competitors in the lower registers (that bass can be tough to reproduce without muddiness if you’re skimping on the design and quality components). Overall, our streaming experience with Apple Music lossless files was superb during the entire run of our testing period this summer.
Spec nerds will be happy to note these headphones have a frequency response of 7Hz to 22,000Hz, which is better than human hearing, so you’re never missing anything when it comes to your fave tracks. The 40mm drivers handle everything with ease and sound smooth as butter on all the demo files we tossed their way. In many ways they competed neck and neck with our Audeze LCD-XC planar magnetic headphones which retail for about 3x the cost. And they bested our Grado Prestige open-backs at roughly the same retail price.
THE APP AND CUSTOMIZATION
Honestly, Zildjian could have really stopped there for the price. Great sounding headphones that are luxurious to wear (and look at) for hours on end? I’m already sold. But the kicker is that the free app (iOS or Android) allows for a personalized EQ experience that only takes a few moments to dial in. Simply walk through the auditory test in the app and the custom firmware creates your own unique listening profile, adjusted for your hearing capabilities and preferences, and saves it so you can recall it at any time or simply disable it when you want a flatter setting (say, for mixing and recording music, as just one example).
My hearing required a little tweaking in the app to make the necessary personalized adjustments, and then BOOM, the profile can be toggled on to tailor the mix perfectly for your specific needs. You even get a nice little graph in the app that shows you what’s being adjusted in your profile so you know how the personalization is affecting the EQ.
It’s awesome, it actually works like it should and it’s not laborious at all to bang through the process quickly. And again, you want it disabled completely? Just toggle the button in the app to turn off the personalization, no problem.
The app also allows a few varying degrees of noise cancelling, which worked well in our travel applications as well as trail hiking and running, cutting outside noise to nearly nothing while retaining the clarity and depth of the music we were listening to. In other brands we’ve tested over the years, the noise cancelling can be hit or miss (and sometimes even introduce MORE hissing noises, if that’s even possible). Not here, both settings we frequently toggled through did the job, and were easily accessible both in the app and on a physical button near the jog wheel on the right ear cup itself. Super easy either way.
BATTERY LIFE
Another glowing recommendation from us. When I traveled on vacation with my ALCHEM-E headphones this summer, I forgot to charge them before I left. When I arrived at my hotel, I decided to see how long I could last that week without a charge. I started at about 50% and even after wearing them for several hours a day (at the pool, at the beach, and on the nature trails), I only dipped to about 10% by the time I had to head home. And that’s with pretty heavy daily use.
In a more scientific (and less anecdotal test), I clocked about 30+ hours before I generally felt the need to whip out the included USB-C cable to charge them. Keep in mind, though, that I’m one of those OCD-types who fills their car’s gas tank when it gets to the halfway point on the gauges, so you’ll likely be able to go closer to the indicated 45 hours (and that’s WITH active noise cancellation engaged) before you drain the rechargeable battery.
As far as charging goes, it’s pretty darn fast. We went from drained to nearly full in way under than an hour, so during the infrequent times you do actually need to recharge, you’re not going to be waiting long at all.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the end of the day, for a company that’s made its name forging metal into musical instruments, this is a new frontier for Zildjian and they could have fallen flat on their faces. We’ve seen it before – brands with a proven history and heritage testing the waters in new sectors of the marketplace and failing miserably.
Thankfully, the new ALCHEM-E headphones are a homerun. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the line (cough*earbudsyoucansleepin*cough) and we’ll be sure to report back again if we get the chance to test out whatever comes next.
For more information, visit https://zildjian.com/pages/zildjian-alchem-e-headphones-2
PROS:
Excellent sound quality, comfort, style and feature set
CONS:
None.
STREET PRICE:
$399 USD