Here it is, I have had a week with these and so far they are my favourite headphones.
So yeah I have had the Silverados for about a week now and I could not be happier with them. Fantastic build quality, like Logan said they have to be losing money on these, the sound is really good and they are fashionable as buggery.
I am no audiophile but I can really appreciate a good sounding set of headphones, this will not be a super technical review of the sound. so here is how this is going to break down.
- The Sound
- The Build
- The Style
- Other Comments
- Final Thoughts
The Sound: These are closed back all metal headphones. They advertise these as the California sound, with an emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitars. Well yeah it does this and quite well. I cam from a pair of Sony MDR 570's and they were on ear jobs, they let in a lot of outside sound were muddy in the bass and just lacked all round. So to have the Silverados is quite a jump.
First up the sound isolation is amazing. When you have the headphones on but no music you can hear what is going on around you, you could have a conversation if you wanted. Once the music starts though the outside world almost ceases to exist. I only have vague idea that sound is around me, I cannot hear people talking in the slightest and if I am not looking around I would not know if there was someone else in the room. I love it. If you take them off and let the cups close on each other you would have to strain to hear that music was playing inside in a room with another person talking.
The actual sound they make is really nice as well, they were made to be almost an opposite to Beats By Dre and they are certainly a joy to listen to but they are not lacking in bass at all. With my old headphones despite the already muddy sound I had to turn up the bass just to get anything out of them, with the CHCs I had to furn off all bass boost and leave it flat to suit my personal tastes. They do really well with the bass, it rolls over slightly into the mids but other wise it is pretty tight and precise. It also handles subs really well as well.
The higher end of the scale came in really clear and not overly bright, I found myself noticing some background stuff on tracks, like additional guitar and vocal backups, I was really surprised with that. Vocals and guitars, what it was made to do, sound really sweet and rich. Very pleasant to listen to, I actually look forward to when I get to wear them.
The Build: These are chunky and really solid. when they said full metal and leather it was no idle threat, they really feel built for a lifetime of abuse. The meal is all cast rather than stamped and it really feels it. The cups have a definite feel of thickness and all the hinges and joints are more cast metal pieces.
The leather is super soft and backed up with really good foam. The ear pads go completely around your ear so there is zero pressure on them which is a huge bonus for me. They make a fantastic seal as stated above. Some people were worried that the leather would get sticky with use, this was the case with the fake leather on my old headphones, but I have not had a single issue with the CHCs at all, they are just ridiculously comfortable. I even fell asleep with them on the second night I had them, yes that comfortable.
The headband is big enough for any head. And is wrapped in more leather with really nice stitching The middle has a leather wrapped foam section to sit on top of your head, it looks kind of small but like the ear pads is just really comfortable.
The cable is nice, it has a black and white "zebra" braided cover and a "Duo-Jack" to let other people plug their headphones into your and you can both listen in, nice but I would never use it. The connectors on the end are all metal like the rest of it even in the same colour. The cable splits with one plug for each side, easily replaceable adding to the built for life idea. All gold plated contacts.
They are all held together with easily accessible screws should you ever need to take them apart.
The Style: They are finished with black leather and a "vintage" colour on the metal parts. The colour actually look a little different depending on what light it is under. as was walking around work looking at them they went for a muddy brown/purple to a flat brown in the lab and at home looked like a richer golden brown that you see in all the images. The leather is a very mice soft and even matte black, not all cracked and filled with lines just nice. They look really good, they even caught the attention of my boss who immediately made a bee line for me and we had a good talk about headphones, it was good fun.
Other Comments: They came with a carry case which is fake leather and pretty good but I have never used it to hold my headphones but could come in handy somewhere else.
The website says the headphones are 50 Ω impedance but the packaging said 32 so there is that. This really does not bother me the sound great.
Final Thoughts: For the price (€70) these are just amazing. The build quality is unbeatable. They are extremely comfortable. They sound really good too, maybe not super audiophile good but for me walking around town fantastic, better than I could have hoped for. I could easily recommend these to anyone who asked.
Any other questions fire away.