AOpen HP-590 "Vibrating" Headphone
Review / Shootout
By Joe 12/28/02

"LAN" Headphone shoot out -

Since we now knows what makes em work, lets see how they rank against a handful of other sub 35$ headphones for LAN use.

These are just a few of the headsets I have sitting around here.   I use them all at LAN's or when I am on the road.  The AOpen is a new entry to the mix of my portable headsets that I don't mind taking to LANs or on the road.

AOpen Specs:

• 30 mm Driver for the Full range and a 30 mm Driver for the Sub woofer
• 32 Ohm impedance
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
• Sensitivity 99dB
• Max Power: 500mWatt
• 1.2M Cable Length
• Approximate MSRP: $34.99 (was unable to get confirmed prices for it from any AOpen vendor)

Sony Specs:

• 30 mm Driver
• 24 Ohm Impedance
• Frequency Range: 16Hz - 20 kHz
• 98dB sensitivity
• Max Power: 1000mWatt
• 2M Cable Length
• Type: Closed/Dynamic
• MSRP: $19.00

Sennheiser Specs:

• 30 mm Driver
• 32 Ohm Impedance
• Frequency Range; 18 Hz - 18 kHz
• 115dB Sensitivity
• 3M Cable Length
• Type: Closed/Dynamic
• MSRP: $29.00

Now since there is little to "benchmark" a headset on, all these opinions are completely subjective based on how my ear heard the headset and based on how comfortable they were. All tests were run off a Hercules Game Theater XP using the headphone port.

Test 1:  Game Playing Sound Quality
For this I used Games such as Soldier of Fortune 2, Quake3, Tribes2, Battle Field 1942. 

Sennheiser -  Well I have used these for games for quite some time, the sound quality is outstanding, and in some ways you hear too much of the sound. You can easily pick out mastering problems in the audio tracks.  The Mid and Lows were right on target, the Highs were strong but not quite as crisp as I would have liked.

Sony - These headphones I have used at a few LANs recently, and are OK for games.  You don't get near the sound definition as the Senn's, but you get enough to make the game play enjoyable.  These headphones are good on the high's, but the mids and lows are just empty.

AOpen - A very new experience to have your ears shake while playing and at first it was a bit overwhelming. With the Vibration feature turned off, you loose ALL the low range and are stuck with a tin can type sound. With the Vibration on, you get a full yet somewhat muddy Low's, that can easily overwhelm the highs and mids.  The mids are solid yet lack definition of the Senns.  The Highs are solid, and crisp.

Overall - If you are playing a game where there's many explosions or any FPS for that matter, I think the AOpen's provide a bit more enjoyment, but you will loose some sound quality compared to the almost surgical precision of the Sennheiser.  If you are playing a game where there is more ambient, or music, I would personally use the Sennheiser over the AOpen headphones.   But in FPS's, I am addicted to the AOpen headphones now... I switched back to the Sennheiser and they were just not as much fun to wear or game in.

Test 2: DVD Movie audio
Tested them by watching the same parts of Star wars EP2, and Black Hawk Down.

The Sennheiser - Overall still a very acceptable and balanced sound, with sound definition that blows the other 2 away.  The deep lows of explosions were powerful and the mid range of dialog was strong and crisp.

The Sony - Tin Can love.  The lows were just so weak that it took a good bit away from the movie.  The mids for the dialog were crisp but just lacked the body that I heard in the Sennheiser.

The AOpen - The sound qualities were some what off balance, with the lows just dominating the rest of the audio track in some parts.   It made for an interesting experience with the movies, you can feel the explosions and gun fire.   This is nothing like listening to a true 2.1, 4.1 or 5.1 DD setup, but it gets the job done.

Overall - For longer movies I think I would take the Sennheiser, as the AOpen is nice, the audio was not good enough or balanced enough to keep me interested in them.  Found myself thinking about the sound more than the movie. The deep thundering lows were very nice at some points in the movie though!

Test 3: MP3/CD music audio
Listening to Different full range music tracks, from Bt mixes to Beethoven and NIN.

Sennheiser - Well simply, they owned this category.  None of the other 2 could match the balanced full range sound that the tracks that were listened to delivered. Very impressive.

Sony - It's all been said earlier, lack of life and lack of power in the audio.

AOpen - The sub woofer came in good use on many of these tracks, but the muddy bass lines would often distract from the rest of the audio track. If you turn down the vibration too much you loose all the mids, so its either too much bass, or too little mids.  I guess you can get too much of a good thing.  As I said before, they were still fun to listen to, just not as nice for this as a Sennheiser would be.

Overall - Sennheiser gets this group. I liked the AOpen, but not enough to make me forget the quality that the Sennheiser delivered.  And the Sony... well Nope.

Test 4: Extended Wear Comfort
At a LAN you may be sitting there for hours and hours with the headphones on, so that's just what I did at my PC... that's dedication! Sat here and gamed for hours and hours on each headset... see look what I will do for ProCooling! hehehe

Sennheiser - Their supraaural ear coupling covers the outside of the entire ear. This provides a very good seal around the ear keeping most of the outside noise away from the ear and making the sound quality very undisturbed.   The seal around the ear is tight yet not constrictive on the ear at all.  Making it comfortable, the headband itself is designed very well to keep pressure where it should be on your ears.

Sony - I could never get these to sit right. The ear couple is not good at all, and never really seals on the ear. My ears got tired after a few hours with these.

AOpen - While not as good as the Sennheiser ear couple, they are still very comfortable.  They do sit completely around the ear, but the padding isn't deep enough to seal around the ear. Instead the actual can of the speaker sits on the ear.  The headband is still well designed and comfortable.  I didn't have any issues wearing them for hours at a time.

Overall - The Sennheiser is the best designed, and the AOpen is a close second, the Sony is just what I would expect from a 19$ headphone.

Overall Conclusion -

The AOpen headphones present a nice headset, with par audio quality. I wish I could say it was a fine audio quality headset, but its just not. It's a game headset that I think fits perfectly into the FPS genre at LAN's.   Since many people want the feedback of explosions in the game and are used to that with their high end desktop speaker setups, this could provide a nice way to take that with you to your near by LAN party. If these headphones come out at the expected sub 35$ price mark, I think they will be worth it for those who LAN a lot are are looking for something a lil different to try out.  I know these are now my official LAN headphone's. One thing that I was concerned with that didn't seem to crop up, was how fast the AA in the AOpen's would die.  I have been using the same energizer battery in it since I got them in, and a batt tester still shows it at full power.

The Sennheisers were presented as a comparison, and you can clearly see that for general music listening or anyone who's an audiophile these would be the headphones to pick up. ( if you were a real audiophile you would already have a set of some 200 - 300$ Sennheisers already :) hehehe

For more info on the AOpen headphone offerings please go to this link

If you have any comments or Questions please email me at Joe@ProCooling.com