tl;dr
I’m a middle class European family-man, but between housing, transport, 2 x childcare, mortgages, etc… we watch our money relatively tightly and are always looking for value-for-money. My only earbuds are JLab GO Air Pop (£25) and for wired I’m old school and go with Koss Porta Pros (4th pair now at around £30). I like quality sound at a reasonable price. We’re a family of the classics I guess. I find with the ANC, £79 is probably at the upper end of what I want to spend on a set of headphones, compared to what I can do with my family in exchange for that money. When I was younger, this amount of money was disposable on a night out alone, that is no longer the case with my current lifestyle.
I find these compelling at this price point, but you should know what you’re getting into.
physical attributes
I have the light grey, which are essentially off-white, i.e. eggshell. The earmuffs are good quality. I’ve probably logged about 150h or so on these and there’s no appreciable wear yet. I gave them to my children for about a dozen hours each and they’re somewhat stain-resistant it seems.
The CMF (colours, materials and finish) is spot on at this price point. The end caps are hard plastic and tactile feeling of the buttons, wheels, sliders is good, as in it’s solid. There is a metal head covering that is round and incompressible but it does feel somewhat budget and the covering over it feels somewhat budget-driven including the sewing enclosing it over the bar.
On the whole it’s VERY similar to the CMF Phone 1 and the CMF Watch 3 Pro (all of which I use daily). There are real compromises here: the CMF Phone 1 has a mono-speaker and a poor screen protector and rear lenses possibly covered in acrylic rather than glass. The CMF Watch 3 Pro has tiny internal storage and MUST be paired with a phone to operate for more than 5 minutes. These headphones produce good sound but I do question the quality of the fabric over the headband. The bag included is decent as is the short 3.5mm cable that is included. This is perfect length for in front pocket with a phone under the shirt to the headphones, no slack or extra cable and it seems deliberate for that usage pattern.
I find all CMF products a compromise for price. I find that CMF usually makes the right choices in their budget (£149 now for the CMF Phone 1, £79 for the CMF Watch 3 Pro and £79 for these). However, there are compromises and I would speculate that within 12-24 months the stitching on the overhead bar fabric will wear away as will the earmuffs. The buttons, the drivers and the ear caps will be fine.
Also, let’s be real here, CMF accessories have NEVER been available after launch, so this could be a long-term problem to get replacement ear muffs.
photos:
appearance
The bag is better than expected as I use it regularly as I cycle with them in a backpack to school/work. The cable looks nice but I hardly use it. I had maybe 20 USB-C cables between the houses and the offices and that will charge them easily.
I see a lot of students wearing headphones around town and in the gym (I’m nearing 50 now), these don’t look that good. They’re not slim-fitting to the head and bow outward more than other brands I see around town. I probably see around 100-200 sets per day and these much more rounded than others and wouldn’t conform to most head shapes in a slim-fit manner.
I only use them in the office or late-night on my sofa after I get the children to bed, so I find that an OK compromise for the money.
I also have an egg-head and if you’re head is more rounded like a pumpkin they might fit well.
sound quality
I only use them over BT. Lately I’ve been listening to electronic and DR P8 Jazz (Danish Radio). Two tracks that I am currently listening to include:
and
I find these headphones do a really solid job of capturing the range of the audio in the tracks.
I do find these cans slightly bass-heavy for my liking and I run the slider off, the Bass at -2, the Treble at +6 and the Mid at +6.
anc (active noise cancelling)
I had quite low expectations for this option. But I have an iMac and two workstations in my office (each with 2 x NV A4000 cards … like 4x Geforce 3070s running at 100% 24/7/365) and they have a lot of fans. Likewise, I’m in a dense university setting with rooftop fans and cooling/etc… All of that low hum is gone with ANC on. That static noise is fully eliminated, quite clearly and distinctly. My brain feels like I’m in a plane with negative pressure, it’s great. Any loud knocking/taking isn’t cancelled but I usually get into the zone and ignore it anyway. I am very pleasantly surprised with the quality of this option.
battery life
I always run these with ANC on and only recharge these once since I’ve had them. They’re down to 10%. I would say that I’m running around with 50-75h per change with ANC high on. Can’t complain.
overall cons
The NOTHING X app is quick and easy. My 4-year-old son tore the box open and connected them himself. Having said that the audio quality is device-dependent. My NP3 and M1MBA are great. My CMF1 less so. The quality is somewhat lower on the CMF1 than the other devices and the volume is quieter.
The head fit is NOT designer. I look somewhat like TechSpurt (but smarter) and they looked geeky on him/me. They’re not slim-fit, in the slightest. I also feel that the fabric over the head will tear over the next 12-18 months if I heavily use them.
I don’t see a reason for the mode options and have no use for them (spatial modes.)
overall verdict
These are difficult to test analytically and audiophile opinions are always subjective. Would I buy these with my own money, probably not without trying the ANC. That makes a huge difference to my working day. I find the sound quality similar to my JLab and Koss Porta Pros, but the over the ear experience with ANC might be worth the extra £40 if you want to sit and work. I used to wear headphones outside back in my 20s and 30s, but I no longer do I’m always on the bicycle or with children (in both cases a very bad idea, even with transparency mode on).
For an office where I want to focus, they’re good.
questions?
Anyone with any questions, I’m willing to test anything for you. just reply to this or DM me. I feel like I’m letting the community down and these are very difficult to analytically test and it’s challenging to be as critical as usual, thus any suggestions for testing would be welcome.
