Tag Archives: audio

Tech Reviews

Kiwiears Serene Headphones Review: Style Meets Sound

Leave a comment

Disclaimer

Kiwiears sent me a pair of the of the Serene closed-back planer magnetic headphones to review for my blog. While I am very greatful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. Make sure you also check out my review for the Ardor and Altruva headphones.

Table of Contents

What’s in the box?

  • Serene Headphones
  • 3.5 mm Audio Cable
  • User Manual

Features

Designed in collaboration with Z reviews, Kiwiears has come out with a very accessible closed back headphone that you might want to add to your collection.

Design

The Serene headphones sport a clean modern design. The aluminum frame is lightweight, perfect for travel and extended use. The frame is well made and applies enough pressure to stay on without causing discomfort. The vegan leather padding give the headset its elegant aesthetic while keeping the user incredibly comfortable. The purple accent is what really makes the headset its flare.

Performance

The Serene headset has been designed to provide an excellent sound stage. The memory foam cups allows long comfortable sessions, but also enhance the listening experience. By minimizing unwanted refraction, and blocking out enough of the environment, users can appreciate the Serene’s full sound.

The headset features a 72mm x 89mm closed planer magnetic driver for a full rich sound. The closed back give it its superior sound isolation. Users can enjoy lossless audio through the customizable wired connection and not need to worry about battery life. If you are looking for your next headset, Kiwiear’s Serene is a promising contender.

Review

If you’re looking for a stylish headphone to upgrade your setup, the serene offers a decent enough experience to earn a consideration.

Quality

Users will appreciate the headsets clean aluminum frame. The frame supports a good amount of frame, and is sturdy enough to withstand a good amount of wear and tear. These headphones won’t be breaking anytime soon.

Comfort

The Serene headset is a very comfortable pair of headphones. The frame hugs my giant head enough to secure the sound without squeezing my head. The frame is a little too loose for working out in them. The memory foam in the cups do a fantastic job at isolating the sound, and are incredibly comfortable. I love that they don’t make my ears too hot, especially with the long sessions I put them through.

Sound

The Serene headphones are very good at what they do. They offer a decent sound stage with a respectable amount of bass. All genres feel really good through the magnetic drivers, even without a DAC. If you enjoy ASMR videos, the Serene handle 3D sound and trigger words beautifully. The isolation on these is very good. I wouldn’t say they are noise cancelling, but my wife did have to get pretty close to get my attention. I still prefer the sound of an open back headphone like the Altruva, but the Serene is a strong contender for my affection.

Conclusion

The Serene provide an excellent sound stage at the price point. If you are looking for a stylish pair of headphones that also sound good, grab your pair of Serene headphones. You can pick up your pair of Kiwi Ears x Z Reviews: Serene headphones from the official Kiwiears shop.

Tech Reviews

Tech Review: Logitech G335 Gaming Headset

6 Comments
If you like what I do and want to show your support, please consider buying me a coffee

I want to start by saying that this isn’t a sponsored review. Unfortunately, I bought this headset with my own money. I will add affiliate links to the headset if you choose to buy it, but that won’t affect my opinion of the product.

The Logitech G355 Headset isn’t worth the $70 they are asking for. I got it on sale for $30 and feel a little better about my purchase, but you are getting what you pay for. Out of the box, this headset looks and feels cheap. The plastic feels so fragile that I thought it was going to break when I put them on. Thankfully they didn’t, but I don’t see them outliving my gaming career.

Images are from Amazon Product Page

The headset comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, but it includes a mic splitter for those of you playing on PC. It says it is compatible with all consoles and PC, but I only tested it for PC. Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it. The only cool feature this comes with is a nifty little wheel for volume control that is built into the headset. The G335 comes in black, mint, and white.

The only positive feature of this headset is how comfortable they are, but this is sure to be short-lived. The pads cupped my ears nicely, and the padding was thick and firm. They are a bit stiff out of the box, but they start to conform to your shape relatively quickly. The style of the ear pads prevented any noise from bleeding in or out, which is nice if you share a room. They aren’t sound canceling, but they will do the job for a time. I don’t have faith in the padding keeping its integrity for long. While the headset did get more comfortable over time, how quickly it did so has me worried. The G355 isn’t made with quality materials, and in a year or so, I fear they will become deflated and ugly.

If you are looking for a headset to talk with your friends, look elsewhere. While they may be better than other headsets in the $30 range, the mic is terrible. The mic does a terrible job of filtering any background noise. Whoever is on the receiving end of your voice chats will hear everything. The placement of the mic is too high, and trying to set gates to help filter the sound is useless. I found the best way to use this mic was through the use of a DAC/AMP, but I had to almost yell for the mic to pick up my voice. I used the Soundblaster X3 for my testing, but if you are going to buy a DAC for this headset, you are better off buying a better headset. I’ve included my audio test bellow:

https://churapereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/mictest.mp3

The sound on this headset is alright. Music sounds very flat, even with equalizers or a DAC. It does have a decent amount of bass, but I fear it was only added to trick people into thinking it is a better headset. The boosted bass just makes everything sound flattered.

These will do if you need a cheap headset and don’t care about the sound or the mic, but only get these for $30. The colors are nice, but the cheap build will mean that these will be in the trash in a couple of years. For those of you interested, you can find this headset in all its colors on Amazon.

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today! You can also try Amazon Prime with my Affiliate link!