Noontec Zoro HD On-Ear Headphone Review

Headphones can be bought in a variety of different shapes and designs. Some are aimed at gamers, others for everyday computer users and a selection t0 cater for the audiophile audience. Today's product by Noontec is designed for the second group, with a focus on the appearance. The Noontec Zoro HD features several improvements on the previous Zoro model. The company have tweaked the sound characteristics, hopefully offering higher-quality bass and the addition of an in-line microphone and call/answer button. Specifications Model ZORO HD Driver Type Dynamic Plug Type 3.5mm Driver Diameter 40mm Sensitivity at 1KHz 1mW 108dB Frequency Response 13 - 26,000 Hz Max Power 60mW Sound Performance High Definition Microphone Yes Input Impedance 32 ohm Audio Cable Length 1.2 metre The Zoro HD comes packaged in brilliant white box, with the black version of the headphones shown on the front. The design of the packaging is simple and very clear. The back of the box is almost identical to the front, except we now see the product folded up and with some of the audio cable and the in-line microphone in view. The front of the box can be opened up, giving us more detailed information about the headphones key features. This includes, but is not limited to; Adaptive Ear Muffs, Unique flat cable and Protein Cotton Material for ear muffs. On the right-hand side we can see a small portion of the product - ours is the black model. Opening up the box we can see the product folded up very neatly, and a black storage pouch. The pouch has a simple drawstring design making it easy to close after storing the headphones. The pouch is of a good quality and will help keep the headphones clean and tidy. The audio cable is flat and made of a high-elastic TPE (Thermoplastic elastomer) material which should stop it from knotting together easily. Noontec have included a simple Instruction Manual which simply tells you which devices the headphones will work with. The Noontec Zoro HD headphones fold up on both sides allowing you to fit the headphones into the bag to protect them. The band is moderately thin and has a piano crafting varnish to give it a super glossy shine. Opening out the headphones we can see that they look, in our opinion, very fashionable and feature the Noontec logo on both earphones. As the headphones are an on-ear design the ear-cups are pretty small. They both feature steel-reinforced hinges to enhance the longevity of the headphones. They take a bit of force to snap the hinges closed or open, but it is a nice positive action and not something that is going to happen accidentally. The ear-cups are made of a protein skin-friendly material which is breathable and 'won't instigate skin allergies through long term usage'. It is very soft and does look like it will be comfortable. On the left-hand ear cup we find a 3.5 mm socket which will allow you to plug in the provided audio cable into the headphones. This means you could use any other 3.5 mm audio cable if desired. The headband is adjustable, with a scale on the inside, allowing you to quickly and easily set the headband to the right size for maximum comfort. Removing the ear cup gives a slightly better view of the driver and also shows how thin the headphones actually are without the ear pads. The Noontec Zoro HD On-Ear Headphones are comfortable which is a little surprising as they do claim to be Fashion Hi-Fi Headphones. When you compare these with similar On-Ear headphones the Noontec Zoro HD come out on top as the ear cups are soft and breathable. Even when using the headphones for a long three hour session my ears didn't warm-up significantly. The cups do put a bit of pressure on the ears, although this is common place with all On-Ear headphones. To test the sound quality of the Zoro HD, we plugged them into a Creative Z sound card. We then put the Zoro HD through its paces in a variety of scenarios, including but not limited to; watching a blu-ray movie, playing PC games (Anno 2070, Formula 1 2011), listening to music from iTunes, and making a video call or two with Skype. While gaming we were pleasantly surprised with the audio reproduction as the sound characteristics were always very clear and crisp. On a more negative note, the bass response could be exposed as rather thin ... noticeable when playing some action games. We listened to the whole of Mahler’s 9th Symphony, a glorious orchestration taking full advantage of the extra strength woodwind section comprising piccolo, 4 x flutes, 4 x oboes, Eb Clarinet, 3 x Bb/A Clarinets, bass clarinet and 4 x bassoons. Overall, we found the sound staging to be impressive, but again we felt there was a slight lack of weight to the lower frequencies, although it was always focused and tight. One commendable trait of the design is that background static was always minimal, even at the highest volume levels. Skype phone calls exhibited the same clear, focused sound quality and voice reproduction was excellent. As a further test we recorded a few voice clips and played them back through our Microlab FC360 Speakers. While the voice was crisp and clear, there was a small amount of background noise audible, more than with the beam-forming microphone that ships with the Creative Z Sound Card. We feel the Zoro HD microphone may actually be mounted a little bit too far down the cable and as such picks up a little bit of extra noise. Of course, you might not be able to make use of this microphone with all devices but most modern phones and sound cards can. Personally, I'm not sure if I'd ever use these headphones out of preference to make a call on my phone but if you happen to be listening to music and a call comes in these headphones would be a good convenient compromise. Overall the Noontec Zoro HD performed well in all our tests, they are high-quality balanced headphones ideal for various uses, but primarily for enjoying well recorded music. While I am not the biggest fan of On-Ear headphones, these are easily the most comfortable I have used. The price of the Zoro HD is also very competitive at around £64 from cclonline.com. Pros Good overall sound quality. Very stylish and well-built. Light headphones, good for everyday use. Comfortable with breathable ear-pads. In-line microphone useful. Comes with storage pouch. Cons Bass frequencies can appear a little weak. No volume control. On-Ear headphones crush ears slightly. Microphone could be better positioned. Kitguru says: A decent pair of headphones with the added bonus of a microphone make them a perfect companion for audiophiles.