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90% would recommend to a friend 
E-MU Purpleheart Headphones
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E-MU Purpleheart Headphones
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Product Description
The E-MU Purpleheart features handcrafted solid wood enclosures and biocellulose drivers, like its full-size relative, with a more understated aesthetic and a warm, appealing, non-fatiguing sound. Easy to drive from your phone (no amplifier or adapter required), these make an excellent entry point to the world of wood headphones Read More
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Customer Reviews
4.1
(154 reviews)
5star(62)
4star(60)
3star(24)
2star(7)
1star(1)
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keyboard_arrow_downOkeer
111
Mar 22, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
Good sound for price. Perfect for gaming!
These headphones have a pretty good sound, if a bit warm. They work well with most modern music however the treble tends to roll off with classical. The cups are in between on and over ear but getting brainwavz oval pads fixes that.
Here's what surprised me. The imaging on these is amazing! Not just horizontal but vertical imaging is almost perfect. While playing Siege I was wallbanging people in almost any game. One example I'll give is on Skyscraper, while standing in the doorway between hallway and taiko, I could hear someone moving from Main entrance to reception, I could hear them so clearly that I leaned over the balcony and one tapped them exactly as they were in the doorway.
Recommends this product? Yes
sixty4tw
8
Mar 8, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
I've only had these for a few days and they are nowhere near burned in yet but I'm very pleased. They look, feel, and sound fantastic for the price. I bought the Denon AH-D1001 way back in 2009 (around $125, I think) and they were my go to everyday headphones for many years. Sadly one of the drivers just gave out on me after more than 8 years of hard use and those have been discontinued for quite some time. I often considered getting the CAL! version of these but they just always looked bit cheap looking to me. Not the case for the E-Mu Purpleheart. They feel very well made and the wood looks great. They have the same fit, and the same sound signature as the Denons, perhaps slightly warmer and mellower but by no means veiled or dark sounding.
So for anyone who owned, or tried and liked the AH-D1001 you will not be diappointed. Great detail, nice but never overdone bass, silky highs, nicely forward mids, etc.
I have many more high-end headphones, but I personally think it's hard to find anything better at this price. You can still find the E-mu Walnut for around $100 but these are virtually the same at a lower price (and less branding).
I use these primarily as a commuter headphone with Hi-Res DAP's and they are perfect for that. Very easy to drive, reasonable isolation. Definitely thinking of buying a few more of these for gifts...
Highly recommend!
a_minty_penguin
13
Jul 25, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
tl;dr if you like folk, rock, and podcasts, these are for you. If you like metal and rap, they are not. Comfy. If you have large ears, I'd also look elsewhere. Care has been taken to make these look beautiful, though the cups are not grain-matched.
I am normally one to be pretty sure where I stand when rating a product, but with these headphones I have been very flip-floppy. I have settled with four stars, but this is, truthfully, a 3.5 star review. Here's why:
1) The purpleheart wood is absolutely beautiful, and I love the finish. The cups aren't grain-matched at all though. As such, the grain on one side is curvy, but on the other straight.
2) idk if I just suck at reading the numbers (which truthfully mean nothing to me as someone looking for a good pair of almost student-affordable headphones, not an expensive hobby), but the bass on these things has no punch. I'm not looking to have my head vibrate like people who like edm and such, but I thought you'd at least be able to feel the kick drum, even a little bit. This is not the case. It sounds weak, and makes the music sound weak. Bare in mind that I am a metal head, so this will probably be an atypical complaint. Rock and hard rock sound great (looking at you Nightwish), but if you enjoy any extreme metal, black metal, or death metal, I would recommend you against these headphones. Examples of bands that I am talking about to judge accurately: Dawn of Ashes, Wolven Ancestry, Amon Amarth. Also tried them out with some 2pac and the bass there is also disappointing, so probably not for rap lovers either. Put on some Santana though and boy do these headphones shine.
Anything 'above' the lower drums sounds great though. Podcasts are stellar, and likewise with folk music, atmospheric, and rock. But, again, as a metal head, these are not what I primarily listen to. And, again, idk if this is my error in interpretting data that I don't understand, or an issue with the headphones themselves.
3) Comfortable. If you have large ears, they may be small.
4) I really wish more brands followed suit with Massdrop and E-MU in placing their logos inside the headphones/other products. This alone makes me so likely to recommend them to other people, as care has clearly been taken to making these headphones not only pump through clear, beautiful sound, but to also look beautiful, and to have this beauty be made an important, one might say a defining, feature of the product. You have all the stars in this category*.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product to any one who doesn't listen to metal/rap/bass-y edm, even though I must admit that, though perhaps not disappointed, I am underwhelmed.
Edit: This initial conclusion has felt wrong to me and, as far as I am concerned, is wrong. I would rather convey: Though I may be underwhelmed, I am not disappointed.
*minus the lack of grain-matching
I am normally one to be pretty sure where I stand when rating a product, but with these headphones I have been very flip-floppy. I have settled with four stars, but this is, truthfully, a 3.5 star review. Here's why:
1) The purpleheart wood is absolutely beautiful, and I love the finish. The cups aren't grain-matched at all though. As such, the grain on one side is curvy, but on the other straight.
2) idk if I just suck at reading the numbers (which truthfully mean nothing to me as someone looking for a good pair of almost student-affordable headphones, not an expensive hobby), but the bass on these things has no punch. I'm not looking to have my head vibrate like people who like edm and such, but I thought you'd at least be able to feel the kick drum, even a little bit. This is not the case. It sounds weak, and makes the music sound weak. Bare in mind that I am a metal head, so this will probably be an atypical complaint. Rock and hard rock sound great (looking at you Nightwish), but if you enjoy any extreme metal, black metal, or death metal, I would recommend you against these headphones. Examples of bands that I am talking about to judge accurately: Dawn of Ashes, Wolven Ancestry, Amon Amarth. Also tried them out with some 2pac and the bass there is also disappointing, so probably not for rap lovers either. Put on some Santana though and boy do these headphones shine.
Anything 'above' the lower drums sounds great though. Podcasts are stellar, and likewise with folk music, atmospheric, and rock. But, again, as a metal head, these are not what I primarily listen to. And, again, idk if this is my error in interpretting data that I don't understand, or an issue with the headphones themselves.
3) Comfortable. If you have large ears, they may be small.
4) I really wish more brands followed suit with Massdrop and E-MU in placing their logos inside the headphones/other products. This alone makes me so likely to recommend them to other people, as care has clearly been taken to making these headphones not only pump through clear, beautiful sound, but to also look beautiful, and to have this beauty be made an important, one might say a defining, feature of the product. You have all the stars in this category*.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product to any one who doesn't listen to metal/rap/bass-y edm, even though I must admit that, though perhaps not disappointed, I am underwhelmed.
Edit: This initial conclusion has felt wrong to me and, as far as I am concerned, is wrong. I would rather convey: Though I may be underwhelmed, I am not disappointed.
*minus the lack of grain-matching
JayBusch
4
Sep 12, 2019
a_minty_penguinHow easy are these to drive? I have to use a USB-C adapter on my phone and it doesn't get my T50RP Mk3's loud enough (though I suppose that's almost a good thing so that they don't blow out my ear drums, ha).
CoupeDeBoulder
15
Feb 2, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
I'm lucky to have choices: HD6XX, HE4XX, Focal Elex. But when I'm just walking around listening to my DAP, these are on my head. If you're thinking about them, just stop and buy them. You won't regret it!
BonjourJiff
9
Nov 17, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
Feels cheap. Not worth $75. Audiotechnika has older models for less. Should have gone that route. Didn't even come with a case.
The sound really isn't that amazing. I'm no audiophile, but the sound didnt blow my mind or anything.
zep483
658
Nov 9, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Needs a fix see video below I came across.
Recommends this product? Yes
zep483
658
Mar 22, 2020
Definitively worth a 95-100 bucks (costs of headphones and pads). They also travel fairly well, even though they seem like they wouldn't. I would look at them as a travel set more than anything. For that, they're pretty good, especially if you need more low-end (bass) performance. But you might get more out of a porta pro/ksc75/kph30i with yaxi pads or 58x if you can deal with an open back. I might also consider an IEM before these, but the next best closed-back over-ear I could recommend would be the 1more triple driver over-ear, but that gets a bit sharper (Less so on phones than amplifiers)/has a less traditional presentation. Other than that, you're looking at 350 for something like an E-MU (Teak) with the bamboo cups, which will destroy anything before it.
The_Mule
30
Aug 18, 2020
zep483"terrible mid bass bloat" indeed. :-) Thanks for posting this. That's exactly what I hear. I'll try the Meze pads if I can find them cheap ...
inmansx8
7
May 28, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Pretty disappointed that after the 2nd use the ear piece brok off the headset rendering the totally useless now.
I see why it broke so easily, the piece holding it together is smaller than the width of a pencil by at least 1/2.
generic head sets have lasted by far longer.
sveerhoff
31
Feb 2, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Update: Changing to 4 stars, as I am no longer trying to use these for a commute. They are very comfortable when wearing all day, and have held up very well since purchase. Definitely worth the $75.
These were purchased to replace a pair of ATH-M40X which broke due to a design flaw in the ATH-M series. I was looking for a nice solid closed back design that offered good noise block out. These are not them, but do sound very nice.
The Good: these are a nice set of headphones, comfortable to wear, and in a quiet location are OK. They are good at giving a degree of warmth to acoustic Guitar, Cello and String instruments, as well as vocals. The sound stage is good, but not as wide as open back headphones. The accuracy is good as well, although they tend to be a little accentuated on the bass. I especially enjoy using them to listen to orchestral, dub and Reggae. Compared to the ATH-M40x that these replaced, they are not as accurate. The M40x is more of a studio monitor, and adds less coloration to the sound.
The bad: As initially stated, I was looking for a replacement for my ATH-M40x headphones, a closed back design that really does block a lot of the outside noise. The Purple Heart E-MU headphones do not block as much of the outside sound. For closed back headphones these are really terrible at blocking outside sounds, and feel more like a semi-closed back design. If this were the only issue, then I could increase the volume and compensate.
What really stands out is that certain loud external frequencies appear to resonate within the headphones itself. I noticed this while commuting on the DC Metro, certain external train squeals/sounds became outright painful and louder than if I wasn't wearing the phones.
With many of us using Zoom, Teams, or other video chat and remote work over the past year, I find that I am wearing these a LOT. These have been my go-to general purpose headphones due to their lighter weight and comfort. Also, the purple heart and plain design do not detract a lot when in Zoom meetings. The fact that they are not as sound blocking as others also does not lead to strange voice effects when speaking in Zoom meetings.
Previously I recommended the Thinksound ON2s, which were great headphones. I am not sure what happened with Thinksound, but currently the only available options for Thinksound are their IEMs, with a Coming Soon for a replacement to the ON2s.
TLDR;
For $75 ,these are a great set of headphones, except for commuting or listening in noisy spaces.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
sveerhoff
31
Mar 2, 2019
dvisanThe ath m40x has a design flaw that causes plastic failure in the hinge brackets, eventually wearing against one of the wires. I got two years out of them, and my son got 15 months out of his. Kind of soured me on the brand. Both of us wear headphones in excess of 4 hours a day. I thought I would give the E-Mus a try.
(Edited)
peaceful_distance
Mar 26, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
Great sound, build, and looks, that fall short due to comfort and isolation.
Pros:
Sound - Bass, good bass, not that beats stuff. If you like edm, this is your budget go to. Mid and high clarity still exist enough, so it is not bass-only, but bass is the dominant aspect of the signature and gets my head bobbing instinctively whenever I play a good track for it.
Build - I have dropped this thing in ways more than I would like to admit. No snapped hinges, no scratches on wood. Given how rattly it is, I suspect the 'loose' construction is why it survives drops so well. Anyone else know the difference between throwing an egg at a blanket vs. at a brick wall? And though I mention it is rattly, the spots that matter are still firm, dense, and well built. It is good build quality, worry not about that.
Looks - I mean, that's part of what you guys are looking at this for right? The purp woods do indeed look good in person. Are they pure purple? No, more like purple mixed with mahogany. But looks great nonetheless.
Cons:
Comfort - The pads are small, like recent-Sennheiser-closed-back-abominations small. Good luck staying comfy in there if your ears are any larger than a baby's or have attached earlobes. Yes, you can replace them with meze or brainwavz pads, but what you gain in comfort you lose in sound. Granted I used the meze smalls instead of the recommended meze larges, but if the smalls are anything to go by, the highs just zing too much and being a fatuiging spike in the sound signature. on top of this, the headband is just too thin and hard. Yes, it has a strip of foam, emphasis on 'strip'. Might as well pull a metal bar as the headband and one would be none the wiser.
Isolation - I wish this were a true close back, but unfortunately it is semi open so sound comes in and out quite easilly.
Conclusion:
This headphone is having an identity crisis; it is not for the people on the go or on subways due to lack of isolation, nor is it for those in the office for the same reason. And it is not for the people at home either because if you are at home already, then you would be going for something else fully open back or more comfortable anyways. This is a gimmicked fun experiment of a headphone that people buy for the luxury or niche of it.
If you have small ears and do not care about isolation and love good bass and sweet looking woodbacks, then these are the ones for you, whoever you are. :)
(Edited)
Recommends this product? No
thebigo_k
7
Nov 11, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
I enjoy the reletive clarity of them, they come across as a little bass heavy, a fraction to "full" compared to my Sennheiser HD 439's. I prefer the lightness of the E-MU's though, and the isolation they bring with the closed back's. The only actual critism I have is the Purpleheart itself. Being a person involved in woodworking, carpentry and the beauty of wood, I was a little disppointed with the finish, and would have preferred to see actual grain showing through the finish, but I understand that the timber needs to be treated to prevent colour change. The finish is extremely flat, to the point that I doubted that it was timber at all.
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