Atomic Floyd SuperDarts earphones review

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Oct192011

Atomic Floyd SuperDarts earphones review

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Ricardo Trejo

Oct 19, 2011

Accessories,

Audio,

Music,

We’re no stranger to high quality audio products, it’s just that it’s always been hard for us to justify expensive pricing for a barely noticeable rise in sound for the casual listening experience. We’ve tried Beats. We’ve tried Grado’s. And now we’ve moved onto Atomic Floyd. You might be saying to yourself, “who?” Well, after this review you may want to give them more than a passing glance. The SuperDarts earphones just may as well be the the Wily Wonka of audio design, introducing you to a world of sound delights.

Features

Constructed out of durable steel material
Dual drivers in each earphone — total of 4 altogether
Play controls w/ microphone on non-tangle kevlar audio cable
Comes packaged with 1/4” audio jack adapter, plane adapter, 6 total silicone tips

Our Impressions

Atomic Floyd is a young company with its base of operations in England. It’s yet to garner a huge market with the casual listening audience, but with just the right pair of headphones they could potentially change everything you know about what hangs from your ears. They’re officially licensed to be sold within Apple stores so after reading this bit you might want to try them out the next time you window shop there.

Now onto the SuperDarts, Floyd’s latest creation which aren’t even available yet for order on their website — they’re that hot off the assembly line! Let’s start with the packaging:

The box itself holds the premium headphones, carrying case with interchangeable silicone tips (small, medium, large), 1/4” DJ jack adapter, and airplane adapter. The outside of each earphone is constructed with a stylish, weighted steel that shines and houses the ‘supercharged’ drivers. Within each earbud are not one, but two drivers (speakers) that will pump sound waves from your source device to your ears in a stunning and powerful deliverance. The cable itself is also something to note and talk about, as it’s made out of a red kevlar that prevents the mess of tangles, and in our use of them we never had to worry about them getting knotted up.

Along the cable is the common remote control seen on even the default Apple earbuds, which let you play, pause, rewind, forward, raise and lower volume, as well as answer phone calls with the included microphone on it. Interesting enough, the remote is on cable leading up to the left earphone above the divider, when usually on the Apple earbuds is on the right side. It’s not a complaint but it takes some getting used to.

At the very end of the cable is the audio jack, which itself isn’t huge but just the right size between small and medium so you can easily remove your earphones from an audio jack safely, without worry of tearing it out.

Comfort

Some people like headphones that are over-the-head, and others prefer the in-ear variety. Depending on whether you’re comfortable with the in-ear experience will decide much on if this will be a pleasant experience or something like learing how to ride a bike for the first time. When placing them in your ears you’ll notice a suction effect — something that will keep exterior noises out from mixing in your with audio. Noise isolation is everything here, since the earphones will cause a barrier between you and the outside world, so selecting the right size of the provided silicone tips is crucial.

Overall, in our experience we never felt bothered or irritated after long periods of use, not to mention the kevlar wire never got itself tangled up or in our way.

Sound quality

Now this is the section of our review where you’re going to want to pay extra attention. When you decide to shell out more than $50 for a pair of headphones you aren’t just looking for something to fit your original style. No, you more than likely want something that feeds your desire for the absolute best in audio deliverance. So how do the SuperDarts stack up against bass heavy jams, rock vocal mid’s, and orchestral high’s? Exceedingly well, actually.

When testing low’s we opted for Daft Punk and let’s just say “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” has never sounded as pumpin’ as it did when using the SuperDarts. Bass isn’t overpowering enough to make you get a headache but it’s bumpin’ let me tell you, and it’s difficult not to bob your head even when in public. And when we threw on some of Madeon’s “Pop Culture” these earphones achieved a sound that could be likened to having your own dance club, and being able to wear these around for your own personal enjoyment is nothing but astounding, especially since you won’t be leaking any music from your headphones — meaning the person next to you can’t hear a peep from your SuperDarts even on high volumes.

On mid’s we turned to The Smiths and let their singles like “Big Mouth Strikes Again” and “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” lead us to a place where every single guitar strum resonated on each side of our brain. Morrissey’s voice bled so smoothly, and with the SuperDarts ability to play lows with ease we picked up the bass strums even under so many layers of sound hiding them below. It’s almost as if we aren’t even talking about music anymore, but the ability to scour through and find every nook and cranny of sound.

And for high’s, Dragonforce’s former lead vocalist ZP Theart’s shreaking and power metal screams came in without much difficulty, but we do have to admit that the ‘darts’ had some trouble separating layers from each other when you have really high guitar notes and voices all playing at once. It’s enjoyable but didn’t really stack up as evenly as when playing low’s and mid’s.

One thing we did notice with SuperDarts is that more so than ever did we encounter hisses and screeches we never heard before due to the source files not being up to snuff for serious listening. That being said, these headphones will want you to redownload your entire music library into Flac format so you get that crystal clear sound.

Overall

When it’s all said and done Atomic Floyd has crafted some of the best sounding and looking earphones that we’ve ever laid our ears on. The overall design of them are just sexy to look at, and when you don them it’s almost as if you’ve left the world behind and have become one with your music.

Pro’s

Powerful, crystal clear audio quality
Design is as sexy as any pair of earphones could ever look
Durable craftmanship from audio jack to the drivers in your ears

Con’s

Not a con, but the quality of audio coming in from these earphones is so good you’re going to want to redownload everything in the Flac (lossless) format

Where to buy

Retailers (try Apple stores) — MSRP: £199

This review was done by Ricardo Trejo, who was provided SuperDarts by Atomic Floyd.