The Cheapest Headset in the World

I habitually visit CD-R King to browse for new products. Most of the time, I see too many people to even bother to get that product I want.

Sometimes, a product mesmerizes me so much that I put up with the long lines and wonderfully trained “sales representatives.” Today the mesmerizer is the CD-R King HeadPhone L-010 or the Cheapest HeadSet ever sold in the planet.

The sixty peso price tag is a revolution. It is something to write home about.  Something to tell your friends about. And most importantly something that even a kid in pre-school can “save” for. This is a headset aimed for the masses. It has set a new standard in retail pricing. But let’s find out if there is more to the CD-R King HeadPhones L-010 other than its low price.

Build Quality

Today I had to invent a new quality tier set. Low Quality Tiers, that is. Like most people I only think about have three types of quality, namely:

• Good Quality
• Normal Quality
• Bad Quality

Unfortunately it is very hard to describe quality with just words. Without touching the product you can never feel its heft, sturdiness, strength, pliability and other quality traits.

We all know what quality CD-R King brings. For sure the build quality of the CD-R King HeadPhone L-010 is below standard. To better understand the quality of this headset look at this new quality tier I had to invent:

• Good Quality
• Normal Quality
• Mediocre Quality
• Bad Quality: Toys that come with Happy Meals
• Bad Quality: Toys That come in Cereal Boxes
• Bad Quality: Toys that come with cheap Junk Food = CD-R King HeadPhones L-010

The Headphone or headset itself is small. It won’t be comfortable with long listening hours especially those with larger heads. The Headset will be well a great fit for ladies.

It is very light and feels flimsy. The weight could be an advantage for some though.

A few quality issues sprang up with my unit. One of the pillars that is used to adjust the headphones will not tuck all the way in. It might not make a difference to some but it is just worth mentioning so you can check your unit if you intend to purchase one.

Here are some pictures to illustrate that

*Note: Look at the uneven fit caused by the defective notch. That little notch  that blocked the pillars from freely moving into the slots really ruined what could have been a perfect fit.

The cushioning that comes with the headset is actually good. Not as thin as I expected it to be. This surprised me.

The microphone boom has a nice firm hold throughout its greater than 180 degree arc. Look closely at the picture above. Once again, the lack of quality standards creep in with the mic holes facing the wrong way.  You can twist it around every now and then to put it into place.

Sound Quality

I listened to the following tracks over and over again for an entire day:

•  Pink Floyd - Another Brick on the Wall

•  Don Moen - I believe There is More

•  Kitchie Nadal – Breathe

•  Seal - Kiss From A Rose

•  Sweeny Todd - No Place like London

•  Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compare To You

•  Wham - Careless Whisper

•  Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

•  Guns N' Roses - November Rain

•  Mozart - The Magic Flute

•  Metallica - Master of Puppets

•  Jewel - Foolish Games

•  Avril Lavigne – Complicated

•  Metallica - The OutLaw

•  Michael Jackson - Heal the World

•  Jackson 5 - I'll be There

•  South Park - For Whom Timmy Tolls

•  Sorry no R&B as I am incapable of judging it technically

*all are CD Rips with bit rate set to 320 Kbps

I compared the CD-R King Headphone L-010 to a Plantronics set

Having listened to these tracks over and over again,  I would say that the CD-R King Headset L-010 does surprisingly well against the Plantronics headset considering that the latter costs over sixty- times as much. Yes SIXTY-TIMES.

The headset seems to be tuned to give out a slightly bassy feel. Although it is a bit tight and in some songs details are noticeably lost. The difference in songs with a lot of details in the lower frequencies, like Master of Puppets, is like day and night. It doesn’t sound bad but definitely does not extend well enough to even begin to compare with the Plantronics Control set.

At mid frequencies it sounds surprisingly vibrant but sometimes over enthusiastic. One thing that really stood out was that the mids got muddy when the sound got busy. Very noisy songs like Champagne Supernova would sound muddied . On the plus side the CD-R King L-010 does surprisingly well in songs which provide a more flowing tune like Heal the World.

In the highs the headset seems sort of a bit tight. I had to admire that it never seemed to clip highs but the resolution just wasn’t there and like the lows details got lost when things get very aggressive.

On the plus side the maximum volume never really made the headset crackle or top out. I didn’t experience clipping and the sound was narrow highs and lows but surprisingly pleasant.

Recording Quality

The recording quality with this headset is horrendous. It is barely useful and I wouldn’t even advise it as a voice chat headset. You can forget about any kind of audio recording with this set.

Take note of the Wave forms and their corresponding audio file below

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the CD-R King headset produces a very harsh noise. I plugged and re-plugged the pink lead thinking there was something wrong with it. I got the best sample I had out of probably six or seven runs. There simply is a world of difference between both of the headsets when it comes to noise. Listen to the audio particularly at the end of the sequence.

Conclusion

I wasn’t expecting much from this headset. For one it couldn’t even fit my head. This headset would be fit a girl with a smaller head. Audio Quality is good for its price ( I mean for 60 pesos it is a miracle that this thing even works – toy headsets at Divisoria are more expensive ). The sound was bit narrow in the lows and highs. But surprisingly, the CD-R King L-010 headset actually is a very capable music listening device. This is especially true for most people who really don’t care much about sound quality.

The CD-R King L-010 Headset would have gotten 5 stars if not for its horrendous recording quality. Buyers looking to purchase a voice chatting headset might be bothered by its very noisy mic.

Overall, this headset breaks barriers. For the longest time the bar was set at 150 pesos. Coming in at almost a third of the price, the CD-R King HeadPhones L-010 provides tremendous and unbeatable value for most people looking for the cheapest headset they can get their hands on.

Check out the Gallery to see more pictures