Headphones are my favorite tech accessories. I change them based on weather, portability and style. I am back with another pair of headphones to review. I am checking out the Damson Headspace Noise Canceling headphones.
Design
These headphones look great for the most part. I am a fan of the sleek brushed aluminum look. In certain cases, it matches my laptop. The black leather band finishes the high-end look. They have an good overall feel to them. You feel the weight of the materials. Definitely not cheaply made. The ear-cups are round and they fully cover my ears.
You’ll find most of the controls on the right ear cup. You have the power button, volume, playback controls on the outside of the right ear-cup. They are labeled in white markings. I do wish the labels were a bit smaller or done in a greyish tone to make it even more sleek. The left ear-cup houses the micro-USB charging port The noise-cancelling button.
Experience and Features
Comfort
The Damson Headspace are a bit on the heavy side. When trying to rock them all day, I needed a break after a couple of hours. Not a surprise, given the materials. The padding on the ear-cups are the right combination of firm and squishy, making them breathable for long periods of use. The headband doesn’t have much padding. It makes for a good fit but not much comfort when going for long-term use. I didn’t get too uncomfortable when wearing them with some of my glasses. But when using thick, plastic frames, the cups must be adjusted in time. When not in use, the cups fold out to place them flatly around your neck. They also fold to fit precisely inside the carrying case.
Sound and Connectivity
Setting up the Damson Headspace headphones, is simple. It’s like setting up most bluetooth devices; turn it on into pairing mode, and see the list of bluetooth devices on your phone, and pair.
The music sounds better to me when the noise isolation is off. The beats are way more vivid. At loud volumes most songs don’t experience distortion. Strangely enough, the Jackson’s Five’s “ABC” had a bit more thump than the Headspace could handle. One of my favorite songs to test, “Fly Away” has a great balance of natural sound with good bass on the beat.
This is where the Headspace headphones shine. They are loud! In New York, I commute mostly by train. While being on the train and waiting for the train there is a lot of noise. Some way more intrusive than others so I don’t always have the noise cancelling on. It does a good job of noise cancelling. When I had the NC on when traveling, I barely heard anything. The ear-cups do a good job of noise isolation to begin with. You don’t get the same level of noise-cancellation that headphones on a higher price range have. But for the price range, it’s great. You don’t hear the hissing noise, most headphones get when you turn noise-cancellation on. They barely bleed out either, which is a major win in my book. I use my headphones around lots of people, and while I want to enjoy my music, I don’t want to be a bother to anyone.
The Headspace are great, but there is something that slightly annoys me about them. It beeps every time you put the volume up or down. It’s not a one-time action beep, it’s every time you go up in volume. Let’s say you bring up in volume from 35% percent up to 95% percent, you will hear constant beeping along the way. If you’re jamming out to a song and “the best part” is coming up and you want to crank up the volume, the music will be drowned out by the beeping of the volume. That’s something that has always been very noticeable to me, but won’t be a deal-breaker for many.
I also recommend using the carrying case. I got a couple of scuffs on an ear-cup when I forgot my carrying case.
Battery Life
After days of testing the Headspace headphones in different environments, I found the battery life to be consistent. I prefer to not have to charge my headphones often since I am always on the go. I ended up charging the Headspace headphones twice a week. They would last 11-14 hours between charges. I’d use them from 2-4 hours a day most of the time, and that’s with the volume at 70% or more.
Pricing and Availability
The Damson Headspace Noise-cancelling headphones have a $150 price tag. You can get them on Amazon.com. The package brings the headphones, a microUSB charging cable, 3.5mm cable, and a carrying case.
Verdict
Pricing on the Damson Headspace is good. Great battery life, lasting build quality, and good sound is definitely worth the $150 price point. They look great and provide you with a nice listening experience. I’d recommend these to someone who takes public transportation often, or needs headphones to work and wants to drown out all of the noise but don’t want to go over the $200 mark.
