Self professed audiophiles that we are, we were quite excited to hear that Brainwavz Audio had launched their Alpha earphones in India. Well known and regarded around the world as affordable yet high quality IEMs, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on them. Fast forward a few weeks and here’s our long term impressions of the earphones.
Specifications
- Drivers: Dynamic, 8 mm
- Rated Impedance: 20 Ω
- Frequency Range: 15 Hz ~ 28 kHz
- Sensitivity: 110 dB at 1 mW
- Rated Input Power: 10 mW
- Cable: 1.3 m Y-Cord, Copper
- Plug: 3.5 mm, Gold Plated
Design
Unlike the spate of metal bodied earphones being churned out by the likes of Xiaomi and more, The Brainwavz stick to more traditional materials like plastic whick keeps the earphones exceptionally light. The plastic cladding is wrapped up by a rubber grip around the back which makes for an interesting design element. That said, the rubber grip tends to attract lint which can be pretty hard to clean out.
The cable has a standard Y joint down the middle and microphonics are highly controlled given the light, rubberised nature of the cable. That said, Brainwavz have included a shirt clip in the package that allows you further reduce microphonics. The cable on it’s own is very tangle prone and you’ll be wanting to wrap it up properly in a case or use the velcro cable tie included in the package. There’s no microphone or volume controls on the line input so you can’t control playback or make phone calls with the Alpha.
Other package contents include a full set of silicon ear tips as well as a set of Comply foam tips. We found the comfort levels to be above average on the silicon tips and the fit helped increase passive noise cancellation. The Comply foam tips naturally offer an even better fit with improved noise cancellation and deeper bass.
Audio Performance
Of course the most important of an audio product is it’s sound quality and for an entry level IEM, the Brainwavz Alpha certainly don’t disappoint. The sonic stage is far from the widest we’ve seen and others like the Mi Pistons trump the Alpha. Our test tracks included the excellent post-rock album, Pirohia by Kerretta. We also referenced tracks like The Funeral of Hearts by His Infernal Majesty as well as Of The Night by Bastille, Monarchy of Roses by RHCP and Starboy by The Weeknd.
The tight and controlled bass really stood on the Brainwavz Alpha. Not once did it overshadow the mids and neither was it booming. While it might not be first choice for bass heads, pop, hip-hop and r&b sound quite good on these. While the Alpha sounds great with pop music, it really shines with rock music. It is easy to isolate instruments even with vocal tracks cutting through the roaring guitar sounds.
We found treble to be really bright on the Brainwavz Alpha. The limited soundstage and bright highways caused a fair amount of ear fatigue after a couple of hours of music listening. One way around this is to turn down volume pretty low at which point you lose a bit of the bass performance in return for fantastic treble extension. Hearing the crashing cymbals on some of our favorite metal tracks brought us closer to the individual instrumentals than we have any right to with earphones of this class.
Finally, let’s talk about the volume. The Brainwavz Alpha go LOUD. Loud enough to damage your eardrums. You certainly do not need any external DAC to power these and even with our Mac, anything above the fourth bar was uncomfortably loud. For reference, the Mac takes sixteen steps to reach maximum volume. Suffice it to say that you won’t be left wanting for loudness if that’s what you want.
Conclusion
The Brainwavz Alpha are a very decent pair of earphones. The build quality is perfectly serviceable though nothing worth writing home about. The comfort levels are top notch and the included shirt clip ensures that there’s no micro-phonics. Coming to audio performance, the Alphas deliver tight bass, controlled mids and just a bit too bright highs.
The soundstage is fairly wide though not the best and you’ll hve absolutely no complaints from the volume levels either. All in all for a price point of Rs. 1799 you have a perfectly competitive earphone. Unfortunately you’re out of luck if you wish to use it to make calls as well with your phone.
Pros
- Above average audio quality
- Good passive noise cancellation
- Loud
Cons
- Design
- Rubberised material collects lint