Hi!
Welcome to Lachlan Likes A Thing, a show where I take a thing and see whether or not I like
it.
Now the thing we're looking at in this video is the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro, which
is a full size headphone that Beyerdynamic describes as a 'interactive premium headphone'
on the box.
Now we'll get into what makes this headphone 'custom' and 'interactive' in a moment but
first things first, this headphone retails for a recommended retail price of $299.
You can also get it on Amazon for about $229 nowadays.
I got my pair second hand from the audio forum Head-Fi.org for about $150.
Now this is a definitely, a popular model for Beyerdynamic and I think since its release
Beyerdynamic has actually announced several new models based on this design.
And the reason why this headphone is so popular I think is because it has several elements
which are customisable, hence it's name.
So this headphone comes in several different colours, this faceplate here can actually
be changed out for other colours and designs and you can even put your own into this area
here.
The headband cushion can be removed and replaced with other colours.
And also most importantly the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro has this adjustable bass port
mechanism here which lets you kind of tailor the amount of bass you get out of this headphone
to your individual taste.
So it's definitely a headphone that's generated a lot of interest, and I've been asked several
times to review it.
This video is going to focus on the build quality and the comfort of the Custom One
Pro, as well as the sound quality, and I'm going to be making a lot of comparisons to
the Audio Technica ATH-M50, which is a headphone that the Custom One Pro is frequently compared
to.
The Custom One Pro like all of Beyerdynamic's higher end headphones is made in Germany,
and as you can see it shares a similar sort of design with the higher end headphones from
the Beyer like the DT880.
The Custom One Pro is definitely a headphone that inspires confidence with its build quality.
So it's got a very practical, well put together design.
We have the headband elements which are made of metal, and they feel very solid, very dependable.
We have earcups that are made of plastic, but it's high quality plastic with good fit
and finish.
So everything about this headphone does feel like it will last for a long time.
And even though this is a second hand pair it basically feels like new to me.
One thing is that with this headphone even if the parts do break it has screws all over
this headphone, so i think you can basically disassemble this headphone and replace almost
any part yourself once you order the replacement from the Beyerdynamic website.
So it's very much like headphones like the Sennheiser HD25 in that way.
Now the cable on the Custom One Pro is a 1.5m cable and that makes it sort of suitable for
portable devices.
We have quite a nice strain relief on the plug end here, the cable itself is supple
and thick and high quality plastics, on the earcup end we have a detachable cable terminal,
so that's a plus, and Beyerdynamic does make some attachments for the Custom One Pro so
you can use it as a headset for your computer microphone and that kind of thing, which is
really neat.
As far as ergonomics for the Custom One Pro, you can see that the earpads are quite large,
and so you'll definitely get an around-ear fit with this headphone for most ears I guess.
The earpads are quite soft and made of this synthetic leather material and it's decently
breathable, it's quite nice.
The headband cushion is again quite soft, so on the head the Custom One Pro is definitely
a more comfortable headphone than average and I do really like that element of it, especially
compared to the M50 which is not quite as comfortable for long-term use.
Now the Custom One Pro does have a 1.5m cable which does kind of suggest that you could
use it with a portable device but as you can see it's not exactly a subtle looking headphone,
it's very large and frankly I think it looks a bit goofy on the head.
You might want to give it a try yourself I guess.
And with the bass ports it doesn't have the best in terms of noise isolation.
In terms of sound as I mentioned before the Custom One Pro lets you adjust the amount
of bass by this sliding variable port mechanism which has 4 positions.
There's no electronics, you just adjust the number of ports and thereby increase or decrease
air damping on the driver.
So number 1 with all bass ports closed, it sounds completely anaemic, and it sounds like
someone has just removed all the lower frequencies and it sounds, you know, lifeless, and I don't
think anyone really would enjoy that sound unless you really really hated bass.
In position number 4 it's the complete reverse, it's just incredibly overbearing in terms
of bass, it's all droney and one note.
Position number 2 and number 3 actually sound somewhat similar, and basically 3 just has
a bit more bass than number 2, and with number 2 and number 3 you get a sound which is...
it's somewhat on the warmer side of neutral, it's quite easygoing.
It's a relatively flat sounding headphone, the treble is rolled off, and everything sounds
quite smooth.
So if you were using this as a monitoring headphone I do feel like at times the details
don't quite stand out as much.
It has a relatively wide soundstage and overall it has a kind of easygoing, all-round sound
to it, though it's definitely not going to be considered an aggressive sounding headphone.
Now compared to the Audio Technica M50 which is a comparison that I often see made between
the two headphones the M50 has a sound which is definitely more forward in the treble and
the vocals, so you get a better sense of detail coming out from female vocals and from treble
kind of cymbal hits and that kind of thing than the Custom One Pro.
And the Custom One Pro is also I feel somewhat more laid back in the bass compared to the
M50, which has a bit more of a punch in certain frequencies.
In terms of sub-bass frequencies though I think the Custom One Pro is about as tight
as the M50.
Now I personally prefer the sound of the M50 more.
I think it's a little more exciting, you definitely get a better sense of detail so even for monitoring
I kind of prefer the M50.
So if I had to choose between the M50 and the Custom One Pro for kind of home desktop
studio monitoring use here's how I'd choose.
The M50 is a cheaper headphone and I do kind of prefer the more lively aggressive sound
to it, so that would be my pick in terms of sound.
But if you're looking at the overall package the Custom One Pro is definitely the more
comfortable of the two headphones, it does have all these little nice features in terms
of the customisation of the look and the sound of the headphone, though I personally don't
put much stock in that.
But where it really comes down to it is that the Custom One Pro is a more comfortable headphone
for longer periods of use so if that's really important to you I think this is perhaps the
better choice.
Other than that though I'd be very happy to kind of recommend both of these headphones.
Anyway thanks for watching this video, please click the Like button if it's helped you,
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Thanks to all my regular subscribers and happy listening!