Hey everyone!
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 NAD VISO HP50.
Yes that's right, you guys asked for it, and now many months later you guys are getting
my review.
Um but quite honestly, thanks to all my regular subscribers who leave comments pointing out
things I should be listening to or giving suggestions.
I don't get a chance to listen to everything but I have to say I don't really have time
anymore to kind of keep on top of everything that gets released nowadays and a lot of the
times I only really learn about cool new products being released because a bunch of you guys
leave comments asking me what I think of them.
So that was the case with the NAD VISO HP50.
I got a lot of comments asking what I thought of them, so I finally got off my butt and
sent an email to NAD Electronics in Canada and they have sent me, they've loaned me a
review unit to have a listen to.
So a big thank you to them.
So NAD is an electronics and audio company from Canada which is interesting because this
is the first electronics product I think that I've ever really had an experience with from
Canada.
So that's a little bit of a change of pace.
The NAD VISO HP50 is apparently the first effort from NAD in terms of making a headphone,
which is really quite remarkable because really in many ways this is a really, really mature
product.
The VISO HP50 is what feels like a very solidly built product.
And that's really a lot to do with its basic simplicity as a design.
So it's mostly centred around this very large, unusual looking headband, which is just one,
basically one single piece.
And then we have metal headband arms here, and adjustment mechanism.
Everything feels very solid, very well put together.
The earcups themselves are made of plastic.
I have to say I'm not a super big fan of overall how the earcups look just because this glossy
black plastic tends to kind of accumulate fingerprint smudges like nothing else.
And I'm not so sure about the kind of logo and then the big VISO lettering here.
But that's really my kind of aesthetic consideration.
The VISO HP50 comes with a detachable cable and you can actually attach it to either side
of this headphone which is a nice touch.
It comes with two cables in the box.
They're both flat cables.
One is a standard portable length cable and the other one is a cable with iPhone and kind
of iOS device controls.
Now in terms of the cable it's a flat cable.
It's decently built but it doesn't have a great deal of strain relief, especially on
the plug side.
So that's a little bit of something to watch out for.
It is generally a bit on the thinner side for a flat cable.
So just in terms of comfort the HP50 as you'll see, even though it has relatively large square
shaped earcups, the actual earpads themselves are relatively small.
And some users might find that your ears might touch the driver side of the earcup or some
other users might find your ears will touch the sides of the earpad.
Just because this opening is a little small, even though technically it is an around-ear
headphone.
So when you put them on your head clamping force on the HP50 is actually a little higher
than average because of this headband design.
And the funny thing about this headphone is that even though it is a portable headphone
the design is entirely dominated by this huge headband.
And honestly I have worn this headphone in public and I have gotten quite a lot of looks
on the street just because of this arrangement which kind of almost makes you look like a
Frankenstein monster.
I think it actually honestly looks a little bit goofy on the head but I know some of you
are just going to not care what other people think and they'll very happily wear this headphone
as long as it sounds good.
And in that respect, moving onto the sound, yes I can tell you the VISO HP50 does sound
really good.
The NAD VISO HP50 is one of the most finely balanced, finely tuned headphones that I have
heard.
It's one of those headphones where, and this is such a big cliche, but this is really one
of those headphones where nothing in particular really stands out in the sound signature but
overall it's just really delicate, really nicely balanced and well done.
So in terms of overall signature it's just a little bit warmer than neutral but it's
a very laid back, very delicate kind of sound.
And I should clarify when I say laid back I don't mean that this headphone sounds slow
or kind of sleepy.
It definitely has really a fast, a detailed, a textured sound to it.
But it's a signature where nothing is particular prominent.
So this ranges from the bass which is quite well extended but it isn't particularly accentuated.
There is a bit of upper midrange kind of focus that I hear in this headphone that gives it
a bit of texture, but it doesn't go so far as to sound nasal or kind of blare-y or anything
like that.
And in terms of soundstaging it's very, you know, it's quite a nice defined soundstage.
Everything is quite well placed and very detailed, and details really just kind of stick out.
However the only criticism I would make about this headphone in terms of sound is that just
the upper range of the treble is to my ears maybe just a little de-emphasised.
So there's a little lack of sparkle and there's a little lack of a sense of space as a result.
And so the soundstage can sound just a little more intimate and compressed.
But some people might really prefer that kind of signature just because it's definitely
less fatiguing and overall I still think this is a very very finely balanced headphone.
This headphone is a really good all rounder for all kinds of genres of music and I especially
think it sounds nice with acoustic music because of that nice texture to the sound.
But you could say this headphone can sound a little boring when it comes to your more
aggressive genres like electronic or kind of dance music or anything like that.
Though I still think it does a pretty good job with those.
It's really interesting to compare the VISO HP50 with the M50X which is the other kind
of portable around-ear headphone that I'm listening to at the moment.
The M50X is actually, even though it's a studio monitor, it's more aggressive, and it's more
kind of punchy than the HP50.
So it's got more of an emphasis in the bass and it's definitely got more kind of treble
sparkle that has, gives it a bit more of aggression, and a bit more of air.
Overall it doesn't sound as natural as the HP50 but if you were after a bit of excitement
I think you might want to look at something like the M50X.
But the HP50 is one of those headphones where I'd very happily recommend this headphone
to anyone if they were just after one headphone that was going to suit their kind of daily
needs.
My only concern really is that the design of this headphone does kind of stick out like
a sore thumb on the street.
But if you're willing to put up with that I think that this is definitely one of the
better options out there.
So this is a thing that I definitely like.
And a big thank you to you guys for all recommending it to me.
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You can talk to me on Facebook at facebook.com/lachlanlikesathing or on Twitter @lachlikesathing and happy listening!