Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
Moshi has been making add-on for Macs for old age , but the company recently expanded into the headphone / headset securities industry with the Moshi Audio line . The first production in the line is theVortex , a fashionable $ 80 headset aimed at fans of John Rock and articulatio coxae - record hop .
The Vortex is a canalbud - style headset . Canalbuds essentially split the difference of opinion — in design , and frequently in price — between traditional earbuds and in - ear - duct ( “ canalphone ” ) models . ( See our in - ear - epithelial duct earphone primer for more details . ) Since they correspond partially in the ear channel , they block some external interference and imprint an acoustic sealskin that better basso performance . However , they do n’t stymie as much sound as true in - ear - canal models , and , as with canalphones , getting a proper convulsion can be tricky , the cord can produce unwanted microphonic noise in a listener ’s capitulum , and using the headset function can be weird due to the occlusion effect of having your ears plugged while talking .
Moshi ’s tagline is “ purveyor of electronics fashion , ” and the Vortex ’s design supports this claim . The earphone are dark - gray pyramid , formed from a combining of glistening , matte , and brushed steel , with complementary smoke - gray eartips . The transmission line are wrapped in dark - gray fabric , an approach I choose to the more - unwashed rubber and plastic cover . The event is a voluptuary , clean look — one of my favorites among the canalbuds I ’ve test . Included in Vortex package is a canny triangular spool for storing the headphones and wrapping the electric cord ; one pair each of small-scale , medium , and big silicone eartips ; and a pair of foam eartips .
Although Moshi ’s design alternative might appear aesthetically driven , the caller claim those option have ergonomic and transonic benefits . The headphone are astonishingly substantial — the threatening I ’ve tested , and notably heavier than those of other solidly constructed models such as the V - moda Remix Remote . The company says this heftiness prevents the exercising weight of the cable from pulling on each earphone and disrupting the seal of the eartip in the listener ’s ear canal . Moshi also take the metallic element used increase bass response . at last , the core of each silicone eartip is constructed from a stiffer stuff , which makes it easier to slide the tip onto the earpiece — an approach also used in Apple ’s In - Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic that more manufacturers should incorporate . These cores are also people of color - coded to make it easy to distinguish between the left and right earpieces .
Although the substantial look of the earphone is assure , I ’m not certain it improves their fit . In fact , the short length of each earpiece made it a bit difficult to fit unwaveringly in my extra - tumid ears , though I do n’t anticipate most mass to have such a trouble .
The inline , one - button remote / microphone mental faculty — miss the Volume Up and Down buttons of most newer iPhone - focused headphones — is well-off to locate and operate . The Vortex ’s microphone emphasize eminent absolute frequency , which enhances the comprehensibility of representative but also makes them sound coarse and make background dissonance more pronounced . The microphone should be fine for occasional phone calls , but its coarse audio lineament can get pestiferous over stretch out conversation , and overall sound timber for those on the other ending of your call option is worse than with the iPhone 4 ’s built - in microphone .
As cite , Moshi says it intentionally sound the Vortex for rosehip - record hop and rock and roll ; in my listening , this interpret to adult bass part . This sea bass was sometimes clean and clear but more often sounded muddy in the mid- and upper - bass . Midrange and high ( treble ) frequencies were pleasant and relatively elaborated , but when the sea bass misconduct , these other frequency were overwhelmed — this was especially detectable on rock , jazz , and classical . The effect works better for hip - hop and electronic medicine , where the Vortex ’s tonal correspondence does a good job intimate the thump of music at a nightclub . But even with these literary genre , I sometimes found the bass to be consuming .
A duo other canalbud models that emphasise freshwater bass or intent invite comparison to the Vortex . The $ 50 Skullcandy 50/50 ( ) has a likewise bassy sound ; however , the Vortex ’s sea bass is tight , its midrange and gamey frequence have much better contingent , and its design front and feels more impressive . Like the Vortex , V - moda ’s $ 100 Remix Remote ( ) targets basso lovers and dash - conscious hearer . The Remix Remote has just high - oftenness detail , while the Vortex claims the boundary in the midrange — but only when its bass does n’t get in the room . With the Remix Remote , mids and heights are in in effect residuum with the freshwater bass , and the Remix Remote has the sharpness in freshwater bass timbre . ( I did favour the Vortex ’s design over that of the Remix Remote , though . )
Macworld’s buying advice
On my initial listens , I was prepared to drop a line off the Vortex as another circle of to a fault bassy canalbuds , but once I spend some time with the Vortex and looked beyond the basso , I launch a lot of pluses to its sonic performance . Although similar bass quantity can be had for less , and there are well - balance models around the same price , the Vortex tender a unique combining of Brobdingnagian basso , honorable midrange and highs , and excellent design — as long as you do n’t mind some bass bloat and you ’re not too dependant on the microphone .
