New headphones look sci-fi, have audio that's hi-fi
Blue Microphones are known for making, well, microphones, but it's recently thrown that expertise into the headphone market with the Blue Microphones Mo-Fi (MSRP: $349.99).
These over-ear cans don't exactly look like a typical pair of headphones—unless you spend a lot of time in the pits at your local racetrack. The folks at Blue took design cues from Formula 1 racecars and the human ear itself to develop headphones that are a little different from most.
The design isn't just there for aesthetic appeal, however. These headphones also leave plenty of room for your ears to "breathe," and feature expandable, adjustable jointed bands to help you get a comfortable fit throughout your listening session.
But good looks aside, there are two components to a great listening experience: the quality of your music, and the quality of your equipment. While most people understand that good headphones are worth the price, we often overlook one crucial component: power.
Most smartphones, tablets, and laptops don't include a good built-in amplifier, so you're rarely hearing all of your music—even with otherwise fantastic headphones. The Mo-Fis solve this problem by including their own built-in amp. During normal listening, the amp drastically improved the sound quality from the Mo-Fis.
This also allows the Mo-Fis to use massive 50mm drivers, larger than what most over-ears use. This lets them move more air, better reproducing low frequency bass sounds.
There are plenty of headphones on the market that boost bass to tremendous levels, but that kind of sound isn't for everybody. Instead, the Mo-Fis boast an audio profile that's relatively even, from sub-bass to high frequencies.
Though we've tested far more accurate headphones on the market, these present a pleasing mix of emphasized bass and well-controlled highs even at ear-shattering volume. There's a bit of noticeable distortion that comes through as crackling sounds, but this is primarily with very bass-heavy music.
The one big downside to all of the innovation crammed into the Mo-Fis: They're absolutely enormous. Weighing in at just over one pound, the Mo-Fis threw off the balance of my head whenever I wore them. And though the Mo-Fis are designed to improve on-the-go listening, that extra bulk can't be folded down into something more portable.
That power comes at a rather hefty price, but at least Blue didn't skimp on the included accessories. All the standard assortment of goodies, like an in-line controller, four-foot audio cable, and USB charging cable are here.
One area where the Mo-Fis let us down was in passive noise isolation. Despite cups that envelop your ears, these won't be able to block much of the deep bass sounds from bus or train engines. They still lower most ambient noises by about 25–50 percent, but nearby conversations can still easily be heard.
But when you play music—especially with the amp turned on—the so-so isolation simply isn't an issue, as your music will handily overpower whatever ambient noise may have been bothering you.
When it comes down to it, the Blue Mo-Fi over-ears are a bold move from both a design and technology standpoint, but it's important to remember these are a first effort. The Mo-Fis aren't the best headphones on the market right now, but it's also Blue's first crack at it.
If you want to spend a little less money we'd recommend the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pros (MSRP: $229.00). They lack a built-in amp, but they've been our top-rated headphones for two years running now, with loads of customization options.
Whatever the Mo-Fis may lack in quality, they more than make up for in promise. The recipe of larger-than-average drivers and a built-in amp looks to be a success, Blue just has to fine-tune the formula.