amidst the worlds chaos i smile in my own
1. Introduction
With the successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a nationwide fitness craze has emerged in recent years, leading to an increasingly rich variety of sports-related products, including headphones. Today, I bring you a product review of the Dacom L10, a well-known domestic headphone brand.
Dacom, founded in 2007, is a modern high-tech group enterprise dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing, sales, and service of Bluetooth headphones, speakers, and other Bluetooth products. Its products use original core components from Europe and America, incorporate the latest Danish technology and production management processes, and have passed ISO9001, BQB, CE, FCC, GMC, and ROHS certifications.
2. Product Information
Brand and Model: DACOM L10
Usage: In-ear
Connection: Bluetooth 4.2
Transmission Range: 10m
Dust and Water Resistance: IPX4
Product Features: Dual stereo, active noise-canceling headphones
3. Unboxing and Design
The product uses white outer packaging, which is very simple. The rendering of the product is prominently displayed in the center of the packaging.
The headphones are neatly arranged, forming a perfect arc. Additionally, the product comes with two sets of silicone ear tips.
The headphones weigh 23 grams, which is relatively lightweight for neckband headphones, considering this weight includes the battery.
The back of the ear tips features a metal thread design, which gives a strong metallic feel without being reflective, elevating the product's grade.
The product uniquely uses a strong magnetic design, allowing the two ear tips to stick together when not in use to avoid cable tangling, making it convenient for storage and carrying.
The ear tip holes and silicone ear tips have a flat design, different from the usual round design. This design helps better secure the ear tips in the ear canal and reduces pressure inside the ear.
One side of the main body has three operation buttons: volume up, volume down, and MFB (Multi-Function Button). The volume buttons can adjust the volume (short press) and skip tracks (long press) and reject calls (long press for two seconds during a call). The MFB button can turn the device on/off (long press) and pause/play music (short press) or answer/hang up calls (short press). Additionally, since this product is a noise-canceling headphone, you can enter noise-canceling mode by double-clicking the MFB button.
The buttons have a raised design for easy blind operation, but personally, I feel the raised texture is not very pronounced and could be further enhanced.
The other side of the main body has no buttons or ports, only a Dacom logo.
4. Product Testing
This product focuses on several key features: active noise cancellation, stereo sound, neckband style, and sports use. Let's see how it performs in these areas through testing.
According to the product information, the headphones use an ANC active noise-canceling chip and professional noise-canceling algorithms to eliminate 90% of low-frequency noise in the 150Hz-1500Hz range. This is achieved by the noise-canceling microphone detecting noise, the internal chip processing it, and the speaker emitting a sound wave that is the inverse of the noise, thereby canceling it out. This noise-canceling method is much more effective than traditional noise-canceling through soundproof materials.
When testing the active noise-canceling effect, different noise environments were used for identification. Since these are in-ear headphones, they can block more than 50% of noise even without playing any music.
Test Condition 1: Music on, volume at 60%, MFB button off, external noise below 50 decibels. The headphones filter out noise combined with music coverage, and you can barely hear any external noise, filtering out about 95%.
Test Condition 2: Music on, volume at 60%, MFB button off, external noise above 70 decibels. The headphones filter out noise combined with music coverage, and you can hear a bit more external noise, filtering out about 60%.
Test Condition 3: Music on, volume at 60%, MFB button on, external noise above 70 decibels. The headphones filter out noise combined with music coverage, and you can barely hear any external noise, filtering out about 90%.
Test Condition 4: Music on, volume at 80%, MFB button on, external noise above 70 decibels. The headphones filter out noise combined with music coverage, and you can hardly hear any external noise, filtering out more than 95%.
Test Conclusion: When the active noise-canceling mode is on, it starts to work effectively. As external noise increases, it can filter out more than 90% of external noise, showing a significant noise-canceling effect.
Regarding the product's sound quality:
Bass: Testing with songs by Tsai Chin and Jang Yoon Jeong, especially 'The Ferry' and 'Zhuoma,' which are almost standard for audio product testing. The bass performance is quite impressive, with deep and heavy sounds. The vocals are clean but lack depth, not quite capturing the listener's heart. DJ music performs exceptionally well, with great elasticity, vibrating your eardrums and making you want to dance.
Midrange: I chose songs by Liao Changyong and Jang Yoon Jeong. The vocals are clear and pure, with strong analytical power for each note and vocal. Whether male or female vocals, the heaviness and crispness are vividly displayed, especially in stereo and 3D sound, where the advantages are particularly prominent.
Treble: I chose Vitas' 'Dedication' and 'Opera 2.' Products that can handle these songs usually perform well. The sound is long and distant, with the treble rising without breaking, and it feels like it can keep going up effortlessly. However, when combined with low-frequency instruments, the treble struggles a bit, lacking clarity, especially when rising, showing slight signs of breaking.
Another point worth mentioning is that the product is more suited for use during sports. Due to the sealed environment between the headphones and the ear canal, the friction and bouncing of the headphones during running can cause a 'stethoscope effect,' although the manufacturer has reduced the weight to minimize this issue. This is a common problem with in-ear headphones.
Regarding battery life, with a full charge and volume set to 70%, you can listen to music for about 4 hours and still have 31% battery left, making 6 hours of usage feasible.
5. Conclusion
Advantages:
1. Relatively affordable price.
2. Good midrange and bass performance.
3. Significant active noise-canceling effect.
Disadvantages:
1. Treble performance needs improvement.
2. During sports, especially running, the headphone cable bounces and causes a 'stethoscope effect,' affecting user experience.
3. The product does not come with a storage bag, making it inconvenient to carry around.