Acorn Audio E1 review
**Disclaimer**
These earphones were provided to me by Acorn Audio to review
on my YouTube channel. However I was not paid to do this review, therefore I
can be impartial and unbiased.
Packaging
The E1 come in very simple but very nice packaging. The top shows the outer box which features the branding as well as an image of the earphones and model number. (Middle) shows a few of the specifications and Acorn Audios website. The bottom image is how the earphones are presented. They come inclosed in a foam block, which keeps them nice and secure during transit.
Overall they are very well packaged and presented.
Design
The E1 are very simple and quite elegantly designed
earphones. Featuring real wood and metal the earphones look very rustic but not
in bad way. The styling is very simplistic and minimal, featuring just the
Acorn branding on each bud and a simple left/right indicator on the underside
of the bud. I actually prefer the more modest styling to the in your face
styling of other manufacturers tend to adopt.
The light wood and dark metal really create a nice colour
balance and work very well together, actually better than I originally anticipated
they would. Speaking of the wood it’s very nice, you can clearly distinguish
the grain in the finish which in my opinion adds to the quality look of the
earphones.
The cable is finished off in a plastic sheath, which looks
fairly average to be honest and I would have preferred to see a braided or
fabric cable sheath. This would have blended into the rustic feel more and
really made the design come together.
Finally we go down the 3.5mm jack, this is gold plated and is
very unusually shaped. It’s not quite a 90° angle but more curved. It’s nice to
look at but is a little bit too long in my opinion.
Overall for the design they are very pleasing aesthetically
and I really quite like how the earphones are styled.
Build
Like previously mentioned the real wood, plastic and metal
are all good quality and add a certain premium feel to the relatively
inexpensive earphones. The wood finish is nice and smooth with no rough edges,
however they have managed to maintain the feel of the grain which is a very
touch and it adds to quality feel. The metal feels sturdy and well integrated
into the design but still manages to be light enough so as not to add much
weight.
The cable like mentioned is good quality; it feels durable
and is reassuringly thick so as not to break easily and to provide adequate
protection to the internal wiring. Like I mentioned early, the addition of
braiding would have further improved the quality but could have possibly led to
more memory in the cable which in turn causes the dreaded tangle. The 3.5mm
jack is well made and feels robust enough to handle everyday use. It’s not the
most solid I’ve encountered at this price but it’s substantial.
I just wish it would have been a bit smaller to make getting
them out of tighter jeans a bit easier, but it’s still solid never the
less.
So to sum up the build quality is very impressive.
Comfort
Usually I’m not a huge fan of in-ears, I’m more of an on-ear
or over-ear design user and I’m actually surprised to how comfortable they are.
The supplied silicone tips (in which you get S,M,L) are very soft, very
flexible and fit very nicely.
 |
| Small |
 |
| Large |
So you can tell I am generally pleased with the level of
comfort achieved by the E1.
Features and Specs
The E1 aren’t the most featured packed of earphones, but then
again with their relatively low cost you wouldn’t expect all the bells and
whistles.
The features include a pretty standard 1.2m cable length
which is common and just about the perfect length in my opinion. The earphones
have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz which again is standard amongst
earphones at this price. Other features include….
an 89dB sensitivity, 16 Ohm impedance and a weight of just
80g.
However they are missing a few fairly import basic features.
The E1 don’t have a controller for iOS which can be found on most basic and
cheaper earphones. However as an Android user the omission too much missed but
it would have been nice to at least have a one push button and mic for calls.
The E1 are also missing a simple cable management system that is used to
shorten the distance of the split and keep things from tangling. This is the
bigger oversight and is more noticeable as this feature would barely add any
additional cost to the manufacturing , but yet provide a much better experience
and value for money.
Isolation and Leak
Now the E1 aren’t noise cancelling and they make no claim to
it. However I was surprised to how much noise they blocked out. Now I will say
that they aren’t the best I’ve ever encountered but they are up there with the
best (at the price). They block out most medium traffic noise with ease and
only allow the noise to creep in when background noise gets louder. This though
is not an issue when on public transport and they managed to block the dull
drone of the buses engine and the louder passengers. That’s not saying that
louder noises won’t slightly sneak in, in quieter parts of music but overall I
am impressed.
As for noise leak, they again fair well. I found for me
comfortable listen volume was around 50% to 60% on my Nexus 5 with the
aftermarket Rocket music player. At these volume levels the leak was minimal
and won’t bother other commuters. However push beyond the 60% region and as
with most earphones leak become more prominent but again nothing too loud as to
disturb other commuters, well unless they’re sat right next to you.
In summary the noise leak and isolation performance was above
average for the cost and I was impressed.
Sound
This to me is the most important part of buying any audio
equipment and thus needs to be impressive. To explain my finding I will break
the sound down into the Bass, Mid range and Higher range.
Tested via Nexus 5 with the Rocket player with a Flat eq.
Bass – The bass produced is quite powerful, if a little too
powerful for my personal taste. The bass response is a bit on the loose side
where as I prefer the response to be tighter and more controlled. The bass does
drop really low, which makes them perfect for bass lovers and people who enjoy
hip-hop, DNB and Dusbstep, you know all those genres that just loves to kick
out the heavy bassline. The bass also tends to be a little cloudy and missing
some detail that can be found in other similar earphones.
Mids – The mid-range was a little bit lost behind the bass
and was too easily overpowered, me personally I like a more balanced sound like
the Audio Technica M20x where you can hear everything equal. Back to the E1 and
another issue I noticed is the instruments like acoustic guitars and pianos
sounded a little lacklustre and didn’t invoke any emotion in their sound. This
to me is an issue as I really love it when instruments are given a chance to
shine and not overcast by the overbearing bass. Now to the vocals and again
things aren’t that great, vocal reproduction was a bit wooden and lifeless and
just lacked excitement. It was clear but
just came off a bit cold.
Highs – The highs are actually fairly nice, they are nice and
smooth if a little on the quiet side. They aren’t sharp and are nicely rounded
if a bit hard to distinguish from the mids and bass. When you can hear them
they aren’t the usual brittle affair found on some other earphones at the same
price, which is a good thing.
From the experience I would these earphones would be best
suited to EDM, Hip-Hop style music that uses bass to enhance the listening
experience, rather than hinder it. But
overall for me they are a good sound but just too bass heavy for my personal
taste. So then I thought, what if I turn the bass down and then try them again.
So I did.
Bass (down) – Obviously the level of bass reduces to a more
comfortable level and even though the bass was off they are still bass biased
earphones. However turning the bass off made the mid-range and vocals clearer
which is how I prefer my earphones to sound and in my opinion improved the
listening experience. The bass was still present but to a more acceptable level
and I actually found myself enjoying the earphones a lot more and I now like
how they sound. It’s amazing to think that be just turning the bass down can
completely change the sound. I mean a lot of detail missing in the mids was
more present and vocals sounded better too. So really, I now like the E1’s
sound.
Summary
To wrap up the review in a nice bow, I love the styling and
the rustic design of the E1. The build quality is great, they are lightweight and
feel more premium than the price suggests. The sound was much improved after I
turned the bass down. The few downsides though are the missing features and
sound (at first) but overall I like the E1 and I can say if you’re looking for
some earphones that are different from the usual plastic affair then these are
well worth a look.
Check out my YouTube review of them for an even clearer look at them Acorn Audio E1 review
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