| CyberHome 6-Speaker Surround Sound Headphone System
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Performance:
The Good:
Simply put, the CyberHome headphones sound great. The sound quality far exceeds anything I would expect from an $18 set of headphones, and the truth be told they sound better than the $80+ Ezonics I have been using. The sound was crisp and clear, and never distorted even with the volume maxed out. The 6 speakers (3 in each ear cup) provided an amazing amount of separation, giving you the feeling of sitting in the middle of a band when listening to music. When used in FPS games it was a big advantage to be able to listen to approaching footsteps and know what direction they were coming from. It was also a pleasure to have volume controls for the CyberHome headphones rather than having to rely on software volume control as I have been with the Ezonics headphones.
The Bad:
Yes, I'm sorry to say that with all the good the CyberHome headphones have shown us so far, there is some bad. I actually received two sets of CyberHome headphones for this review as the first set arrived and were defective. Geeks.com has excellent customer support and the very next day I had a new set of CyberHome headphones in my possession. The defect with the first set was that the left side ear cup was not producing any sound. Wanting to know why, I started fiddling with them and traced the problem down to a module that is in the cord just a few inches from where the headphones plug into the decoder box. I found that if I squeezed the module, the left side headphone would work. As ghetto or redneck as it may look, a few tie wraps pulled as tight as possible have kept the first set of CyberHome headphones working.
All manufacturers can have a certain number of defects slip by, so how much one defective unit really means is up to you to decide. I mention the original defective set of headphones due to something that gives me cause for concern on the replacement set. Even though the second set of CyberHome headphones function as they should, if I squeeze or flex the module as I did on the first set, it creates static in the left side ear cup. Now this is not normal use to be sitting there squeezing and flexing this module, but it does cast some shadow of doubt on the quality of construction.
Unfortunately, using the lithium battery on the CyberHome headphones was another disappointment. According to the instruction manual, with the battery inserted and the unit plugged into a wall outlet while switched to "on/charge", the decoder will charge the battery. The LED on the decoder box should show red while charging, and then turn to green when the battery is done charging. I am sorry to say that neither of the two decoder boxes I ended up with will charge the battery. The LED stays red and never goes to green, and both units shut down as soon as I switch the selector switch to operate via the lithium battery. These headphones really don't strike me as being "portable" and running off of batteries has not been a concern to me. They seem at home at a desk, and that is where I am using them comfortably.
For now the CyberHome headphones are staying connected to my main computer and are the headphones I choose to use even with several other more expensive options available to me. They just sound that good and are by far the most comfortable headphones I have ever put on my head. The Ezonics I have loved so much over the last few years are not going into the garage sale pile, but rather into my closet as a back up if future problems should arise with the CyberHome headphones.
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